Breaking down the twisty ending of netflix's dark comedy thriller 'sirens'

W_ARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR _SIRENS_._ It's hard to imagine the delivery of an edible arrangement has ever led to a more chaotic weekend than the one we see play out over

the course of five hectic episodes in _Sirens_, now streaming on Netflix. Taking a page out of popular coastal thrillers like _Big Little Lies_ and _The Perfect Couple_, the new limited

series black comedy opens with wayward, working-class Buffalonian Devon DeWitt (Meghann Fahy) finding the aforementioned fruit bouquet on her front stoop after a night in jail and setting

out to track down the person who sent it, her younger sister Simone (Milly Alcock). Advertisement Advertisement Simone has spent the past year working as the live-in assistant of

disconcertingly magnetic socialite Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore) at the lavish beachside estate Michaela shares with her billionaire husband, Peter (Kevin Bacon). But while Simone's

been busy reaping the rewards of Michaela's cult-ish life of luxury and affluence, she's also been ignoring Devon's pleas for help caring for their father Bruce (Bill Camp),

who has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia. The sisters have grown apart in the years since Devon dropped out of college to raise Simone, who was dumped in foster care as a kid after

their father severely neglected her in the wake of their mother's death (which we later find out was a suicide). So when Devon arrives on the island, just in time for the start of an

event-filled Labor Day weekend, it sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to upend all three women's lives. Created by Molly Smith Metzler (_Maid_) and based on her 2011 play

_Elemeno Pea_, _Sirens_ is not only a darkly funny escapist mystery, but also, in a sense, a modern retelling of the Greek myth from which it drew its title. "We only ever hear the

sirens described by the men," Smith Metzler says in a behind-the-scenes featurette. "We never hear their point of view, that maybe their song is actually a song of pain, that maybe

they're incredibly lonely and misunderstood, that maybe there's a whole other side to this story of why these three women are doing what they're doing." Here's what

we learn about the mysteries at the heart of the show in the _Sirens_ finale. HOW DOES _SIRENS_ END? In the wake of Ethan (Glenn Howerton) drunkenly falling off a cliff while arguing with

Simone about their breakup and the _Vanity Fair_ photographer showing Michaela the photo of Peter kissing Simone, things really begin to spiral out of control for the younger DeWitt sister.

While Ethan survives—albeit with two broken legs—when Simone returns to the Kell mansion, she learns that the future she thought she'd secured with Michaela is being ripped away.

Despite the fact that she tries to explain that she immediately stopped the kiss and ran away from Peter, Michaela responds by abruptly firing Simone for being a threat to her marriage,

rescinding her offer of making Simone the chair of her foundation, and having her escorted off the property. To boot, she's had the staff, all of whom hate Simone, box up all her luxury

belongings for donation to Goodwill. Panicking at the prospect of being thrust back into her father's orbit, Simone makes a break for the beach, where she meets Peter. who has once

again turned on Michaela after learning she let Simone go. Simone reveals to him that Michaela has locked the photo of them kissing away in a safe as collateral in case Peter tries to

divorce her. Peter then enlists Jose (Felix Solas) to break into the safe and destroy the picture. The weekend ultimately comes to a head at Michaela's annual Labor Day charity gala,

where Devon publicly confronts Michaela about her suspicions that she killed Peter's first wife, Jocelyn. However, Michaela reveals the truth is actually that Jocelyn became a recluse

10 years prior because she was disfigured by plastic surgery after her and Peter's divorce. But the biggest bomb to drop is that Peter is divorcing Michaela and shacking up with Simone,

leaving Michaela out to dry and showing Peter's true colors. The series ends with Devon choosing to return to her life as her father's caretaker after seeing what Simone has

become; she clearly has love for her sister, but she's accepting that the gap between them is too far to bridge. Devon and Michaela then both leave the island on the same ferry. As the

two discuss what's transpired, Devon tells Michaela that she doesn't think she's a monster and Michaela says the same about Simone. "We call these women monsters in the

myth, but for all we know, they’re just singing for help," Smith Metzler told Netflix's Tudum of the moment. "In the original myth, they’re there because they’re being

punished. They’re trapped. They’re unhappy. It’s a cry for help. All these sailors crash their own stupid ship. And then they’re like, 'It’s because of these beautiful

maidens.'"