Siren – Curse Of The Starving Class

By starrymag | April 25, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

One month later, Chris Mueller (Chad Rook) sits in an Alaskan bar when Aldon Decker (Ron Yuan) joins him, commenting that he’s a hard man to find. Decker asks if he remembers him, and Chris asks what he wants. He replies that he found the car that he and Donna (Sibongile Mlambo) escaped in, but Chris calls Donna a nutjob. Decker warns Chris that Donna is a violent killer, and Chris tells him he lost sight of her at the beach. Decker believes him, but asks for everything he knows about her.

 

Maddie Bishop (Fola Evans-Akingbola) works at the aquatic center when Ben Pownall (Alex Roe) comes in. She asks where he’s been, and he replies that he took out the boat early. Maddie comments that she didn’t see him, and he admits that he went out during the night. He shows her a dragonfish he caught, and questions how it could have died on the surface when it lives deep underwater. Maddie confirms that Ben went back to the coordinates where Ryn’s (Eline Powell) tracker went out, and comments how reckless it was for him to go alone.

 

Ben tells her that he’s concerned about Ryn, and Maddie tells her that she could be anywhere by now. Maddie admits that she misses him, as she feels distant from him. He assures her he’s there and kisses her. Dr. Abbott (Patrick Gallagher) ends his appointment with Elaine Pownall (Sarah-Jane Redmond), and he tells her that he ran into Ben. She asks how he was and he tells her that he saw him take out his boat at three in the morning. Elaine asks if he was alone, and he says he was. Abbott comments that Ben’s relationship with Maddie might be strained, and tells her about the girl Ben asked him to help a month ago. She comments that Ben is always trying to save something, and thanks Abbot for the Intel.

 

Maddie asks Ben if they can have dinner, drink, and have clumsy sex like normal couples, and their kissing is interrupted by Jerry (David Kaye). He informs them there was a local fishing boat accident. They investigate, and Xander McClure (Ian Verdun) complains that they have been forced to overfish recently. Ben asks about the fishing regulations, but Xander tells him that they aren’t being enforced. They agree to investigate the matter, and Xander lets Maddie take the dragonfish in his haul.

 

Ben visits his father, Ted Pownall (David Cubitt), and tells him that he intends to take the offer to be the company’s environmental consultant. Ted is surprised, but is thrilled to have him on board. He tells Ben to come by tomorrow to start, and welcomes him aboard. As Maddie dissects the dragonfish, Ben tells her how much it sucked to take the job with Ted. Maddie determines that the fish died by starvation, and Jerry brings them sushi for dinner. Maddie comments that this isn’t what she had in mind for regular dinner, and Ben asks if they can skip to the clumsy sex. She straddles him, but the sound of Ryn’s tracker coming back online interrupts them.

 

They follow the tracker to the beach and Maddie finds Ryn’s tail, which turns to dust as she touches it. Ben sees a second tail and they speculate that it belongs to Donna. The tracker indicates they’re in the woods, and Ben follows it. Decker informs Admiral Harrison (Anthony Harrison) that Chris knows nothing about Donna being a mermaid. After being informed about a possible indication of Donna’s return, Harrison hopes that Decker finds her.

 

Ryn and Donna run through the woods, and Donna urges them to go back to the water. However, Ryn reminds her they need help from the people. Donna doesn’t trust people, but Ryn assures her that some are good. On a high school field, Ryn finds a football jersey for Donna and a cheerleader outfit for herself. Donna refuses to wear it, and urge her to go back to the water. Ryn refuses and Donna rips off and throws her tracking necklace. Ryn tells her they need the people and hands her the jersey.

 

Officer Nina Lopez (Gigi Saul Guerrero) shows Decker the blueprints for a new mermaid containment tank that is able to dispense a sedative into the water. Ben arrives at the field, and shows Maddie the tracker he found. Maddie calls Helen Hawkins (Rena Owen) and tells her about Ryn’s reappearance. Helen questions why she’s back, and promises to send her back to the water if she sees her. Maddie tells her they’re going to the aquatic center and Helen promises to meet them there.

 

Ben ignores a call from Elaine, but Elaine calls Maddie right after. Elaine suggests they get to know each other over lunch, and Maddie agrees. Ben sarcastically comments how fun the lunch will be, and advises Maddie to order large cocktails. Deputy Clarence (Graeme Duffy) tells Deputy Marissa Staub (Tammy Gillis) that there are two people trespassing through people’s backyards, commenting that one of them isn’t wearing pants.

 

Ryn and Donna break into the aquatic center, and Ben and Maddie find them inside. Maddie embraces Ryn upon seeing her, and Ryn introduces them to Donna as good people. Ryn tells Ben and Maddie that they need help, and holds Donna back as Helen arrives. Helen asks why they came back, and Ryn tells them they are running out of food. Donna sees the dissected dragonfish and accuses them of stealing their food. Ben tries to explain that they were studying it, but Donna throws the tray at him and grabs him by the throat. Ryn pulls her off Ben and Donna attacks her. After Ryn throws Donna off of her, Donna is terrified of Ben’s flare light. She tells Ryn to go back to the water, and runs away when Ryn refuses.

 

Maddie tends to Ryn’s wound, and Ryn assures them that Donna isn’t bad. Helen explains that Donna felt betrayed by Ryn siding with humans over her. She explains that they shouldn’t be here, and Ryn tells them that the military took Donna’s blood and skin. Ben agrees that there are a lot of bad people, and mentions that his own family might be involved in stealing her food. He promises Ryn that they’ll figure it out, and Helen asks what they’re going to do about Donna. Maddie asks if Donna will go to the ocean, but Ryn replies that she won’t go without her.

 

Some guys catcall at Donna as she walks down the street, and she growls at them. She goes to the fish storage facility and starts eating one of the fish. Wally (Brad Kelly) yells at her that she can’t do that, but she growls at him and attacks him as he drives away in the forklift. He activates the alarm and Donna runs away. The next morning, Ben finds the area roped off and Ted tells him what happened. Ben suggests he start with a tour of the company, and Ted tells him it’s a good idea.

 

Chris returns to Xander’s boat, and Xander and Calvin (Curtis Lum) are thrilled to see him. Xander is worried about the military finding him, but Chris tells him about his conversation with Decker and how they left him alone after that. They are surprised that they went through all of that because of a nurse, and Chris explains that she’s a wanted killer. Chris doesn’t believe the thing that attacked him was a mermaid, and the military took a rare fish from them. He declares that he’s done running, and he’d rather be in danger with them then alone in Alaska. Xander and Calvin agree to give him his job back, and they celebrate.

 

Decker asks Montero to get him a description of the suspect that attacked a dockworker. Maddie asks Ryn if she’ll be okay by herself, and Ryn assures her she will, before feeling her dress and calling it pretty. Maddie tells her that she’s meeting Ben’s mother, and Ryn asks what a mother is. She shows Ryn a picture of Ben’s family and points out Elaine. Ryn asks if she has a mother, but Maddie tells her that her mother is gone. Maddie explains that family is love, and Ryn calls her love. She gives Ryn a baseball bat for her protection, and Ryn admits that she’s missed her. Maddie tells her that she missed her too, and Ryn kisses her lips before saying goodbye.

 

Ben takes a tour of the facility, and a worker tells him that a new company called Coastal Mills is buying up all of the seafood. The worker comments that nobody heard of the company before a month ago, but then they started coming up and taking the seafood in their trucks. Xander asks to talk to Ben, and tells him what Chris told him about his meeting with Decker. They find it suspicious, and determine that Decker let Chris go because he didn’t know anything. Ben asks Xander if he’s heard of a company called Coastal Mills, but Xander hasn’t.

 

Elaine thanks Maddie for coming and asks Maddie how Ben has been. She tells her they’ve been busy with a rescue, and Elaine asks how their relationship has been. Maddie assures her they’re great, and lies that the rescue they’ve been working on is a wounded seal pup. Elaine tells Maddie that she knows that Ben has issues with shutting people out. Maddie comments that he loses himself in work, and Elaine comments on Ben’s love of rescuing things. She asks Maddie if she is Ben’s current rescue, and awkward silence ensues.

 

Ben brings Roberta (Marilyn Norry) coffee, and she is surprised that he remembers her order from when he was a kid. She tells him that Ted is at a lunch business meeting, and he asks if he can wait in his office until he gets back. When Roberta takes a call, Ben sits at Ted’s computer and attempts to login. After trying several potential passwords, he tries a combination of his and Doug’s names. Once logged in, he looks at Ted’s emails with Coastal Mills.

 

Elaine tells Maddie that Ben worked tirelessly to help her when she ended up in her wheelchair, and Maddie comments that Ben hates seeing people suffer. She comments that Ben fixates on things, and warns her that another girl in need of help will eventually come along that will take his attention away. Ben texts Maddie that he has information, and Maddie tells Elaine that she needs to go. Elaine asks if it’s a new rescue, and Maddie replies it’s the same rescue before telling Elaine that she isn’t a rescue.

 

Ben tells her about Coastal Mills, and that he was unable to find any information on them. He tells her that Xander found out that the fishing restrictions were removed a month ago, and they figure out that the government is purposely starving the mermaids so they can catch more of them. Decker looks at the new tanks, as they prepare to house several mermaids in the new facility.

 

Helen searches for Donna, and finally finds her under the dock of the beach. Donna growls at her, and Helen assures her she’s a friend. She feeds her fish, and Donna eagerly eats it as Helen tells her she wants the same thing. Bringing her home, Helen offers her help to get her and Ryn back to the water. Helen assures Donna that she can trust her, revealing that she’s one of them. Ben and Maddie explain the situation to Ryn, and she declares that she’s not safe on land or water. They promise to make her safe, and Ryn asks how.

 

Chris laments that none of this would have happened if the fish hadn’t attacked him, and Xander asks what Decker did with the fish. He mentions that they were studying it, and declares that it’s good to be home. Xander leaves a message for Ben, telling him his suspicions that Decker is behind everything. Meanwhile, Decker drives into town with an accurate sketch of Donna.