Netflix‘s new show Sirens goes on what can best be described as a “banana pants” journey. Instead of being a straight forward class satire with an open/shut murder mystery, Sirens toys with mythology, magic, betrayal, trauma, and common sense. The way Sirens ends sort of boggles the mind, even if it is, as series creator Molly Smith Metzler pointed out to DECIDER, “a tale as old as time.”
**Spoilers for Sirens, now streaming on Netflix**
Sirens takes place over an eventful Labor Day weekend at the Kells’ magnificent Martha’s Vineyard estate. Devon DeWitt (Meghann Fahy) has crashed the opulent pad to confront her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) over her long absence from the family. Simone has fully ingratiated herself to her imperious boss, Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore), choosing this cult-like world of designer clothes, gourmet nibbles, and ceremonies tagged with Michaela’s catchphrase, “Hey hey,” over life back in Buffalo.
Devon is convinced that something nefarious is afoot with Michaela and goes to extremes to win her sister back, going so far as to embrace the Kells to get closer to Simone. Ultimately, though, Sirens ends with a wild series of events that culminates in Simone’s jilted boyfriend Ethan (Glenn Howerton) falling off a cliff, Devon learning Michaela’s not so bad, and Peter Kell (Kevin Bacon) swiftly dumping his wife and replacing her with Simone!
What is happening with the ending of Sirens? Was there ever any magic cult stuff going on? Why doesn’t Devon go sailing with “Captain Morgan” (Trevor Salter)? Will Simone be eventually replaced by a new Mrs. Kell? Here’s everything you need to know about the end of Sirens on Netflix…
Sirens ends in a very All About Eve way, with Simone, the sweet assistant, knocking her beloved boss off her pedestal and taking her place. We learn early in Sirens that Michaela is worried that her husband Peter is having an affair. A paranoid Michaela sends Simone to spy on him, only for her to give up the gig. Peter insists she go clamming with him and he reveals that, yes, he has been lying to his wife about his whereabouts but it’s because he’s been reconnecting with his adult children. Michaela wants nothing to do with the first Mrs. Kell’s offspring, but Peter felt a need to reconnect as he recently became a grandfather.
Simone and Peter’s cute clamming session takes a turn when he kisses Simone. He immediately apologizes and it seems like a moot point. However, a Vanity Fair photographer caught them while getting background footage for Michaela’s upcoming spread. He reveals this proof of infidelity to Michaela, who puts in a safe, and fires Simone. She immediately starts plotting to divorce Peter and to use this photo to circumvent their pre-nup, guaranteeing her a huge payout.
While this is going on, Simone’s older wealthy boyfriend Ethan (Glen Powell) has flown to Buffalo and brought the DeWitt patriarch, Bruce (Bill Camp), and his “nurse” Raymond (Josh Segarra) back to the Vineyard. Ethan proposes to Simone, who refuses him. Ethan gets drunk, rants at Simone, and falls off a cliff — but does not die.
When Simone realizes that Michaela has cut her off, she has a breakdown. At the same time, Peter is horrified to learn Michaela has fired the loyal Simone. He asks José (Felix Solis) to break into Michaela’s safe. Armed with the proof that Michaela was plotting to undercut him, Peter beats her to the punch. In the middle of her gala, he pulls her aside to dump her, immediately cutting her off, and introducing Simone as her replacement. (In Simone’s moment of hysteria, she instinctively ran to the beach and met with Peter.)
Sirens ends with Devon choosing to return to Buffalo with her father in lieu of taking a month vacation with the dashing Jordan. She meets Michaela on the ferry back to the mainland and learns that her “Hey hey” chant means nothing. The two women bond over what Simone has taken on, the role of the next Mrs. Kell.
When we asked Sirens creator Molly Smith Metzler if Simone won or if Peter would eventually replace her, she initially demurred. “Well, I’m so curious what the audience thinks about that,” she said, revealing she plans to hop on Reddit to see what fans think. “Because I feel I’m asking you the question a little bit.”
“I think that this is a very old story,” Smith Metzler said. “We open with Michaela on the cliff and we close with Simone on the cliffs. This is an adaptation of Greek mythology. It’s a tale as old as time. Do I think it will continue? My answer would be absolutely.”
Pissed off that Devon doesn’t get a happy ending? Smith Metlzer teased that our girl may yet get on that yacht with “Captain Morgan.”
“I really wish that Devon was in a place where she could go off and sail away, but I did not entertain that as an ending for her because that’s not who she is and that’s not where she is yet,” she said. “I do think she’s going to go home a changed person after this weekend.”
“I think she is going to get her own apartment. I think she’s gonna start to take care of herself. I think she gonna stay sober. And I think a trip to go see Jordan is in the future.”
Smith Metzler also explained that even thought she’s “obsessed” with Greek mythology, she didn’t want to go “overboard” with the magic and imagery.
“I don’t like to watch TV that feels like homework,” she said. “So I didn’t want to go too far.”
Smith Metzler did confirm that Cloe (Jenn Lyon), Lisa (Erin Neufer), and Astrid (Emily Borromeo) are meant to represent the Fates and that “Peter has a Zeus-like quality or a Hades-like, depending on how you look at it.”
Sirens was designed as a five-part limited series, but could we see a Sirens Season 2? Molly Smith Metzler explained to DECIDER that she’s had these characters in her head for fifteen years and can conjecture where they go next.
“So I guess never say never, but I do think that this particular chapter has a beginning, a middle, and an end and I think it’s very succinct,” she said. “So it would have to be something quite different.”