The second season of AppleTV+'s psychological thriller series Surface begins to pick up pace this week, as Sophie's ex-husband James Ellis is confirmed to be back on the scene. While most of the episode focuses on Sophie being pursued by James as he doesn't reveal his intentions for a long time, it also shows her continued dealings with investigative journalist, Callum Walsh, and also leads to an unexpected revelation. Ultimately, at the end of Surface season 2 episode 3, new situations are promised to unfold for the protagonist in the near future, suggesting that the series will finally take us to the Huntley estate very soon.
The beginning of Surface season 2 episode 3 takes us to San Francisco a week before the events in London, where James Ellis was still desperately trying to find some meaning to the strange incidents that had turned his life upside down. While we've always seen things from Sophie's perspective, this is the first time, at least in a long time, that James' point of view has been used to analyse the events.
Creator: Veronica West
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Millie Brady
The man, however questionable his values and ethics, was shocked and aggrieved when he was told that his wife had committed suicide in the same way she had attempted to do before but failed. Having helped her recover from the effects of the first attempt, albeit in an extremely toxic and manipulative way, seemingly orchestrating the murder of a man she had been cheating on him with, and then being told that she had taken her own life in a similar way, simply stunned James. For weeks, according to what he says later, he was unable to live his life normally, because thoughts of her were running through his mind at every moment.
However, James also kept an eye on his bank accounts, possibly because he couldn't believe that Sophie could kill herself, and therefore decided to track Sophie's money, as he also had access to it from the time of her accident. To do so, James contacted a suspicious hacker with a lot of experience in cryptocurrencies and decided to meet with him to explain the movement of cash in the account. As revealed earlier this season, Sophie had been converting the money into several different cryptocurrencies, most likely so that it could not be traced, but initially she had to use the money directly, and this is what handed her position to the hacker. In exchange for a significant amount of money, the young man told James all this before suggesting that he talk to his ex-wife once and sort out the matter. It is clear that James had told him that his wife had run off with his money after they separated, which is why the hacker came up with such a suggestion.
James had no choice but to admit, with visible sadness on his face, that he was not in contact with her and even had no idea where she was. It was at that moment that the hacker decided to help James one last time by telling him where exactly his ex-wife had spent the money he had been tasked with tracking. Thus, James learned that Sophie was in London, and also the address of the apartment she had purchased a few months earlier, though the hacker assumed she had done so with his money. Once James discovered that his wife was alive and in London, he decided to travel to the UK himself and confront her. After arriving at the posh apartment in Mayfair, London, James soon managed to spot Sophie from a distance, and so began his twisted quest to uncover the truth about her escape to London.
Having spotted Sophie outside her apartment, James held back from confronting her right away, an action that clearly suited his passive-aggressive personality. Thus, he began following Sophie from a distance to find out what she was up to, and saw her talking to Eliza during her practice session. This was the same instance where Eliza invited Sophie to her brother's private engagement ceremony, so it made sense that James would eventually show up at this party, as seen at the end of last week's episode. He followed his ex-wife around the clock and the next, leading him to the hotel where the party was apparently being held, while Sophie visited the venue. He then watched as she was taken away in a van and made it to the penthouse where the event was actually taking place, but James had to find a way into the building first.
James used his quick thinking and confidence, along with his wallet full of money, to get himself a fancy suit that would allow him to look appropriate for the event and then get into the venue. When the guards offered to take his car from the building’s garage, which was also the only way to get to the private party, James blatantly reminded them that they would have to pay for the repair costs of his new luxury car if any accidental damage was done to it. This arrogant response was enough for the guards to believe that he was indeed a resident of the building and allow him in. He then joined a group of guests, pretending to be their friend, and managed to get into the elevator and into Quinn’s commitment ceremony as well. Considering the amount of security protocols that had been put in place to keep out any uninvited people, James’ easy entry seems almost laughable, but Surface has never really been one for being realistic.
It was at this party that Sophie first saw her ex-husband and realised, just like us viewers, that James hadn't been left behind in the past (i.e. in season 1), as he had been with America. After this, she repeatedly tries to get in touch with him and calls him numerous times, even leaving him voicemails, but receiving no reply. She mentions that James has no idea of the dangerous situation she is currently in and advises him to stay away at all costs. But receiving no reply from the other end, Sophie knows that James is still following her, so she heads to the hotel to meet up with Callum Walsh rather nervously, always keeping her eyes open. However, James makes his presence felt very soon, after seeing Sophie and Callum head to a private room, and senses that she is having an affair once again. Therefore, he sends some wine to the room and also leaves a note for Sophie, teasingly telling her to video herself while she is at it.
This whole fiasco immediately freaks Sophie out, as she can’t tell the reporter about James, as that would expose her scandalous past in America, which would obviously make her look more suspicious. But Callum is already suspicious of her, both because of the wine that is suddenly delivered to their room and because he follows her afterwards and sees her pick up a random bag from a spot on a bridge. After leaving the hotel in a hurry, Sophie suddenly receives a message from James sharing his location with her, and once she heads to the location, she finds the same backpack, with her American IDs, that she had left on the San Francisco dock a few weeks ago. This is a stark reminder to Sophie of how ruthless her escape from America was, but it creates more problems for her at the moment, as Callum sees her pick up the bag. He immediately realises that the woman is hiding something from him, and while he wants to get to the bottom of it, which is his instinctive reaction to any situation, it is an immensely difficult task.
Callum even tells his suspicions to his assistant, Claire, and she is quick to suggest that it could be the Huntleys who sent her to the journalist simply to distract him from the real investigation. She believes that Sophie could have been hired by the Huntley family to feed Callum misinformation so that he would write his article based on this information, and then it is immediately exposed as fake news, which would terribly tarnish his reputation as a journalist and even end his career. Callum himself doesn't think much of this theory and tries to find out more about James through the waiter at the hotel lounge.
Although the waiter, who has already become quite friendly with Sophie, doesn't stray from his principles of not leaking information about clients, even in exchange for bribes, Callum leaves her his number, just in case she ever changes her mind, and something like that could happen later in the season. James' presence definitely creates unnecessary problems for Sophie, but she continues to work with Callum as safely as she can so that he doesn't get involved in the problems of her personal life. She sends more clues to the journalist about her mother's disappearance and presumed murder, and this surely makes Callum trust her more, at least for the moment.
The news of Phoebe Davis' death had been announced in Surface season 2 episode 2, after the woman mysteriously fell from the balcony of her hotel room in Paris during a vacation that seemed more like she had fled the country. Phoebe was the same woman who had agreed to reveal more information about the Huntley family to Callum, but had left for France without informing him about this trip.
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