It's always refreshing when one of the younger-skewing niche cable channels rolls out a new series that even I at my advanced age find interesting. Such is the case of Freeform's intriguing new Siren. When was the last time you saw a mystery mermaid sci-fi thriller on TV? Well, here it is.
Freeform, for those who rarely venture up the digital dial, is the Disney-owned cable channel formerly known as ABC Family, Fox Family, The Family Channel and CBN Satellite Service. The 2016 rebranding into Freeform was designed to target advertiser-coveted young adults with more mature programming that appealed to their millennial sensibilities.
Not a millennial? That's OK. Neither am I.
Siren premieres from 7 to 9 p.m. today and follows the drama that takes place in (fictional) Bristol Cove, Wash., a small fishing town known for its legend of once being home to mermaids. It even bills itself as "the mermaid capital of the world."
Think of Bristol Cove as a sort of coastal Roswell, N.M. They have an annual Mermaid Days Festival and everything. It's all myth and legend and fun times.
Until ... it's not.
I can't vouch for the timing of the series, but surely it's no coincidence that The Shape of Water, with its humanoid amphibian, just cleaned up at the Oscars. The amphibians in Siren are nowhere near as lovable or helpless.
Siren, which will have 10 episodes in Season 1, stars Alex Roe (The 5th Wave) as Ben Pownall, a marine biologist who finds a mysterious naked girl staggering down a back road.
This turns out to be the mermaid Ryn, played by Eline Powell (Game of Thrones). Yes, she was walking. It turns out that mermaids' tails morph into legs when they come on land. Think Splash, only with Daryl Hannah's Madison thinking of you as prey if you're in the water.
Ryn is ashore searching for her sister, Donna, a deceptively powerful mermaid played by Sibo Mlambo (Teen Wolf), who was trapped in a fishing net and spirited off by the military to be studied.
Havoc is subsequently wreaked. Things would have been better had the fishermen practiced catch and release.
Fola Evans-Akingbola (Death in Paradise) plays Ben's co-worker/girlfriend, Maddie Bishop, daughter of the local sheriff.
Ian Verdun (Life's a Drag) plays Ben's fisherman buddy, Xander McClure, who accidentally started this ball rolling when he netted the mermaid.
Helen Hawkins (Rena Owen, Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones) is the town eccentric and owner of Bristol Cove's mermaid knickknack shop. Helen knows everything about mermaids and even instantly recognizes Ryn for what she is.
One thing Ryn happens to be is a predator. It will not be pretty when the disgruntled mer-critters return to reclaim their sovereign right to the ocean.
About the series, which is filmed around Steveston, British Columbia, Freeform vice president Karey Burke says, "[It] is a very different show than one would expect when they hear the word 'mermaid.' The mermaid tale has been reinvented. The stories are complex and ... explore the themes of obsession and violence through these amazing creatures."
Title note: Sirens were creatures in Greek mythology who used their seductive songs to lure hapless sailors onto the rocks. Read the most famous account in Homer's Odyssey.
Caveat: Sirens is rated TV-14 for violence and adult themes. I've previewed three episodes and this is not The Little Mermaid. Ryn is not Ariel and it'll scare the spit out of small fry.
• Marcia Clark Investigates The First 48 debuts at 8 p.m. today on A&E. For those not old enough to remember, Clark was the lead prosecutor in the infamous O.J. Simpson double murder trial in 1994-95. In this investigative series, Clark, now 64, digs deeper into some other high-profile cases that have remained unsolved or ended with controversial verdicts. First up is "Casey Anthony." Did she kill her daughter Caylee? A jury said not, but a jury also said O.J. didn't do it.
• Nobodies arrives with Season 2 at 9 p.m. today on Paramount Network (formerly Spike). The comedy follows struggling actors and comedians Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras as they try to make it in Hollywood.
• Star Falls is a new kid-friendly sitcom premiering at 8 p.m. Saturday on Nickelodeon. In the show, teenager Sophia Miller (Siena Agudong) persuades Hollywood star Craig Brooks (Dion Johnstone) to live in her house while he shoots a movie. Sophia hopes to set him up with her mom. Twenty episodes have been ordered.
• A Series of Unfortunate Events. Season 2 downloads on Netflix on Friday. There will be 10 episodes starring Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf and Patrick Warburton as narrator Lemony Snicket.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 03/29/2018