Sirens ending: Creator Metzler on Simone's Mona Lisa smile, and why that ending was "inevitable"

Sirens isn’t the kind of show you can casually watch. It pulls you in, sits you down, and asks some pretty uncomfortable questions about class, identity, control, and the way trauma reshapes who we are. Set against the backdrop of a luxury island estate, the story revolves around three women, all caught in a tangled power dynamic that feels both dreamlike and dangerous. You’re never quite sure who to root for, and that’s the point.

At the heart of it all is Simone. She’s messy, vulnerable, and impossible to pin down. You might not always agree with her, but you understand the storm brewing under her surface. Throughout Sirens, her character evolves in small, powerful ways, and by the end, she’s no longer just a supporting player in someone else’s life. She’s the one steering her own fate, even if it comes at a cost.

The show plays with perception. It hints at cult-like behavior, blurred loyalties, and emotional manipulation. But beneath all of that, it’s asking, how far will someone go to reclaim control of their own story? The answer to that is tucked into the final scene. It's that one subtle smile that somehow says everything and nothing at once.

Sirens ending: Why Simone’s final smile was the only way it could’ve ended, according to creator

In the finale of Sirens, Simone gets kicked out of Michaela’s world after she sees a steamy photo of Simone with Peter (Michaela’s husband). That moment sends everything spiraling. But instead of slinking away, Simone changes everything. She runs to Peter instead of leaving the island, and Peter leaves Michaela. The next thing we know, he’s promoting Simone at a public gala.

But the final shot in Sirens is what caught everyone's attention. Simone was standing by the cliff, facing the sea, with that faint little smile on her face. It’s not triumphant or tragic. It’s just there like a secret between her and herself. Fans were left wondering if she won, or lost, or became someone new entirely.

According to creator Molly Smith Metzler, that ambiguity was intentional in Sirens. In an interview with TheWrap, she said:

“It felt like the inevitable ending. There’s a lot of endings that would have felt false to me, but the truest one is the one that we wrote and shot and now are sharing with you.”

Metzler also revealed that they revealed Simone’s past in bits and pieces, carefully and slowly, to make sure viewers didn’t just watch her but truly understood her.

“We tried to dole out the information about her and her backstory with great care, so that at the end, love it or hate it, you deeply understand her. It’s up to you to decide what she’s thinking and how she feels about this. And so I hope we ask the question, but didn’t answer it for you.”

So, at the end of Sirens, Simone’s smile doesn’t give us closure. But it gives us a choice. And that’s, perhaps, the most honest ending of all.

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