Siren Review: New World Order (Season 2 Episode 16)
Catastrophe breaks loose in a world where mermaids and hybrids have been exposed as the military works hard to capture as many as they can, rounding them up by the dozens and throwing them in concentration camps on Siren Season 2 Episode 16, “New World Order.”
In no way shape or form was I emotionally ready for this season finale and what are our favorite characters are put through. I won’t lie, I’m a little confused on why there are multiple little time jumps throughout most of the episode only for it to be an illusion.
I am ecstatic that Ben does kill Ian, unlike the first illusion, because he’s a nuisance and a danger to the entire mermaid world. But, I think the episode might flow better if that had happened initially and then the story fold around his death.
SIREN
It’s understandable to want something shocking, something that the viewer would never imagine, which does happen. But, if that’s going to be the case there needs to be better communication on the time jumps because this episode is just confusing how all of a sudden the illusion ends and everything is A-Okay again.
Instead of making the illusion of the military parading everywhere and doing things that they want, I think it would’ve been more shock value had it been kept that way. What’s the point in putting our characters through months of hiding out, being thrown in concentration camps, and ultimately killed only for it to be a manifestation of what could happen?
Having to watch Helen be dragged along forcibly and thrown in a camp with every hybrid alike is tough, but there’s also a sense of reality and familiarity to what’s happening in the world now. Hybrids are being taken in and thrown in camps with trackers embedded in them, and mermaids are being captured from the waters and thrown in military facilities to be studied.
ALEX ROE
With the current political climate right now we already have immigrants being locked up in concentration camps, children being taken away from their mothers to never see them again, and the military abusing their power. I don’t know how many times viewers have to watch the same sad fate play out on a TV screen to understand what’s happening in the real world, but I’m glad that it was included in the show to represent the current horrors of our country.
On the other hand, I do wish that it would not have been erased and used as something that could potentially happen. I would rather every bad thing stay and set up a greater plot and storyline for Season 3 of Siren.
As for Xander, illusion or not, this is his character. He is not someone that you can trust to be loyal and there for you when the bad things get worse. I do not doubt that if mermaids were exposed he would be helping the military just like he is.
ALEX ROE, ELINE POWELL, FOLA EVANS-AKINGBOLA
Money is the only thing that can control Xander, not family, friends, or love. His only true interest is money and he’s helped prove that statement many times throughout the season.
With Rick’s baby momma having Ryn’s child it’s no shocker that season 3 is going to be a crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions, especially for Ryn when she figures out the truth. The finale is good, but has some holes in the storyline and overall I wish that it stayed consistent instead of doing a complete 180 in the last moments of the episode.
What did you think of this episode of Siren? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Siren airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Freeform.
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Cade Taylor
Cade Taylor is a television and film critic living in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a Senior Writer for Tell-Tale TV. His love for television developed at a young age, with a concentration on queer stories, sitcoms, teen dramas, and science fiction thrillers. In addition, he works full-time as a news producer, telling the stories of Missourians and helming "Produced in the Bi-State," a segment spotlighting actors, musicians, and entertainers from the St. Louis area. He can be reached by email at cade@telltaletv.com.
9 comments
I was seriously disappointed. First, they used the lame “it was all a dream” trope to reset everything at the end of the episode. Then , there was the not so subtle political statement, with the whole government reaction to the mermaids and especially the mermaid detention centers clearly meant to invoke the so-called immigrant camps at the US-Mexico border. All that was missing was a news broadcast with a Trump-like President making some sort of announcement about the mermaids. I watch a show about mermaids as an escape, not for political propaganda.
i agree.
i agree. the last 8 episodes of this season were awful. what was the point of introducing several new mermaids in the first 8 episodes of the season just to spend the next half of 8 episodes focusing on humans?
this show isn’t even about mermaids anymore.
The whole “it’s just a dream” was so insulting to the viewer making the actual content of the episode only a few moments long. This show doesn’t care about telling mermaid stories. it’s going to get cancelled after the next season because we watch this to escape and not be tricked into false advertisement.
In addition to that all the mermaid stories are told abusively. Donna can’t rest in peace because her body was dug up (after having to have scenes flash back and forth from humans during her burial to lessen the grief.)
Then we go through all this awful story-telling about getting Ryn pregnant just to give her embryo to some other person? How cruel of writers can you be?
Helen’s love interest gets killed because older people who are outcast don’t deserve love. This show insinuates that you only deserve love if you’re young and attractive within a polyamorous relationship.
Then humans survive all the attacks.
I find it offensive they actually wrote a dream scenario about Donna’s daughter getting captured. Isn’t it enough her mother was killed for no reason other than to keep human characters on?
This show is currently abusing mermaids and i wouldn’t recommend anyone to watch past episode 5.
The first 4 episodes truly show empathy and sadness to the mermaid cause. The episodes after that take the unoriginal disney format of “mermaid comes to land and turns human to find true love – but hey! it’s unconventional so it’s different!”
no, it’s not.
When are we gonna get a mermaid show that actually is about mermaids underwater.
This show is false advertisement and if you love mermaids it will break your heart.
Cancel it already before you destroy anymore of the loved character.
What if towards the end when we’re thinking it was an illusion, what if it’s something Ben’s brain decided to do, he was so devastated that in that moment he started realizing that I should have let him die and our lives would have been back to normal? That reporter knew what he was doing, whether he meant to or not. Ben should have also already known not ever trust his dad, I mean, time without number, his dad always chose the other path. His best friends take a moment to get on board but when things get though they always seem to want to expose or will them.
No.
The writers have no passion to tell legitimate and honorable mermaid stories.
So instead of giving a full episode of content to end the season on after ignoring all the new mermaid characters introduced they decide to make the episode as short as possible with no actual content being told.
They clearly wrote this as the ending to the series but got renewed for season 3 and just decided to edit and reuse the content to a “Dream Scenario” instead of actually writing a decent episode of new content.
There was literally no new content introduced in the second half of season 2 other than Ryn’s embryo cruelly being planted into somebody else and the introduction “hybrids.”
Who cares about hybrids? this show is called Siren not “hybrids” or “tidelands” )hybrid show on netflix(
They aren’t fooling anyone.
As the season ends its so confusing. You should have at least told us which part is the illusion because to me the part where mermaids and hybrids are captured seems so real than the ending
it was all just a dream. none of it was real. Literally all that happens was reporter Ian drives off the cliff and drowns. The end.
That is the quality of this show now.
Under 5 minutes of actual content in the episode being told.
How insulting to the viewer.
Beyond confusing, pick a story line and stick with it, this isn’t Siren Pulp Fiction!
Terrible. Seems like they just edited in a new ending when they found out that were getting renewed. Unbelievably disappointing.
Having to move on from the dream scenario into the new season would probably not be budget friendly in production sense, therefore letting Siren be as it is. Of the show were on a bigger network and more viewers, Siren would probably play on the apocalyptic story. And yes I just discovered this show and grateful for the reviews of it! 😀
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