Gugu Mbatha-Raw Returns to the 'Surface' for Season 2

Charles Dickens isn't credited with inventing the amnesia trope in literature. However, his 1859 A Tale of Two Cities popularized it with the character of Lucie Manette, whose traumatic memory loss serves as a key plot device in the narrative. A century and a half later, it's been mainly relegated to two genres: The Romance and The Thriller. Apple TV+'s Surface, which debuted in 2022 to little marketing and less notice, pulled a fast one in its first season, presenting itself as a romance only to turn the tables into thriller territory over the show's eight episodes. Now, Season 2 returns in February 2025 to pay with our assumptions some more.

The series stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Girl Before) as Sophie, who wakes up from head trauma with no idea what happened to her or who anyone is. For most of the season, Season 1 played like a Lifetime movie, with telegraphed twists and turns made watchable by Mbatha-Raw's stunning performance. However, the finale left more questions than it should have, and Apple TV+ renewed it for a second season because when you're a billion-dollar company, you can afford to give a show time to improve.

However, Season 2's twist looks far more interesting than the romance-to-thriller potboiler, as the synopsis suggests that Sophie gets to play out a different aspect as she discovers in her previous life, she was one of the good guys... but those who she trusts now may not be.

Here is the Season 2 synopsis:

The second chapter of Surface follows Sophie to London to unravel the secrets of her past. Having suffered an injury that robbed her of her memories, Sophie follows the few clues she has, using her vast stolen resources to embed herself in elite British society and discovering a possible connection to a beautiful heiress. But everything changes when a journalist contacts her out of the blue, and Sophie realizes they were working together to expose a shocking scandal about the dangerous people she’s now become close to.

Mbatha-Raw will be joined by co-stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Towards Zero) and Millie Brady (Roadkill). Season 2 also adds several new faces, including Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso), Gavin Drea (Wedding Season), Rupert Graves (Sherlock), Tara Fitzgerald (Belgravia), Nina Sosanya (Good Omens), Joely Richardson (The Gentlemen), and Freida Pinto (Mr. Malcolm's List).

Veronica West, the series creator and showrunner, once again wrote all episodes of Surface Season 2. Directors include Ed Lilly, Jon East, Lynsey Miller, and Alrick Riley. Mbatha-Raw executive produces with West and Reese Witherspoon & Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine.

Surface Season 2 premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday, February 21, 2025. New episodes will air every Friday through the beginning of April.