Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Just Add Water: My Mako Adventure: Mako Mermaids Season 1 Part 2

(Cut to clips of the second half of the first season of "Mako Mermaids" as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): In the following episode Zac practically blackmails Rita and nearly forces her to move away which for Lyla, Nixie and Sirena is not good. Because as far as Lyla, Nixie and Sirena are concerned Rita has been more of a mother to the three than anyone in the pod ever could be. Which has me questioning how good a parent can a mermaid be or how a mermaid becomes a mom in the first place? At any rate the three decide to fight fire WITH fire nearly causing Evie to discover Zac's secret. Mind you it will happen later this season but for now the three make it clear, DON'T MESS WITH RITA SANTOS EVER AGAIN! Rita, in the meanwhile, decides that the time has come for the girls to learn how to harness their powers and earn their moon rings which could give them an automatic bypass of them being casted out and allow them to return to the Pod. Man, There's so many loopholes for the three to get out of their punishment, stop Zac to have the Pod return or earn Moon Rings to rejoin the Pod. I'm starting to wonder why the Pod even left the Island at all. The next development in the storyline is in the episode "The Trident Job" in which the next time the full moon is in power and it just so happens to be on Halloween and Evie is throwing a Halloween Party and what happens could be considered on the same level as an Oceans' Eleven level of con-artistry as by the end of the episode Zac now has possession of the Trident. Which for Rita, Sirena, Lyla and Nixie and by extension the Pod is bad news to the umpteenth power!

After a few filler episodes including one in which Sirena's sister returns just as the three get the trident away from Zac and another one in which I felt so bad for actress Gemma Forsyth, the story continues in "Zac's Choice" As the three continue to progress closer to getting their moon rings, Zac finds the trident and accidentally zaps Lyla as the two struggle for the trident. She's revived thanks to Zac deciding to do the right thing and help empower the Moon Rings to save Lyla's life. Zac also decides to return the Trident to it's hiding spot ending the feud with Nixie, Lyla and Sirena. In the second to last episode Cam tricks both Nixie and Evie to help him get the trident and it is in that same episode Evie discovers the truth about Zac, Nixie, Lyla and Sirena. The season comes to a close in the episode "Decision Time". The episode opens with Zac having a nightmare about destroying the Moon Pool with the power of the trident. After telling the three about this, Zac believes he has no choice but to find a way to be stripped of his powers and his tail. In the meanwhile Cam tries to trick Evie into helping him with his plan to become a merman himself and rule Mako Island. Hearing that the three try to stop him but with the help of Zac, Cam's plans are foiled and the trident is destroyed but it's power has yet to be fully unveiled. The three are awarded their Moon Rings and Evie makes peace with the three after being rather unfriendly to the three most of the season. (Show ending of "Decision Time" in which the three mermaids and Zac swim together and where Rita, Evie and Cam stand at the end of the season before fading to black and then cutting to clips of the season as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (Voiceover) Mako Mermaids Season 1 took everything "H2O"  had and improved on a lot of what that show did and this season itself had a lot going for itself and it lived up to it. The storyline was engaging, the writing was strong especially when it came to expanding the mythos of the Island including a "Great Conflict" between Mermaids and Mermen which they mention at great lengths and the characters were enjoyable and developed well and yeah let's get into the characters that we will NOT be seeing again after this season because of reasons we'll get to when we talk about their departure. While we won't see Aquata in the next season, I think it's for the best because she didn't do much except be a plot device for Sirena who we'll talk about next time. Nixie on the other hand had some good development. She would try to be right on certain things and her attitude came back to bite her in the end, in the episode "I Don't Believe In Mermaids" Nixie thinks the Pod is gone and they aren't coming back. She accidentally gives bad advice to a little boy which backfires and tries to live like how she believes humans live but thankfully Rita tells her that in no direct ways not to give up on the Pod or herself for that matter and in turn she gives the right advice to the little boy and asks when he's on that boat to toss a shell to Sirena's sister. While she had the moments where subtlety wasn't her strong suit she did seem by the end of the season to be more open to experiencing and learning new things. Lyla started off very hot headed, determined, smart and she had moments throughout the first half of the season where she was very arrogant. She thought she was the De Facto leader of the three this season even trying to handle Zac on her own with creative yet not the best ideas considering the situation. In the episode "Lyla Alone" as Rita encourages the three to try to blend in better with humanity. Lyla wants get back to the pod and return the status quo of before Zac and to do that she felt she had handle Zac on her own and nearly exposes herself in the process. As time goes on she softens and tries in more subtle ways to including befriend Zac and even being sympathetic to Zac, even connecting in a more friendly way and after "Zac's Choice" Lyla even tries to teach Zac about mermaid history, the history of the Island and the ways of the ocean and so on. While I can't confirmed this, I believe if Lyla had stayed on there would've been tension between Zac, Evie and Lyla. And when writers do something for funsies like that, it is time once again for....

(Cut to a black background and the words "HOW I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT!" in neon as James' voice echoes those words before hearing stock Game Show Music as clips of the season play in the background and James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): The ceremony mentioned by the Pod in the beginning of the episode would have had more significance. You see for a long time in the Pod, The Guardian had been thought of as a myth or legend so to hear The Guardian once again would've meant good things were to happen to The Pod. That is until Zac's incident happened, The Guardian only knew something had occurred what it was he has no clue until Sirena, Nixie & Lyla appear on the beach and he finds them in the second episode. The Guardian quickly befriends the three and they tell of what they remember, including that it was a human boy that fell in and quickly the three recognize him as does The Guardian whose face definitely shows his concern, he had known Zac Blakely for a long time.

While the third episode happens exactly as it did The Guardian tries quickly to contact Rita about The three and Zac but he arrives at the wrong time in Rita's Grotto. He helps the three and Rita out even getting a few good moments of characterization from him especially in the episode "Moon Ring 2" which would have gone into greater detail to something that was alluded to in "H2O". He mentioned to the three that the Moon ring Zac found belonged to The Guardian's beloved, Ismira! Ismira was a mermaid in the pod from Mako during "The Great Conflict" and although love was forbidden for The Guardian who was an apprentice to The Guardian before him and although she had a moon ring and was a part of the pod already The Guardian's ring was an engagement ring and he reclaimed it by the end of the episode. Also The Guardian can speak to animals like Dr. Doolittle even having conversations with Poseidon in cat howls and meowing. Although instead of Rita in the episode AFTER Zac and The Mermaids discover each other's secret, it would be said outright at the end of the episode when Zac discovers Lyla, Nixie and Sirena's secret of being mermaids by The Guardian. The rest of the season The Guardian would assist the three in stopping Zac and with what was going on in the season even helping stopping Cam. While the season would end the same way, The Guardian would look in meditative concern about the future of the Island, the Pod and Zac. But we'll work on that next time on...

(Cut to a black background and the words "HOW I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT!" in neon as James' voice echoes those words before cutting back to clips of the season one as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): After a successful first season, the show was picked up for a second season. What we'd get is something that is reminiscent of the past, things that changes the course of things of the future and more surprises, twists and turns. But we'll get to that next time as we return to Mako Island for season 2 of "Mako Mermaids" (Fade to black before cutting to Zac & Cam trying to power up the trident comically before cutting to black)

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