The Sirens series finale breaks hearts, reveals secrets, and crowns a new queen—but who comes out on top, and who gets left behind?
In its haunting final moments, Netflix’s five-episode psychological drama Sirens delivers a twisted, sea-swept coronation: Simone (Milly Alcock) standing triumphantly in front of Cliff House, cloaked in a silk gown and power, gazing at the ocean she now commands. But her rise to the top came at great cost—both to herself and to nearly everyone around her.
The finale begins with Simone being abruptly fired by her longtime boss and former best friend Michaela “Kiki” Kell (Julianne Moore), after Kiki discovers photos of her husband Peter (Kevin Bacon) kissing Simone. Though Simone insists Peter made the first move, Michaela cuts her out of her life, house, and fortune. But Simone doesn’t disappear quietly.
Facing the bleak reality of returning to Buffalo to live with her sister Devon (Meghann Fahy) and their emotionally unavailable father Bruce (Bill Camp), Simone doubles down. She returns to Cliff House, reconnects with Peter, and reveals that Michaela has been holding onto the damning photos as divorce leverage. Peter swiftly expels Michaela from the estate and invites Simone to step into her role—as his partner, and the new face of the Folger Wildlife Preservation Society.
“She’s someone who’s so incredibly wounded,” Alcock says of Simone, whose dark childhood included surviving her mother’s suicide attempt and years of abandonment. Her desperation to avoid returning home turns ruthless, but understandable. “Going back to Buffalo is worse than death,” explains director and executive producer Nicole Kassell.
Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler says the finale’s goal was to make audiences love or loathe Simone’s choices. “I have so much empathy for her at the end,” she says, “but I know a lot of people will think she’s a monster.”
But is Simone really a monster? Or is Peter?
Peter is the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing. Old money, effortless charm, and unchecked power define him. Kassell notes that he’s so powerful “he can wear Crocs.” And yet, he exiles Michaela because she couldn’t give him children, claiming she kept his kids from a previous marriage away out of grief. “The story he’s told himself is that Michaela restricted the relationship because she was too upset about her childbearing,” Metzler explains. But with his vast resources, he could have fixed the situation long ago.
For Bacon, Peter’s villainy is subtle. “There’s going to be people who think Peter is an absolute pig,” he says. “And there’ll also be people who say, ‘Well, it wasn’t his fault.’” Simone, meanwhile, may or may not be in love. “She feels safe with Peter,” Alcock clarifies. “I don’t think she’s in love with him.”
Still, when Simone steps beside Peter to give the gala toast, she becomes the “new Mrs. Kell” with unsettling ease. “It’s like on TV, when they just recast someone and pretend it’s the same character,” laughs Metzler.
As for Michaela? Devon’s accusation that she murdered Peter’s ex-wife Jocelyn is quickly disproven—Jocelyn’s alive but disfigured after botched plastic surgery, hiding from the world. “What happened to Jocelyn is exactly right,” Metzler says. “She hurt herself trying to maintain her sirenhood.” It’s a commentary on beauty, aging, and how women destroy themselves to stay relevant in a world run by men like Peter.
Michaela’s not a cult leader, as Devon once believed. She’s a woman who built a sanctuary—albeit one with echoes of cultish devotion—for endangered birds and wounded women. “She wanted to be a mom and couldn’t,” says Metzler. “So she found other ways to mentor and nurture.”
Meanwhile, Ethan (Glenn Howerton)—the fast-talking, duckie-blazer-wearing romantic—has his own fall, literally. His pursuit of Simone ends with heartbreak and a stumble off a cliff. Not pushed—just undone by his own entitled worldview. “He thinks he knows what he wants because it’s all he’s ever seen,” Howerton explains. His concept of love is possession, not emotion.
As Ethan falls, Devon rises in quiet dignity. She declines a romantic escape to Palm Beach and chooses to go home and care for her dad—on her own terms. “Devon is in process,” says Metzler. “The wrong answer for her is to sail away from her problems.” Fahy believes Devon finally understands Simone’s decision to stay with Peter. “She realizes Kiki isn’t the monster—Simone made a choice.”
In the final ferry scene, Devon and Michaela reconcile, acknowledging their mutual growth and uncertain futures. “I’m not convinced she won’t go to Palm Beach in six months,” Metzler adds.
So who is the real siren of Sirens? The show’s title may refer to the dangerous, alluring women of myth—but it might also hint at the power structures beneath. “We all work for Peter,” Michaela says, and it’s hard to argue. Even the audience, Metzler notes, works for Peter. The series exposes the brutal calculus of status, wealth, and survival—and the women who swim or sink within it.
As Simone gazes out at the sea in the final frame, her expression is elusive—a Mona Lisa smile. Bittersweet. Triumphant. Terrified. And maybe, just maybe, finally free.
