By Cydney Yeates | Entertainment Correspondent | May 27, 2025
In a year already full of dramatic streaming surprises, it’s Sirens—the moody, psychological five-part Netflix drama executive produced by and featuring Madonna in a shadowy off-screen role—that has left viewers reeling with one of the most polarizing TV endings in recent memory.
Premiering quietly on May 22, Sirens quickly gained buzz thanks to its prestige cast (Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock, Julianne Moore, and Kevin Bacon), its sun-drenched noir aesthetic, and its themes of family estrangement, power, and deception. But it’s the finale—specifically, a romantic twist no one saw coming—that has launched the show into trending territory and sent social media into meltdown.
From Family Feud to Cult Vibes
Sirens opens as a character study of two estranged sisters: Devon (Meghann Fahy), a tightly wound former social worker still coping with their father’s rapid descent into dementia, and Simone (Milly Alcock), the seemingly carefree younger sister who disappeared to a remote luxury estate in Florida where she now works as a live-in assistant to wealthy lifestyle mogul Michaela Heller (Julianne Moore).
When Devon arrives unexpectedly at the estate to confront Simone for abandoning the family, she finds her sister disturbingly devoted to Michaela, whom she refers to as a “visionary” and “healer.” The estate is more than just a workplace—it’s a surreal retreat with cult-like undertones, where power is currency, secrets are weaponized, and everyone plays a role in Michaela’s carefully curated life.
Enter Peter and the Buried Past
Michaela’s husband, Peter Kell (Kevin Bacon), is a quietly controlling finance mogul with an old-money past and simmering resentments. As the series progresses, the tangled relationships between the sisters, their employer, and Peter begin to unravel. Flashbacks hint at Simone’s mental health struggles, a mysterious overdose years earlier, and a long-buried betrayal involving Devon and Peter’s hedge fund.
But it’s not until episode five—the explosive finale—that the show veers from psychological drama into full-blown melodrama.
The Photo, the Safe, and the Shock
After discovering a grainy Polaroid in Simone’s room that appears to show her kissing Peter, Michaela quietly fires Simone and locks the photo away in her safe, muttering, “There’s always a clause, darling.” Her intent is clear: to use the photo to nullify her ironclad prenup and strip Peter of his fortune.
But Simone, no longer playing the passive assistant, tells Peter about the photo before she leaves. In a shocking turn, Peter instructs the estate’s property manager Jose (Felix Solis) to break into Michaela’s safe and destroy the image. The twist? He then walks into Simone’s room, suitcase in hand, and tells her he’s left Michaela. They kiss. Fade to black.
From Cult Escape to Love Story?
The ending has divided fans and critics alike.
“So… Sirens was about trauma, codependency, and cult psychology and then just turns into a Nicholas Sparks movie in the last 10 minutes?” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter), summing up the frustration of many.
Reddit threads are ablaze with speculation that the romance was either a hallucination, a con, or a set-up for a second season. Others believe the twist was Madonna’s influence—layering the show with her signature themes of reinvention, female rivalry, and blurred lines between salvation and seduction.
Some fans applauded the finale for its ambiguity and daring tone shift.
“It’s not a romance. It’s a power grab,” argued one Reddit commenter. “Simone became Michaela in the end—beautiful, broken, and dangerous. Peter didn’t fall in love. He got played.”
Critical Response: Bold or Baffling?
Critics have also weighed in. Vulture called the finale “a stunning betrayal of narrative integrity” while The Atlantic praised it as “a slow-burn drama that detonates its own premise for maximum effect.”
Vanity Fair’s TV critic drew comparisons to Big Little Lies and The White Lotus but noted that Sirens lacked “the grace of consequence” in its conclusion.
Still, it’s hard to deny that the series has made an impact. Netflix reportedly saw a 34% spike in viewership over the weekend after the finale dropped, and Sirens is now the platform’s #1 most-watched limited series in over 50 countries.
The Madonna Factor
Though she doesn’t appear on screen, Madonna’s fingerprints are all over the show. Her company, Semtex Films, co-produced the series, and insiders suggest she had a heavy hand in the script rewrites for episodes four and five. Some fans suspect the final twist—a younger woman ending up with the powerful, older man, only to become the power player herself—mirrors Madonna’s own pop mythology.
Whether Madonna will return for a Season 2 remains to be seen, but there are whispers that Sirens might expand into an anthology format, with a different pair of sisters—and a new queen bee—at the center.
What’s Next for Sirens?
Netflix has not officially confirmed a second season, but creator Esmé Langley hinted in a recent interview that there’s more story to tell.
“I don’t think Simone and Peter’s story is a happily ever after,” Langley said cryptically. “Let’s just say not every photo gets burned.”
Verdict:
Sirens may not have stuck the landing for every viewer, but in true Madonna fashion, it made sure you wouldn’t forget the fall. Whether you loved it, hated it, or are still wondering what the hell happened—that finale did what every prestige drama wants: it made people talk.
