It's been 45 days (but who's counting?) since the explosive, 90 minute-long finale of The White Lotus' third season aired and if you, like us, are feeling an eat-the-rich television void — fear not, we have just the show to scratch the itch. Introducing Netflix's latest laugh-out-loud dark comedy, Sirens, which stars Julianne Moore and Meghann Fahy (we did say it would fill The White Lotus-shaped hole in your life!)
Produced by Margot Robbie's LuckyChap production company, Sirens is the streaming service's attempt to muscle in on the satirical cannon of hit TV shows — Succession, Nine Perfect Strangers, The White Lotus et al — whose very raison d'être is to hold a mirror up to self-congratulatory nature of privilege and material excesses.
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Needless to say, with a star-studded cast and production team to boot, the five-episode series has already taken the internet by storm, despite only debuting on the platform on May 22. This is the ending of Sirens, explained (and let's keep our fingers crossed for a second season).
What is Netflix's Sirens about?
Per Netflix, the dysfunctional family story at the heart of Sirens is told over the course of one explosive weekend at the Kells’ lavish island estate. 'Sirens follows Devon DeWitt (Meghann Fahy) as she struggles to reconnect with her sister Simone (Milly Alcock) and navigate uber-wealthy waters, all the while trying to figure out what is so irresistible about this world and who on the island really holds the power,' the synopsis reads.
Moore stars as Michaela Kell, Simone's boss, who reigns supreme on the island and in Simone's heart, per Netflix.
What does the ending of Netflix's Sirens mean?
Keen not to be seduced by the allure of wealth, privilege and power, Devon suspects Michaela from the get-go of being a negative influence on Simone, which causes her to believe the surfacing rumours that Michaela had something to do with her husband's first wife's death.
Before Michaela, Peter (Kevin Bacon) was married to Jocelyn, with whom he had two kids, Sarah and Rory. Following their divorce, no one heard or saw Jocelyn while their two children stayed firmly out of their lives. The conclusion? Michaela must have had something to do with the mysterious disappearance of Jocelyn. The rumour that begins percolating is that Michaela had pushed Jocelyn off the steep incline of the cliff. Devon also begins positing that Michaela is a cult leader, too.
Simone, however, argues with Devon that the reason she has formed such a close bond with Michaela is symptomatic of the pair's traumatic childhood with a suicidal mother and a neglectful alcoholic father. Devon eventually confronts Michaela in the middle of a gala about the rumours, which Michaela promptly disproves.
What happened to Jocelyn in Netflix's Sirens?
The laugh-out-loud twist comes when audiences learn that Jocelyn is, in actual fact, still alive. In the aftermath of her divorce from Peter, she merely sought some ill-advised plastic surgery, which left her with several facial deformities.
Why does Peter leave Michaela in Netflix's Sirens?
Having grown bored of the formulaic nature of their relationship, at the end of the series, we learn of a moment of passion between Simone and Peter — and the photographic evidence that exists of said moment.
When Michaela's former assistant informs Peter of the existence of the photograph, he uses the opportunity to blame the demise of their relationship on his wife. He blames her for keeping him from his children and paints Michaela as a manipulative monster (the reality, of course, is far different). What this confrontation does mean, however, is that Peter can finally trade in Michaela for his third wife: Simone.
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Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
