"I wanted it to feel inevitable": Sirens showrunner breaks down the latest Netflix series' 'bittersweet and painful' ending

**Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Sirens Episode 5 (finale). Reader discretion is advised.**

Netflix's latest dark comedy series, Sirens, concluded with a shocking finale that might have different interpretations for viewers.

The show followed Devon on a hunt for her sister Simone, who recently started working as a personal assistant for the eerie philanthropist and millionaire Michaela Kell.

Throughout the show, Devon accused Michaela of murdering her sister and luring ''innocent'' women like her into a cult, but as the finale revealed, Michaela was the victim, and Simone was having an affair with her husband, Peter.

Talking about this shocking ending, showrunner Molly Smith Metzler discussed with The Hollywood Reporter:

''I didn’t want anyone to see it coming. But then when it comes, I wanted it to feel inevitable.''

Sirens showrunner breaks down the meaning behind Simone's last smile

While Devon finally finds her sister Simone in the finale, the outcome and circumstances are far from what she had envisioned.

After Devon finds her, Simone reveals how Peter confessed his feelings to her and the two have decided to start a new life. In the Sirens finale, as Michaela gets on the ferry, after being ripped off her elite status as Mrs. Kell, Simone stands on the porch and smiles at the distance, thinking about her new life.

While Simone finally got the life she had envisioned for herself, away from trauma and destitution, she knows that it is still uncertain. While she may have found money and power as Mrs. Kell, she knows that her run as Peter's new wife could end just as abruptly as Michaela, but she chooses to embrace it anyway.

Talking about Simone's last smile and the bittersweet ending as Devon and Michaela leave on the ferry, Metzler discussed with The Hollywood Reporter:

''We went through all the different takes of Simone on the cliff at the end, and the one we chose for the final cut has a little bit of a Mona Lisa smile. Her face is a little opaque. We chose that one because I think there’s a version where she won, she’s a siren and hear her roar.''

She added:

''And there’s a version that this is bittersweet and painful. I think how the audience interprets it says a lot about how they feel, probably about who she is and who you are, and what home is to you, and what you would do in that circumstance? I think she needs to survive, and that’s what she does to survive.''

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What is the real meaning behind Sirens' ending?

The Sirens' ending offers Devon conclusive answers about her sister, but they are not what she hoped for. While she constantly assumed that Michaela had trapped Simone, it was the other way around.

As Metzler discussed, even though Simone knows the uncertainty about her new life, she chooses to accept it just to escape her old life. Through the character of Simone, the showrunner wanted to leave the audience with difficult questions about the choices we make and the consequences they have in our lives.

The parting scene of the show urges the audience to put themselves in Simone's shoes and asks them to make that difficult choice, as Metzler further discussed:

''All I can ask you is to try to understand it, because if you were in her shoes, and that ferry is leaving to take you back to certain trauma and destitute, what would you do? That’s what I hope people are talking about. I hope this is a debate people are having.''

Sirens is now streaming on Netflix.

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Also Read: You Season 5 originally had a different ending with a supernatural twist to Joe Goldberg's story

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Edited by Aashna