Previous Episodes Discussion

[Tress]

On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 6:30 PM, Zanne said:

I also thought the main guy's mom who is in the wheelchair might have mermaid blood and the reason she couldn't walk was due to that fact somehow.

See, this is why I love  coming to these forums for these ideas.  So cool, Zanne.  I mean, the old dude from the story (in the puppet play) falls in love with the mermaid, right?

[Dizzychickstar]

Anything about mermaids and I’m willing to give it ago. I agree about the male lead.  Maddie and Ryn’s chem is affecting.  I feel like there is enough of the familiar mermaid tropes, combined with the other worldliness of Ryn and her sister that I’m willing to stick with it.  I wouldn’t mind some flashbacks of the male lead’s ancestors regarding the lore. 

[Dizzychickstar]

Filming their observations of Ryn make me nervous, however there were many things to like about this episode. 

I like that Ryn treats the two differently. She is more physical with Maddie. Almost like she is showing her physical dominance, but she can also be quite gentle with her too. Their talks are showing more depth already. 

I appreciate the pull Ben must feel between his position in the town, friendships, and his own future. I like that we get to see Maddie have dinner with her stepfather too. 

[Tress]

On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 6:24 PM, AnimeMania said:

Why would a marine researcher have such a crappy aquarium?

Animemania,  crappy aquariums are all many researchers and rescuers can afford.  My family has supported a bird sanctuary in Clearwater, FL for many years and they are struggling.  Anyway, I totally found this true to real life.  It's unfortunate, but people need to give.  

[nicgwatchingtv]

Nobody is watching this show w/ me and I just had to say it to 'someone':

Team Find Chris is a ridiculous embarrassment of sloppy writing and underdeveloped characters. Suggesting that running the nurse off the road might make any sense, that ridiculous scene at the military base's gate (just say you were lost or even that you were following the nurse after you thought you dinged her car or pretty much anything but retreating in a panic at the first sign of soldiers like the most suspicious people ever), loudly overreacting to the nurse's return call and then just hanging up like people who want to creep her out, that one guy and his constant "he's not one of us" hostility towards Ben, that stupid interaction in their apartment w/ the needlessly hostile and bitchy fuck-buddy/girlfriend...uugh, these characters are so painfully badly written/acted right now.

I do think the Ryn character is being played very well so far. Weird and feral and yet sympathetic.

[nicgwatchingtv]

On 3/30/2018 at 6:00 AM, Dream Boy said:

I'm in as well and agreed on the main mermaid actress. She's selling me on it alone lol 

 

On 3/30/2018 at 9:36 AM, DearEvette said:

She has such distinct features, she really looks like she is otherworldly.  Same thing with Maddie if she really is a hybrid.  There is just something about her features as well.

The main mermaid actress totally sold me on watching this despite the fact that I think that the writing and most of the acting is kinda bad right now (lots of good shows start out with the same problems so things might very well improve), 

The actress playing Maddie isn't giving me much in terms of her acting (as of right now-we'll see) but I agree that she's got this fantatastic, almost strange look to her that gives credence to the theories that she's a hybrid.

I also think that the captured mermaid is haunting. She hasn't said a word yet, but right now she's got me interested in seeing what happens to and with her. Without knowing how mermaids age I don't know that I think that she might be Maddy's missing mom as well as Ryn's sister (or even what a mermaid sibling relationship actually means) or if perhaps the relationship will go deeper than that (maybe the 3 of them are all sisters to one yet unseen mother). Of course, that might depend on whether or not this show gets picked up for another season.

Edited to add: insomnia again so I'm rewatching ep 1/2 and I have to say I think the writers have a real problem with having characters behave in the least logical, most suspicious way possible to situations that would easily be resolved with casual lying ( like when the rescue squad hung up on the nurse rather than just saying 'it was a wrong number, sorry to have bothered you' or driving away from the military base like guilty lunatics rather than just stopping or even calmly waving as they turned around as if they'd been lost). Even the nurse, when tending Chris responds to his queries about what's going on with creepy, suspicious silence. Why not just have her say something like "You were hurt in an accident and are in the hospital" and avoid him becoming suspicious or worried?  What's this with the 'everyone is too stupid be even slightly not obvious with the fact that they're up to something' thing that's being written over and over? Is it common to a YA series? (I read a review that called it a YA series-I don't know if I've watched another one of those since Buffy)

Edited April 11, 2018 by nicgwatchingtv

[AnimeMania]

This episode seemed to tie up all the loose ends. The next episode seems to be the military is trying to starve the mermaids to force them out into the open. Maybe the mermaids can work as sheepdogs and herd all the fish into the nets for the Ben's father.

[BooBear]

That was a nice mini series... it wrapped up just like I thought it would...wait what? There are more episodes?  HuH?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Ben begins to investigate some suspicious overfishing, meanwhile Decker ramps up his efforts to find his escaped mermaid and shows the true extent of his influence.

[HunterHunted]

3 hours ago, BooBear said:

That was a nice mini series... it wrapped up just like I thought it would...wait what? There are more episodes?  HuH?

That was my thought too. I wonder if this was the producers hedging their bets if it the show didn't really appeal to Freeform beyond the initial premise. Though it does kind of tickle me that to get Ben and Maddie to continue their investigation into mermaids, the show is really going to double down on science. Yay! It's rare that shows ever depict this much science unless it's explicitly science-y and mad (see Fringe, Stitchers, and others).

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Awwwww, loved seeing Ryn and her sister finally reunited. I would have been fine with that being the end of the show but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

Miss Hawkins said that the mermaids can spend more time out of the water each time they surface which lends more weight to the theory that Ben's mom is a mermaid.

Loved how happy Xander was when they finally found Chris.

[tennisgurl]

I cant say I saw that all wrapping up so quickly, with Ryn finding her sister and heading back to the ocean. Its actually a nice ending, and it was sweet seeing the sisters reunited. So, now it looks like the military will be hunting the mermaids, and Maddie and Ben will have to deal with that and keeping their mermaid secret. Super interested to see what happens next.

It was really adorable seeing how much Ben and Maddie came to care about Ryn, especially when Maddie was telling Ryn that she isnt bad. Plus, I giggled when Ryn walked in on them having shower sex, and, much like last week when she crawled into bed with them, they were just like "Oh...hey Ryn" and just laughed. What can I say, I ship it, and I make no apologies*.

Chris seems like a good guy, helping "Donna" even when he was badly hurt. And mermaid Donna is quite quick on the uptake. She not only realized she needed to find clothes, but she seemed to realize that Chris wasn't part of the experiments, and decided she needed a human to help her escape. I wonder if they'll bump into each other again? 

I really love how Ben and Maddie are still looking at this from the perspective of scientists. You dont normally get that in these kinds of shows, its really cool to see here.

*Freeform: Here to make you think WAY more about inter-species dating than you probably expected to. 

Edited April 13, 2018 by tennisgurl

[BooBear]

5 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Chris seems like a good guy, helping "Donna" even when he was badly hurt. And mermaid Donna is quite quick on the uptake. She not only realized she needed to find clothes, but she seemed to realize that Chris wasn't part of the experiments, and decided she needed a human to help her escape. I wonder if they'll bump into each other again? 

I ship them.. I ship them hard. 

[Harry Potter]

I am wondering if Helen Hawkins was a Mermaid... She has those scars. She mention they called it an autoimmune disease but that's another term for something they don't understand. 

 

That ending scene was intriguing. The home of where they live. I was almost expecting a kingdom like in The little mermaid haha. 

That mysterious (magical) barrier they passed through was probably why the signal was lost. Scientifically, it could be a natural magnetic barrier or some sort of natural charged gas that's more dense than the sea water above but not as much in the depths below to create a dome or layer of protection from radar. 

 

The military general dude doesn't make sense. In real life, they would preserve the only specie that was thought to be folklore or endangered instead of sucking the spinal fluid dry out of the mermaid potentially killing her. This is the typical brute military way of working you see in movies.. Without even studying the mermaid and its entirety, they only focused on spinal fluid... Right. 

Makes me think someone else is in command that has an interest in such miracle development. Like someone with paralysis. *cue dramatic dun dun dun! 

 

At this point, I'm so desensitized (blame GoT) that I don't see a big problem if Ryn gets into a relationship with both Ben and Maddie. It's almost acceptable because our rules don't really apply to them (mermaids) as they probably don't see this as anything but love and trust. 

[DearEvette]

On 4/13/2018 at 5:30 AM, BooBear said:

That was a nice mini series... it wrapped up just like I thought it would...wait what? There are more episodes?  HuH?

It was always showing up in my Hulu list with a show description of being as a 10 episode series.  So I never even thought of this as being the last episode.

That said, i love that they didn't drag out Ryn and her sister's finding each other, or Sister Mermaid getting out or them finding Chris.  I think it is a smart decision to wrap some of the strings up mid-way, up only to leave other ones dangling to ramp up to bigger stakes.  I wish more shows would do stuff like this. 

When the jail break happened for both "Donna" and Chris I think I was dancing in my seat with  happiness.  Yeah!  Also It was well done and pretty tense.  Very curious to see what happens now.

Also I wonder how much stuff the older set in the community know.  Just like Helene (who -- yeah I think may be family) I wonder if the Doctor knows more than he's telling?

Finally, I am still loving the relationship between Ben, Maddie and Ryn.  They care for her and care about building her trust.  Maybe now that she is the water for a bit, they can bone without interruption though.  Ha!

[BooBear]

13 hours ago, Harry Potter said:

I am wondering if Helen Hawkins was a Mermaid... She has those scars. She mention they called it an autoimmune disease but that's another term for something they don't understand. 

I think they were strongly hinting that. There have been a ton of hints so far including Helen recognizing Ryn immediately as a mermaid.

Given that mermaids have similar "race" to humans.. did humans evolve from mermaids or did humans evolve into mermaids?

Quote

Finally, I am still loving the relationship between Ben, Maddie and Ryn.

Would not at all be surprised if she is coming back because she misses them.  I think in a way like a wild animal... Ryn sort of tamed during her time on land.  It would be interesting if like  a wild animal she really couldn't go back because she did't have the killer instinct anymore.  

[enchantingmonkey]

5 hours ago, BooBear said:

Given that mermaids have similar "race" to humans.. did humans evolve from mermaids or did humans evolve into mermaids?

That could be a fun idea for the show for the show to play. 

Quote

It would be interesting if like  a wild animal she really couldn't go back because she did't have the killer instinct anymore.

I didn't feel like she was out of the water long enough to lose her killer instinct but her interactions with the human characters did have some impact on her emotional capacity.  She became more patient and exhibited a willingness to play by their rules.  

Speaking of which, I found it amusing that the mermaids were more emotionally compelling than the human characters.  It almost didn't seem fair.  Although, it was a nice touch that Ben, Maddie and friends did seem to genuinely care about each other. 

A moment like the two mermaids reuniting might normally make me groan but I found it satisfying.  Funny that I projected my human conditioning onto them and wished for them to embrace.  They're mermaids!  They do what they want!  

Edited April 15, 2018 by enchantingmonkey

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Siren cast interviews:

[AnimeMania]

I was a little disappointed since it seemed they told you everything that was important about the episode in last week's preview and everything else was filler. It seems like everything interesting about next week's episode appeared in this week's episode trailer. I figured that mermaid store lady was a mermaid, I don't understand why she doesn't talk to the mermaids in their language.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

When Ben and Maddie attend his mother's fundraising gala, an unexpected guest shows up and offers to put an end to the overfishing that's threatening the lives of the mermaids in Bristol Cove.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So Decker's bosses are willing to fuck up the ecosystem in order to capture one mermaid? Priorities, man.

No surprise that Helen is a mermaid. So who is her sister and how did she betray her? I'm guessing Ben's mother is her sister and she sided with Ben's father (or just people in general) but we'll see.

I loved how happy Maddie was to see Ryn!

Edited April 20, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[UNOSEZ]

I dunno if this is something or not.. But unless im mistaken every time someone tried to touch a mermaid Fin it disintegrated...  But on the beach Maddie touched it and it didn't... Now granted we moved away quickly and I never saw the sample she said she was gonna create.. But it made me go hmmm... 

Not sure what either Helen or Elaine were really doing this epi... Why is Elaine so shitty to Maddie... Is she just a lonely bitter woman who misses her son or is it more...  And I know  Helen may be a mermaid ( or not)  but why is she so dead set on them leaving

[Kickboxer]

4 hours ago, UNOSEZ said:

I dunno if this is something or not.. But unless im mistaken every time someone tried to touch a mermaid Fin it disintegrated...  But on the beach Maddie touched it and it didn't... Now granted we moved away quickly and I never saw the sample she said she was gonna create.. But it made me go hmmm... 

Not sure what either Helen or Elaine were really doing this epi... Why is Elaine so shitty to Maddie... Is she just a lonely bitter woman who misses her son or is it more...  And I know  Helen may be a mermaid ( or not)  but why is she so dead set on them leaving

I think Helen's issue is that she saw so much devastation among the mermaids in her time that she is very against having it happen again. She has a point too considering the storyline is basically humans trying to eradicate the mermaids.  I do not think that Maddie is part mermaid as her role is emphasizing the attraction between humans and mermaids regardless of gender- which is a nice modern touch too.  It has always seemed like Elaine is part mermaid- thus the wheelchair, maybe she sees the pain that two people with completely different backgrounds who fall in love can cause and is extrapolating that to Ben and Maddie? So far all we have seen is her bitchy, protective mother side though.

[calliope1975]

I'm still holding out hope Maddie is part mermaid, heh. I was a bit bummed last week when she didn't call Donna "Mom." But now they've opened up her parentage on her father's side as well since the sheriff is her stepfather, and with her mom missing/gone, I'm still on Team Mermaid for Maddie. 

[SherriAnt]

On 14/04/2018 at 1:22 AM, Harry Potter said:

I am wondering if Helen Hawkins was a Mermaid... She has those scars. She mention they called it an autoimmune disease but that's another term for something they don't understand. 

I think this is what they're getting at, too. I also wonder if  the paralyzed woman was injured when she changed once, and maybe can't go back to mermaid anymore. Would that make Ben part merman?

I don't really get a romantic/sexy vibe from the 3 of them. The touching, butting into private situations, and wanting to cuddle between "Mom and Dad" all give me more of a childish, exploratory feel. But then, my kids say I'm hopelessly naive. 

[tennisgurl]

First of all, it was super sweet how much Ryn trusts Maddie and Ben, and how much they missed each other. She even faught her sister for them! I mean, I get why Donna is distrusting of humans, while Ryn trusts them more. Donna was tortured and studied, while Ryn met up with people who took care of her and helped her as much as they could. And who she got...close with. Really close a few times. Its pretty adorable. I can see why they already have different views on people. 

Helen being a mermaid isnt that much of a surprise. I wonder how she ended up on land? And what is Elaines deal? Does she actually just dislike Maddie, or is this something else? Also, I wont be surprised to find out that Ben's dad is involved with the over fishing plan. I dont think he knows about mermaids (unless Elaine?!), but he is up to something shady. 

The government must really want to study them some mermaids. They're throwing a lot of time and effort, including screwing up the local environment and risking all of this coming out, into finding these fish people, I do wonder what their end goal is. Just want to know what their deal is, or do they want to harness their fish power?

[SyncMaster]

On 4/5/2018 at 9:23 PM, HunterHunted said:

It was a bit of a set up episode, but I'm fine with it. Plus, I'm actually shocked how close Team Mermaid came to finding Chris. They know he's in a military base, but now they need to find a way in. And luckily in the military base, testing has slowed down. Have they even fed the poor mermaid? They kept talking about her being listless and I wondered if they'd fed her. Plus she's in a cramped tank. Of course, she's listless.

Though I don't doubt that it was shown I was looking at the tanks to see how fresh water was pumped in and the old water was removed.  If she were just hanging out in her own waste then...

Unrelated to her waste, that tank was so small she didn't have the room to even get a decent breast stroke happening.

On 4/6/2018 at 4:44 PM, tennisgurl said:

I really like how Maddie and Ben are coming at this from a scientific perspective, and not just a magical one. They both see this as an amazing scientific discovery, and want to learn more about this new, sentient species they discovered, which certainly makes sense coming from people who are in marine biology, but its not something you often see when normal people come across mystical creatures in these kinds of stories. And its good to see how more ethical scientists would treat meeting someone like Ryn, unlike the scientists who took Ryns sister and are doing painful experiments on her. 

That's what I really liked about this episode.  They were trying to measure and test Ryn while she's wandering around touching and sniffing and exploring everything.  The best scene was when Ben weighed her at 196 lbs.  Maddie: "That can't be right!"  And Ryn had already left the scale to stick her nose in some other business and had to be guided back to the scale to be weighed again.

After that confirmation of her weight Ben said that he wanted to test her bone density which, along with testing her muscle density, would probably be the obvious inquisitive follow ups to her unusual weight.

On 4/6/2018 at 4:44 PM, tennisgurl said:

I do wonder if mermaids have any real concept of sexual orientation, or dating, or anything like that? I mean, they're fish people after all, they dont usually have all the same parts that we do in their natural habitat. Maybe in mermaid culture, its totally normal to meet a nice couple and start dating them both? I still keep giggling over Ryn just crawling into bed with Maddie and Ben, and snuggling in, and they're both like "well...ok" and just go to sleep.

For now I'm assuming that the mermaids do have societal relationships that differ from landlubbers and that's why her move from the couch into the middle of Ben and Maddie's cozy little huddle didn't seem sexual to me.  She was probably lonely and she was with people that made her feel safe.  Even when she felt Ben's arms I thought it was more exploratory than sexual until she started moving her face closer to his then it started getting hot!

[SyncMaster]

On 4/14/2018 at 2:09 PM, DearEvette said:

When the jail break happened for both "Donna" and Chris I think I was dancing in my seat with  happiness.  Yeah!  Also It was well done and pretty tense.  Very curious to see what happens now.

 

On 4/13/2018 at 11:25 AM, tennisgurl said:

Chris seems like a good guy, helping "Donna" even when he was badly hurt. And mermaid Donna is quite quick on the uptake. She not only realized she needed to find clothes, but she seemed to realize that Chris wasn't part of the experiments, and decided she needed a human to help her escape. I wonder if they'll bump into each other again?

Since Donna was the one that injured Chris on the fishing boat I was wondering if he'd recognize her when he ran across her in the hallway.  He didn't but then I wanted to know if she would recognize him and it didn't seem that she did.

On 4/14/2018 at 2:14 PM, BooBear said:

Given that mermaids have similar "race" to humans.. did humans evolve from mermaids or did humans evolve into mermaids?

Or if they evolved separately and just happen to look similar from the waist up.

[tennisgurl]

Oh Xander, what are you doing? You are gonna get all kinds of eaten at this rate. 

Ben, Maddie, and Ryn are kind of totally adorable. I mean, when Ryn came up and kissed Ben after Ben kissed Maddie, and Maddie was just like "yeah, I got one already" I was dying! I mean, its clear that they need to discuss the concept of personal space with Ryn, and how humans show affection based on previously established relationships...but I totally ship this OT3 to here and back. Them hanging in the kitchen with Ben making Maddie coffe and Ryn making raw fish was so domestic. I hope Ryn heads back to her favorite couple soon. 

Although, I could totally get into Ryn being a siren superhero hunting evil people. That sounds kind of awesome. I mean, I get why Ben didnt want to watch this guy get gutted, but Ryn is still new to human morality, and that guy was a prick. I get why Donna and Ryn have super different feelings about humans. 

Ben's dad seems nice, so that means he`s clearly up to no good. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by tennisgurl

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I mean, I get why Ben didnt want to watch this guy get gutted, but Ryn is still new to human morality, and that guy was a prick.

I am not sure (Decker) really was a prick, it seemed like he was 5 seconds away from curing Ben's mother's paralysis. He might just be p-whipped due to the siren song. I don't know why fishy-Donna feels the need to roam around the city at night, she wasn't hungry. They should just grab a bag of fish everyday and feed their mer-people and wait for the government to go away. I still don't understand why the mermaids never talk to each other in their own language? I know they have one, maybe it doesn't work out of water.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

When Ryn is taken in for questioning, Maddie rushes to her rescue. Meanwhile, Ben and Xander return to the deep sea to search for answers, only to be met by an uninvited guest.

Promo:

Edited April 28, 2018 by paulvdb
added episode description

[tennisgurl]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

am not sure (Decker) really was a prick, it seemed like he was 5 seconds away from curing Ben's mother's paralysis. He might just be p-whipped due to the siren song. I don't know why fishy-Donna feels the need to roam around the city at night, she wasn't hungry.

I will say, he does seem more complex then he seemed at first. Maybe he really does want to use the mermaids to help cure stuff? He did experiment on Donna though in painful and nasty ways, so thats a big point against him. Of course, maybe he couldn't have done much to help, like this week. I would like to know how much of this is him, and how much is being stuck on siren sing.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

When Donna was still in the tank at the military facility, he did apologize to her so I think that he initially wanted to study mermaids for scientific reasons (like being able to cure paralysis) but when he saw the impact it was having on Donna (especially when one of the techs said that Donna had been unresponsive for hours), he felt bad for the pain he was inflicting on her. And in his defense, he did try to tell the military guys that he needed to slow down taking samples from Donna because it was weakening her. The military guy essentially said he didn't care (which really makes no sense - if you only have ONE mermaid to test/take samples from, it's in your best interest to keep her healthy, not let her die). I think Decker was initially driven by all the science and possibilities but that he began to realize that he wasn't really in control. He was just taking orders from the military. Refusing to cooperate meant that they would just find someone else to do his job, so it was in Donna's best interest for him to stick around and do the best he could to keep her alive. And he did slow down the testing, which the military guy noticed. I'm not saying that Decker is a good guy but I don't think he's 100% pure evil either.

What I really dislike is how he and Xander both seem to have a feeling of ownership of Donna. Xander keeps referring to her as "my mermaid." Dude, she doesn't belong to you. And Decker was clearly there to capture Donna (otherwise he wouldn't have been carrying that big needle full of drugs with him), whether it was because he wanted to hear the siren song again or because he wants to continue testing her.

[ribboninthesky1]

On 4/27/2018 at 3:52 AM, AnimeMania said:

I don't know why fishy-Donna feels the need to roam around the city at night, she wasn't hungry.

Ryn was shown doing the same in an earlier episode, I think maybe episode 2.  And on top of that, Ryn was carrying a weapon while doing so. 

I've been watching the show, but I'm waiting to see what it does with the Donna character.  It may not be intentional, but setting her against Ryn (when she has ALL of the reasons in the world to distrust humankind) makes her seem combative and uncooperative.  In reality, her point of view is just as valid as Ryn's, if not more so.  She was basically tortured and violated, and I find myself annoyed by Ryn's "not all humans bad" schtick to get Donna to see her side.  I get where she's coming from, but I'm considerably more sympathetic to Donna's perspective. There are supposedly ten episodes, so the show has some work to do.      

I watched a couple of Youtube clips, and noticed that most of the core cast aren't American.  The performances are a disconnect for me (no one is terrible, but it all feels very...CW-ish), and perhaps actors are so focused on the accents that the nuances are being lost.  At least for me.  

In any case, the show is beautifully shot. The wider-angle location shots are amazing, and the setting brings me back more so than the acting at this point. 

[Jacks-Son]

Damn, R.I.P., Capt. McClure, we hardly knew you. I was quietly hoping that it was Calvin who got the sea burial. He's like a little Chihuahua, always yapping.  I also hope Xander's dad's death doesn't place Xander in the anti-Mere-People ranks. That will pit Xander against Ben, and may draw the deputy into his camp also. She didn't look happy that the sheriff let Ryn go.

Nice episode, but it was maddening that every time the scenes in the police station and things were getting interesting, they would shift the scene back to the boat. I really wanted to hear what went on after Maddie poured the salt water on Ryn's hand.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Bristol Cove mourns a loss causing Ryn to experience a new human emotion.

Promo:

[ali59]

I was totally bored with the boat scenes except for the reveal of a male mermaid (merman?)  I hate dark scenes to begin with but add the three stooges to the dark scenes and it's a no go for me.  I wanted more of Maddie, Ryn and Maddie's dad.

[tennisgurl]

Poor Capt. McClure, he didnt even know what he was getting into, and he got killed by what his son was chasing. This could put Xander on Team Ant-Merepeople, and that would put him on the opposite team of Ben, and that freaking sucks. If he does start an anti-Mereperson crusade, he will be pissed when he realizes that Ben is helping them. 

Good episode, but the stuff with Maddie, her dad, and Ryn was way more interesting than the stuff on the boat, except for the fight with the merman. They use, what, narwhal tusks as spears? Epic! And the merman guy was really hot, so thats a thing. So, remember when we talked about intersperses dating? Call me, merman guy! 

When Maddies dad said he broke their pact, she just looked so heartbroken. I like their relationship, and I hope they can mend things up. She lied, yes, but its hard to tell your dad "so you know the person you were looking for? She is actually a siren that my boyfriend and I are taking care of, and we`re trying to hide her from a government mermaid harvesting conspiracy! She also looks at us as either parents, friends, or her future polygamous Throuple. Not sure how that all works in merperson culture." in casual conversation. 

[ursula]

First time posting... I really want to like this show... but I don't know how much longer I can stomach the coding of all the violent mer-people as Black as opposed to pure wild child Ryn whose only murder was #justified. The scene where she literally confesses to said murder and the Sheriff's response is: "I don't believe an innocent little thing like you did it. You must be covering for this #ScaryBlackWoman of whom there's no evidence connecting her to this murder, but I know she's guilty because she's a #ScaryBlackWoman and you're not"!!!!!!  ... And then Maddie encourages this narrative by promising her Dad she'll help get Ryn to give up said #ScaryBlackWoman?  

What.

the.

absolute.

f ????

I'm going to bet y'all some real cash that the writers room for this show is whiter than my toilet because the absolute tone-deafness of this is just... ?????

Edited May 5, 2018 by ursula

[wayne67]

On 4/23/2018 at 6:34 AM, tennisgurl said:

The government must really want to study them some mermaids. They're throwing a lot of time and effort, including screwing up the local environment and risking all of this coming out, into finding these fish people, I do wonder what their end goal is. Just want to know what their deal is, or do they want to harness their fish power?

Presumably throwing off the local ecosystem is considered worth the effort if they A) find a way of copying the mermaids musculature for military usage or their regeneration and or B) to control a potential anthromorphic threat to the country. 

I vaguely remember something about them using rats and it doing something impressive to them but I can't remember what it was. 

[Jacks-Son]

Okay, confession time, my father was Jamaican, born in Cuba & my mother was Cuban, born in Florida. My maternal grandfather was born in Spain, White, my Maternal Grandmother was White with Red hair. I like to think of myself as Caribbean, but I suppose that just makes me Afro-Hispanic as both my paternal grandparents were Black. When they introduced the Merman, I thought, okay, he's Black, but I never thought of it as the Black Mere-people are bad, and the White Mere-people are good. It just doesn't work like that for me.  Ryn could literally rip you to shreds if she wanted to, but she has learned to trust Ben and Maddie. Remember, she almost beheaded the woman she threw the rebar at (White). I don't think there is a lot of subtext going on, and considering the rich racial diversity of the cast, I don't think the writers or producers are thinking about it either.

AfterBuzzTV has a considerable library of podcasts, and they have a podcast for "Siren". The first podcast had Rena Owen (Helen) as a guest, and the 3rd podcast had Hannah Levien (Janine, Calvin's girlfriend) as a guest. When Rena Owen was on, she's a native New Zealander, (her dad is Māori, and her mom is Caucasian). Anyway, her perspective of the show is that the Mere-people don't see color or gender, they just see prey and family (I wouldn't say "A  school of Merepeople", because that just sounds silly.) Just like when Ryn slept between Maddie and Ben; it just felt natural to her. Like when Ben kissed Maddie goodbye and said, "I love you", Ryn rose up and kissed Ben and said "I love you". It wasn't sexual, it was just a familial gesture. Ryn and Donna consider each other sisters. One Black, the other White; to me it's immaterial. Donna's ferocity can be attributed to how she was treated after being captured. Ryn had a much less terrifying experience, but she did know that the druggie/waste of skin was up to no good, and she killed him. I see no difference between her reaction and the merman on the ship. (Nurture vs Nature?) Hunters are taking their food, driving them to the surface, and capturing them; White or Black mereperson. They're fighting back. Good for them.

As for how the director of the episode did, he dropped the ball. While the situation on the boat drew attention to the severity of the Military's action against the Merepeople and how dire it was (not to lessen the importance of Genocide and how it parallels the current worldwide situation of wiping out certain HUMAN species - but I'm getting that everyday in the news and sometimes I'd like to, for once, see something different), as those upthread have said, the drama at the Sheriff's office was MUCH more interesting. I wouldn't have minded a more seamless transition between the "A" story and the "B" story, but this director was just too abrupt. I found myself getting pissed when the scene left the sheriff's office. I wanted to see what happed AFTER Maddie poured the salt water on Ryn's hand. Then at the end, it was just, "Where's the prisoner?", "I let her go!". WTF? Umm, guys, you left out a helluva lot of dialogue and drama. Frankly, I didn't appreciate it.

[ursula]

35 minutes ago, Jacks-Son said:

but I never thought of it as the Black Mere-people are bad, and the White Mere-people are good. It just doesn't work like that for me. 

 I don't think there is a lot of subtext going on, and considering the rich racial diversity of the cast, I don't think the writers or producers are thinking about it either.

So what if - by your own admission - you do not perceive these things? Their existence are independent of your perception and/or lack of it. Just like literal tone deafness - the fact that someone can't hear music properly, doesn't mean that there's no music or the music has changed, it just means that ... someone can't hear music properly. 

And that's about it for me on this topic and this show. Regarding the topic, people far smarter than me have gone into lengths to explain that a show having a cast with "rich racial diversity" does not automatically prevent a show from being offensive in general or anti-Black in particular. And regarding the show, it simply isn't written well enough for me to stomach problematic viewing. 

Edited May 5, 2018 by ursula
double post

[Jacks-Son]

22 minutes ago, ursula said:

So what if - by your own admission - you do not perceive these things? Their existence are independent of your perception and/or lack of it. Just like literal tone deafness - the fact that someone can't hear music properly, doesn't mean that there's no music or the music has changed, it just means that ... someone can't hear music properly. 

Before you leave, I will attempt to explain that just because I don't perceive the prejudice and racial bigotry in this show, doesn't mean I don't see it in real life or in other shows or productions both written and broadcast. As for the "rich racial diversity" I just wanted to contrast that with other shows that shut out minorities. That's what I meant by that. Rather than shut out, this show encompasses. I meant no offense to anyone. And like you, that's enough about that discussion.

I like the show, and am fascinated by the actress Eline Powell. I think she's doing an outstanding job, as are the rest of the cast. (Except for the Chihuahua) It's too bad there are only 10 episodes this season.

[wayne67]

Personally I love the fact that the Merpeople are capable of fighting back on par with a navy ship/fishing boat. It's so unusual for the 'victim class' being oppressed to actually get their act together and devastate their enemies. 

I floved Decker's response to the admiral trying to shift blame by saying "WE didn't underestimate YOU DID." total mic drop moment. 

Honestly I'm confused by the Afro American mermen and mermaids since from an evolutionary point of view those merpeople should be albinos if they live in the ocean with little to no light. Oh well I'm just going to pretend that a Afro American man knocked up a mermaid and she laid a whole bunch of eggs. I'm really hoping we get some more mermen action. All this polyamorous femaleness is so 90's, bring on some polyamorous mermen to the party and this might seem more sexually progressive than the average lesbian teasing stuff.

As for possible racial subtext, we've seen 3 merpeople and other than that time Rin was trying to murder Ben in the water that one time, they've had pretty good reason to attack humans, 'Donna' murdered a whole bunch of people that had imprisoned and 'experimented' on her, Merman was attacking the people he thought were involved with starving and trying to capture other merpeople and Rin murdered one guy who was trying to rape her. Frankly all the merpeople violence seems pretty well justified to me so I don't see any negative racial subtext. 

[Jacks-Son]

43 minutes ago, wayne67 said:

Honestly I'm confused by the Afro American mermen and mermaids since from an evolutionary point of view those merpeople should be albinos if they live in the ocean with little to no light. Oh well I'm just going to pretend that a Afro American man knocked up a mermaid and she laid a whole bunch of eggs. I'm really hoping we get some more mermen action. All this polyamorous femaleness is so 90's, bring on some polyamorous mermen to the party and this might seem more sexually progressive than the average lesbian teasing stuff.

Well, I had thought that the lack of melanin should render all Merpeople either albino or at the very least, pale also. However, in the DC comics , we have Aquaman, who, I believe, originally had green skin. (Which would actually make sense) Speaking of Aquaman, he lived in the sunken city of Atlantis, so perhaps they were able to use Bioluminescence spheres to light their way and assist in the tanning process. :=P You also have to consider the theory of the evolutionary process that land animals originally came out of the sea; it's possible to theorize that the migration worked in the reverse also, and man went into the sea and gradually became aquatic. Just spitballin here.

[AnimeMania]

19 hours ago, ursula said:

First time posting... I really want to like this show... but I don't know how much longer I can stomach the coding of all the violent mer-people as Black as opposed to pure wild child Ryn whose only murder was #justified. The scene where she literally confesses to said murder and the Sheriff's response is: "I don't believe an innocent little thing like you did it. You must be covering for this #ScaryBlackWoman of whom there's no evidence connecting her to this murder, but I know she's guilty because she's a #ScaryBlackWoman and you're not"!!!!!!

The Sheriff was just using the evidence available, he thought Ryn was weak and he knew that mermaid Donna was very strong, after watching her fight the worker at the fish market. Ryn mentioned that she knew Donna so the Sheriff assumed she might have been in the car as well, which might make what occurred (throwing somebody through a car window) seem more plausible. Even if Donna wasn't involved, the Sheriff still wants to bring Donna in for assault. All the merpeople are incredibly violent, Ryn has just been taught not to make that her first reaction when encountering humans.

[Tress]

It freaked me out when Ben & his peeps'  boat sideswiped the gov't. boat.   I love this show.  I just don't understand the overfishing to the point where the merpeeps are starving.  What do they eat?  I know that it's deep sea stuff.

[ribboninthesky1]

21 hours ago, ursula said:

First time posting... I really want to like this show... but I don't know how much longer I can stomach the coding of all the violent mer-people as Black as opposed to pure wild child Ryn whose only murder was #justified. The scene where she literally confesses to said murder and the Sheriff's response is: "I don't believe an innocent little thing like you did it. You must be covering for this #ScaryBlackWoman of whom there's no evidence connecting her to this murder, but I know she's guilty because she's a #ScaryBlackWoman and you're not"!!!!!!  ... And then Maddie encourages this narrative by promising her Dad she'll help get Ryn to give up said #ScaryBlackWoman?  

What.

the.

absolute.

f ????

I'm going to bet y'all some real cash that the writers room for this show is whiter than my toilet because the absolute tone-deafness of this is just... ?????

I understand your point.  I posted my misgivings over the Donna characterization in the last episode thread.  I've noticed how they infantilized/sanitized Ryn in a way we have yet to see in Donna, despite her one positive interaction with Chris.  Example: we've seen how strong Ryn is, but suddenly she's too weak/meek to physically throw off the officer(s) who arrested her and brought her in, and too weak to break free of handcuffs?  OK, show. 

I don't even know why the sheriff would tie Donna to the forest murder when Donna didn't even enter the scene until the attack at the factory or whatever (during which the sheriff was MIA anyway).  Based on the show's timeline, those incidents were at least 2-3 weeks apart (if not a month), and no one mentioned seeing anyone fitting Donna's description around the time of the forest murder.  So basically, the sheriff was only brought back into the mix to interact with Maddie and find out what Ryn is.  All around fail with the writing.  

I'm totally sympathetic to the mer-people, but the showrunners don't seem to be thus far.  I knew the dad was a goner the minute it was revealed he was on the boat.  I wish I could feel sorry for Xander, but eh. Whatever.   

And I'm not sure what Ben thought his presence would do when he's observed and been a direct party to what happens when they are threatened.  What, he thought he would talk them down? Truth be told, I'd have been okay with all of the Too Stupid to Live people on the boat perishing, and the show shifting focus to Maddie, her father, the story with her mother and somehow tying that to the mer-people. The military angle could be kept, I suppose.  It would be a very different (and far more interesting) show.  

As it stands, I probably would have already bailed if there weren't only 10 episodes.  Might as well finish the thing, assuming the show doesn't get worse with tone-deafness. 

[DearEvette]

11 hours ago, Jacks-Son said:

Well, I had thought that the lack of melanin should render all Merpeople either albino or at the very least, pale also. However, in the DC comics , we have Aquaman, who, I believe, originally had green skin. (Which would actually make sense) Speaking of Aquaman, he lived in the sunken city of Atlantis, so perhaps they were able to use Bioluminescence spheres to light their way and assist in the tanning process. :=P You also have to consider the theory of the evolutionary process that land animals originally came out of the sea; it's possible to theorize that the migration worked in the reverse also, and man went into the sea and gradually became aquatic. Just spitballin here.

Heh... I just the put the 'how can merpeople have developed enough melanin to look black' under the same category that I put 'how can fish turn into people' and 'how can Donna have a perfect twist out after living in the ocean'  -- basically it is all magic.

[Jacks-Son]

3 minutes ago, ribboninthesky1 said:

I posted my misgivings over the Donna characterization in the last episode thread.  I've noticed how they infantilized/sanitized Ryn in a way we have yet to see in Donna, despite her one positive interaction with Chris.  Example: we've seen how strong Ryn is, but suddenly she's too weak/meek to physically throw off the officer(s) who arrested her and brought her in, and too weak to break free of handcuffs?

In my opinion, I believe Donna has some inherent goodness in her. It's just that her most recent experience was following Ryn to the surface for food, of the two, Donna got captured by the opportunists in the military, who clearly had a plan to cause the overfishing and bring the mermaids/mermen up to the surface for capture and to exploit their bodies. We've seen this behavior before during WWII, and I suspect it's never seriously gone away. Somewhere, somehow, there are people always willing to exploit some group of people/species for selfish reasons. As for Donna, she was brutalized so painfully during captivity that even Decker had to apologize.  However, I digress, Donna, was able to accept Chris help, despite her misgivings, she saw that he was trying to help her. It would be confusing for anyone to actually try to trust a "Pinkskin" (Star Trek Enterprise's Andorian nickname for Captain Archer) So, she's not inherently bad, she's just been getting shit from the Humans. 

Donna's reaction to Ryn's acceptance of Ben & Madden (Maddie's real name) was likely seen as a betrayal and she was hurt and lashed out. Remember, Ryn herself, threw Maddie against a wall. Granted, Ryn's sudden declaration that she doesn't want to kill was a bit sudden, but hey, there are only 10 episodes and they have to make progress as quickly as possible for a chance at a renewal. Hence the nerfing of Ryn's strength. She's beginning to show restraints that can make the audience sympathize with her. They haven't shown that in Donna yet, but she still has a ways to go (as shown by her cunning little siren song to get Chris to come to her so she could slaughter him) This behavior strikes me as odd, admittedly. If that really was Chris being lured, [I'm too lazy to rewatch], why? She saw that he had only tried to help her. Why lure him to possibly kill him? Is it the Prey vs Family reaction again? I don't know, but I'm willing to stay on board.