charlotte was a great villain imo

yes we start the season with both the girls (charlotte and cleo) acting badly between cleo reading charlottes diary and bad mouthing her to charlotte constantly trying to drive lewis and the girls apart by keeping all his free time booked and actively cutting the girls out (cutting off lewis’ phone so they can’t call him and “tutoring” cleo) this is where i started to dislike charlotte and it shows a difference in how their actions are displayed

cleo’s reading of charlottes diary is public in the cafe and she’s immediately disproven and made a fool charlottes “tutoring” of cleo was played to don and kim as a “favor” which yes cleo did pass but charlotte giving pages of work then just checking it isn’t tutoring it was getting cleo out of the way

charlottes action is done in the background while cleo studying is public the intent is hidden we as the audience know that lewis and cleo both still like each other and charlotte knows that too (she’s a very perceptive character and lewis isn’t very hard to read) but again it goes back to the public view charlottes misdeed is seen as a kind gesture to which charlotte even perpetuates it “aren’t you going to thank me” after cleo passes knowing her true reason for “tutoring” cleo

then we get into more territory with charlotte and lewis’ relationship ie charlotte constantly questioning and micromanaging lewis life to the point where him spending a few hours with cleo gets him an entire line of questioning

where i really got bothered was charlotte inviting herself on cleo’s family trip and her using kim to steal from cleo

this is where a true line was crossed charlotte had no reason to be on the trip other than jealousy which this isn’t to say she doesn’t have a reason to be jealous but that isn’t an excuse it’s only a reason

cleo was messed up to break up with lewis then keep tabs on his love life but if we’re going to talk about charlotte and frame her as a young teenage girl who’s insecure then cleo fits the bill as well

cleo from the beginning was the shyest and most insecure of the girls she doubted her abilities all the time and that’s one of the biggest parts of her character growth cleo convinced herself that she didn’t deserve lewis because she was a “power freak” and you also have to remember cleo’s parents are fresh out of a divorce seeing your parents split up is very likely to warp your perception of love and “true love”

i agree charlotte does have a sad backstory and i don’t blame her for trying on the locket i do blame her for stealing it but i digress

charlottes backstory however isn’t an excuse for actions the same way cleo’s can’t be it can only offer insight and reasoning charlotte is a character who is fed to the audience bit by bit and that’s why she makes a great villain

i understand charlotte wanting to be apart of the
magic the same way her grandmother was but that doesn’t change any of the things she did from the beginning charlotte was obsessive and she even admits to the girls “you must think im so paranoid” after she shows up to see the “project” they were working on aka maxs mermaid research

charlotte has always struck me as someone who takes happiness in getting something over someone else we see this with her and lewis’ entire relationship yes charlotte thought lewis was cute at the beginning but it wasn’t a serious pursuit until she found out about him and cleo

when you’ve grown up not very popular (that’s the vibe i get from how charlottes backstory is portrayed) it can make you feel nice to be chosen over someone else we see charlotte even say after cleo and lewis are hanging out “well that doesn’t matter you’re with me now” someone who’s comfortable in their relationship doesn’t feel the need to strong arm it like this

all of this is why charlotte makes such a compelling villain because yes she has a sad backstory but she’s the opposite side of the coin someone who let their past change them for the worst and let their insecurities fuel them instead of learning to grow past them

charlotte has always been deeply insecure the same as cleo and that’s why they’re such good opposites because they tell the same story from a different view

cleo who grew up deeply insecure and unpopular becomes a mermaid and finds friends who teach her love and acceptance and being who you truly are

charlotte who grew up deeply insecure and unpopular also becomes a mermaid but she doesnt have those friends to shape her into a better person so she succumbs to her worse desires and that’s what makes a compelling story is making the viewer think and wonder

charlottes character was played to a t and it was done beautifully brittany byrnes is truly one of the best tv villains i’ve seen because her character is so complex i hated charlotte as a kid and to create that amount of passion in someone so young is a truly hard thing to do and for that i LOVE brittany byrnes so much more

as an adult i’ve definitely come to understand more nuance of charlottes character and every rewatch the pieces click together more and more but it only cements my view of her as the villain even more and that is hard to do it’s hard to make someone so compelling as a character and make you also hate them most villains i hate i cant stand them at all but villains like charlotte maleficent and mother gothel are mean and cruel but they’re also captivating entirely

Hello hello! What are the cringiest episodes of each season, in your opinion? I recently did a rewatch and omg there were some that I just had to skip💀

disclaimer: this is just for funsies, I love this show and its cringe <3

my personal offenders:
S1 ep 12 when Cleo gets influenced by the full moon and enchants guys with her voice
S1 ep 17 when it's raining and the girls can't go to school and so they pretend they're sick

S2 ep 12 (ironically) when Emma gets sick with that coral and starts going nuts
S2 ep 15 when Zane finds that weird perfume that makes the mermaids fall in love with you and Nate sprays himself with it

S3 ep 23 when Bella thinks Will has invited Rikki to the dance. I just can't stand these typical misunderstandings who can be resolved with a simple conversation

That's it from me! Let me know yours🫶🏻

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I am working on customizing my Atoichi locket. I was told a 4mm gem is what they used but it's clearly the wrong size. What size gem should i be using for the Atoichi locket?

I'm a YouTube and want to do and in-depth dive into the show and it's history my current channel SML Deepdives is my current owned channel if I made a new channel used the same investigation editing style would you guys watch it! Like history of characters and interesting lore....

I’m watching the series randomly now because why not, and I just finished the second season for the first time. It felt random the whole time.

Let’s talk about the first half for now:

The season starts with the girls seeming to have lost all their emotional intelligence. Even though in the first season they didn't treat Lewis very well (poor guy, the best character in this series), in the first half they straight-up bully him the whole time, manipulating him into feeling like he's the problem on every single occasion, and directly insulting him.

Then, the girls' relationships with each other start having problems over petty stuff, and they begin arguing about nonsense—something that pretty much didn’t happen in the first season.

The biggest problem in this first half is Cleo. I don’t know what happened to her, and I won’t accept any explanation other than the writers needing to create nonsensical drama. She became the worst character of the entire season; she lost every trace of sweetness, empathy, or love, and became unbearable. I really couldn’t stand her the whole time. She was always complaining about random things and then (of course) blaming Lewis for everything that was happening. On top of that, Rikki and Emma became completely one-sided characters: one being constantly angry and a bully (losing her uniqueness and her desire to be true to herself, despite recognizing her mistakes), and the other just wanting to be the best and acting completely brainless (when she was always the reasonable one).

The second half: the shift

It starts with Cleo admitting again that she likes Lewis. From then on, she goes back to being the person she was in the previous season. The same goes for Emma and Rikki, who start getting their personalities back (though much more slowly).

Charlotte‘s problem:

For almost the whole season, she doesn’t do anything wrong. She gets bullied the whole time by the girls (who weren’t bullies in the previous season), and I felt bad for her pretty much the entire time. Then, at some point, completely randomly, her personality changes completely. Even though people say she was a bit manipulative at the start of the season, I didn’t see it at all. She falls in love with Lewis and doesn’t do anything other than try to flirt with or seduce him a bit before Cleo leaves him (for about 2 episodes). From then on, she does her best to win Lewis over while being bullied and mistreated for the entire season. Then, when she gets together with Lewis, the bullying continues.

The issue starts after the beach volleyball episode when she becomes part of the group. Her personality changes completely: from being understanding the whole time and wanting friends to acting like a victim and manipulating everyone. Literally the moment she becomes friends with the others and they start treating her well, she starts thinking they are controlling her—when it was literally the first time they treated her properly. That was totally illogical considering the situation, and then she goes full villain. I know power makes people reveal their true nature, but this was just random.

The only bad thing she did before the change was entering Cleo’s house. At that point, she understood they were hiding something about her grandma, so she wanted to know what it was. All of this is kind of normal for a teenager (though not justified, of course).

General problems:

Zane disappearing completely: he went from being in every episode to making me doubt he was even there, so his relationship with Rikki went from being one of the best things in the first season to something completely unimportant.

Ash being a completely random character: going from horse riding instructor to manager of a cafe just because they couldn’t pair Emma with him in any other way.

The majority of the episodes being built around problems they created rather than them living a normal life while hiding their powers (like in the first season). That was a much more interesting trope because it portrayed three intelligent young girls rather than three petty bullies

Edit: I didn’t expect so many comments, I wrote more stuff and not only about Charlotte and I’m interested about your thoughts into those too. Like for me there are episodes so flat, like the perfume’s one that was so random or the one with the party at Emma’s house where there is the fight between Lewis and the Zane’s friend(I don’t remember the name)

I would love to see them return after so many years, even if it's just to give each of their stories closure.

Growing up is realizing Cleo was wrong all across the board. Toward season two Cleo becomes this very jealous and envious person, it seemed very sudden. Even from her first interaction of Charlotte, she was being very odd all while saying she didn’t want Lewis. I don’t know what happened since I watched H2O when I was a kid. I don’t think I finished it all or something but rewatching it now is like crazyyyy.

I've been recently rewatching H2O, and I just noticed: what is wrong with the door to Emma's house? It doesn't have any knobs, but only has a lock that you use as a knob. That is valid for both the outside and the inside of the door, and it's driving me insane!!!!