Siren – Dead In The Water

By starrymag | May 10, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Ryn (Eline Powell) struggles as she’s brought into the police station and thrown into a cell. Deputy Marissa Staub (Tammy Gillis) tells Sheriff Bishop (Gil Birmingham) that she found Ryn by the docks, suggesting that she can help them find Donna (Sibongile Mlambo). Xander McClure (Ian Verdun) lays out weaponry, and Ben Pownall (Alex Roe) asks Xander if he has a plan, warning him that the military is hunting the mermaids as well.

 

Chris Mueller (Chad Rook) and Calvin (Curtis Lum) arrive on the boat, and Calvin is not happy to be interrupted for another mermaid hunt. Xander tells them that they need to find them before the military does, and Chris questions the idea of taking on the military. Xander decides to try Ben’s plan and declares that there’s no time to wait for Capt. Sean McClure (Brian Anthony Wilson). He declares himself captain and sails the ship out to sea.

 

Ryn struggles against her handcuffs as Bishop comes in to interrogate her. He confirms that she has waived her right to an attorney, and Ryn tells him she wants to go home. Bishop asks her to answer his questions, and has her identify the picture of Donnie and the car. He asks her what happened and she explains that she got in the car with Donnie and then the car moved. Bishop asks if Donnie sold her drugs, and tells her that he knows about the attempted assault.

 

Bishop asks her who killed Donnie, and Ryn confirms that she killed him. However, Bishop doubts a girl her size would be able to kill a large man like Donnie. He shows her Donna’s sketch and tells her that she won’t be able to protect Donna. Bishop asks who helped her and Ryn tells him that Ben and Maddie Bishop (Fola Evans-Akingbola) helped her. He asks her to clarify, and she confirms she means his daughter.

 

Maddie calls Ben and gives him the name and coordinates of the military vessel. Ben thanks her, and she warns him that going out is dangerous. He assures her he needs Xander’s boat to stop the military, and she asks what will happen if Xander catches a mermaid. Ben tells him he’ll talk him out of killing them, and Maddie warns him to be careful. As she hangs up, Staub tells her that Bishop asked her to bring her to the station. Maddie tries to get out of it, but Staub tells her it wasn’t a request.

 

Aldon Decker (Ron Yuan) replays the footage of Donna’s escape and plays himself a recording of Donna’s song. On the boat, Chris and Calvin question Ben’s agenda and tell him that they don’t trust him. Ben tells him that Xander asked for his help and he’s there for that reason. He joins Xander on the ship’s helm, as McClure wakes up from his sleep. He comes up and asks Xander why they’re at sea. Ben takes responsibility, and Xander tells him he knows where Donna and the mermaids might be.

 

McClure asks him to step aside, and Xander reluctantly gives up control of the ship. McClure turns them around, and questions Ben’s idea to steal the boat. Ben explains that the military is trying to steal the mermaids, and that they are using him. McClure insists that nobody used him, but Ben tells him the reality of the situation and suggests they do something about it. McClure turns the ship back, and Ben thanks him. Maddie finds Bishop looking at his fish tank, and he reminds her of the pact they made years ago to never lie to each other. He tells her she broke the pact, and asks why.

 

Xander expresses his frustration over losing control of the ship, complaining that his father casts a shadow. Ben feels the same with his father, and Xander thanks him for defending him. McClure gets notification that they reached the coordinates and stops the boat. Xander and Ben look into the fog for the military ship, and it finally comes into view. McClure steers them alongside the ship and the ships bump into each other.

 

Ben, Xander, Chris, and Calvin grab weapons and climb aboard the military ship. They find it deserted, but notice there’s a lot of blood. They spread out to search the ship, but find no sign of life. Decker gets a call from Admiral Harrison (Anthony Harrison) telling him that they lost contact with their ship. Harrison asks him to be there for when the retrieval team returns. Chris finds a mermaid spear in their search, and Ben assesses that they need to get off the boat. Once they’re back on their boat, McClure sails away.

 

Maddie questions what Bishop is accusing her of, and he tells her he wanted to give her a chance to come clean. He comments that he’ll get the truth from Ryn, and she asks how he knows about her. Bishop tells her Ryn was brought in and confessed to murder before giving up her and Ben as accomplices. He asks how she got involved, and she tells him that Ben found Ryn and that they helped her when she was hurt. Bishop tells her she should have come to him after learning of Ryn’s crimes. Maddie tells him it’s more complicated than that, but Bishop tells her that Ryn is protecting someone. She identifies that someone as Donna, and asks to speak to Ryn. Bishop accuses her of wanting to get her story straight, but Maddie insists that Ryn will talk to her. He asks why, and Maddie tells him Ryn trusts her.

 

Ryn attempts to stand up when Maddie walks in, and Bishop asks where Donna is. Maddie assures Ryn that she can trust him, and Ryn tells them that Donna is going to stop bad people in the water. Maddie tells her that Ben is out there, and Ryn warns her he’s in danger. Bishop questions what they’re talking about, and Maddie tells him that she has to inform Ben. Ryn struggles against her handcuffs, insisting she needs to help Ben, but Bishop tells her she’s not going anywhere. Maddie tells Ryn that Bishop needs to know the truth, and Maddie explains that Ryn isn’t human. She tells him that his stories of shape shifters are true, but he insists they’re only stories.

 

Xander tells McClure that they can’t turn back now, but McClure tells him he’s not putting his crew at risk. Xander argues that catching one mermaid would solve their problems, and that they don’t have to just take orders. McClure tells him that he would know when to shut up if he had respect for his crew. The boat’s power goes out, and the crew grabs their weapons. McClure tells them to stay sharp, and Xander asks McClure why he was sleeping on the boat as they check the power. McClure admits that he and his wife have been having problems, and that the boat is the only thing he has now.

 

Chris hears a strange noise in the fog, but Calvin says he doesn’t hear it. He hears the noise again, and the others hear it this time. After a few moments, several spears are thrown at the crew from the water. As Xander tries to fix the battery, water sprays at them from a hole in the boat. Chris and Calvin shoot at the sea, and a merman (Sedale Threatt, Jr.) jumps onto the boat. The merman approaches Ben, and Ben avoids his attacks as Chris and Calvin shoot at the merman. Xander shoots the merman and it falls into the lower deck of the boat. Xander tells Ben to come with him as they look for him.

 

Bishop fills a coffee pot with saltwater from his fish tank and brings it to Maddie. He questions what this is about, and Maddie tells Ryn they have to show him. She doesn’t argue as Maddie pours the water on her hand, which turns scaly and grows claws. Maddie apologizes as Ryn’s hand turns back, and Bishop is stunned. Ben and Xander look for the merman below deck, and Chris hears the mermaid’s song as Donna lures him closer. The merman attacks Ben, and he dodges his blows. Calvin orders Chris to step away as he trains his gun on Donna, but Chris is entranced. Xander shoots the merman and he and Ben stuff him into a storage compartment.

 

Calvin continues to yell at Chris to move out of the way as Donna lures him closer. Xander tells Ben to go as he tries to lock the merman up. Chris reaches out to Donna, and Ben shoots a flare gun into the water to scare Donna. Ben pulls Chris away as Donna approaches with a spear, and uses the fishing net to knock Donna back in the water. McClure gets the power back on and tells them to patch up the hole in the boat before turning the boat around. Ben asks Xander if he still wants to catch a mermaid, but Xander reminds him he did.

 

They go below deck to see that merman has broken out, leaving his tail behind. As they search for the merman, the merman sneaks up on McClure and spears him through the chest. McClure calls out for Xander and the crew runs to the helm. The merman runs away and Xander fires a few shots at him before he jumps back in the water. Ben tries to tend to McClure as Xander tells Chris and Calvin to take the helm. McClure tells him that he won’t make it back to land, but Xander tells him not to say that. Xander apologizes and blames himself, and McClure admits he was hard on him to prepare him for taking over as captain. McClure tells him that the boat is his now as he dies.

 

Chris suggests they call the coast guard, but Calvin argues that nobody will believe their mermaid story and will think one of them murdered him. Ben makes up a story that McClure fell overboard and was lost at sea. Xander agrees and they throw McClure’s body overboard where he sinks to the bottom. The next morning, Staub asks where Ryn is and Bishop tells her that he let Ryn go. Staub argues, but Bishop tells her that Ryn was with Maddie during the murder and asks if she’s calling his daughter a liar.

 

Maddie calls Ben and reaches him after a couple tries. She tells him that Ryn is safe, and he tells her they’re heading home. Ryn apologizes for getting her in trouble, but Maddie tells her she did it herself. Maddie mentions that she broke her pact with Bishop, and that it shouldn’t have been broken. Decker reports that no bodies were found, and Harrison declares they underestimated the mermaids. Harrison accuses Decker of knowing that the attack would happen, and Decker reminds him that he wasn’t the one who underestimated them. Maddie meets Bishop at the diner and apologizes while Xander drives the boat back to the harbor.