Siren TV Show Review: Flat, Naive and Unctuous Programming
French aspiring writer and interviewer. TV shows and films connoisseur. Overpowered by curiosity.
Siren TV Show Review: Flat, Naive and Unctuous Programming
After having laid stress on vampires and werewolves for too long, the televisual universe finally takes an interest in another legendary creature: the sirens. Born directly from ancient mythologies, these half-human and half-fish chimeric beings are known for charming the navigators with their mesmerising voices and their voluptuous bodies. This year, Freeform, formerly ABC Family, modernises the myth in their new creation for adults/teenagers called Siren.
Some years ago, the small and peaceful town of Bristol Cove would have sheltered sirens. Such is the legend. Today, while the calm is prevailing over this port village, it is really put to test with the arrival of Ryn (Eline Powell), a young mermaid wreaking havoc. She seems to have come on the firm ground for a precise goal: find her sister who has been kidnapped by a scientific laboratory depending on the government. On her difficult journey, Ryn makes friends with Ben (Alex Roe) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola), two oceanographers inclined to help her in her crusade.
Freeform
Staged in a horrific universe entirely made-up to welcome those submarine chimaeras, the series Siren is based on a promising postulate founded on a possible destructive conflict between two different worlds. Unfortunately, the viewers quickly come back to the ground. If the pilot was intriguing with its sombre and borrowing atmosphere, the rest of the first season struggles to find the right road and turns out to be flawed, pompous and clumsy.
The predictable scenario translates the blatant lack of inspiration of the screenwriters. The narrative arc is all a flimsy fabrication that bogs down with a deluge of good and dumb feelings. Everything is out of tune from the beginning to the end of this show. With the help of draft action sequences over here and low bracket special effects over there, the last episode sinks the whole chapter.
On the character side, nothing makes sense either. Except for the baffling and fascinating Ryn, played by Eline Powell quickly seen in Game of Thrones, all the secondary protagonists are put on the side. The helpless viewer assists to a litany of rough clichés and to an outrageous use of stereotypes that give the coup de grâce.
Freeform
In many respects, the series copies the classic schema of teen shows that are drowned in a sparsely worked and mastered content in the same vein as The Vampire Diaries and the Originals.
The series Siren, which at first sight seemed ambitious and singular, heavily trips over itself from the second episode.
The problem is that the show swiftly gets away from the myth of the dangerous and bewitching predators to side with the super-kind and mawkish Ariel from Disney with a sluggish story and zero risk-taking. This new Freeform show comes out as a naive and unctuous product that buries itself in a smooth and flat episode with no real twist. Such a shame!
Yet, a second season has already been announced… We have the right to wonder what to except for a second season after this botched launching…
This new Freeform show comes out as a naive and unctuous product that buries itself in a smooth and flat episode with no real twist. Such a shame !