The ending of Sirens, the Netflix hit starring Julianne Moore and Kevin Bacon, left me scratching my head, and I imagine I'm not the only one.
The plot did a superb job of misdirecting you to believe, for the most part, that Moore's Kiki was a master manipulator who had her devoted assistant, Simone (Milly Alcock), under her spell. Simone’s older sister Devon (Meghann Fahy), who comes to Kiki's remote mansion in a bid to rescue her vulnerable sister, accusses Kiki of everything from running a cult to murdering Peter's first wife.
But it turns out that Kiki's cruel husband Peter (Bacon) is the real villain and at the end we see him ditching Kiki in a vile manner for the much younger Simone.
He made Kiki sign a brutal prenup that only allowed Kiki to get anything out of a divorce if she could prove an affair. Kiki had that proof in a photo of Peter kissing Simone, but then Peter got his henchman, Jose, to destroy the photo Kiki had tucked away in her safe.
OK, so the photo business doesn't make much sense. Surely a woman as clever as Kiki and someone who used to be a top lawyer would have kept a digial copy of the photo hidden? Why would she just keep one hard copy of a photo that’s potentially so valuable? Also, couldn’t she just ring up the photographer who took it and get him to send it to her again?
But none of this even matters because at the end of the series, Peter presents Simone as his new girlfriend to a roomful of guests! As a sidenote, surely the guests would have reacted to Kiki being replaced by Simone?
Simone is also telling everyone how she’s now with Peter. Kiki doesn’t even need that photo, here’s concrete proof that Peter is with another woman. I can't believe any court in the land wouldn't accept that as clear evidence of an affair, and thus she'd get part of Peter's vast fortune.
It’s also a wonder that Simone wants anything to do with Peter, having seen how he’s treated his first two wives. But it turns out Peter is the siren, luring his victims to live with him in his rocky mansion. And Simone clearly desperately wants a lavish lifestyle.
Strangely, I enjoyed Sirens so much that the nonsensical ending — perhaps I missed something? — didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the five-part series. It was clever how it made you think Kiki is the puppet master, while Peter was just the poor husband whose wife had blocked him from seeing his grand child. At times you thought it was going to become a murder mystery, but ultimately it was a damning story of a billionaire who thinks he can control everything and is sadly proved right.
Hey, hey! There's hope of a second season
I’d love for there to be a second season of Sirens, perhaps with Kiki plotting her revenge! Creator Molly Smith Metzler told Glamour magazine that she hadn’t ruled out writing more episodes. When asked about a potential second season, she replied: "These characters are real people to me. I wrote the play [that Sirens is based on] 15 years ago. I’ve been thinking about them this whole time. I could write them until the day I die. I’d never say never, but could I do them justice in another season? I’d have to think about it.”
Sirens is on Netflix now. See our best shows on Netflix guide for more recommendations.
