Sirens: What Simone standing on the cliff in the final shot of the show really meant

Sirens is a show about the kind of monsters the world makes. It dresses Greek mythology in modern trauma, showing how pain, grief, and survival instincts are often mistaken for cruelty when embodied by women.

And in the middle of all this, there’s Simone. She is sweet and sharp. She's a girl who lived through fire. Sirens ends with Simone standing on the cliff just as it began with Michaela in the same spot in the first shot of the show.

Simone just wanted to breathe. She was the child her mother chose to die with, buckled into the passenger seat of that car. And after her mother’s suicide, her sick father didn’t feed or clean her. Simone struggled with safety. It was Devon, her sister, who became her safe place and her only family.

And yet, despite all of that, Simone rose. She was brilliant. She even got a scholarship to go to Yale. But instead, she decided to work for Michaela as her assistant. She admired her.

With time, the women grew closer. Michaela cared for her and became her friend that Simone desperately needed. And in return, Simone gave her loyalty, her attention, her entire being. Because for once, she felt like she could forget her past and live without pain and grief.

But the final shot of Sirens tells us otherwise.

Sirens: What that final shot really meant

Before Peter kissed Simone, there wasn’t even a hint that anything romantic could happen between them. Simone was Michaela’s loyal assistant. She spied on Peter because Michaela asked her to. But then came 'quohogging'. It was just Peter and Simone there.

Peter shared about his kids and the distance between him and Michaela with Simone, and she let her guard down. She listened. Something Michaela didn’t do anymore. That emotional intimacy and moment of vulnerability pulled Peter in. And then he kissed her.

Unfortunately, the Vogue photographer captured it. And he showed that photo to Michaela. Simone was fired on the spot. Peter couldn't take it. He had an anxiety attack. But when he looked out the window and saw Simone, he followed her. That's when he left Michaela. And just like that, Simone became the next Mrs. Kell.

After that, we see Simone in a silk dress, the kind Michaela used to wear. Simone now owns the space. She's greeting guests and keeping it all together. The final shot cuts to her standing on the cliff.

It's a full circle. The baton has been passed. Or maybe a curse has been inherited.

Because the new “Mrs. Kell” is always the next siren. And that’s the cruel mythology Sirens confronts. It’s never Peter who gets demonized. It’s never his wandering, his neglect, his repeating pattern. It’s the women.

Creator Molly Smith Metzler explained to Variety that the ending was intentional. She said:

"This is an adaptation inspired by the sirens of Greek mythology, which is a tale as old as time. We open the show with the shot of Julie on the cliff, and we close it with Simone. They’re standing in the same place on the cliff, kind of like the island’s always going to be there, and this story is going to continue to go on and on. There’s something about that that felt very whole and complete, because that’s the surprise of it. That’s the treachery of this world, that’s the trap. I was also really keen to flip the perspective. We’re often hearing about the sirens from the sailor’s point of view, and this series is about what it means to be cast in the role of a siren. I don’t think any of these women would voluntarily call themselves sirens, but they’re all cast in this role."

She further adds:

"I’m excited to hear people’s interpretations of the ending. We looked at so many different takes of Simone on that cliff, and we went with the one we went with because it has a bit of a Mona Lisa quality. She’s a little bit smiling, a little bit not, and it’s hard to know exactly what she feels in that moment. I have my answer, but I love that we give the audience that question. Is it fair, the people we cast in the roles of “monster” in our lives? Are we villains? Are they? What is a monster, really?"

In the end, Sirens hands us a mirror to our own world.

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