Freeform’s Siren
Season 2, Episode 11: “Mixed Signals”
Directed by Ben Bray
Written by Ian Sobel & Matt Morgan

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “All In” – click here
* For a recap & review of the next episode, “Serenity” – click here
Ryn (Eline Powell) has taken off into the forest by herself, trailed by Ben (Alex Roe) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola). Except soon they can’t find her at all. The couple don’t know what to do, so they’re forced to turn to Nicole (Natalee Linez) for help. She’s at the bar taking rightful shit from Xander (Ian Verdun). She’s trying to convince him the feelings she had weren’t because of her job. She got into what she does with “exotic stem cells” due to a brother who enlisted in the military and went to Iraq, getting injured brutally by an IED. Part of it all has been trying to piece together what Decker was doing before he died.

Xander and Nicole go to the warehouse where Ben and Maddie show them the broken tank. The couple wants to get Ryn back safely, which would be good for Nicole, too. Wouldn’t be good to let the military know things got fucked up. Luckily— with the aide of a Predator-style thermal visual— a government tracker’s able to pinpoint Ryn due to her different body temperature.
Ben and Maddie stumble upon some hunters who’ve seen Ryn. Could that make for trouble down the line? The search continues deeper into the woods. Eventually, Maddie comes face to face with Ryn. The mermaid’s in full-on predatory mode. She uses the siren song to make Maddie drop the gun. Ben interrupts and the mermaid falls to the ground. The spell’s broken, for now.
Ryn couldn’t control what she was doing. She saw it all happening, powerless to stop. Only the song makes her feel better. Xander’s worried about it. He knows Ben hasn’t been able to shake it, now Maddie has been touched by it. Ryn went “beast mode” on them. Things are getting complicated. Brain scans— like the one done on Decker post-mortem— may offer answers.

At home, Elaine (Sarah-Jane Redmond) is improving. She tells her husband about how their son is responsible for helping. This doesn’t make Ted (David Cubitt) happy. Of course, he doesn’t know the full truth, either. On top of that, there’s a long, dark history in Bristol Cove, much of it, if not all, tied to the Pownall family. And there are things we don’t even yet know. How much does Ted know himself?

The thrupple catch up with Helen (Rena Owen). She tells them about the extended mermaid family on land, as well as the fact some could potentially be dangerous. In the meantime, it’s sweet sugar for the soul to watch Ms. Hawkins as she enjoys the old film reel of her mother and father being cute together. Such joy!

A doctor looks over scans of Ben and Maddie’s brains. Maddie isn’t so bad. Ben is between her and Decker. Ryn breaks the heart when she laments how she “make heads dark.” The mermaid begins to understand more of what the siren song’s effects are on humans, as do the humans start to explore whether or not those effects are a “bell that can be un–wrung.” This also pushes Ben to maybe put his literal life on the line.
Maddie goes to help her mom and notices she’s hearing the song. She also finds she’s getting aggressive. At the bar, she nearly kisses Xander. Something in her is changing. Back at the lab, an audio tech sees there are hundreds of layers of frequencies within the song— far more than whales or dolphins. Ben has offered to listen to them all so the tech can analyse what each frequency does in isolation. Not without its problems. He experiences visions. His body’s wracked with pain.
The tech and Nicole do tests on a rat. The animal bashes its head off its glass tank.

Ben and Ryn have to go to his parents’ place for a get together, along with Helen. The whole thing’s a little awkward. The mermaid does one hell of a good job pretending to be a “friend from Finland.” Ted takes his son aside for a chat about not being kept in the loop about his wife’s treatment. He shows Ben the Clesco footage, showing a blurry Ryn in true form below the ocean shutting down Big Oil.
Yikes! Quite the soiree.
In the backyard, Helen notices a well she saw in the “home movie” of her parents. Hmm. She winds up asking Ted about it, mentioning a cottage nearby— he believes the place burned down. Does he know more? At dinner, Elaine gives a toast. Maddie arrives late after going slightly insane on the road, believing she ran Ryn over. She causes quite a scene when she has another vision, announcing to the table that she’s in a thrupple with Ben and Ryn, shocking the table.
There are big things happening.
Lots on the line, as well. Many twists and turns.

“Serenity” is next.