Siren – On The Road

By starrymag | April 18, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Donna (Sibongile Mlambo) struggles as researchers in the facility attempt to collect samples from her. Chris Mueller (Chad Rook) wakes up at the sound of the screams, and gets up as the alarm sounds. He limps his way through the facility and finds Donna, dressed in nurse scrubs, on the ground. Chris helps her up and they walk out together. They hide from an incoming vehicle, and Chris asks which car is hers. Donna doesn’t understand the question, but Chris finds keys in her scrubs and finds the corresponding car. Chris tells her to get in the car and they escape using the badge on Donna’s scrubs.

 

Xander McClure (Ian Verdun) and Calvin (Curtis Lum) sit outside Nurse Donna Stevenson’s (Veronika Hadrava) house, and realize that she won’t be coming home. Calvin questions if they’ll ever see Chris again, and Xander reassures him. Ben Pownall (Alex Roe) takes a shower, and Maddie Bishop (Fola Evans-Akingbola) asks to join him. Their steamy shower tryst is interrupted by Ryn (Eline Powell) pulling the curtain back, who stares at them and then walks away.

 

Ben tells Maddie that Xander tracked the phone that Chris texted from, and Ryn asks if it will lead to her sister.  He tells her there’s a chance, but Maddie points out that Ryn’s skin is becoming scalier due to being out of the water. Ben tells her that Ryn only lasted a day the last time she came onto land, and Ryn is transfixed by Maddie’s necklace. He gets a call from Xander, and tells them that he’s going to meet Xander in front of Stevenson’s house. Ryn wants to go as well, but Ben tells her that it’s not a good idea. Maddie promises that they will bring her sister back, but realizes that they shouldn’t leave Ryn alone.

 

Sheriff Bishop (Gil Birmingham) goes to the bar and shows Doug Pownall (Andrew Jenkins) and Janine (Hannah Levien) Ryn’s sketch. Doug recognizes her from the party and tells him that she was with Maddie. Helen Hawkins (Rena Owen) tells Maddie that transitioning from mermaid to human isn’t simple, and Ben tells her that it’s agonizing. Helen tells them that mermaids can stay on land longer with each transition. Ryn promises to wait for them to bring Donna back, but Ben warns her that it’s not guaranteed.

 

As they drive, Chris asks Donna where they are and about the place they escaped. She doesn’t answer and explores her side of the car. Chris asks if he needs to take her to a hospital, and introduces himself. He assumes her name is Donna from the badge on her scrubs, but she remains silent. Back at the facility, Aldon Decker (Ron Yuan) surveys the lab, and determines that there were no survivors.

 

On their way to meet Xander, Ben tells Maddie that he wants to put a tracking device in Ryn when she goes back into the water. Maddie tells him that she’s not comfortable with the idea, as she doesn’t want Ryn to think they see her solely as an experiment. Ben insists that Ryn knows she’s more than an experiment, and argues that he wants to be able to help her if she needs it.

 

Helen applies a mixture to Ryn to help deal with the scaliness. Ryn tastes the substance despite Helen’s warning, and notices that Helen has scales on her arm. Helen tells her that the humans identified it as an auto-immune response because they didn’t understand it. She asks Ryn why she and Donna came so close to the surface, and she admits it was for food.

 

Decker finds a mermaid tail lying in the hallway, and it turns to dust as he tries to pick it up. Ben and Maddie find Xander and Calvin sleeping in the car, despite their insistence that they weren’t. They determine that Stevenson hasn’t returned home, and Maddie suggests that they go into the house to investigate her. Ben breaks into the house and they start searching. Maddie finds a photo of Stevenson in a military uniform, but Xander sees a black van pull up to the house.

 

The group runs out of the house and hides outside as they observe two men enter the house and collect some of Stevenson’s items from the window. Ben determines that something happened to Stevenson if the men are there. He suggests they go back to the facility, but Calvin tells him that the military came after them when they tried to approach.

 

Decker watches security footage of Donna killing the researchers, and the lights going out when she throws one of them into the generator with her tail. Decker tells the Computer Tech (Adam Klassen) to fast forward and is astonished as they watch as Donna walks down the hallway and kills Stevenson. They watch footage of Donna and Chris escaping the facility, and Decker remarks that Donna was studying them when they were studying her.

 

Chris asks Donna if she has any pain medication, and she asks for water. He tries to reach for the phone in Donna’s scrubs, but she growls at him. Chris gets her to hand over the phone and finds he has no service. Donna turns on the radio, and then turns up the volume. The loud heavy metal music angers Donna, and she breaks the radio with a screwdriver she grabs.

 

Helen urges Ryn to return to the water, but she refuses. Helen tells her that she will take her back if she has to carry her, but Ryn continues to refuse. Ryn admits that it was her idea to go to the surface, and Helen assesses that she blames herself for Donna’s capture. Ben, Maddie, Xander, and Calvin observe the facility and see many body bags being carried out. Calvin is worried that Chris is in one of the bags, and Xander and Calvin go to investigate. Ben gets a call from Helen and tells Maddie that Ryn is in bad shape. Maddie agrees to go back with him after Ben points out there’s nothing for them to do there.

 

Chris and Donna pull over to a campsite, and Donna asks for water. He points out the water fountain, but she continues to ask for water. Chris shows her the water fountain, but she strikes his hand away. She walks into the woods despite Chris’ warning that it isn’t safe. Decker talks to Admiral Harrison (Anthony Harrison) about the attack, and he accuses Decker of compromising the experiments due to his personal feelings for Donna. Decker insists that he was monitoring her progress, but Harrison tells him that the only progress they made was discovering Donna’s ability to walk on land and suggests that mermaids may be walking among them.

 

Chris drives by Donna as she walks down the road, backs up, and tells her to get in the car. Maddie gives Ryn a special drink, insisting it’s good for her. Ben urges her to go back to the water, but Ryn continues to refuse. Bishop arrives and calls for Maddie and she goes to talk to him. He shows her Ryn’s sketch, and Maddie denies seeing her. Bishop continues asking, admitting that Doug told him that he saw her with Ryn. Maddie insists that Doug doesn’t like her, and Bishop warns her that Ryn is dangerous. He asks her to tell her if she sees Ryn, and Maddie agrees before asking if he wants to have dinner with her that night. Ben asks Ryn what good she would be to Donna if she dies, and Ryn agrees to go back in the water.

 

Xander and Calvin get a call from Stevenson’s phone and Calvin answers. Chris answers, and tells them that he’s not doing well. They ask for his location, and he gives it to them before admitting that he won’t make it much farther. Xander promises they’re coming and they turn the car around. Ben offers Ryn the necklace with the tracking device, explaining that he wants to be able to help her. Maddie tells her that it’s her choice, and Ryn lets Ben put it on. She promises to come back, and Ben gets notification that they found Chris. Ryn asks if they found Donna, insisting that she go with them despite Ben telling her they aren’t sure.

 

As they wait in the car, Ryn asks Maddie if her father is a hunter. Maddie explains that he only hunts bad people, and Ryn insists she’s not bad. Maddie agrees, explaining that Bishop doesn’t understand the whole story. Ben and Maddie run out of the car when they see Chris drive by and Ryn spots Donna walking by. She climbs out of the car and follows her. Chris collapses in the middle of the road and Ben and Maddie check on him.

 

Maddie spots Ryn walking, and Ben urges her to follow. Ben orders Chris to stay with him as Xander and Calvin arrive. They put him in the car, and Ben promises to meet them at the doctor. Xander embraces him before he and Calvin drive away. Ryn calls out to Donna and they look at each other. Donna embraces her, and Maddie watches the reunion. Ben arrives as Donna picks Ryn up and carries her into the water. Maddie confirms that Ryn found her sister and she and Ben watch as Ryn and Donna swim away.

 

Dr. Abbott (Patrick Gallagher) tends to Chris, and asks what hospital he was in. He can’t believe that any hospital would release Chris in that condition, and Ben asks him to treat him. Dr. Abbott asks if this has anything to do with the girl he was calling him about, and Ben tells him it doesn’t. Dr. Abbott agrees to treat Chris and tells them to leave the room. Later, Ben tells Xander that Chris is going to be okay. Xander asks about the girl Dr. Abbott mentioned, and Ben makes up a story that an employee at the aquatic center needed rehab. Xander is relieved that he isn’t cheating on Maddie, and they see news footage that reports the military facility is burning.

 

Xander identifies the facility, and Ben determines that they are covering their tracks. Xander suggests they will be searching for Chris, and Decker investigates the interior of the abandoned car that Chris and Donna stole. Ben and Maddie observe the tracker, and Ben determines that Ryn and Donna are going home. As Ryn picks up speed, the tracker stops working. As Maddie comforts Ben, Decker looks out at the water where Ryn and Donna reunited. Back in mermaid form, Ryn and Donna hold hands as they swim home together.