May 30, 2025 • 35 mins
Sirens, starring Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock, and Julianne Moore, has been one of the most-watched TV shows in Australia for the past week, so now it’s time for a brutally honest (and very emotional) review.
From where the story began, how it was adapted for Netflix, and what the cast really went through bringing this story to life on screen (let's just say the main actress lost some toe nails) we’re here to talk through all the behind the scenes stories that will change the way you see Sirens.
We also need to talk about those glaring plot holes in the series, the unexpected scene that gave us chills, Kevin Bacon's villain story, and then unpack exactly what happened in that surprise finale scene, along with why the show needs to come back for a second season.
Subscribe to Mamamia
GET IN TOUCH:
Do you have feedback or a topic you want us to discuss on The Spill? Send us a voice message, or send us an email thespill@mamamia.com.au and we'll come back to you ASAP!
Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia... here.
THE END BITS
The Spill podcast is on Instagram here.
Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia... here.
Subscribe to Mamamia
CREDITS
Hosts: Laura Brodnik and Ksenija Lukich
Executive Producer: Monisha Iswaran
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
Mamamia studios are styled with furniture from Fenton and Fenton.
Visit: fentonandfenton.com.au
Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
So much. You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waders
that this podcast is recorded on from Mamma Mia. Welcome
to The Spill, your daily pop culture fix. I'm Laura
Brodney and I'm Cassane Legic and welcome to a very
special episode of The Spill.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
This is the first time we've done this together, Fey,
because this is a brutally honest review and it's a
brutally honest review of a show that we know you've
all watched. It's been number one in Australia on Netflix
for weeks now. It's very buzzy. It's Sirens on Netflix now.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
We did do a weekend watch on this and this
was one of the ones that I was talking about
and I loved it, finished it very very quickly, so
we have a lot to talk about, ye, And it's
definitely one of those shows that is perfect for a
brutally honest review exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And if you're new here or you've just I don't
know how to Anesia or something and you've forgotten amnesia
was all a big thing in soaproperas as a kid
so I always have that front of mine when thinking
about life's big problems. So really honest reviews is where
we go through a TV show or movie, whatever's really
buzzy that everyone's talking about, and we go through the characters,
the plot points, what we loved, what we hated, little
(01:27):
secret behind the scenes things that you might not be
aware of. But we also go very deep into the ending.
So just to note, there will be quite a few spoilers.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
This is this is a spoiler filled episode.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yes, okay, so Siren.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So okay, what we're gonna do is I'm gonna start
off with I'm going to tell you the cast, yes,
and we're going to just talk a bit about the characters.
So first of all, we've got Meghan Faiye as Devonduwatt,
and she is sort of our key character. She kind
of plays she's an alcoholic, she's kind of down in
the dubs a lot. She works like a flufful restaurant,
(02:00):
but she's kind of our key character. You would know
her from like Lotos obviously. Then we've got Millie Alcock
who is Simone DeWitt and she is Devon's sister. So
Simone and Devon's sisters. Simone is Mikayla's personal assistant, so
she is the one that is living on this island.
Mikayla is played by Julianne Moore who we loved, also
(02:20):
known as Kiki, So she's the billionaire. She's Simone's boss.
It kind of the series starts says that kind of
being this cult like feeling, and she is the one
who rules them all. Yes to use a bit of
a Lord of the Rings preference. And she's a former lawyer.
But the reason she's so wealthy is because she married
Kevin Bacon's character, Peter Kel, and he kind of comes
(02:43):
from old money, CEO of Kel Securities, and they own
this massive property. They've got all this stuff. Everything is
done and the show kind of plays on over the
course of like a weekend. It's over the course of
a weekend, like.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
A long weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It's like Labor Day and Labor Day weekend, and Labor
Day in America is like this big deal, like don't
wear white after Labor Day. Like I never really understood that.
I don't know. I think it's that's a rabbit hole
we don't need to go down. But basically it's set
on this Island set over a weekend. The first episode
is kind of really culty. It feels very like almost
(03:23):
white loadus see Big Little liesy, which is what I said.
It now sort of we can watch. But it's based
on a play, So yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Sirence is created by Molly Smith Meltzer and she's you know,
she wrote the show. She's the creator, executive producer. It's
basically her baby and Sirens on Netflix is actually based
on her twenty eleven play element O p And the
story pretty much follows the TV show, except that in
the stage play, I believe that Devon's character just comes
to visit her sister, and it doesn't have as kind
(03:53):
of much the dark intrigue that we see in the
Netflix series. Do you know what I love about this though,
is Molly Smith Meltzer has created this play two and
eleven and it wasn't like it was a massive run
on Broadway or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
This play was in like some small towns. She's now
created into this hit Netflix TV show, So like bravo,
because she really nailed it this series. Is I really
enjoyed it?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah? I loved it as well. And I feel like
you can tell when something's been adapted from a play
rather than a book or like an old movie or something,
because the dialogue is so and obviously with a play,
especially like a small play like this, Apparently they only
had one set for the play, so it's only in
the guest house, and it's people coming in and out
of the guest house, so the dialogue has to carry
the entire story. And I think that's why the dialogue
(04:41):
and the show is so snappy and smart and emotive,
and there's not a lot of big stunts or there's
a lot of big set pieces and it's not overly physical.
It's basically just the dialogue back and forth.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I kind of want to start with like the relationship
between the system, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Which is so beautifully set up in the first episode.
So you have Devin's character. And I kind of love
this for Megan Fahi because we first got to know
her as Sutton in The Bold Type and she's a
fashion girl, she's glam, she's gorgeous, and then we got
to know her again White Lotus playing Daphne, where she's
glam and gorgeous, and then in the movie horror movie Drop,
(05:15):
she is most of the time just wearing a velvet jumpsuit,
so she's all glam and beautiful on that. So I
think this is the first time we've seen her be
like the bad girl, wrong side of the tracks, messed
up kind of character.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I think she does a really nuanced job of playing
because she is playing an alcoholic but in a very
and I'm going to use quotes here a quote unquote
functional alcoholic way. And that's kind of a really big
part of her story. Is like she's kind of at
home with her father who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He's
(05:48):
deteriorating quick quickly. She's using that as a way to help,
you know, soothe herself. Her sister was you know, basically
the reason that Simone left this family and hasn't spoken
to her father in ten years is because of the
way her mother died, and so the relations between the
(06:11):
sisters is tense. But there's also Devon being almost replacing
that motherly role, but Simone dealing with her trauma in
a very different way by kind of wanting to detach
herself from it exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And it's such an interesting setup of this dynamic because
you sort of see Devin this messed up well, and
then she comes home and there's the edible fruit basket
on the front steps of this like sort of dark
and dingy suburban home they're living in, and she just
snaps and decides to travel like nearly twenty four hours
to where Simone's working. And I think when you kind
of get the idea of that this is more a
(06:47):
dark comedy than a mystery. Is that first scene on
the Fairy, you know, and she's going over, she's got
the fruit basket, and the guy who works on the
fairy says to her, like, you can't smoke, and she's like, well,
I'm gonna have to put something in my mouth and
goes in the back and gives him a blue job.
But I think that's what you know, this is going
to be a special show.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That was a great line, great line, and then she
is kind of this like care free chick. And the
first few episodes. I think initially when you go into this,
you're like, this is about a cult. This is about
getting a girl out of a cult. But it becomes
something very, very different to that. Because I thought when
(07:24):
I first started watching it, I was like, this is
going to be like a very formula, like this person's evil,
Like I wasn't expecting the way that it started to
pan out, and it happens quite slowly considering it's only
a five part series.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, I mean I wonder if that's because, like it
was obviously a certain thing when it was a stage play,
and then I think she sold it in a time
where people really want these kind of mystery box TV shows,
which I think when you go into Sirens, you think
it's that classic mystery box that there's going to be,
like the whole point of the show is to unravel
like who is the murderer, who is the dead body,
(07:59):
and something we've seen happen with shows like White Lotus.
But the more you watch Sirens, you're like, oh, it's
not supposed about the mystery. They've used that as like
a marketing hook. It's not supposed to be about who's
evil and who's the it's who's done something. It's meant
to be a character study.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Well because in like the third episode, and this is
again we're only like halfway through the third episode, Simone
has this dream about, you know, her boyfriend being impaled
on these sticks and then she runs and the whole
first like I would say two and a half three
episodes is all about it's really setting you up for Mikayla.
Kiki is a murderer. This is a cult, and all
(08:36):
of these women are like there is some special power.
You know. The scene where she like she gets like
knocked out and then she like kind of comes to
it's like welcome, We're gonna take you shopping.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that's an It's really like all these mister x
through it. And they really set that up when Devin
first arrives at this like palaicial mansion. I knowice this
one we talked about previously, but the physical comedy there
from Megan Fahi is incredible when she's like that scene
of her like stumbling down with this fruit basket that's
now in tatters and like lying on the ground and
drinking out of the hose, and when she and Simone
(09:08):
have their first meeting and just they really hold the
camera there for a long time with these two sisters
because I think they're trying to show you, like like
how different their worlds are. Because Devin looks like a mess,
but she looked like a mess we first got to
meet her, and she's also slumped over her shoulders are hunch.
It's such a different way for Megan Fay he to stand.
And then Millie Oldcock's character Simone is like, so pristine,
(09:29):
looks like a Stepford wife.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
He's very Stepford.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Why and like she's holding her shoulders back and she's
and her arms are so rigid by her side, and
they just like they look like two completely different beings
who shouldn't even know each other. So the fact that
their sisters really sets up the kind of the drama from.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Them, and we kind of get in those first couple
of episodes this really wounded bird and is you from Simone,
which shifts so drastically as the show progresses chrisis.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
This is my sister.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I didn't know you existed, trust me. Soon and I are
very close. And why didn't she tell me about him?
Where are your tattoos? I remove them? Are imagine sister tattoo?
He said, because trashy mikaela bitch has her talent so
deep in your brain and that you can't even tell
you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
This is the happiest I've ever been. Well, you've got
to get out of here.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Let's talk a little bit about Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yes, because you know, a good show always has Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I love Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, he's good. He guind of plays the same character
and everything, but but.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I think he's good in this so I mean initially again,
he's kind of it seems like he is just going
along for the ride, like he's the one that he
doesn't really like what Julianne Moore, what Kieky's doing. He's
not really into the whole vibe of it. He's like
smoking joints up in his.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Little house, even though it's his home and his friends,
his life, and his every staff.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, his key, very key, his staff. There is this
whole thing that like he's the chill one. And then
that sort of starts to like shift and change. And
for me, the moment that I realized that there was
going to be something different with Kevin Bacon was when
(11:22):
they went clamming and then you kind of sense his
sexual tension between him and Simon. That was the moment
for me where I was like, something's off with this guy.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, well that's the thing is like it's always the
classic kind of oh, I'm a good guy. I'm like
the you know, I'm one with my staff and the
people and stuff, and they do kind of set him
up from the beginning, like he's cheating on her, and
you do think that that's a pretty expected thing from
a storyline like that, especially knowing how these two characters
got together that started cheating. And then obviously the reveal
goes on that he's visiting his family, so they sort
(11:53):
of try and circumvent that whole thing of like him
being the good guy. And then you know, when we
talk about the ending, we'll get into that because at
the end of the day, he does come across as
the villain to an extent.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
One hundred percent, but the way it's been set up
is that he's just like this easy going dude. Yeah,
there is something really interesting about it when you know
they're talking about the brain up, and you know, the
only way that Julianne Moore can get out with any money,
Kiki can get out with any money is if there
is cheating involved. So there's almost this point where it's
(12:24):
like she's like, I kind of want him to be
cheating on me, and I need to find evidence of it.
And then there's the clamming thing when he kisses her,
and that's for me when it all shifted. Oh really,
that's when I was like, Kiki's protecting herself, She's trying
to find a way out without being.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That's interesting. I got in a different way where she
was so kind of like wanting to stay in this marriage,
but she was so aware that she had got him
in this way of like him cheating with her first,
so she's so aware of him cheating and kind of
ruining this perfect life on the outside they've created. And
then I thought it was in the prenup it was
like she only gets money if they had children, but
(13:05):
she never had children, so she's really got no safety
net without him. But it's so funny because that obviously
comes later in the show. In the first part of
the show, you'll really led to believe that she is
this cult leader, and actually, this is what kind of
this was kind of one of the bad parts of
the show. I thought they were so wanting to lean
into this idea of like did she murder his ex wife?
Is she a cult leader? Does she have like magical
(13:26):
mind control powers? Is she drugging people? Is this like
an offshoot of Nine Perfect Strangers? Because there are some
things that are like a little bit unexplained in terms of.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Like, yeah, I think that the one Meghan Vehi wakes
up in the car and then like when she's kind
of hypnotized, because if you don't know what the mythology
of a siren is, which I'm sure you would, it's
it's they are like mermaid like creatures that sing to
sailors basically to lure them to their deaths. You know,
that is that the mythology of a siren. So even
(13:56):
the title of the show is implicating the insinuating that
these women have this kind of power over men. And
there is that scene when they're all getting dressed up
and it's like, well, you look into your power, and
they're all talking at the same time, and yeah, you know,
i used to be a nail tech, but now I've
got this rich husband. So it's almost like this cult
(14:19):
of finding a rich husband.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, exactly. And it's that a whole thing of like
that play on Sirens is like almost quite literal in
a way. That's interesting because at first you're meant to
think that Kiki is like that traditional siren, and she's
got this control over her husband to lure him away
from his wife, and she's got control over everyone who's
in the house. And she uses it on Devon's character
and kind of like almost has like memory loss, but
(14:41):
mostly you're meant to think that she has it over Simon.
And I think the way that they said their relationship
is interesting because you're meant to think that they have
this inappropriate relationship and like not sexual. I mean maybe
some people thought that. I guess the whole idea is
that you're not meant to know that it was almost
like this kind of like she had a power over her,
that she had like forsaken her family and likes taken
her life, and you think that there's something more sinister
(15:03):
happening behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, And I think it was that you know that.
I think it was one of the first episodes when
they like sleeping in the bed together.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
That was that was a weird moment.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
No, But I mean, on reflection, I think I understand
where that all came from. But basically we're kind of
talking about like a very close relationship between a boss
and her pa.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, knew. What was weirder than the bed scene was
the first moment I was like, what is this show
is when they were going into the party and Kiki goes,
how's my breath and goes it's perfect, how's my breath?
And she's like, oh, not great, take my gum and
she pulled the gum. Kiki pulls the gum out of
her mouth and puts in Simone's mouth and Simone choose it.
And I'm like, why is that the dirtiest thing I've
ever seen?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I know, you're a bit of a gym.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I would have died.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I mean, I definitely wouldn't do something like that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
But that's a very intimate theory that usually only like
people in like a sexual relationship, and I wouldn't do
that with my husband. Yeah, guy, don't share gum.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I don't share gum with hair.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I don't know what married people do, but I just
know your gum back. But it's a very intimate thing,
like even best friends wouldn't do that, let alone.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I have it in my kids half masticated food.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I mean that's just survival, right, Yeah, that's different. So
that's okay, we'll give that a pass.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And also the fact that she did that, Simone doesn't
even flinch. She actually looks grateful. It's almost like a
mother bird. It's like the symbolism of like a mother
bird feeding and Simone be looking at her with like love,
like thank you for taking care of me. And that
was the first moment in the pilot where I was like, oh,
something is really weird with this show.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, but what about So I kind of picked up
on Kevin Bacon being like kind of shady, yeah, and
I started to feel but I didn't start to feel
any empathy for Kiki until like almost like the last episode.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yeah, it's different because for so long there she does
feel like the manipulator and you never feel maybe other
people did, but I never feel really kind of empathy
for her throughout the show, maybe because she always looks
like so unflappable and everything is perfect and she's this
kind of crazy person, and I think all of your empathy,
it's like a change is during the show, Like the
first part of the show, all your empathy goes to
Devin because she's obviously in a terrible place where she's
(17:05):
battling alcoholism. She's looking after her father who has dementia
and is like losing all his memories and having to
be a carer. She's lost her sister who she gave
up her life to look after, and she also has
this kind of interesting situation where she's replaced alcohol because
he's trying to be sober. She's replaced it with intimacy
and sex with men, which keeps them manifesting in like
(17:26):
these different ways. Where in the first half it's almost
like she's the siren in a way too, because she's
luring like her ex boyfriend who she's hooking up with
her boss, like luring him away from his wife to
do her bidding. And then she goes into the hotel
and she lures like the guy who is the captain
of the ship, and they and again.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Not so subtle, like linked to a siren because captains
of boats exactly, sailors were the ones they got Lord, Yeah,
because then they got they were sung. They lured to
the rocks and then there were chips would crash and
then they.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Would all exactly. So it's that idea. It's very literal
the manipulation of men. And even when she's in the
guest house and she goes to have a drink and
you see her battling, and then she goes out and
finds the gardener and hooks up with him, and it's
almost like and I kind of wish that storyline had
come to an end or ahead or something not that
expected that she would be like, Oh, I'm so cute
of my sex adiction. Now I'm like a better person.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
There's definitely a couple of threads that I think could
still be explored. Yeah, as we move through the episode,
we've everything is kind of building up to this garlict
to her eyes, and at the gala dinner, everybody's like
things start to kind of really go awry. Yes, Kiki
has this photo of Simone and Kevin Bacon. Also, I'm
(18:45):
never going to call him just Kevin. He's Kevin Bacon always.
There's a photo of him, and she puts it, you know,
in a safe and she's like, this is my security. Yes,
and then there's like all this stuff. She fires Simone,
Simone gets kicked off, She's like devastated leading up to
this Garla. Everybody gets kicked out, and then Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
All yeah, comes and it's kind of the bad.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
The Simone character is really interesting because I guess she
she's the one really who's holding in maybe more secrets
than the others because Devon's like all out on the table.
She said everything like she says, everything comes into her head,
So she's never hiding anything really except from herself in
a turmoil. And then Julianne Moore's character Kiki, like you're
meant to think that she's hiding something, but as the
show goes along, you're like, I don't know. Everyone in
(19:34):
this place knows her entire backstory. There's no kind of
mystery there. But it's really Simone's character that has been
again almost the siren of like she calls everyone in
to like not just manipulate, but like take care of
her winded bird. Yeah, the whole wounded bird. And like
we see little dead birds in this so it's like
as she takes in these wounded birds, she also takes
in Simone, and you kind of see Simone's story change
(19:57):
in this really interesting way, and you see all the
lies she's told about, like her mother being first of all,
she's saying her mother died in a car accident. To
find out this horrific thing of her mother tried to
kill herself, well did kill herself, but had her in
the car and all the stuff that happens. And I
think it's such an interesting performance from Millie o'clock, who
is an Australian actress who first rose to prominence in
that show with Tim Minton. Upright, she's so good in that,
(20:20):
and then went to be on House of the Dragon,
and she's also starring a Supergirl soon, and I think
it's kind of interesting. I was watching a whole bunch
of interviews with Millie and I thought it so interesting
that she said this is the first time she's ever
really lost herself in a character, and that it kind
of rebuilt her confidence as an actress, because when she
was on House of the Dragon on her first few
(20:40):
days of filming that show, she's this young Australian actress
who's all of a sudden on like the biggest TV
show in the world, and she thought she was doing
a good job. And then she said one of the
higher ups came over to her and pulled her aside
during filming and zaid, don't worry, We're going to get
you an acting coach.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And just kind of well, God, that makes you feel
so sick, right, and just.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Like imagine also like you're already filming, like how would
you then go on? And like, do you know what?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I wish she did go on. I think that all
of the performances are really nuanced, which is really nice,
and as it gresses, it's not like big twist, but
there is you start to see these flickers, these little
injections of a change is in character exactly. And again
for me with Kiki, it kind of started around. It
(21:26):
didn't really show itself right until the end, but there
was this moment when Simona and Devon's dad comes and
he's got dementia and he kind of thinks that Kiki
is his ex wife who kills himself, and they're dancing together,
and it's this kind of you don't know whether, like
(21:47):
I actually had this weird thought where I was like, oh,
is she actually the mother? Oh my gud I thought
that too. Was she actually the mom? Or is she
remembering that he was the mom? And the whole secret
is that she never died and she had like this
health face. Anyway, I don't know where my head.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
You know why this is because why we went that
way is because we can't just watch a TV show anymore.
We're so looking for plot twists and mystery, that whole
mystery box TV element and you're like, wait a second,
So she's just a confused, rich woman that can't be
the twist.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
No, I was like, she just had like some like
like has run away and the girls are actually her daughters.
And this is like, yeah, I had this weird me.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Too, because when I wrote some great fan fiction.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
It was very like a very split sack. I kind
of started to realize it was because he obviously had dementia.
But I saw this again that it's in the nuance
of Julian Animore's performance of vulnerability because she couldn't have
her own children. She was saying, I tribe many times,
and we kept losing them, and I was like, huh,
(22:47):
there's something here, like you aren't you aren't evil.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah, you're just Yeah, we're looking for a villain. It's weird.
There's not really even Kevin Bacon, I think.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
The villain.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, I mean he's just an entitled white man who
needs always needs a younger woman to look after him
as the vibe. And then I thought also interesting, as
we go through the show, like everyone like obviously, Devon
has a bit of a physical transformation where she starts
coming a bit more of that. Well, initially she does
it to go under cover like that kind of becomes
like a Stepford wife, but then at the end of
the show, she's almost settled into that world where she's
(23:20):
trying to get back to the person she was, and
then you see sort of Julianne Moore's character also go
through like a bit of a physical transformation when she
has her wealth taken away from her. But I thought
Millie Alcock's character, like Simon, also goes through one because
her physicality is so interesting. It's so rigid throughout the show,
and then as her trauma keeps coming out, you can
see she gets loose with how she moves. And then
(23:43):
every time they do those big scenes of her running
down the beach. There's so many scenes where she's running
and crying, and that's meant to kind of almost jolt
you out of the story from the filmmakers. Yeah, apparently
they film that so many times that she ripped her
toenails off, so now she has no toails, so just
think of that. I rewatched that same Laura. I was like, No,
I just wanted to people to know what the woman
(24:04):
went through. Trainails. Oh my god, and she's got to
be a supergirl. That's too much for one human.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
But I thought it was really interesting, again, so so
nuanced and really lovely, lovely acting where she kind of
her sisters like going, I need to get you out
of here. I need to get you out of here,
and she's going, I've spotted my chance. Yeah, exactly, I've
found my inn. And the shoulders go up, the net
goes on, and she kind of morphs.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, she morphs.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Into the Siren, and we don't have to finish here,
but I think this is a really nice place to
finish when we do eventually do the ending. For me,
the best part of it, my favorite favorite bit is
like one of the final scenes where it's Julianne Moore
and Meghan Faiye on the boat. They're sitting next to
each other. It's Devin and Kiki and they're talking. Everything
(24:59):
stripped back and it's like, you know, I survived many
years until I became the monster. Devin goes, You're not
a monster here, he goes, and neither is she, And
I thought that was like they were molded. It's like
you live long enough to go from being the hero
(25:21):
to the villainy. And that is kind of where I
see maybe this potential for a season two. I don't
know if I've gone off on a complete thing, but no, no, no.
For me, that was like a really key scene, Like
I really took a lot from that particular scene.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Oh yeah, I mean. And the ending is by like
today's normal TV standards of people wanting like a big
shoot out at the end or a huge twist or
a dead body, like when the rich neighbor who wants
to marry Snow and the creepy old guy falls off
the cliff. You're like, Okay, here's our murder. This is
what like Meghan Faky even says now that she only
stars and shows and movies that have a beach and
a body, And yeah, that's a good niche to be
in right now, because that's what we want. And then
(25:58):
you keep waiting for this murder mystery or this could
it never eventuates, and what eventuates is more of this
character study, which shouldn't be shocking, but it feels shocking
in today's kind.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I think it actually surprised me in a really nice
I think I actually preferred the show because it doesn't
become this classic cult story, which I love, like a
mother cult story. I didn't want to hold a little
cold sockos like yeah, my old time favor. It's like
a lover cults, love like hearing about it all. But
what the show does do is create nuance and when
(26:32):
to walk away from someone. Because Devon eventually does have
to walk away from her sister. She's like, I've tried
as hard as I can. You've chosen your path. And
Simone isn't this little wounded bird. She is capable of
making her decisions. And the decision she makes is to
take on this rich man and become the mother of
(26:54):
the household, like the leader of the household matriarchy.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yes for me, tram of the household. Yeah, and yeah.
That that's an interesting ending because you have all these
little bombs going off quickly, and up until that moment,
I will say I feel like the storyline was going
around a little bit in circles.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I was like, Okay, it's like this conversation that we've had.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Were getting to the end now because we do, Because
that's not That's what it's the show itself.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It is not a linear thing.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
So much going around and then all of a sudden
you're coming back. It's like in the last episode and
it's going back to season one one, like it's back
and forth. And so as much as I did love
all the little kind of out the side stories. Devin
being in the drunk tank was my favorite because the
girl who was in there with her calling her Kevin.
I was like, I'm sorry, why is this the funniest
scene in the whole show. So you have all these
little side venage. There's like a lot of sade questions.
(27:41):
It does really like throw you.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
But the crux of it for me and I think
it makes it so much more. Again, I think this
comes from the fact that it was it came from
a play. Yes, play is a really well known for
being a little bit more. I'm going to use the
word nuanced again because I don't actually have thesaurus with
me and I can't find another word.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
For it works.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It is really like these characters really are very complex
and maybe there is no Gordon evil, even though Kevin
Bacon turns out to be complete f wick. And but yeah,
I feel like that you know she's not You're not
a monster like that. I love that so much that
that Julianne Moore stripped back and it's like you're not
(28:24):
a monster. Yeah, Like I actually really loved that.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And I feel like that a lot of these little
bomb shells that come in here, and she is so good,
so powerful, and after going around in circles for a
little bit, then all of a sudden, we have all
these little bombs shells that come out in like a
very quick amount of time. So we have that scene
where Devon's and the gala and she's like, I know
you killed his ex wife, and you have that reveal
from Juliana more being like she's disfigured and she lives alone.
(28:48):
The interesting thing is if you watch that scene back,
I think the first time you're watching it and you're
really centered on Devin and Kekey, as you should because
they're having this big reveal, but as if you watch
it back a second time and you see everyone in
the background who's at the gala reacting. They look a
little shocked by the yelling, but when she talks to
the ex wife, they all kind of look down. And
it's what people have been doing all the way through
(29:09):
the show. But because our minds are so attuned to murder,
we keep thinking everyone's looking down because they know she's murdered,
but they're actually looking down because they know that not
only is she kind of living this isolated life, she's
been shunned by this fancy society and that to them
is worse than being murdered. They're like, oh god, she
should have been murdered. Now she's living alone, Like I know,
what could be worse. I know, that bombshell.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And then we have like the big reveal of Samoon
in that beautiful blue dress. Yeah. Sorry, she looks so
stunning in that. That was a like, I know it's
not really there is quite a lot of fashion in this, yeah,
but that fashion is good. That blue, this like gorgeous
silk gown again, like the Ocean I'm thinking.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And also the way it's cut in the Fall of
the Silk is like that very old school mythology, like
Greek mythology with gown with what.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
A Grecian like, which is where so much of this.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Is coming from. And I think what's interesting too is
that Millie or'clock and Meghan Faikey said that they filmed
the first couple of episodes and they didn't actually know
what was going to happen until they had filmed most
the show. So Millie's saying all the way through she
doesn't know what's happening to Simone. Obviously she didn't see
Elemento pe either, so she doesn't know where Simone's going
to end up. So she said it was quite shocking
for her when she realized where the character was going
(30:23):
and the fact that she was going to have this
big plot twist. And but the thing is, I don't
be interested in your thoughts on this. I think you
can watch it and think that she planned and manipulated
that situation. Whereas where she's telling Devin about it, she
was like, and then he was on the beach. I
went to walk away and he stopped me. And it's
like her eyes glaze over and she's transferred the adoration
(30:43):
she had for Kiki over to Kevin Bacon. So she
didn't plan it. She just is so desperate for someone
to take care of her.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I think she didn't plan it, But then I think
she saw the opportunity and took her.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Oh yeah yeah, and then was like, let me help
you oust key.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yes. So it's like when she like I think once
she sort of realizes, ah, this is my way back
again that that's another traumal response, and I agree with you. Yeah, Like, Okay,
Keikey's not gonna take care of me, but this guy might.
Even though in a dump, you when you start to
look old.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Exactly well, I meanly she's in an early twenties there,
so she's got a way to go. But yeah, it's
the transference of adoration. And I think also that's why
when when you see Devon hearing what Simone's saying and
now we're together and all this stuff, you see Devon's
face just for and you see them to this realization.
Man can say, her face acting out of this world.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Nuance want so much Dians.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It's like that scene from the finale of White Lotus
where she plays Daphne, where you see this moment where
she realizes that her husband and her new friend cheated
on her and she calculates in this one second of
what she's going to do, and it's a slight turn
of her face. She does it again here where she's like, oh,
I came to save you from a cult, but now
that I know that you're just so lost that you've
throw on yourself with this man, I just have to
(31:56):
let you go because I can't save you from I'll
save you from danger, but I can't save you from
this hopelessness you're stuck in. Yeah, and I think otherwise
she would never have left her there. That's why she leaves.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So then we've got the final scene, Simone's on the
cleaf in that beautiful blue gown, and you know, I
know that we talked a lot about like this just
being a limited series, and again, based off lay, it
should just be one series. I do, however, think there
is room for a season two, depending on how well
this does.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah, I mean, look, it's done very well. And I
also think like at first it was kind of marketing
almost just like kind of like shlocky Netflix drama, and
like there's definitely moments of that. But I think especially
the end scene we see, like especially got going back
to your favorite moment of them on the boat and
that moment from Julianne Moore's character Kiki, and also that
she's stripped away. She doesn't have the beautiful hair and makeup.
(32:43):
She's like jewels, she's not wearing the jewel tones or
the neutrals. She just looks like someone who had to
like jump on a barge and make her way in
the world. And she's so kind of dressed down, but
she gives this beautiful performance. I feel like that's I
can just imagine Julian more reading the script and that
being the scene that said I'm gonna take this. It's
like how Meryl Streep only said yes to doing The
(33:04):
Devil Wears Prada when she read the scene of her
in the hotel room with no makeup. She's like, She's like,
unless you have that scene, all of the big, beautiful,
glamorous Etherol scenes don't make sense. And I feel like
that's why Julian would have taken this. And I love
resonated so well with people. I feel like, I know,
when I first watched it, I was like, no, no, that's good.
One and done. It's fine. But I also think that,
I mean, I would love to see if we can,
(33:26):
like have if we can continue our fan fiction that
we both had from the start of this, where we
were concocting all these side plots in our heads.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Okay, because you saw how other staff were when they
knew Simon was leaving.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, day group text about her is the funniest thing.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
This is the thing. This is the thing. Like, I think, yes,
it would be fine if it was just one season.
The story could happily end there. However, honestly, honestly, I
really feel like there are so many places that this
could go. There could be a little bit more about
Devon finding herself, working through her trauma, a little bit
more the dementia, maybe finding a little bit more clarity,
(34:02):
looking maybe at ki Ki finding herself again as a
lawyer because she was a lawyer, perhaps maybe taking legal action,
trying to find some finding herself again rather than just
being the wife of a rich man. And then there's
also like the way that the new mistress of the house,
(34:22):
how does Simone take over this island? Is she going
to get pregnant, I'm gonna have baby?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Is there so much there? I think Kiki comes back
again without fan casting that she has gone off become
a very successful woman. She's made all this money. She
comes back and she buys half of the island, or
she buys the bird sanctuary. So then she and Kevin
Bacon of trying to figure out it's like a war
of power there. And then they're having a big event
because it's Labor Day weekend, but it's also the christening
of simoone and Kevin Bacon's baby also with the christening party,
(34:52):
and then Devon gets pulled back because Keiki blackmails her
and gets her to come back to try and pull
her sister out and hilarity and drummer in suit. Yes,
there's definitely room for it exactly, but we've done the.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Work in Spain. This is I really really loved this show.
Not what you expect, definitely not like a classic cult
thing you Definitely there's so many little like a couple
of times where I was like, I would like to
see that fleshed out a little bit more. But I've
really enjoyed that it was such a character based and
(35:23):
complex characters. They weren't one dimensional. All of these characters
have so much depth, layering, nuance.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yes, we love that. Sarens on Netflix. What a fun time.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Thanks for listening to the Spill today. Don't forget to
follow the Spill on TikTok. The Spill is produced by
Manisha Is Warren with sound production by Scott Stronik Momma
Studios a Star with furniture from Fenton and Fenton. Visitventon
and Fenton dot com dot au. We'll see you back
here in your podcast speed on Monday at three pm.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Bye bye,
So much. You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mamma Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waders
that this podcast is recorded on from Mamma Mia. Welcome
to The Spill, your daily pop culture fix. I'm Laura
Brodney and I'm Cassane Legic and welcome to a very
special episode of The Spill.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
This is the first time we've done this together, Fey,
because this is a brutally honest review and it's a
brutally honest review of a show that we know you've
all watched. It's been number one in Australia on Netflix
for weeks now. It's very buzzy. It's Sirens on Netflix now.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
We did do a weekend watch on this and this
was one of the ones that I was talking about
and I loved it, finished it very very quickly, so
we have a lot to talk about, ye, And it's
definitely one of those shows that is perfect for a
brutally honest review exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And if you're new here or you've just I don't
know how to Anesia or something and you've forgotten amnesia
was all a big thing in soaproperas as a kid
so I always have that front of mine when thinking
about life's big problems. So really honest reviews is where
we go through a TV show or movie, whatever's really
buzzy that everyone's talking about, and we go through the characters,
the plot points, what we loved, what we hated, little
(01:27):
secret behind the scenes things that you might not be
aware of. But we also go very deep into the ending.
So just to note, there will be quite a few spoilers.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
This is this is a spoiler filled episode.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yes, okay, so Siren.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So okay, what we're gonna do is I'm gonna start
off with I'm going to tell you the cast, yes,
and we're going to just talk a bit about the characters.
So first of all, we've got Meghan Faiye as Devonduwatt,
and she is sort of our key character. She kind
of plays she's an alcoholic, she's kind of down in
the dubs a lot. She works like a flufful restaurant,
(02:00):
but she's kind of our key character. You would know
her from like Lotos obviously. Then we've got Millie Alcock
who is Simone DeWitt and she is Devon's sister. So
Simone and Devon's sisters. Simone is Mikayla's personal assistant, so
she is the one that is living on this island.
Mikayla is played by Julianne Moore who we loved, also
(02:20):
known as Kiki, So she's the billionaire. She's Simone's boss.
It kind of the series starts says that kind of
being this cult like feeling, and she is the one
who rules them all. Yes to use a bit of
a Lord of the Rings preference. And she's a former lawyer.
But the reason she's so wealthy is because she married
Kevin Bacon's character, Peter Kel, and he kind of comes
(02:43):
from old money, CEO of Kel Securities, and they own
this massive property. They've got all this stuff. Everything is
done and the show kind of plays on over the
course of like a weekend. It's over the course of
a weekend, like.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
A long weekend.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It's like Labor Day and Labor Day weekend, and Labor
Day in America is like this big deal, like don't
wear white after Labor Day. Like I never really understood that.
I don't know. I think it's that's a rabbit hole
we don't need to go down. But basically it's set
on this Island set over a weekend. The first episode
is kind of really culty. It feels very like almost
(03:23):
white loadus see Big Little liesy, which is what I said.
It now sort of we can watch. But it's based
on a play, So yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Sirence is created by Molly Smith Meltzer and she's you know,
she wrote the show. She's the creator, executive producer. It's
basically her baby and Sirens on Netflix is actually based
on her twenty eleven play element O p And the
story pretty much follows the TV show, except that in
the stage play, I believe that Devon's character just comes
to visit her sister, and it doesn't have as kind
(03:53):
of much the dark intrigue that we see in the
Netflix series. Do you know what I love about this though,
is Molly Smith Meltzer has created this play two and
eleven and it wasn't like it was a massive run
on Broadway or anything.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
This play was in like some small towns. She's now
created into this hit Netflix TV show, So like bravo,
because she really nailed it this series. Is I really
enjoyed it?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah? I loved it as well. And I feel like
you can tell when something's been adapted from a play
rather than a book or like an old movie or something,
because the dialogue is so and obviously with a play,
especially like a small play like this, Apparently they only
had one set for the play, so it's only in
the guest house, and it's people coming in and out
of the guest house, so the dialogue has to carry
the entire story. And I think that's why the dialogue
(04:41):
and the show is so snappy and smart and emotive,
and there's not a lot of big stunts or there's
a lot of big set pieces and it's not overly physical.
It's basically just the dialogue back and forth.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
I kind of want to start with like the relationship
between the system, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Which is so beautifully set up in the first episode.
So you have Devin's character. And I kind of love
this for Megan Fahi because we first got to know
her as Sutton in The Bold Type and she's a
fashion girl, she's glam, she's gorgeous, and then we got
to know her again White Lotus playing Daphne, where she's
glam and gorgeous, and then in the movie horror movie Drop,
(05:15):
she is most of the time just wearing a velvet jumpsuit,
so she's all glam and beautiful on that. So I
think this is the first time we've seen her be
like the bad girl, wrong side of the tracks, messed
up kind of character.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
I think she does a really nuanced job of playing
because she is playing an alcoholic but in a very
and I'm going to use quotes here a quote unquote
functional alcoholic way. And that's kind of a really big
part of her story. Is like she's kind of at
home with her father who's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He's
(05:48):
deteriorating quick quickly. She's using that as a way to help,
you know, soothe herself. Her sister was you know, basically
the reason that Simone left this family and hasn't spoken
to her father in ten years is because of the
way her mother died, and so the relations between the
(06:11):
sisters is tense. But there's also Devon being almost replacing
that motherly role, but Simone dealing with her trauma in
a very different way by kind of wanting to detach
herself from it exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
And it's such an interesting setup of this dynamic because
you sort of see Devin this messed up well, and
then she comes home and there's the edible fruit basket
on the front steps of this like sort of dark
and dingy suburban home they're living in, and she just
snaps and decides to travel like nearly twenty four hours
to where Simone's working. And I think when you kind
of get the idea of that this is more a
(06:47):
dark comedy than a mystery. Is that first scene on
the Fairy, you know, and she's going over, she's got
the fruit basket, and the guy who works on the
fairy says to her, like, you can't smoke, and she's like, well,
I'm gonna have to put something in my mouth and
goes in the back and gives him a blue job.
But I think that's what you know, this is going
to be a special show.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
That was a great line, great line, and then she
is kind of this like care free chick. And the
first few episodes. I think initially when you go into this,
you're like, this is about a cult. This is about
getting a girl out of a cult. But it becomes
something very, very different to that. Because I thought when
(07:24):
I first started watching it, I was like, this is
going to be like a very formula, like this person's evil,
Like I wasn't expecting the way that it started to
pan out, and it happens quite slowly considering it's only
a five part series.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Yeah, I mean I wonder if that's because, like it
was obviously a certain thing when it was a stage play,
and then I think she sold it in a time
where people really want these kind of mystery box TV shows,
which I think when you go into Sirens, you think
it's that classic mystery box that there's going to be,
like the whole point of the show is to unravel
like who is the murderer, who is the dead body,
(07:59):
and something we've seen happen with shows like White Lotus.
But the more you watch Sirens, you're like, oh, it's
not supposed about the mystery. They've used that as like
a marketing hook. It's not supposed to be about who's
evil and who's the it's who's done something. It's meant
to be a character study.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Well because in like the third episode, and this is
again we're only like halfway through the third episode, Simone
has this dream about, you know, her boyfriend being impaled
on these sticks and then she runs and the whole
first like I would say two and a half three
episodes is all about it's really setting you up for Mikayla.
Kiki is a murderer. This is a cult, and all
(08:36):
of these women are like there is some special power.
You know. The scene where she like she gets like
knocked out and then she like kind of comes to
it's like welcome, We're gonna take you shopping.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, that's an It's really like all these mister x
through it. And they really set that up when Devin
first arrives at this like palaicial mansion. I knowice this
one we talked about previously, but the physical comedy there
from Megan Fahi is incredible when she's like that scene
of her like stumbling down with this fruit basket that's
now in tatters and like lying on the ground and
drinking out of the hose, and when she and Simone
(09:08):
have their first meeting and just they really hold the
camera there for a long time with these two sisters
because I think they're trying to show you, like like
how different their worlds are. Because Devin looks like a mess,
but she looked like a mess we first got to
meet her, and she's also slumped over her shoulders are hunch.
It's such a different way for Megan Fay he to stand.
And then Millie Oldcock's character Simone is like, so pristine,
(09:29):
looks like a Stepford wife.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
He's very Stepford.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Why and like she's holding her shoulders back and she's
and her arms are so rigid by her side, and
they just like they look like two completely different beings
who shouldn't even know each other. So the fact that
their sisters really sets up the kind of the drama from.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Them, and we kind of get in those first couple
of episodes this really wounded bird and is you from Simone,
which shifts so drastically as the show progresses chrisis.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
This is my sister.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I didn't know you existed, trust me. Soon and I are
very close. And why didn't she tell me about him?
Where are your tattoos? I remove them? Are imagine sister tattoo?
He said, because trashy mikaela bitch has her talent so
deep in your brain and that you can't even tell
you're in trouble.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
This is the happiest I've ever been. Well, you've got
to get out of here.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Let's talk a little bit about Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yes, because you know, a good show always has Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I love Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, he's good. He guind of plays the same character
and everything, but but.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I think he's good in this so I mean initially again,
he's kind of it seems like he is just going
along for the ride, like he's the one that he
doesn't really like what Julianne Moore, what Kieky's doing. He's
not really into the whole vibe of it. He's like
smoking joints up in his.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Little house, even though it's his home and his friends,
his life, and his every staff.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Yeah, his key, very key, his staff. There is this
whole thing that like he's the chill one. And then
that sort of starts to like shift and change. And
for me, the moment that I realized that there was
going to be something different with Kevin Bacon was when
(11:22):
they went clamming and then you kind of sense his
sexual tension between him and Simon. That was the moment
for me where I was like, something's off with this guy.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, well that's the thing is like it's always the
classic kind of oh, I'm a good guy. I'm like
the you know, I'm one with my staff and the
people and stuff, and they do kind of set him
up from the beginning, like he's cheating on her, and
you do think that that's a pretty expected thing from
a storyline like that, especially knowing how these two characters
got together that started cheating. And then obviously the reveal
goes on that he's visiting his family, so they sort
(11:53):
of try and circumvent that whole thing of like him
being the good guy. And then you know, when we
talk about the ending, we'll get into that because at
the end of the day, he does come across as
the villain to an extent.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
One hundred percent, but the way it's been set up
is that he's just like this easy going dude. Yeah,
there is something really interesting about it when you know
they're talking about the brain up, and you know, the
only way that Julianne Moore can get out with any money,
Kiki can get out with any money is if there
is cheating involved. So there's almost this point where it's
(12:24):
like she's like, I kind of want him to be
cheating on me, and I need to find evidence of it.
And then there's the clamming thing when he kisses her,
and that's for me when it all shifted. Oh really,
that's when I was like, Kiki's protecting herself, She's trying
to find a way out without being.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That's interesting. I got in a different way where she
was so kind of like wanting to stay in this marriage,
but she was so aware that she had got him
in this way of like him cheating with her first,
so she's so aware of him cheating and kind of
ruining this perfect life on the outside they've created. And
then I thought it was in the prenup it was
like she only gets money if they had children, but
(13:05):
she never had children, so she's really got no safety
net without him. But it's so funny because that obviously
comes later in the show. In the first part of
the show, you'll really led to believe that she is
this cult leader, and actually, this is what kind of
this was kind of one of the bad parts of
the show. I thought they were so wanting to lean
into this idea of like did she murder his ex wife?
Is she a cult leader? Does she have like magical
(13:26):
mind control powers? Is she drugging people? Is this like
an offshoot of Nine Perfect Strangers? Because there are some
things that are like a little bit unexplained in terms of.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Like, yeah, I think that the one Meghan Vehi wakes
up in the car and then like when she's kind
of hypnotized, because if you don't know what the mythology
of a siren is, which I'm sure you would, it's
it's they are like mermaid like creatures that sing to
sailors basically to lure them to their deaths. You know,
that is that the mythology of a siren. So even
(13:56):
the title of the show is implicating the insinuating that
these women have this kind of power over men. And
there is that scene when they're all getting dressed up
and it's like, well, you look into your power, and
they're all talking at the same time, and yeah, you know,
i used to be a nail tech, but now I've
got this rich husband. So it's almost like this cult
(14:19):
of finding a rich husband.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah, exactly. And it's that a whole thing of like
that play on Sirens is like almost quite literal in
a way. That's interesting because at first you're meant to
think that Kiki is like that traditional siren, and she's
got this control over her husband to lure him away
from his wife, and she's got control over everyone who's
in the house. And she uses it on Devon's character
and kind of like almost has like memory loss, but
(14:41):
mostly you're meant to think that she has it over Simon.
And I think the way that they said their relationship
is interesting because you're meant to think that they have
this inappropriate relationship and like not sexual. I mean maybe
some people thought that. I guess the whole idea is
that you're not meant to know that it was almost
like this kind of like she had a power over her,
that she had like forsaken her family and likes taken
her life, and you think that there's something more sinister
(15:03):
happening behind the scenes.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Yeah, And I think it was that you know that.
I think it was one of the first episodes when
they like sleeping in the bed together.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
That was that was a weird moment.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
No, But I mean, on reflection, I think I understand
where that all came from. But basically we're kind of
talking about like a very close relationship between a boss
and her pa.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Yeah, knew. What was weirder than the bed scene was
the first moment I was like, what is this show
is when they were going into the party and Kiki goes,
how's my breath and goes it's perfect, how's my breath?
And she's like, oh, not great, take my gum and
she pulled the gum. Kiki pulls the gum out of
her mouth and puts in Simone's mouth and Simone choose it.
And I'm like, why is that the dirtiest thing I've
ever seen?
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I know, you're a bit of a gym.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I would have died.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I mean, I definitely wouldn't do something like that.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
But that's a very intimate theory that usually only like
people in like a sexual relationship, and I wouldn't do
that with my husband. Yeah, guy, don't share gum.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
I don't share gum with hair.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
I don't know what married people do, but I just
know your gum back. But it's a very intimate thing,
like even best friends wouldn't do that, let alone.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
I have it in my kids half masticated food.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I mean that's just survival, right, Yeah, that's different. So
that's okay, we'll give that a pass.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
And also the fact that she did that, Simone doesn't
even flinch. She actually looks grateful. It's almost like a
mother bird. It's like the symbolism of like a mother
bird feeding and Simone be looking at her with like love,
like thank you for taking care of me. And that
was the first moment in the pilot where I was like, oh,
something is really weird with this show.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Okay, but what about So I kind of picked up
on Kevin Bacon being like kind of shady, yeah, and
I started to feel but I didn't start to feel
any empathy for Kiki until like almost like the last episode.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Yeah, it's different because for so long there she does
feel like the manipulator and you never feel maybe other
people did, but I never feel really kind of empathy
for her throughout the show, maybe because she always looks
like so unflappable and everything is perfect and she's this
kind of crazy person, and I think all of your empathy,
it's like a change is during the show, Like the
first part of the show, all your empathy goes to
Devin because she's obviously in a terrible place where she's
(17:05):
battling alcoholism. She's looking after her father who has dementia
and is like losing all his memories and having to
be a carer. She's lost her sister who she gave
up her life to look after, and she also has
this kind of interesting situation where she's replaced alcohol because
he's trying to be sober. She's replaced it with intimacy
and sex with men, which keeps them manifesting in like
(17:26):
these different ways. Where in the first half it's almost
like she's the siren in a way too, because she's
luring like her ex boyfriend who she's hooking up with
her boss, like luring him away from his wife to
do her bidding. And then she goes into the hotel
and she lures like the guy who is the captain
of the ship, and they and again.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Not so subtle, like linked to a siren because captains
of boats exactly, sailors were the ones they got Lord, Yeah,
because then they got they were sung. They lured to
the rocks and then there were chips would crash and
then they.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Would all exactly. So it's that idea. It's very literal
the manipulation of men. And even when she's in the
guest house and she goes to have a drink and
you see her battling, and then she goes out and
finds the gardener and hooks up with him, and it's
almost like and I kind of wish that storyline had
come to an end or ahead or something not that
expected that she would be like, Oh, I'm so cute
of my sex adiction. Now I'm like a better person.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
There's definitely a couple of threads that I think could
still be explored. Yeah, as we move through the episode,
we've everything is kind of building up to this garlict
to her eyes, and at the gala dinner, everybody's like
things start to kind of really go awry. Yes, Kiki
has this photo of Simone and Kevin Bacon. Also, I'm
(18:45):
never going to call him just Kevin. He's Kevin Bacon always.
There's a photo of him, and she puts it, you know,
in a safe and she's like, this is my security. Yes,
and then there's like all this stuff. She fires Simone,
Simone gets kicked off, She's like devastated leading up to
this Garla. Everybody gets kicked out, and then Kevin Bacon.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
All yeah, comes and it's kind of the bad.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
The Simone character is really interesting because I guess she
she's the one really who's holding in maybe more secrets
than the others because Devon's like all out on the table.
She said everything like she says, everything comes into her head,
So she's never hiding anything really except from herself in
a turmoil. And then Julianne Moore's character Kiki, like you're
meant to think that she's hiding something, but as the
show goes along, you're like, I don't know. Everyone in
(19:34):
this place knows her entire backstory. There's no kind of
mystery there. But it's really Simone's character that has been
again almost the siren of like she calls everyone in
to like not just manipulate, but like take care of
her winded bird. Yeah, the whole wounded bird. And like
we see little dead birds in this so it's like
as she takes in these wounded birds, she also takes
in Simone, and you kind of see Simone's story change
(19:57):
in this really interesting way, and you see all the
lies she's told about, like her mother being first of all,
she's saying her mother died in a car accident. To
find out this horrific thing of her mother tried to
kill herself, well did kill herself, but had her in
the car and all the stuff that happens. And I
think it's such an interesting performance from Millie o'clock, who
is an Australian actress who first rose to prominence in
that show with Tim Minton. Upright, she's so good in that,
(20:20):
and then went to be on House of the Dragon,
and she's also starring a Supergirl soon, and I think
it's kind of interesting. I was watching a whole bunch
of interviews with Millie and I thought it so interesting
that she said this is the first time she's ever
really lost herself in a character, and that it kind
of rebuilt her confidence as an actress, because when she
was on House of the Dragon on her first few
(20:40):
days of filming that show, she's this young Australian actress
who's all of a sudden on like the biggest TV
show in the world, and she thought she was doing
a good job. And then she said one of the
higher ups came over to her and pulled her aside
during filming and zaid, don't worry, We're going to get
you an acting coach.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And just kind of well, God, that makes you feel
so sick, right, and just.
Speaker 2 (20:59):
Like imagine also like you're already filming, like how would
you then go on? And like, do you know what?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I wish she did go on. I think that all
of the performances are really nuanced, which is really nice,
and as it gresses, it's not like big twist, but
there is you start to see these flickers, these little
injections of a change is in character exactly. And again
for me with Kiki, it kind of started around. It
(21:26):
didn't really show itself right until the end, but there
was this moment when Simona and Devon's dad comes and
he's got dementia and he kind of thinks that Kiki
is his ex wife who kills himself, and they're dancing together,
and it's this kind of you don't know whether, like
(21:47):
I actually had this weird thought where I was like, oh,
is she actually the mother? Oh my gud I thought
that too. Was she actually the mom? Or is she
remembering that he was the mom? And the whole secret
is that she never died and she had like this
health face. Anyway, I don't know where my head.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
You know why this is because why we went that
way is because we can't just watch a TV show anymore.
We're so looking for plot twists and mystery, that whole
mystery box TV element and you're like, wait a second,
So she's just a confused, rich woman that can't be
the twist.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
No, I was like, she just had like some like
like has run away and the girls are actually her daughters.
And this is like, yeah, I had this weird me.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
Too, because when I wrote some great fan fiction.
Speaker 1 (22:26):
It was very like a very split sack. I kind
of started to realize it was because he obviously had dementia.
But I saw this again that it's in the nuance
of Julian Animore's performance of vulnerability because she couldn't have
her own children. She was saying, I tribe many times,
and we kept losing them, and I was like, huh,
(22:47):
there's something here, like you aren't you aren't evil.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
Yeah, you're just Yeah, we're looking for a villain. It's weird.
There's not really even Kevin Bacon, I think.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
The villain.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
Yeah, I mean he's just an entitled white man who
needs always needs a younger woman to look after him
as the vibe. And then I thought also interesting, as
we go through the show, like everyone like obviously, Devon
has a bit of a physical transformation where she starts
coming a bit more of that. Well, initially she does
it to go under cover like that kind of becomes
like a Stepford wife, but then at the end of
the show, she's almost settled into that world where she's
(23:20):
trying to get back to the person she was, and
then you see sort of Julianne Moore's character also go
through like a bit of a physical transformation when she
has her wealth taken away from her. But I thought
Millie Alcock's character, like Simon, also goes through one because
her physicality is so interesting. It's so rigid throughout the show,
and then as her trauma keeps coming out, you can
see she gets loose with how she moves. And then
(23:43):
every time they do those big scenes of her running
down the beach. There's so many scenes where she's running
and crying, and that's meant to kind of almost jolt
you out of the story from the filmmakers. Yeah, apparently
they film that so many times that she ripped her
toenails off, so now she has no toails, so just
think of that. I rewatched that same Laura. I was like, No,
I just wanted to people to know what the woman
(24:04):
went through. Trainails. Oh my god, and she's got to
be a supergirl. That's too much for one human.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
But I thought it was really interesting, again, so so
nuanced and really lovely, lovely acting where she kind of
her sisters like going, I need to get you out
of here. I need to get you out of here,
and she's going, I've spotted my chance. Yeah, exactly, I've
found my inn. And the shoulders go up, the net
goes on, and she kind of morphs.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Yeah, she morphs.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Into the Siren, and we don't have to finish here,
but I think this is a really nice place to
finish when we do eventually do the ending. For me,
the best part of it, my favorite favorite bit is
like one of the final scenes where it's Julianne Moore
and Meghan Faiye on the boat. They're sitting next to
each other. It's Devin and Kiki and they're talking. Everything
(24:59):
stripped back and it's like, you know, I survived many
years until I became the monster. Devin goes, You're not
a monster here, he goes, and neither is she, And
I thought that was like they were molded. It's like
you live long enough to go from being the hero
(25:21):
to the villainy. And that is kind of where I
see maybe this potential for a season two. I don't
know if I've gone off on a complete thing, but no, no, no.
For me, that was like a really key scene, Like
I really took a lot from that particular scene.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
Oh yeah, I mean. And the ending is by like
today's normal TV standards of people wanting like a big
shoot out at the end or a huge twist or
a dead body, like when the rich neighbor who wants
to marry Snow and the creepy old guy falls off
the cliff. You're like, Okay, here's our murder. This is
what like Meghan Faky even says now that she only
stars and shows and movies that have a beach and
a body, And yeah, that's a good niche to be
in right now, because that's what we want. And then
(25:58):
you keep waiting for this murder mystery or this could
it never eventuates, and what eventuates is more of this
character study, which shouldn't be shocking, but it feels shocking
in today's kind.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
I think it actually surprised me in a really nice
I think I actually preferred the show because it doesn't
become this classic cult story, which I love, like a
mother cult story. I didn't want to hold a little
cold sockos like yeah, my old time favor. It's like
a lover cults, love like hearing about it all. But
what the show does do is create nuance and when
(26:32):
to walk away from someone. Because Devon eventually does have
to walk away from her sister. She's like, I've tried
as hard as I can. You've chosen your path. And
Simone isn't this little wounded bird. She is capable of
making her decisions. And the decision she makes is to
take on this rich man and become the mother of
(26:54):
the household, like the leader of the household matriarchy.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
Yes for me, tram of the household. Yeah, and yeah.
That that's an interesting ending because you have all these
little bombs going off quickly, and up until that moment,
I will say I feel like the storyline was going
around a little bit in circles.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
I was like, Okay, it's like this conversation that we've had.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Were getting to the end now because we do, Because
that's not That's what it's the show itself.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
It is not a linear thing.
Speaker 2 (27:20):
So much going around and then all of a sudden
you're coming back. It's like in the last episode and
it's going back to season one one, like it's back
and forth. And so as much as I did love
all the little kind of out the side stories. Devin
being in the drunk tank was my favorite because the
girl who was in there with her calling her Kevin.
I was like, I'm sorry, why is this the funniest
scene in the whole show. So you have all these
little side venage. There's like a lot of sade questions.
(27:41):
It does really like throw you.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
But the crux of it for me and I think
it makes it so much more. Again, I think this
comes from the fact that it was it came from
a play. Yes, play is a really well known for
being a little bit more. I'm going to use the
word nuanced again because I don't actually have thesaurus with
me and I can't find another word.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
For it works.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
It is really like these characters really are very complex
and maybe there is no Gordon evil, even though Kevin
Bacon turns out to be complete f wick. And but yeah,
I feel like that you know she's not You're not
a monster like that. I love that so much that
that Julianne Moore stripped back and it's like you're not
(28:24):
a monster. Yeah, Like I actually really loved that.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
And I feel like that a lot of these little
bomb shells that come in here, and she is so good,
so powerful, and after going around in circles for a
little bit, then all of a sudden, we have all
these little bombs shells that come out in like a
very quick amount of time. So we have that scene
where Devon's and the gala and she's like, I know
you killed his ex wife, and you have that reveal
from Juliana more being like she's disfigured and she lives alone.
(28:48):
The interesting thing is if you watch that scene back,
I think the first time you're watching it and you're
really centered on Devin and Kekey, as you should because
they're having this big reveal, but as if you watch
it back a second time and you see everyone in
the background who's at the gala reacting. They look a
little shocked by the yelling, but when she talks to
the ex wife, they all kind of look down. And
it's what people have been doing all the way through
(29:09):
the show. But because our minds are so attuned to murder,
we keep thinking everyone's looking down because they know she's murdered,
but they're actually looking down because they know that not
only is she kind of living this isolated life, she's
been shunned by this fancy society and that to them
is worse than being murdered. They're like, oh god, she
should have been murdered. Now she's living alone, Like I know,
what could be worse. I know, that bombshell.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
And then we have like the big reveal of Samoon
in that beautiful blue dress. Yeah. Sorry, she looks so
stunning in that. That was a like, I know it's
not really there is quite a lot of fashion in this, yeah,
but that fashion is good. That blue, this like gorgeous
silk gown again, like the Ocean I'm thinking.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
And also the way it's cut in the Fall of
the Silk is like that very old school mythology, like
Greek mythology with gown with what.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
A Grecian like, which is where so much of this.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Is coming from. And I think what's interesting too is
that Millie or'clock and Meghan Faikey said that they filmed
the first couple of episodes and they didn't actually know
what was going to happen until they had filmed most
the show. So Millie's saying all the way through she
doesn't know what's happening to Simone. Obviously she didn't see
Elemento pe either, so she doesn't know where Simone's going
to end up. So she said it was quite shocking
for her when she realized where the character was going
(30:23):
and the fact that she was going to have this
big plot twist. And but the thing is, I don't
be interested in your thoughts on this. I think you
can watch it and think that she planned and manipulated
that situation. Whereas where she's telling Devin about it, she
was like, and then he was on the beach. I
went to walk away and he stopped me. And it's
like her eyes glaze over and she's transferred the adoration
(30:43):
she had for Kiki over to Kevin Bacon. So she
didn't plan it. She just is so desperate for someone
to take care of her.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
I think she didn't plan it, But then I think
she saw the opportunity and took her.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
Oh yeah yeah, and then was like, let me help
you oust key.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yes. So it's like when she like I think once
she sort of realizes, ah, this is my way back
again that that's another traumal response, and I agree with you. Yeah, Like, Okay,
Keikey's not gonna take care of me, but this guy might.
Even though in a dump, you when you start to
look old.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Exactly well, I meanly she's in an early twenties there,
so she's got a way to go. But yeah, it's
the transference of adoration. And I think also that's why
when when you see Devon hearing what Simone's saying and
now we're together and all this stuff, you see Devon's
face just for and you see them to this realization.
Man can say, her face acting out of this world.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
Nuance want so much Dians.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It's like that scene from the finale of White Lotus
where she plays Daphne, where you see this moment where
she realizes that her husband and her new friend cheated
on her and she calculates in this one second of
what she's going to do, and it's a slight turn
of her face. She does it again here where she's like, oh,
I came to save you from a cult, but now
that I know that you're just so lost that you've
throw on yourself with this man, I just have to
(31:56):
let you go because I can't save you from I'll
save you from danger, but I can't save you from
this hopelessness you're stuck in. Yeah, and I think otherwise
she would never have left her there. That's why she leaves.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
So then we've got the final scene, Simone's on the
cleaf in that beautiful blue gown, and you know, I
know that we talked a lot about like this just
being a limited series, and again, based off lay, it
should just be one series. I do, however, think there
is room for a season two, depending on how well
this does.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah, I mean, look, it's done very well. And I
also think like at first it was kind of marketing
almost just like kind of like shlocky Netflix drama, and
like there's definitely moments of that. But I think especially
the end scene we see, like especially got going back
to your favorite moment of them on the boat and
that moment from Julianne Moore's character Kiki, and also that
she's stripped away. She doesn't have the beautiful hair and makeup.
(32:43):
She's like jewels, she's not wearing the jewel tones or
the neutrals. She just looks like someone who had to
like jump on a barge and make her way in
the world. And she's so kind of dressed down, but
she gives this beautiful performance. I feel like that's I
can just imagine Julian more reading the script and that
being the scene that said I'm gonna take this. It's
like how Meryl Streep only said yes to doing The
(33:04):
Devil Wears Prada when she read the scene of her
in the hotel room with no makeup. She's like, She's like,
unless you have that scene, all of the big, beautiful,
glamorous Etherol scenes don't make sense. And I feel like
that's why Julian would have taken this. And I love
resonated so well with people. I feel like, I know,
when I first watched it, I was like, no, no, that's good.
One and done. It's fine. But I also think that,
I mean, I would love to see if we can,
(33:26):
like have if we can continue our fan fiction that
we both had from the start of this, where we
were concocting all these side plots in our heads.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Okay, because you saw how other staff were when they
knew Simon was leaving.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, day group text about her is the funniest thing.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
This is the thing. This is the thing. Like, I think, yes,
it would be fine if it was just one season.
The story could happily end there. However, honestly, honestly, I
really feel like there are so many places that this
could go. There could be a little bit more about
Devon finding herself, working through her trauma, a little bit
more the dementia, maybe finding a little bit more clarity,
(34:02):
looking maybe at ki Ki finding herself again as a
lawyer because she was a lawyer, perhaps maybe taking legal action,
trying to find some finding herself again rather than just
being the wife of a rich man. And then there's
also like the way that the new mistress of the house,
(34:22):
how does Simone take over this island? Is she going
to get pregnant, I'm gonna have baby?
Speaker 2 (34:29):
Is there so much there? I think Kiki comes back
again without fan casting that she has gone off become
a very successful woman. She's made all this money. She
comes back and she buys half of the island, or
she buys the bird sanctuary. So then she and Kevin
Bacon of trying to figure out it's like a war
of power there. And then they're having a big event
because it's Labor Day weekend, but it's also the christening
of simoone and Kevin Bacon's baby also with the christening party,
(34:52):
and then Devon gets pulled back because Keiki blackmails her
and gets her to come back to try and pull
her sister out and hilarity and drummer in suit. Yes,
there's definitely room for it exactly, but we've done the.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Work in Spain. This is I really really loved this show.
Not what you expect, definitely not like a classic cult
thing you Definitely there's so many little like a couple
of times where I was like, I would like to
see that fleshed out a little bit more. But I've
really enjoyed that it was such a character based and
(35:23):
complex characters. They weren't one dimensional. All of these characters
have so much depth, layering, nuance.
Speaker 2 (35:32):
Yes, we love that. Sarens on Netflix. What a fun time.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Thanks for listening to the Spill today. Don't forget to
follow the Spill on TikTok. The Spill is produced by
Manisha Is Warren with sound production by Scott Stronik Momma
Studios a Star with furniture from Fenton and Fenton. Visitventon
and Fenton dot com dot au. We'll see you back
here in your podcast speed on Monday at three pm.
Speaker 2 (35:56):
Bye bye,
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.