In its debut season of Freeform’s Siren, mermaids came to shore on the town of Bristol Cove in search for food. Now, in the first half of the series’ sophomore run, its tagline “More Are Coming” rang true as even more mermaids are introduced — this time due to another serious environmental issue that’s tearing the ecosystem apart: off-shore drilling, thanks to Klesco Oil & Gas. Using sonic cannons to map the ocean floor, the sonic blasts, which go off every five minutes, have caused several other mermaids to surface and whales to beach.
For environmentalist and marine biolotist Ben (Alex Roe), his whole passion is the ocean, so there’s no doubt he wants to defy the plans of his father and put an end to it so that the mermaids can return to their home at sea. “He comes up with a plan of action,” Rena Owen (Helen) tells OMFGTV in an exclusive interview.
“It’s an exciting plan of action. It’s a great action storyline and it requires money and it requires people playing certain roles. They all share the love of the mer-people and they want to protect them and they want to preserve them and they want to save them and do what they can in order to do that.”
While Ben carefully devises his plan, which includes — wait for it — mermaids with blowtorches, Xander’s (Ian Verdun) relationship with Nicole (Natalee Linez) may be in jeopardy. “It’s obvious from the end of the episode 7 (“Entrapment”) that Xander has clocked on to Natalie being two-faced or having a hidden agenda,” Owen says.
“If you look throughout the season, there’s always those little moments where he kind of looked at her or felt it was odd that she was looking for her keys.” The moment where he looks at her at the end “definitely loud and clear was saying, ‘I’ve got your number. You are not what you appear to be.'” Will the truth about her intentions finally come out? You’ll have to watch and see.
As Xander and Nicole’s relationship begin to show signs of cracks, the polygamous relationship between Ben, Ryn (Eline Powell) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola) continue to strengthen. “At the beginning of the season, their relationship was strained,” she explains. “They reunited over the whales, and then the episode where Maddie finds her mother stoned and she’s really upset, that’s when the first kiss happens.
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“Ryn is very vocal of her desire to make love with Ben and Maddie, and she tells quite a few people,” Owen says, going back to the previous episodes. She also asks them in another episode why they stopped after the kiss, and Maddie says “we weren’t sure if you were ready for more,’ and Ryn says she wants more.
“There’s been talk about it in every episode,” she continues. “The question here is will they do it or wont they? Will Ryn get more? Is Ryn going to get what she wants? A big part of her journey in this season is her learning to become more human. She’s hungry to have more human experiences. I think that it also comes out of the fact that she loves them. She’s so in love with Ben and Maddie. She wants to learn how humans express their love.”
Near the end of the spring finale, Helen gets to play a role in Ben’s plan that all takes place during a Klesco black-tie gala. The event sees the antiquities shop owner-turned-den mother of mermaids being able to get dolled up for the first time — something that the New Zealand-born actress was very excited about and says was fantastic.
“They finally let Aunty Helen glam up and go to a ball!” Owen says with a laugh. “It was nice for Helen to get glammed up. That’s the first time she’s been glammed up and have a nice, sexy dress on and hair and full makeup. We have not seen her in black-tie [attire] before. She’s always in her jeans and shirts or sweaters. It was great fun. When we were doing that whole gala scene, it felt like we were in a James Bond movie! That was really cool!”
Of course, “Leverage” doesn’t end without a bang — a cliffhanger with devastating effects that may make you go crazy over the next few months until the show returns for its second half. “Multiple people’s lives are left up in the air,” Owen teases. “Bristol Cove will never be the same. Lives are at stake. There will be damage.”
The Siren Spring Finale, “Leverage,” airs tonight at 8pm on Freeform.
