Good news guys! Now we can sort of be at JuiceNet together 🥤 Put this on for the vibes while you have a little afternoon snack and I will do the same 🍊🍒🍓🍉🍇🍋
imagine being conceived of to fulfil pretty much every misogynistic character trope in the book yet you are one of the most beloved fandom characters on a niche microblogging platform 16+ years later charlotte middlename watsford you will always be famous
like, obviously my perfect s3 includes emma and lewis for the entire season, but I’m going to engage with the season on its own terms here
here we go~
the comet/moon rock stuff is OUT sorry not sorry but that’s a no from me
I’m fine with Bella’s origin story but the moon pool that turned her should be its own separate thing with different rules and characteristics
maybe she has a different tail color, like different moon pools create different “subspecies” of mermaids
instead of the water trying to warn them about the end of the world, maybe Bella’s magic is conflicting with the Mako moon pool bc they are two different sources of magic, and that’s why the magic is going haywire
instead of Sophie and Ryan mining the moon pool, it could be self-destructing or warping in some way due to the competing magical forces
how do they fix it? I don’t know but I’m sure they could figure it out. Maybe they all hop in during a full moon and they all steep in the magic and it like combines all their auras or something and brings balance to the force. There can still be a cool showdown where they use all their power to do some big spectacle and fix everything, nothing would be as silly as a comet headed straight towards earth
it would also address that things only start going wrong when Bella shows up, and they never question that. It should be bc she shows up, but like it’s not her fault
this is an obvious one everyone says but just… make Will a merman. Maybe it felt like too many merpeople but honestly you can’t have too many merpeople and with a show like this you just have to lean into the camp as much as possible
a new person transforming into a mermaid is also the only repetitive plot that doesn’t get old imo. “My boyfriend can’t find out” is old news, bring me “My boyfriend has turned into a merman”
he could transform on his own without anybody finding out at first, since he has already discovered the moon pool independently. As he and Bella get close, they are both trying to hide the fact that they are merpeople, but they also both want to know what the other is hiding so they are in this constant tango of trying not to be suspicious
and it would eliminate Will being such a rude ass about forcing Bella to reveal her secret
what ramifications does mermania have on Will’s relationship with Sophie if he has to abandon his training?
y’all know this was coming bc it’s me, but we have to fix zikki, I mean this is truly dire. I’m not saying they shouldn’t have problems, but there were so many better problems they could have
first of all, we must get rid of the Rikki/Will ship tease, it has no place here
if Will is a merman, the Will/Rikki/Zane melodrama could be improved. There’s a new guy bonding with Rikki who shares a huge part of her life that Zane never can, and that’s a more interesting insecurity than just being jealous of this new hot guy who made her a friendship necklace
we can do the same thing with Sophie. Rikki seems to have some level of imposter syndrome about running the cafe, at least prior to opening, so it makes sense that Sophie, with more experience and confidence, would be a threat when she impresses Zane
goodbye to the it’s-not-what-it-looks-like Sophie/Zane kiss, it’s the worst reason zikki could have broken up, and we basically already did it with Miriam in s1
Zane didn’t have to revert to his start of s1 self to, like, be a problem. I can definitely see him inadvertently mansplaining business to Rikki, getting into financial trouble bc he’s overconfident, like the same kinds of things they tried in s3 but a lil more nuanced. I don’t see him outright trying to commit fraud lol more like he would make risky financial moves or find dangerous “opportunities” like the treasure hunt to make ends meet
all of that can still cause tension and arguments, but they would be the arguments a committed couple running a business would have, not just more tired teenage jealousy
and they should have ended the series still together lol like I think my stance is clear but I just needed to say it
once Lewis leaves, Zane should take his place as the human protector of the secret. His impulsive, reckless approach to problem-solving would create a new dynamic in the group. He and Rikki would butt heads on how to handle mermaid problems, but it would also let him bond more with the other girls
and eventually Will, bc everyone is friends at the end of my season. They don’t have to be besties but they would be gently competitive allies
Zane would also definitely call Lewis as a lifeline at least once. Their misadventures never miss
speaking of phone calls, they should have called Emma a few times. They wouldn’t have even needed to have a voice on the line, it could have been a one-sided conversation just to show they’re all keeping up
and to confirm she dumped Ash lol SORRY to any Ash girlies if you’re out there
another obvious one, but they should have kept wearing their lockets. Maybe they don’t wear them all the time, but to stop wearing them entirely? They could still also have their own new thing including Bella and Will. Friendship bracelets?
Miss Chatham should have made at least one appearance to meet Bella. Does she know there are other mermaids from other parts of the world?
a Halloween episode where all the mermaids go as mermaids and just have their tails out and everybody thinks they just have really great costumes (I feel like Halloween isn’t as much of a thing in Australia as it is in the US? but they should still do it for the hijinx)
Cleo tells Don and Kim the secret. If Emma told beige-ass Ash the secret there is no way that at least Cleo and Emma would not have told their parents as well, at least as a “finale” kind of move
every couple should have gotten an underwater kiss, I’m sorry but that should be a law in all human/sea creature romance
everyone is happy and friends at the end
Clewis are their perfect endgame selves of course
Zikki is intact, but probably realize that being business partners (or at least partners in this particular business) isn’t for them, but they have come out of their issues stronger as a couple and secure in pursuing their individual endeavors as well
the moon pool is still in shambles but it died of natural causes and it’s still suggested that they will be spending their summer putting it right
the last cafe scene and sing along can stay, but the actual last scene is everybody together at the moon pool 🩵
and realistically… i’m on zane’s side because he’s trying to do the right thing, but i can see why ash thinks he was just being an asshole as he doesn’t know the mermaid secret yet. but why is emma so mad?? she knows zane was trying to stop ash from following her to the cool room 💀
no and you're so right. emma is literally soooo smart in canon and you genuinely cannot tell me she didn't make the connection that zane was trying to stop her Zero Knowledge Of Boundaries Boyfriend from going in the cool room & seeing her with a tail. like i understand if she was upset bc of how zane handled the situation (which was badly) but.... her lines literally just implied that she only thought zane was being an asshole. violence actually
LMFDOADOGFOO NO BUT LIKE.... god i forgot to add this but later on the show has zane talk ash down from (yet again) intruding on boundaries in charlotte's shed. and zane does this... like a completely normal person 💀 like it starts no arguments bc it's... not a necessity of the plot for it to happen. like... they truthfully were just fighting to fight
he wasn't "being an asshole" when he tried to stop ash from seiing emma... He knew that this was his reputation and what people expected from him and what would piss ash enough to forget about emma and fight with him instead
he's clearly just playing along, my boi is smart like that
but honestly literally why emma is mad homie are you dum
p.s. am i becoming a zane bennett stan account? mayhaps
I hate this ep bc this misunderstanding is soo frustrating to witness.
zane is so shook that he was kicked out after deliberately being an asshole to the manager
and emma baby did you want him to just let ash barge in?
this all could have been fixed if either of them told rikki the whole story.
I also think emma and zane have some unresolved childhood beef. she never wants to give him the benefit of the doubt, even after he has proven himself to be a trustworthy friend. this ep would have been way better if it became a feud between zane and emma that resulted in some heart-to-heart about their lifelong problems.
but back to the reality of this awful episode, my nemesis ash isn’t even trying to help emma really.
his whole deal in fighting with zane is that he’s, like, defending emma’s honor or whatever right? so when they get burned out of their billiard brawl, it makes sense that zane would drop it, but shouldn’t ash be like, “hey you have to apologize to Emma tho” ???
THIS!!! especially the part about emma and zane’s childhood beef. i would have loved to see the show explore their dynamic as family friends more than they did. i think a lot of their tension comes from the fact that they’re both highly competitive people, and i could see them resenting each other growing up.
i've finally completed the epilogue of silver triptych (the 1950s mermaid fic) and you can read it here! so glad to give closure to this story that's been in the works for a while now <3
I think we’re all on the same page about the full moon not just making mermaids act differently, but making them act on some kind of “true” or subconscious desire. but I wanted to look more closely at the full moon effect on all our girlies and what it means.
cleo’s larger journey is to self-assurance from where she starts as mostly an ingenue. under the full moon she is confident and has a clear ability that makes her stand out. cleo has spent most of her life as best friends of an absolute beast star athlete, and of a science whiz. in 1x20 she speaks about helping lewis like it’s the first favor she’s ever been able to offer him. her siren power is a special talent unique to her which sets her apart from her friends. she finally commands and basks in all this positive attention, instead of being embarrassed in the limelight like she was at the start of the ep.
moonstruck emma most obviously abandons all responsibility, unburdening herself for maybe the first time in her life. she is flirtatious with byron and with rikki (even drunk I’ve never called a platonic friend baby I’m just saying). she also has a big appetite, which I only recently was thinking about. emma is a lifelong athlete with an extremely strict diet. even at a slumber party she has prepared “sensible” snacks. under the moon’s influence she gives herself freedom to literally eat whatever she wants. and of course she very adamantly wants to stay a mermaid, flying in the face of her usual cautiousness, and is just enjoying that sweet mermaid life.
and rikki has much more awareness during the full moon, not just because she is controlling the effects better but because she is not usually suppressing her impulses. she generally speaks her mind and acts on what she wants anyway, so there isn’t as much for the moon to “reveal.” instead it prompts her to self-isolate, succumbing to her existing fear of not belonging or of being some kind of liability. she acts on her attraction to zane after admitting in 1x6 that she’s insecure about being liked. and she verbalizes her fears and insecurities to somebody besides her friend’s kid brother for the first time.
the full moon eps are such a fun silly way to be like, “let’s make everyone do something crazy and then immediately retcon it” but idk, even though none of these are hot takes I just like how it reveals a lot about our besties
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