Sirens Ending Explained: Why Simone’s Power Move Made Sense
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Did you go WTF at the way Netflix’s mini-series Sirens wrapped up? The ending might’ve felt abrupt, but it wasn’t exactly out of the blue. Sure, it needed just a little more build-up, but the groundwork was always there. After all, it was Michaela Kell who taught Simone to leave behind “what doesn’t serve you.”
Let’s recap the chaos. (Spoilers ahead)
Devon (Meghann Fahy) arrives on a surveillance-heavy island to rescue her younger sister Simone (Milly Alcock) from the hypnotic grip of billionaire boss Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore). Michaela’s mansion is governed by bizarre rules (no carbs, for instance) and an almost cult-like hierarchy. Devon is convinced Michaela may have murdered her husband’s first wife, and possibly runs a cult disguised as an elite retreat. But across the five episodes, viewers are left wondering, is it really a cult, or just rich-people weirdness?
Simone is unapologetically enjoying the lavish lifestyle: the clothes, the jewels, the proximity to power. She’s also secretly dating Michaela’s much older (and very rich) friend Ethan Corbin. When Devon questions this secrecy, Simone claims her discretion is to not upset Michaela. Meanwhile, the household staff despises Simone as she constantly orders them around. The staff regularly mocks Simone in a private group chat, but she couldn’t care less. She has Michaela’s favor, and that’s all that matters.
Simone’s refusal to return home with Devon becomes clearer when their tragic backstory unfolds. After their mother’s suicide, their alcoholic father neglects seven-year-old Simone so severely that she’s eventually placed in foster care, where she suffers further abuse. Devon, away at college during all this, carries guilt over it but that’s not the case with her younger sister. Simone just wants distance, which is why she tries to buy that distance by offering Devon money, which Devon assumes is Michaela’s master-plot. It’s not.
A crucial flashback reveals the true depth of Simone and Michaela’s relationship. When Michaela first interviews Simone for the assistant role, they instantly click. Both lost their mothers young. Both got into Yale Law on full scholarships, although Simone dropped out after a year. For Michaela, Simone isn’t just staff; she’s a younger version of herself, someone to mentor, mold, and maybe even love. Their dynamic borders on creepy siblinghood, filled with emotional dependence disguised as empowerment. It’s no wonder Simone clings to Michaela, she’s the first person who made her feel seen, not pitied.
While others label Michaela a manipulative gold-digger who bagged a billionaire, we get glimpses of a more complex woman. Once a high-achieving lawyer, Michaela gave it all up for love, or at least the illusion of it. Her paranoia builds when Peter, her husband, stops responding to her flirty texts. She suspects infidelity and hopes to catch him in the act, which would be the only way to benefit from their prenup in a divorce.
“I was busy being love-bombed by a billionaire, I signed it with hearts and dots” she tells a lawyer friend on the phone when he expresses surprise at how she could sign a pre-nuptial agreement that leaves her with practically nothing if she were to get a divorce.
That’s when she sends Simone to spy on Peter. But things spiral: Peter misreads Simone’s friendliness and kisses her. Shocked, she pulls away but not before a photographer snaps a photo. How the paparazzo magically appears on a secluded beach is anyone’s guess, but the picture ends up with Michaela. Feeling betrayed, she fires Simone. Devastated but cornered, Simone does what she has to: survive.
Instead of leaving the island, she pivots. Knowing Peter’s attraction to her, she tells him Michaela has the damning photo. Peter, panicked about divorce evidence, has it retrieved and destroyed. With no blackmail leverage left, Michaela’s position weakens and Simone seizes the opening. She replaces Michaela as Peter’s new partner. And just like that, the assistant becomes the next Mrs Kell to be.
Devon is heartbroken to see her sister align with the older billionaire. Michaela, oddly, accepts this shift with surprising grace.
So, did Simone “betray” Michaela? Not quite.
Simone’s final move might feel cold or opportunistic, but it makes perfect sense when you view it through the lens of survival. For someone who has known only abandonment, poverty, and abuse, the island represented not just comfort — but control. Michaela promised her power, and when that promise was broken, Simone didn’t just flee. She adapted. She learned from Michaela’s own playbook: when you’re backed into a corner, you rewrite the rules. She wasn’t looking for revenge, she was choosing herself. And for once, no one else was writing the script of her life.
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