Every town has a story. Every tale has a believer. Beneath the surface the truth is hiding under the skin.
Siren
Airdate March 29, 2018, Freeform Thursdays 8 pm
Created by Eric Wald and Dean White
Production Company: Freeform
What You Should Know:
After a fishing boat, The North Star accidentally nets a Mermaid, the government steals the creature and an injured crewman even as a mysterious girl shows up in the town of Bristol Cove, the “Mermaid Capitol of the World”. Ben Pownall a marine biologist and member of one of the town’s oldest families, rescues the girl and soon must question everything he knows when he watches the girl transform into a Mermaid!
What You’ll Find Out:
(Spoilers Ahead!)
A storm surrounds the North Star as the Captain prepares to harpoon the incoming creature. But before he can fire, Ben knocks away the harpoon. An argument ensues with Ben wanting to protect the creature whom he fears could be Ryn.
Hearing sounds and fearing Ryn may be hurt, Ben does his famous dive-straight-into-the-water stunt. Below, Ben immediately notices something is attached to the ship’s propeller. He wrestles the object free and takes it back on board the North Star.
The camera travels along the beach, stopping at Ryn’s discarded skin. The Mermaids can shed their skins and separate their tails into feet so they can walk the land. But after a certain amount of time, they need to return to their original forms. The camera moves on through the woods to show Ryn, in her human form, asleep under a tree.
Xander and Ben do the bro’ bonding as they exam the device that was attached to the ship. All they can figure out for sure is that it’s some sort of camera and, in all likelihood, a tracking device.
Morning. The town awakens and Ryn is walking down the street naked. People hide their children while others look away. Ryn hisses at some. When Ryn returns to the property she’s been stealing clothes from and helps herself to more she’s met by a woman who yells she’s tired of these junkies stealing her clothes. Ryn shuts her up when she throws a metal rod through a wooden post next to the woman.
Ryn runs off and finds her way to Ben’s place and breaks in. She picks up a framed photo of Ben and Maddie and looks at it with a mixture of curiosity and, perhaps, jealousy. At the Marine Center, Maddie has been trying to call Ben all morning and is worried about him. Behind her, Ryn sneaks in and just looks at Maddie in a strange way…the way she looks at everything strangely.
At a cordoned crime scene in the woods, Donnie is still dead and sticking out of his car windshield while the Sheriff inspects the scene. He believes it was caused by someone of substantial size and strength. He got one of those right.
At Helen Hawkins’ curio shop, Helen looks up from the crosswords to see Ryn in the store. Miss Hawkins pushes a customer out and closes the store. She asks Ryn why she is there. Ryn attempts to communicate by holding up a figurine of two Mermaids. Then she breaks it in half and holds up one Mermaid.
At the Naval facility, Aldon orders spinal fluid and tissue samples taken from the captive Mermaid who lets out a plaintive call.
Maddie enters Ben’s place as he is getting out of the shower and she notices the gouges on his neck.He says he wants to show her something…which is the video of Ryn as a Mermaid. Ben is flabbergasted by the whole ordeal as he must now admit the creatures are real. Maddie is a little shocked herself.
Ryn holds up a Frozen book to Helen. Helen picks up on the word “Sister” on the cover of the book. Ryn is looking for her sister.
Ben tells Maddie about the device he found attached to the North Star. The Ben goes to visit his father at the fishing docks. He tries to get the truth from his dad about the family history but his dad doesn’t reveal much. Meanwhile, Helen shops for some fish for Ryn and Xander and Calvin discover the device is missing. At the Naval Hospital, Chris is kept sedated.
Ben and Maddie bring the device to show Helen who tries to keep them from knowing Ryn is there. When Ben plays the sound recording, Ryn goes wild and breaks out of the bedroom and grabs the device from them. She thinks her sister is inside the capsule. Ryn’s arm begins to get scaly and change but then suddenly stops. Ben tells Ryn they will help her find her sister. Back at the Naval compound, Aldon Decker is watching the captive sister. He begins to become mesmerized by the Siren song.
Ben drives to The Anchor with Ryn and Maddie who stay in the car. Ryn grabs Maddie’s head and sniffs and exams her. In the bar, Ben meets with Xander and Calvin. He tells them he has the device and, after getting in a fight with Calvin, he agrees to give it back to them. They go out to the car and Ben coaxes the device from Ryn. He and Maddie hide Ryn’s identity from the guys.
It’s later and Aldon Decker is sitting, still staring at the Mermaid as she sings the Siren song. In Helen’s bedroom, Helen is sleeping when Ryn silently slips in and starts going through Helen’s things. She comes across an old knife in an ornate sheath and takes it.
At Maddie’s home, she and Ben are discussing the Siren song when Maddie’s dad, Sheriff Dale Bishop, comes home and drops some files on the dining table. Dale is talking to someone on his cell phone about Donnie Price’s murder. He says “What do you mean it’s not human blood?”.
Ryn walks down the dark, deserted streets of Bristol Cove, knife in hand.
What This Means For The Future:
Clearly, Ryn means business and is determined to rescue her sister. Her sister may be planning an escape of her own as she tries to control Aldon with her Siren call. Ben will need to move fast to stay ahead of Ryn and possibly stop an all-out war between Bristol Cove and the Mermaids.
Final Thought: The episode was paired with the pilot as a 2-hour premiere. The pace has slowed a little bit from the pilot but remains cohesive and enthralling. This episode continues the exposition for the characters and sets up Miss Hawkins as an ally to Ben and Ryn. Xander is Ben’s best friend but remains in the dark about what is going on. This could cause potential conflict in the future but I think Xander will be there for Ben when it comes down to it. The wildcard is Calvin who is thoughtless and selfish and could prove a major problem if he finds out about Ryn. The Navy sub-plot needs to pick up and I think it’s time to shift some focus on that. We need to know more about Aldon Decker and his motivations and why they are holding Chris and keeping him sedated. The next episode is titled “Interview With A Mermaid”.
Rating: 9.5/10
Siren airs Thursdays at 8:00 on most Freeform stations. Check your local listings.
The More You Know Maddie Bishop and her father Sheriff Dale Bishop are members of the Haida Tribe. From Wikipedia: The Haida are a nation and ethnic group native to, or otherwise associated with, Haida Gwaii and the Haida language.
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