Freeform’s Siren
Season 2, Episode 9: “No North Star”
Directed by Geoff Shotz
Written by Sarah Wise

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “Leverage” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “All In” – click here
After the events of the mid-season finale, Ben (Alex Roe) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola) rush out to the boat. Xander (Ian Verdun) and Calvin (Curtis Lum) are trapped aboard while the whole thing burns. They get Calvin out, but can’t find Xander. Ben risks his life to go get his friend, pulling him to safety.
He wants to call the Coast Guard. Xander says: “Let it burn.”

Underneath the ocean, merpeople gather to say goodbye to Sarge, after he was killed in the chaos. Ryn (Eline Powell) removes the necklace given to him by Helen (Rena Owen). They all say goodbye to their friend. When they’re done, Sarge disintegrates into the sand at the ocean floor.

At home, Ted (David Cubitt) is curious why his son even showed up at the event, and even Elaine (Sarah-Jane Redmond) confirms that Ben and Maddie rushed off after. Father Gore wonders if there’ll come a point where Ted, despite being a capitalist shithead, will reconcile with Ben to help his wife? She’s certainly not getting better. Right now, dad confronts his son over the catastrophe.
Jump ahead two weeks.
Helen has Rick (Brendan Fletcher) helping at the shop. He’s struggling with wanting to talk to his sister about the family’s mer-DNA. Helen offers to go with him so he won’t be alone. Their relationship has been so sweet. They’re two isolated people who’ve come to find they aren’t so isolated after all.

Ben continues to grapple with his addiction to the siren song. He tells Maddie about listening to the recording. She wants to listen, too. They both crave their mermaid. A thrupple isn’t a thrupple if it’s only two people. They love Ryn, and it’s more than that. It’s a physical / spiritual / mental connection that operates like a drug.
Remember, though— we’ve seen what the song can do to a person’s brain, after Decker died. How long until it starts to have supremely negative effects on Ben and Maddie?

At the research centre, Maddie and Ben find Nicole (Natalee Linez) looking for them. She has video of Ryn from when she was at the facility being examined by a doctor. But the couple tells her the merpeople have gone back to the water “for good.”
At the shop, Helen’s visited by Ryn. The mermaid returns the necklace from Sarge. Then she goes back to the couple again. She tells them she’s “hurt inside” and needs to be with them. Ben and Maddie believe it might be safer for her in the water. This isn’t what Ryn wants. She wants autonomy.
Ben’s called to the hospital. His mother isn’t well. Whatever trial treatment she’s been undergoing is causing unexpected reactions. WHAT ABOUT MERMAID DNA? SOMEBODY GIVE ELAINE A FEW SHOTS OF MERMAID B-12! In the meantime, Nicole looks through Decker’s research. She goes to Ben, telling him about “stem cells” from mermaids used to cure paralytic rats. The scientist was nearly at human trials.

Helen goes with Rick to see his sister Beth (Caroline Cave). They’ve been estranged a while. He attempts to soften the blow about discovering he’s part of a “tribe.” He blurts out the mermaid truth. Beth’s inclined to believe it’s a mental health crisis. Helen puts it all to bed, telling the sister it’s stress making her brother erratic. Later, on the road, she and Rick are blindsided by a man at a rest stop. It’s Beth behind their kidnapping.
Oh. Shit.

Compelling to watch Ryn in the hospital, seeing humans suffer from various illnesses. She walks into Elaine’s room, putting hands over the sick woman and singing the siren’s song. Ben walks in on it, entranced. Ryn tells him it’s meant to “move pain away” in merpeople culture.
Elaine sees a glimpse of her son kissing the mermaid in her foggy state, too.
Ted’s got security footage from a couple weeks ago showing a mermaid. He knows it can’t be a free diver at nearly 3,000 feet below sea level. Side note: how much does he already know about the mermaids in Bristol Cove? There’s a history. What does the oceanic capitalist know about the legendary creatures, and what’ll he do from here?
Below the ocean, Katrina (Aylya Marzolf) goes hunting. She finds an old ship with a skull on its masthead. Inside is a locked door with a noise coming from within. The mermaid opens it and sees there’s a decrepit mermaid there. How long has she been locked inside? And who put her there?
Many mysteries to come.

Nicole takes Ryn, Ben, and Maddie to the Navy facility. She shows them around the lab. They’re going to see if Ryn’s blood can help them.
YES! This is what Father Gore’s been saying. We all knew it was coming.
A great return for the back half of Season 2. Such a fun series. The story and its plots are headed in wonderful directions, so it’ll be enjoyable to see where things move and just how intense it’s all going to get on the way.

“All In” is next time.