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

(0:25-1:02 of the Second Season trailer of "Mako Mermaids" plays before cutting to 1:01-1:20 of the trailer as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (Voiceover): Love Zac's reaction to his girlfriend growing Gills, Fins, Scales and a Tail! By the by Zac, I just heard from Tommy Wiseau he wants you to be Johnny in a remake of "The Room" and also to say "YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, ZAC!" Welcome my friends To Mako Mermaids Season two.

(Cut to Scenes from season two of "Mako Mermaids" as "I Just Wanna Be" is played in the background before cutting Mako Island before it cuts to a scene of James in a lounge chair and the words "Just Add Water: My Mako Adventure" above James before cutting to clips of the show and the season as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): Okay before we begin there is some clean up work I need to get to. First off, for some inexplicable reason this season was split in two mini-seasons of thirteen episodes by Netflix here in the States making the second half of Season Two into Season three and next season into season four and just to clarify I'm going with the original amount of seasons and episodes according to the Wikipedia page for Mako Mermaids so take that for what it's worth. In addition actresses Lucy Fry & Ivy Latimer was unavailable to commit for a second season for unknown reasons. Their characters are written out reportedly helping the Pod find a new home and we'll get two replacement characters to fill in the slots of Lyla and Nixie. One who is just there to fill in the third slot and the other one will be a character of importance to the story of this season and the development of Zac, also something interesting to note Gemma Forsyth who played Evie as a supporting character in the first season is upgraded to the main cast, maybe to apologize for "Evie Times Two" or so maybe the writers could get away with using their cache of Cartoonish style punishment onto her. But we'll get to what happens to Evie when we get there in this and the next season, for now let's get into the second season properly.

The season begins with the episode "The Seventh Cycle". With the pod still away from Mako Island in fear of Zac, two new mermaids join Sirena in hopes to bring the pod back to Mako. Ondina played by Isabel Durant and Mimmi played by Allie Bertram. Mimmi apparently is from The Northern Pod.... a less than subtle nod at Allie Bertram's roots. For those who don't know Actress Allie Bertram is from Canada, home of Bret "Hitman" Hart, Wayne Gretzky, Canadian Maple Syrup and Phelous. If you didn't know that well now you do. Anyway The two join Sirena in the hopes of warning him about the Seventh Moon Cycle of a merman however Zac is drawn to the Island the night his Seventh Cycle begins. With no other option Ondina and Mimmi decide to move forward with their plan to use a potion to strip Zac of his tail, powers and connection to the Island. However Evie swims in to save Zac. When Sirena hears that Evie entered into the moon pool, she fears something bad may happen to Evie. Mind you if "H2O: Just Add Water" is in the same continuity as this show, Evie should become a mermaid in 3... 2.... (Show Evie's first transformation and everyone's surprise at this before cutting to clips of "The Seventh Cycle" and then clips of the second season as James does a voiceover.)

James Faraci (Voiceover): "The Seventh Cycle" definitely shook up the status quo of the last season. Nixie & Lyla's departure and Ondina & Mimmi's introduction felt reminiscent of the first, second and final season openers of "H2O" and in the case of  Evie having gone into the Moon Pool and the next morning having become this new thing she didn't expect to be and Zac becoming more connected to Mako Island just adds to the familiarity. We get some great follow-up to the season opener in the next few episodes. In "A Sticky Situation" Evie tries to adapt to having become a mermaid with Zac and Sirena being the most supportive in trying to assist Evie into being a mermaid while Mimmi tries to use a shapeshifting spell to strip Evie of her tail the plan backfires by the end of the episode and everyone involved decides to be more supportive of her in her new life and train her to harness her powers. We're also introduced to Erik in this episode. He'll have a role in this season as well. In the episode "Discovery" Ondina and Zac fear that he will become a threat to the Pod by the next full moon. Using a Moon Ring they hypnotically put Zack into a Trance at Zac's insistence to see what will happen. They find a chamber in which Rita tells the mermaids and Zac about the Chamber and how it was made by Mermen when they had control of the Island during the Great Conflict. Apparently the Island changed hands several times between Mermen and Mermaids also The chamber has the ability to cause Mermaids to disappear into another world where there's nothing but water and no surface to speak of. In the next episode Ondina accidentally exposes the fact she's a mermaid to Erik while Erik in turn tells Ondina he's a merman. YES, There's more mermen than just Zac.

A few episodes later Ondina convinces the Pod and the head of the Mermaid Council, Veridia to give the three until the next full moon to strip Zac of his powers and tail. Also in this episode there is a plot about a kid mermaid named Neppy who for all intent and purposes BUGGED THE HELL OUT OF ME! I know that this is a kid's show and they have to cater to all kids of all ages but this was pandering to the youngest denominator short of a toddler. In the episode before the mid season finale Mimmi admits she has been having visions of Zac to Rita. In that same episode Rita thinks Zac who  has been having visions of Mimmi  throughout the season as well thinks that maybe there was a reason for Zac becoming a merman in the first place.

The story continues in the episode "Reunion". Sirena decides with the next full moon to help Evie properly absorb the powers of the Full moon and control her powers after a filler episode earlier in the season in which Evie had a case of Moon Fever in which she acted like my youngest niece... after she has eaten 1000 chocolate bars... and let loose in the house... unattended. In the meanwhile Veridia decides to get proactive and confronts Zac in the Merman Chamber Rita protects Zac and reveals a shocking twist that Mimmi is in fact Zac's biological sister and a naturally born Merman born to a powerful mermaid named Nerissa. Mimmi stands by her newly found brother and Ondina in turn stands with Zac as well having spent most of this first few episodes of the season hating and fearing him simply because he was a merman. Rita, Ondina, Mimmi and by association Sirena and Evie are subsequently banished from the pod. Zac after regaining his senses and learning of his true heritage takes the news about as well as one can when they discover they were never human at all. (Show ending of "Reunion" before fading to black)

To Be Concluded in Part 2

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

(Fade to Clips of the Second Season of Mako Mermaids as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): Following the mid season finale we get some good development for Zac in "A New Man".  Zac tries to come to terms with being a natural born merman and with Mimmi being his sister all the while two people who I swear are Online Trolls decide it's a smarty smart thing to taunt the guy going through inner turmoil. He nearly sends the two to their watery graves but thankfully Evie and Mimmi stop him before he does so. Mimmi reminding him he had two caring human parents and Mimmi had the Pod. Seriously, How bad a parent is a freaking mermaid if they can't raise their own children. We also see the backstory of how Zac's parents found him as a baby. By the end of the episode Zac accepts that he is a naturally born merman and that Mimmi is his sister also Cam and Zac become friends again after spending the end of last season and most of this season at each other's throats. After a few filler episodes, the story continues in "The Merman Code". Cam studies a photo of symbols on the pedestal in the chamber. Cam theorizes the symbols he saw in the picture of the Pedestal correspond to carvings he saw outside the Island in the coral. Mimmi discovers how the Pedestal works and Zac frees Erik from the same Water dimension Ondina was trapped in earlier this season.

After a few more filler episodes including one in which the writers shrank Evie during her birthday just so they can get their Tormenting Evie Jollies, the story continues in "New Orders" a surprise awaits Ondina in the Moon Pool. Veridia comes to tell Ondina to use her powers to destroy the chamber once it's been activated by Zac. Ondina agrees but on two conditions. One, Sirena, Mimmi, Rita, Evie and herself are no longer banished from the pod and Two, the pod returns to the Island by the next full moon no debates and no more fearing Zac. However Zac decides not to activate the chamber when Rita tells that he and Mimmi are descended from the couple who built the chamber during the Great Conflict. Ondina manipulates Zac into activating the chamber. Zac enters the code and reveals a hologram of the Trident from last season which stands to reason the chamber was built by mermen and using the trident would unlock the chamber's full power. But seeing as how the Trident was destroyed last season there's no reason for them to be afraid the chamber. The Chamber for all intents and purposes can't be unlocked to it's fullest potential, the Trident was destroyed unless somehow there's a piece of it still intact which I doubt. However Ondina nearly goes through with her plans but Mimmi thinks destroying the chamber would destroy the Island as well and Ondina stops. The next day the three tell Veridia what happened. Veridia tells the three that their Banishment will end when the pod returns which will be on the night of the next full moon.

After more filler episodes including a couple of episodes involving hard choices for the three and an episode in which Carly a secondary character who sadly will be the second least developed character over the run of the entire series as she discovers the others' secret of being merfolk. The story continues in the episode "The Trident Stone". Erik learns from Cam that the Trident was destroyed and he doesn't know what happened to any of the remains. Rita admits she kept the Stone from the trident after the rest of the trident was destroyed thoroughly though it is Dormant once Zac touches the stone it shows signs of it still having power. In the meanwhile Rita discovers that the existence of the chamber is to drain Mermaids and the Moon Pool of their Powers and once the stone is placed in, every mermaid on the planet would be in danger. Zac tries to hide it even giving it to Cam for safe keeping. Cam in a bit of Character development decides to return the stone to the Mermaids vowing NEVER to betray Zac or the Mermaids again! Erik finds the stone and drains the powers out of Zac. So in short all the mermaids in the world are officially up the crick sans a paddle, boat, life preservers and they all forgot their swimming lessons.

The season comes to a close in "The Chosen One". The Full Moon is approaching quickly and time is running out. Ondina begs Erik not to activate the chamber! However it falls on deaf ears! Zac in the meanwhile, feeling totally powerless seems to have thrown in the towel, not even when Cam and Mimmi try to encourage him to at least try. It's not until Evie encourages him in a way the others didn't that Zac starts to think about how hard he can take a hit and keep moving forward. The girls try in vain to stop Erik which ends badly for the three and when Zac comes back to fight Erik over the stone, Erik wins using it to power the chamber to it's fullest capacity. Hurting all the mermaids, except for Evie. Hmm, Me thinks the writers are gonna do something most foul next season to Evie for being the hero this season. Evie arrives at the chamber and helps Zac deactivate the chamber for good but the cost is that of Zac's life. However Mimmi successfully revives Zac and his powers after placing the stone on him reducing the stone to dust. With the chamber now permanently inert, Ondina decides it's a smart move not to stay with the guy who nearly killed her, Sirena tells David who had been her love interest throughout her tenure she's a mermaid and David takes it in stride. Zac & Evie are made honorary members of the pod, Evie getting a moon ring and Rita tells everyone in the grotto at the ceremony her belief that this will lead to union of Humans, Mermen and Mermaids. So Rita, do you have any other ideas that might be considered in the same realm of World Peace? (Show ending of "The Chosen One" where everyone swims to the Island to see the Pod has returned and everything ends happily before fading to black then fading to clips of the season as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover): Season two is the BEST season of the entire series. The characters were fully developed, the story while having twists and turns closed out the overall storyline of the series and ended it with a satisfactory ending for all of the characters. And seeing as how this does end Sirena's tenure on the show I will say her development was amazing. She started off as the most innocent but as the series progressed she came into her own. She convinced Rita to give the three the sanctuary by the end of the fourth episode of the first season but HOOO BOY did Lyla and Nixie pull some whoppers onto Sirena during their tenure with Sirena in season one. In a few episodes Lyla and Nixie try to sabotage her budding relationship with David who sadly by the end of the series will be the LEAST developed character and in another episode Lyla uses Sirena's sister's ring and Sirena so they can try to stop the rain from coming, it of course backfires and makes it snow IN the Grotto which causes Her and Lyla to develop a rash! Heck they even try a forbidden song that enchants a guy and it backfires! Her sister Aquata also during that first season tries to get her back into the pod leaving Lyla and Nixie in the lurch. But as much as Aquata and the pod means everything to Sirena, she chooses to stay an outcast in order to deal with Zac in the first season showing loyalty to her friends and who she is on the inside. In the second season she came into her own becoming the De Facto leader with Lyla and Nixie gone. She tried to convince Mimmi and Ondina not to use their Stripping spell on Zac and when it backfired and it gave Evie her tail and powers after it was decided that Evie should be welcomed into their lifestyle, Sirena personally took Evie under her fin, (Pun intended) and taught her how to handle her powers. Sirena also showed Ondina that the way she was taught by Rita was more effective than the new ways Ondina had learned but even in this season they did a lulu on her, in the episode "The Siren" it mainly involved Sirena being enchanted when a mermaid from the Northern Pod sang to a Kayaker... on a video... on YouTube. Okay. While in her enchanted state she nearly cost David his life, thankfully Ondina and Mimmi were able to reverse things and wipe David's mind of what had happened by the end of the episode. While Sirena eventually did tell David that she was a mermaid in the finale, it showed how much Sirena and David cared for one another especially when David's reaction to the revelation showed that he honestly did care for her no matter what or who Sirena was. The fact Sirena won't be back next season will leave David's development and character in the lurch. Erik started out a blank slate and while he became Ondina's boy toy throughout the season, the writers put the poor schlub through the wringer during his brief season long tenure even being transformed into a duplicate of Poseidon in one episode, it's no wonder that by the end of the season he became the villain of the season and when writers do that it means 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): While I wouldn't have written out Nixie and Lyla completely from the first episode, I would have had them be a part of the first act which would've been paced better. The Guardian meeting not only reuniting with Lyla, Nixie and Sirena but meeting Ondina and Mimmi as well. The relationship between The Guardian and Veridia having changed somewhat since the last time the two were together on-screen. He and Rita spent the off season time wondering certain things and the two of them having the same feeling when it comes to Zac getting his tail and powers and both of them thinking it wasn't just an accident and neither was the full moon incident where Evie got her tail and powers, The Guardian would do everything to help her acclimate to her new life mentions that there are "Others" not that different from Evie who just so happen to be The mermaids from "H2O" though for the sake of the story of this series. they're not mentioned. However Lyla and Nixie would spill the beans, Ondina, Mimmi and Sirena are officially banished from the Pod until Zac is dealt with and Evie has until the next full moon to either join the pod or join Ondina, Mimmi and Sirena in their banishment. Lyla and Nixie sadly must join the pod looking for a new safe haven ending the first episode. The season would continue for Evie being taught by both The Guardian and Sirena all the while Zac would be supportive towards Evie joining the Pod aiding in his character's development which would be made the same way this season right down to making Mimmi and Zac brother and sister. The Guardian  and Rita would stand with the banished mermaids as would Evie. In fact in the follow-up when Zac's parents told of how he was found by The Blakelys we'd also see The Guardian as his alias Mr. Jean-Dian as he helps Zac's human parents adopt Zac. The rest of the season going the way it does save for it just being Evie handling the situation with Zac. The Guardian would've held off Erik long enough for Zac to get the stone, reclaim his powers and destroy the Trident Stone rendering the chamber and the stone permanently inert. The Guardian would then wipe the memory of Erik and he'd never even remember Ondina or Zac or anyone or anything of Season 2. The end of the season would happen just as it would only after the pod returned to the Island, The Guardian would stand on top of the dormant volcano that leads into the Moon Pool knowing for now The Balance had been restored. Ending another edition of...

(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 two as James does a voiceover)

James Faraci (Voiceover):  Had this season been the final season, it would've ended everything perfectly. The main conflict had been resolved. Zac had been accepted as a member of the pod. Evie was now a part of both halves of Zac's life, Ondina, Sirena and Mimmi had brought the pod back home to Mako Island. For all intent and purpose there truly was no reason for another season, however yet again Fans wanted one more season and Network Eleven, Netflix and Jonathan Shiff were more than willing to do so. But what could they do? Could the event that Rita hoped would happen come to pass? Maybe Cam, Carly and David would have some bigger role to play and lead to something good happening to the Pod! What would we get next time? Sadly we will get a series of missteps, bad ideas, one of the best characters in the series getting a worse Screw Job than what happened in Montreal 20 years ago to Bret Hart and ultimately everyone in the cast looking at what they were given to them by the writers and the cast realizing...(Cut to the clip of MST3K where Joel, Tom Servo and Crow say in Unison "THEY JUST DIDN'T CARE" before cutting back to the second season as James does a voiceover) But we'll get to that when we dive in one more time for now and see what drags the series down to the bottom of the ocean floor as we reach Season 3!

(Clips of the season fade to black then cut to a clip of the Mermaids confronting Cam as he summons a tidal wave to the three and they become mermaids after the wave rescinds and Cam being smug)