Les sirènes de Mako

Mako's Sirens (Mako Mermaids) is an Australian fantasy series created by Jonathan M. Shiff, which is part of the H2O: Just Add Water universe. In three seasons and 68 episodes, it follows the story of Zac Blakely, a teenager who becomes a newt after falling into the magical waters of Mako Island. Three mermaids, Nixie, Lyla and Sirena, try to remove her powers to protect their secret, but their mission is complicated by the ties they weave with humans.

The magical universe of the series is particularly captivating, with beautiful underwater landscapes and neat special effects that make the story immersive. The characters are endearing and each brings an interesting dynamic, between friendship, adventure and mystery. The plot, punctuated by twists and turns, keeps the suspense and makes you want to discover the rest. A real pleasure to watch for all lovers of fantasy and escape!

After watching the first 26 episodes, I've come away with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it was great to have a new mermaid show follow up to H2O: Just Add Water, and this new series has much of the same creative team. On the other hand, the writing isn't as good as H2O and the characters aren't as likable. For much of Mako Mermaids the story just treads water. Secrets get held and characters give the same excuses as to why the truth can't be told. This goes on and on. It wasn't until the last four episodes that the story really came together.

H2O remained fresh because the writers kept surprising us with interesting character arcs and surprising plot twists. Mako mostly misses the boat in that regard. What made H2O special was the appeal of its three leads. Phoebe Tonkin (Cleo), Caribe Heine (Rikki), and Claire Holt (Emma) had real chemistry, and were just enjoyable to spend time with. When Holt left the series, Indiana Evans as Isabel blended in nicely, and though the series remained interesting, some of the original magic dissipated.

That dissipation was magnified with Mako Mermaids. This series is sort of an inverse H2O where mermaids get legs to go on land instead of girls becoming mermaids. The three leads of Mako, Lucy Fry (Lyla), Ivy Lattimer (Nixie), and Amy Ruffle (Sirena) spend a lot of time antagonizing each other and those around them. Lattimer tries too hard to be funny, and the writing of her character doesn't help. It seems the writers didn't know what to do with her. Her only lighter moment is one episode where she befriends a boy who has runaway from his parents.

The three girls are joined by Chai Romruen (Zac), as a boy who accidentally becomes a merman. Once that happens the three girls are banned from their mermaid pod and left to fend for themselves. The plot then focuses on the girls trying to get control of Zac, and Zac coming to terms with his newfound powers. Later in the series a trident becomes the second focus, and this just goes round and round until we reach the last four episodes where the show finally gets interesting.

Other secondary characters are a mixed bag. Zac's best friend, Cameron (mostly well played by Dominic Deutscher) is unfortunately too mysterious for his own good. He doesn't really get in gear until the last four episodes as well. Until then, he alternates between friend and nuisance to Zac and the girls. Rita, the school principal who (for reasons I won't mention) poses as the girls' aunt, is shamelessly used as a convenient plot device when mermaid lore or magic information is needed, but she is nicely played by Kerith Atkinson.

Gemma Forsyth as Zac's girlfriend, Evie, is for the longest time a one-note character. This is due to the poor writing. Later in the series she finally comes to life and actually integrates properly into the story, actually doing something interesting. Until then she just fights and then makes up with Zac repeatedly. Rowan Hills as David, who Sirena falls for, is too syrupy sweet for my taste, but perhaps young girls, the audience for this series, would like him.

Amy Ruffle (like Indiana Evans before her) is the musical side of the series, and she sings a number of songs. She has a nice voice and of the three girls, she's probably the most appealing. I had a hard time warming up to Lyla (Lucy Fry). She started off as the most antagonistic of the three girls, but in the end, she seemed to have the most interesting character arc, and Fry is probably the best actor of the three. Chai Romruen as Zac spends much of the show being annoyed, confused or proud of his powers, and none of this makes him all that likable. He too has a bit of a character arc, but it takes too long for that to happen. Romruen, like the girls, looks good underwater. He is part Thai, and his Asian features add a nice international element to the show, something missing from H2O.

Although I've got problems with this series, I need to say a few things in its defense. Overall, the show retains a sense of aquatic magic that began not only with H2O, but with the show's predecessor, the feature film Aquamarine, also shot in Australia. And as I've mentioned, the last four episodes really work well. It's just too bad it took so long to get there. The background music is similar to H2O, and just as effective. Despite its drawbacks, I looked forward to each episode and I hope they continue to make more. I'm surprised there aren't more comments about this show.

This series seems to have had a much smaller budget than H2O, but in general it doesn't show. The underwater scenes are exquisitely beautiful, and the use of the Gold Coast locations are nicely integrated. What a remarkable area that is!

Do you know when you're an adult and you have to give up the TV so the kids can watch children's TV (for you to have piece) and you have to sit there and watch it with them. Well this is what happened when my Niece made me watch Mako. The thing is I'm sad to say I loved it; we both watched the entire series and we sang the theme music together. We were both sad when we realised there wasn't series 5. If you want a family, lovely, sweet and innocent programme to watch with your Children - this is it!

Where 'H2O Just Add Water' was charming and magical. With characters you could relate to. This series is rather a let down. And is it a prequel or a sequel or a spin off?

This time the mermaids are not accidentally came to be these creatures but are from the pod of mermaids that keep watch of Mako island. So where have these creatures been? In the original there were none. And this time the mermaids have to adjust to live on land. A young man accidentally falls into the moonpool on Mako island during a full moon and thus become a merman. The pod blames the three mermaids and they are banned as the pod leaves for saver waters. The three mermaids Nixie, Serina and Layla must find a way to return Zac (the merman) back to normal and set things straight. It could be a great series bit it lacks the charm of the original and it's mainly because the majority of the characters is very unlikable.

Good for kids but lacks depth for adults

There is much to love about the show, and much to not love. Cute concept, perspective of mermaids, beautiful scenery of The Gold Coast, some fun plot lines...

I love Ivy's acting on the show, Mako Mermaids, she has this quirky confidence and cute expressions she makes, she can also be quite snarky which adds a lot of character to the show. I imagine she will grow up to be great in comedies.

I think the telling of the turtle and the crab story in episode 17 was the best... very funny.

The episode in season 1 (22) When Evie (Gemma Forsyth) and the cat switch places, very funny episode.

I think it's a pretty good show, but if they could develop these aspects a bit and others, it could be even better.

Season 2 starts in 2015! Not sure why it's going to take so long, especially since season 1 answered nothing, like what kind of parent would abandon their kids who make a mistake, kids and adults make mistakes all the time, that's what life is all about, so just abandoning them feels overly harsh. Rita says this is her new home, but she doesn't seem to have friends or a significant other, just a principal job, though she says teaching is her life, she doesn't teach at all? The show has so much potential and some things are done well, but no social issues are introduced even once, at least in H20 they covered fishing abuses, and how it effects turtles, and proper nets etc... they even have dolphins on the show, don't expect to see any interesting wildlife in MM though, which again is a letdown.

I kept expecting more development or back story that never comes.

I enjoyed the show, but I wouldn't watch it again because there's just no substance there.

While the pod moved on in self preservation, no one seems to care about the girls to come back and check on them? The trident is left unguarded? The island of Mako is left unguarded, the moon pool island entry is left unguarded... it seems a lot of power just sitting there unguarded.

I would imagine even if the pod moved on there'd be more of a council of mermaid people who would check up on the girls rather than just leaving them to wander on legs causing who knows what kind of peril and danger.

Basically, they're a little harsh on the girls, who are children, and don't know any better, this is bad parenting just to abandon them for making a mistake.

Overall though, for all its issues, it's an enjoyable show, and I imagine kids will enjoy it even more as they won't be looking quite so deeply into the script logic.

After watching some of H20, I must say it's much better than Mako Mermaids. Mako has a great cast, and a great theme song, but the stories have no social message, and H20 also addresses wildlife, dolphins, turtles, and fishing abuse... probably other important issues as well, and Mako doesn't have this layer of depth.

My Rating for Mako Mermaids: 6/10