Sirens: The truth about Jocelyn Kell, and how her hidden story might be the show’s darkest

Sirens is the kind of show we didn’t think we needed. But it found us anyway and held up a mirror we weren’t ready to look into. It’s layered. It's honest. But the truths aren't laid out for us to easily understand.

It's a show about the realities we love to sideline. It's the truth about beauty, womanhood, loyalty, mental health, and survival.

Sirens is a commentary on how society treats women, especially those who are left behind. And one of the examples of this lies in a character we don't even meet. It's Jocelyn Kell. She’s constantly mentioned but hardly understood.

All we know in the beginning is that she was Peter’s first wife. She's the one he cheated on with Michaela. Some say she’s dead. And for the longest time, we believed those rumors until the truth was revealed by Michaela.

Jocelyn's story is a lot more disturbing. It forces us to reckon with something we often try to ignore, that sometimes the darkest stories are the ones that are never told. Jocelyn becomes a symbol then.

Disclaimer: This article may reflect the author's opinions. Reader discretion is advised.

Sirens: Jocelyn Kell was hiding from a world too cruel to see her

It feels like a ghost story when we first hear Jocelyn Kell’s name in Sirens. She’s Peter Kell’s first wife. The one he left for Michaela. And from the beginning itself, we’re made to believe she’s dead. We are almost convinced that she has been killed off, possibly by Michaela herself.

She had the motive, too. She was desperate to climb the social ladder and become the new Mrs. Kell. Michaela gets with Peter, and Jocelyn disappears. No one sees her again. So, everyone just assumes the worst.

But at one of Michaela’s galas, when Devon confronts her, Michaela tells her that Jocelyn Kell is alive. She’s living in Washington state, away from everything, away from everyone. She's just deliberately invisible because of a plastic surgery that didn't go as planned. It left her in pain physically, emotionally, and socially.

Michaela, in that moment, reveals that she was hiding Jocelyn out of protection in Sirens. Because the world is not particularly kind to women who do not fit their idea of beauty. Michaela knew the cruelty Jocelyn would face. So she chose to let the world think the worst of her rather than expose Jocelyn to all that ugliness.

This storyline in Sirens is made even more powerful by what showrunner Metzler told Tudum:

“It’s delightful if the audience is thinking that she was murdered. When Devon says it, we should kind of believe her. There’s a real question about it.”

This idea is that the lie is easier to digest than the truth. Because maybe it is easier to believe a woman was killed in a fit of jealousy than to face the reality of what happens to women who lose their “beauty privilege.”

When someone suddenly disappears, we assume the worst. But sometimes the worst is just being forced to hide because you no longer match society’s impossible standards.

Metzler also says:

“Michaela has that line, ‘We all work for Peter,’ and in a lot of ways what happened to Jocelyn is exactly right, because of course she hurt herself trying to maintain her sirenhood.”

Jocelyn’s fall wasn’t just about Peter or the marriage. It was about a woman trying to hold onto a place in a world that only values you when you're at your most desirable. She tried to stay perfect. And it destroyed her.

In Sirens, Jocelyn spent her years trying to remain Mrs. Kell. Michaela spent hers to become her. And Simone, in many ways, is just the next in line. It’s a vicious loop.

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