TELEVISION EPISODE REVIEW: Siren S1 Ep 5 "Curse of the Starving Class"

Every town has a story. Every tale has a believer. Beneath the surface the truth is hiding under the skin.

Siren
Air date April 19, 2018 Freeform Thursdays 8 pm
Created by Eric Wald and Dean White
Production Company Freeform

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

What You Should Know:

Chris and Ryn’s sister whom he calls “Donna” because she’s wearing the nurse’s badge, escape from the Naval facility. Chris reunites with Xander and Calvin who take him for medical help. Ryn has been out of the water too long and is dying. Ben and Maddie get her back to the water where Ryn sees her sister. The two Mermaids swim off but Ben and Maddie will be able to keep tabs on Ryn with a tracker they gave her. However, once the Mermaids are out of range they lose the signal. Aldon Decker continues his search for Donna and Sheriff Bishop tries to hunt down Donnie Price’s killer.

What You’ll Find Out:

ONE MONTH LATER…Chris is having a beer at a bar in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, when he is approached by Aldon Decker who is seeking information about the Mermaid who escaped the Naval station with Chris.
In Bristol Cove, Ben has been going out late at night on the boat to where they lost Ryn’s signal. Maddie is concerned that he took the boat out alone and that he hasn’t quite been “here” lately. Ben shows her a bottom-dwelling fish he found dead near the top of the water where it shouldn’t be.

Elaine Pownall has submitted herself for another medical trial that may allow her to walk again.

Jerry interrupts Ben and Maddie who are about to have “clumsy sex” and tells them of a boat accident. We learn the fishermen have been fishing night and day to catch as many fish as possible.
Ben joins his fathers fishing company as an environmental consultant.

Maddie tells Ben that the fish he found died of starvation. They attempt to get back to the clumsy sex but Ryn’s tracker signal goes off. When the two arrive at the beach, they find two recent Mermaid tail cast offs.

Aldon Decker tells Admiral Harrison they picked up the sounds of the Mermaids. There’s a lot of construction on something going on as well.

Ryn runs naked in the woods. Donna follows and wants Ryn to return to the water. Ryn tries to convince her sister they need people…they need Ben and Maddie. Donna rips Ryn’s tracker necklace off her and throws it away. After stealing some clothes they head to the Marine Center.

Nina brings Aldon Decker the latest rendering for a new tank system that is stronger and more able to hold the Mermaids if they get out of hand like before.

Ben and Maddie are closing in on Ryn till the trail stops when Ben finds Ryn’s tracker, torn off by Donna. They decide to head back to the center and on their way, they alert Helen Hawkins that Ryn is back. Helen isn’t too happy to hear the news. She fears for their safety.

Ryn and Donna break into the Center just as Ben and Maddie return. Helen joins them. Ryn tries to introduce her sister who is less than friendly. Ryn assures her these people are good. Ryn tells Ben they’ve come for his help. There is no food, nothing to hunt. Their people are starving.

Donna sees the dissected fish and thinks people are taking their food. She attacks Ben but Ryn holds her back causing the two Mermaids to get into a heavy brawl. Ryn is left with a bloody gash. Donna reaches for Ryn to come with her but ends up running off by herself.

Maddie works on Ryn’s gash from the fight as Ryn explains the experimentation done on her sister. This is why she sees humans as bad. Helen says the fishermen are stealing the Mermaid’s food source. Ben fears his own family is guilty.

Donna finds her way to the Pownall Seafood Company and discovers all the dead fish on ice in the warehouse. When she helps herself to dinner a worker comes along who she winds up attacking.

Ben starts work for his father and begins checking things out. On the Northstar, Xander and Calvin are surprised when Chris comes back for his old job.

Maddie explains to Ryn what a family…a mother…is. Love. Ryn tells Maddie she missed her and then kisses her on the lips. Then she says “Bye-Bye”.

Ben learns from the fishermen on the docks the fish is being bought up — fast. At the same time, Maddie lunches with Ben’s mom, Elaine. They have a faux cordiality going on. It’s clear Mrs. Pownall doesn’t approve of Maddie. Ben breaks into his dad’s computer and finds lots of emails from Coastal Mills. One reads “We’ll take everything”.
Elaine is talking to Maddie like she is another wounded creature her son is fixated on saving. “Until another wounded creature comes along”. Maddie gets a text from Ben and is happy to break up the lunch. She leaves Elaine with “I’m not a rescue”.

In another military installation, Aldon Decker looks out over several tanks being assembled…just like the one which held Ryn’s sister. This would seem to match up with the tank rendering Decker was looking at before.

Helen Hawkins locates Donna hiding under the docks. She offers Donna food and tells her “We want the same thing”. Helen manages to get Donna to come home with her. She tells the Mermaid “You can trust me. I’m one of you.”

Ben tells Ryn there are men trying to capture her. Meanwhile, Aldon Decker is driving. And he just crossed the city line to Bristol Cove.

What This Means For The Future:

As this second half of the first season story arc begins we’ve learned what has brought the Mermaids so close to land…food. Ben will surely have to clash with his father since he has now found out that Pownall Seafood is overfishing the waters. But the fishing company is just a tool as the real threat rises to the military itself as they are trying to force the Mermaids into a position where they can be captured. Aldon Decker, who once looked sympathetic to the Mermaids, seems to have a far more sinister agenda. Ryn and Donna are likely to not be the only Mermaids who get caught up in a fight, a fight that began over a century ago.

Final Thought: I really like this show! It’s fresh and has a timely approach to ecological issues such as how human actions affect other creatures we share the planet with. Overfishing is a real problem. And so is the way our oceans are treated in general.

This is the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, an island size mass of garbage that is floating in the Pacific ocean.

What is floating on top and below the surface is killing wildlife and endangering many species. There are photos of what has happened to marine animals that are so tragic I couldn’t bear to include them here.

Returning to the show…I am loving all these characters! Ryn’s innocent “sexual” gestures like kissing Ben and Maddie…she expresses what she sees as love, even if it may be a little inappropriate. I was really afraid they might try to force a “beauty and the beast” love story here but I don’t think that is where they are going. I love the way Ben’s mom, Elaine, uses her passive-aggressiveness to “hint” at Maddie that she’s not good enough to be a part of the Pownall family…going as far as calling her one of Ben’s “rescues” to her face, all the while holding her fake smiles and “friendliness”. She’s a bonafide bitch. And what about Helen Hawkins? Were you expecting her big announcement? I sorta was and sorta wasn’t. It will be interesting to see this play out. Is Maddie right about Ben? Is he becoming distant with her? I really like them as a couple, the two actors have a great chemistry so I hope nothing splits them up. My feelings are it’s the Siren Song which hasn’t been delved into very deeply. But I know my mythology and I know the destructive effects of a Siren’s song. Hopefully they will get around to addressing this instead of just playing pretty music. Xander. Something about this guy makes me uneasy where the Mermaids are concerned. He could be a silent threat waiting for the right moment. Time will tell.

And they will have time! I am happy to announce that the series has been Freeform’s highest rated show in critical demographic groups. Siren has not only been renewed for a second season but it will expand to 16 episodes over this season’s 10!

Rating: 10/10