too old to go chasing

[expatgirl]

 I'm really intrigued by the show Sirens, but also I just don't have time for non-queer content, and there doesn't seem to be any in the program from what I can tell. 

Comments

[scaramouche]

There's heavy subtext as of season 1! Though it remains to be seen if they do something substantial with it. I can give spoilers if you like.

[expatgirl]

Sure! I don't mind spoilers. :)

The thing is, heavy queer subtext is bread-and-butter to most genre TV shows but it never goes anywhere but subtext, and that's my worry. (Plus, tbqh, Supernatural soured me on homoerotic subtext.) I still hold out hope, though, that as queer fans become content creators, that will change. Because if it DOES go somewhere, it's not subtext, it's just a well-developed story!

[scaramouche]

Hah well I can say Siren is more text than SPN will ever be, at least. I'm not in the fandom but I have seen some reviews that already talk about the queer content as canon, which I guess it ~is~ but I'm still wary to see where they go with it because they can still walk it back to fanservice or a misunderstanding.

By the way I just realized that there may be more one show with a title like Siren, so if this is the drama-fantasy-horror show featuring a mermaid, then I'm talking about that one!

The main characters are Ben and Maddie, a human couple in an established relationship, and Ryn, the mermaid. Ben and Ryn connect early on in way that makes it seem like it's leading to a love triangle, but the usual jealousy tropes don't kick in, and instead Ryn grows attached to Maddie as well, and at one point kisses her. There's some very obvious poly imagery, with Ryn inserting herself into Ben and Maddie's relationship, buuuuut I feel the show is more explicit about Ben's attraction to Ryn while the Maddie/Ryn feels more one-sided, plus Ryn has a non-human understanding of intimacy. So I'm still kind of holding my breath where they're going to go with it in season 2.

[expatgirl]

I mean, I am all about queer poly relationships, and esp. all about non-human ideas of love and intimacy, so if they did go in that direction I'd eat it up with a spoon.
One of the things that made me go 'hmm, maybe not' is a scene in the S2 trailer where a man and a woman (I'm guessing it's the main pairing, Ben and Maddie? He kind of looks like the big sad wolf from Teen Wolf, anyway) kiss, and he looks surprised, and then the merman in the passenger's seat of the car also tries to kiss him, in clearly a "LOL he's not human so he doesn't understand that what he just did is GAY" kind of moment. It made me go '....oh."

[scaramouche]

Ahhhh yeah that could be not so cool. I haven't watched any of the promos (I went into season 1 not knowing anything, and enjoyed it more that way) but what you described does fit in with the tone I got from season 1 so far, in terms that they toyed with the queerness but not so far that they can't pull back and say psych, if they wanted. It would be nice to be proven wrong, but with so many shows not walking the walking, we're all burned. :/