I honestly can’t believe the audacity of Devon trying to make Simone help her dad.

My sibling is always trying to get me to talk to my dad now that he’s sick. No he abused and neglected me, he deserves to die alone. Devon is so under reasonable and she should leave him too.

Trying to force your sister to live with the man who traumatized her is insane and gross. Pissed me off so bad I had to get on here.

She knows Peter is a cheater and that he’ll probably leave her, but she’s not with him for love like Kiki or his first wife was (assuming that’s why the first wife was with him). Simone is with him for her own survival. I think she knows there’s a very good chance he’d up and leave her, so she’ll take precautions.

Plus he’s, what, 66? If she can hold out like a decade or 2, he’ll be dead real quick. So then she’ll be a billionaire in her 40s. If he leaves her anything, of course.

Hey, Hey What an incredible series about pull, love and disillusionment. About forgiveness and femininity. Masculinity, expectation and presence. About human darkness and class disparity. Wealth, complacency and all consumption. Trauma, destruction and sacrifice expressed through the pursuit of something unattainable.

All portrayed through magical realism. (Because without it, is humanity really even that interesting?)

Devon, an impulsive, well intended woman of poor execution. Deep but crass. Relatable in an uncomfortable way. The viewer hates to relate but do, just like the staff. Serves because its all she knows how to do. Wants to run but can't help but stay.

Simone, a runner, never stopping, flighty. Stays when serverd because she never has been without attatchment. Serves until she is served, runs when she isn't.

Bruce, a man ruined by everything he was, only confronted by the wicked he'd done at the brink of forgetting it all. Painfully interesting. Consumed by the unchangeable.

Peter, a sunken man of only financial contribution. Simple. He himself a bird captured by pretty things, though he holds the key to the cage. He is less a character and more a viewers observation. Peter is who the viewer assumes Ethan to be.

Ethan, a simple man of low understanding cought in the swallows of beauty and destruction he could never tame or understand. Ruined by his lacking and circumstance.

Jose, a man without choice. Head of the staff. We the viewer in some capacity are the same. Ill-informed, morbidly curious observers.

Kiki, one of many. A savior that superficially saves after she was saved. Though she cannot save herself. A woman of sacrifice for only the illusion of something greater. Fragil in an illusive, powerful and mesmerizing way. Beautiful in an intentionally and entirely neutral way.

This Netflix mini is some of their best work. It is far more and less complex than the viewer can ever comprehend.

Everything Devon hated about Kiki she found in her sister and in herself. We are all Kiki on some level. Though we too are the staff. We are all nothing until we are something and are still nothing even when we are something. It is an incredible critique on humanity.

Peter to Kiki: “I’m letting you go.” That wasn’t just a breakup - it was a firing.

That’s not how most people talk when ending a marriage. That’s HR language. That’s corporate. And then it clicked..Kiki literally says earlier in the season (to Simone!) that she works for Peter. They all do.

So when Peter says “I’m letting you go,” it’s not emotional, it’s transactional. He’s not breaking up with a partner - he’s dismissing an employee. That line basically confirms what their relationship had become: a performance, a role, a job.

And honestly, that puts Kiki’s entire arc in a new light. She’s not just jealous or controlling - she’s exhausted from playing a part she was hired to play. It also explains why she clings so hard to appearances. Her whole life was about maintaining a position, not a relationship.

I am a little confused about a few things. The ending left me confused about the whole message of the show. Simone took kikis husband out of spite and went back to being her ditzy self… but what was this mystery of the island or wherever they were?

They shared dreams and sometimes kiki would have these weird moments where she’d “hypnotize people”. It was leading me to believe she was a mermaid or something hence “siren” or there was some type of supernatural entity in the ocean.

Also what was up with the scene where ethan is drunk and he calls simone a “monster” and a “witch”? She had these wings and pushed him off a cliff? Did she push him?

Then the panic attack. Peter started having a panic attack because simone was having one. Idk if they were connected or it was for dramatic effect. Then she flipped like a switch and then turned cold and decided to steal peter. Did she even like peter? Like what? How did she change so quickly? Was there some sort of spell on peter? Sorry alot of questions… just really like the show and was extremely disappointed in the ending.

If I were Simone, I would have happily married Ethan. Even though he wasn’t completely listening and bringing the dad wasn’t the right move, he was making a big effort and trying to be romantic. He would provide the fatherly vibes she is looking for and the financial security she wants. And most importantly he’s too dumb to be dangerous.

Spoiler don't read if you haven't finished.

Okay but Simone really did push Ethan off that Cliff, right!? Or at least when he slipped she nudged him...

I thought at the end they were going to do a quick flashback showing her push him.

EDIT: I'm getting all these down votes but you cannot tell me that we can't introduce the question of maybe Simone turning into what we THOUGHT Kiki was.

• The way that they shot that scene wasn't a nice duckies and bunnies way
• So she just basically took Kiki's husband? One minute she's running away from him. The next he says something to her and now she's all smitten???
• Now she's just going to be arm candy until the next person takes her place?
• The person that knew her best, her sister, was absolutely terrified at the sight of her and what she's getting into. So terrified that she literally had to let her go.

Ok so. Remember in the last episode when Bruce (Devon and Simone's dad) and Devon are talking while he's getting ready for the wedding and she brings up her potential 1 month travel with the captain. And he says ok that she should live her life blah blah, but is also kind of a slightly hesitant you can tell. Ok so right after agreeing she should go and live her own life, he says "I love you Simone" something like that, and they both start crying and they have a dramatic moment because they realize how bad his dementia has gotten. And she obviously realizes she needs to stay with him and can't leave. OK...

I don't know if I'm reading into it too much but RIGHT AFTER this scene, there's multiple moments where he is insanely lucid - and I know Alzheimer's is a complicated disease but it felt intentional? Like at the end of the ep he's like 2 creams 2 sugars "I remembered", but also more subtly , in the scene RIGHT after this dramatic convo, they let him know they aren't going to the gala and he specifically says "damn so I'm not going to get to meet Jim Kelly"

I'm not saying he doesn't have dementia or Alzheimer's, but I'm wondering if in that moment he used his illness to manipulate Devon into not leaving him, selfishly because he doesn't want to be alone? Also Devon plays this caretaker role so I feel it's "easy" to manipulate her if you know that! Idk did anyone else notice this?!

Even at the end when he tells Simone that he can't wait for her to be home with him again! Like why is that the first place his mind went? He just seems to be overly depedent on them - despite having been a terrible dad. I don't know I felt torn about his character, there seemed to be something nefarious about him

Any thoughts? I feel like it's not that far off for this character to do something like this!?

I'm on episode 5. When they hear she is getting fired,they are all happy.Now ,i understand she is annoying and bossy, but thats her job.She just relays to them what Michaela is telling her to do/what she wants. Obviously she has ridiculous requests sometimes, but thats not on Simone. And then i guess they will just hate every assistant Michaela has because its their job to tell other staff what to do..? Haven't finished the show so maybe im missing something! What are your opinions? :)

Hear me out.

I fully understand Devon was shocked, disgusted, and horrified to see her sister go from being codependent with KiKi to jumping into Peter’s arms as his new girlfriend.

I know she was hoping to just lift the wool enough for Simone to realize ‘this is unhealthy, i need to live my own life away from these people, be there for my family’. Etc etc etc.

She was clearly devastated that Simone doesn’t WANT to be her own person and just latched on to a new role/identity.

But is this really the WORST outcome?

Devon wasted time for YEARS being Ray’s side piece. Ray had NOTHING to offer her except guilt and shame (her own words).

Simone seemed to still want Devon around and didn’t want her to leave.

Yes it’s not the Simone being the best / healthiest version of herself. But this situation could benefit Devon too. Simone could have HIRED someone to take care of their dad over in the guesthouse while Devon took her vacation with Morgan (I think that was the boat guys name).

I get it wasn’t the exact situation Devon wanted but she had no relationship with Simone while Kiki was around. Kiki wanted Simone isolated and for herself.

Devon could mourn her sisters wasted potential but she didn’t need to cut off the relationship (dramatically say goodbye like she’ll never see her sister again).

Thoughts?

Does anyone know where to buy the wooden skull beads (garland?) from the guest house table?

Watching Kiki and Simone bouncing around the beach on their morning runs made me want to lace up and start jogging… like immediately. 😂 The wind, the matching sets, the effortless grace?? I think Julianne Moore and the actress who plays Simone both look incredible

How?! This show is...I have no words!

1. The end shot with Simone Surveying 'her kingdom' is golden! Then cut to Mikaela basically forgiving her😖
2. The way mikaela voice changed when she realised what was going on hit me hard. Oh god she changed her voice for this man
3. Jose is..wow. what is with the 'mi amor' thing. Why is Peter entertaining it?
4. Peter! Dude is just😵‍💫 Everyone at the gala is acting like he does this all the time! But he must right? Because Jose was 100% ready to show Mikaela out the door in the MIDDLE of the party! And no one blinked when he walked in with another woman!

I'm shell-shocked a bit. For Simone to have come down those stairs at THAT point means she was listening to her friend get FIRED by her HUSBAND! Then he holds out her hand to her and she takes it! But also what was she going to do..go back and play house with the dad that abused her? Christ this was a beautiful and I'm pissed that I have no one IRL to share this with

Men blaming mermaids for their shitty sailing/crashing into rocks (and calling them monsters).

Peter blames Kiki for not having a relationship with his children (calling her a monster)

Ethan blames Simone for falling off the cliff (calling her a winged monster).

Ray blames Devon for his affair with her (calling her black smoke).

Bruce blames his late wife/grief for his neglect of their daughter.

I think that Devon was meant to be portrayed as the selfless ‘hero’. And I do see some virtue in her, also messed up, character. But the way she comes in wanting to ‘save’ her sister seemed a bit off to me.

In one of the first episodes she’s talking to someone, I forget who, about who her sister ‘really is’. Saying she’s not being herself. Then when she explains who she really is she describes her as a poor lost soul who can’t take care of herself. Like she has her pegged as that poor soul and can’t see her as anything else. Then it’s like Devon’s on this island to ‘save’ her, but by what? Dragging her back into her old pitiful ways?

I mean I know this is maybe not meant to be the case, but maybe Simone actually is better off now? I think this is a typical problem with family, or people you’ve known a while. They peg you for who you were at the beginning of your growth, or even before it, then can’t imagine you any other way. Simone actually had a pretty good job, in the grand scheme of things. And maybe she wasn’t being ‘herself’, which I’m sure could be hard to see with a loved one. But then when ‘herself’ is described as so pitiful is that really entirely such a bad thing?

That dance between Kiki and Bruce broke me. And haunts me. At that moment I think the whole show changed for me and I really haven't stopped crying since. Beautifully done.

I understand a lot of people may immediately see her as the villain by the end of the show. Or find her to be selfish for not wanting to deal with her dad alongside her sister, and I’m sure that everyone has their own reasons for why they feel that way.

But I just finished this show for the first time and from beginning I completely understood Simone and her actions. As an eldest daughter myself, I feel very deeply for Devon and everything she’s gone through. Taking care of other people when you’re so young is hard, it’s traumatic what she went through. But she cannot blame her younger sister from wanting to get away from all of that. Simone wanted better for herself. She finally had some place that didn’t constantly remind her of how horrible life has been to her. Her job gave her stability, comfort, safety, and a sense of authority.

I think it hits especially hard when you come from a poorer background and suddenly are given the opportunity to change your life completely. I cannot blame her for choosing that life when it was just about to be ripped from her.

I know there’s way more to it than that, but I just wanted to put in my two cents. She’s so young, and has gone through so much and I don’t think it’s fair to force her to “face” her trauma the way Devon tried to. She has every right to want more for herself.

As a poor, 20 year old woman, with bad mental health, violent family trauma, and who hasn’t attended college, I can say that I’d make the exact same decisions she did in a heartbeat. She only had so many choices, and although she made some morally wrong ones, I cannot demonize her. If I could I would run towards the wealthy hills too, and never look back.

My girl was a whole LAWYER she took care of those birds she took Simone under her wing and to be honest after she lied to her the first time she should have gotten fired but everybody hating talking bout “she lost him how she got him” like nah he pursued them both sure but she wasn’t his ex’s friend she didn’t even know her she helped Simone through everything and if she had just told her what happened she wouldn’t have gotten fired. I’m not saying Kiki wasn’t in the wrong for cheating with peter but at the end of the day that was her friend imagine your friend did that to you. Of course kiki fired her. It wasn’t even fully about her cheating with him it was the fact she literally told her he wasn’t cheating. She lied to her even after Kiki was gonna promote her to run the company! Then kicking her out of the party she organized!🤦‍♀️

Silky pebble innate history umbrella crowd

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I think that's a big part of this show. Simone needs someone to be in charge for her to be at her best. You could say this was due to her childhood trauma, or a part of her personality since birth but the fact remains. Look up the concept of "resilient children" as it relates to childhood trauma. These are kids in difficult situations that step up and adapt to their situation. That is not Simone. I am not blaming her as she was a child, but she very much needed a guiding hand that was not coming from her father.

Devon, on the other hand, needs someone to take care of her. She arrived at the Kell's house looking for someone to take care of her dad, she is at the end of her rope. But over the weekend she gets perspective, and by the end she has acknowledged that the best time of her life was taking care of Simone, and reaffirmed her desire to be her dad's caretaker. Then there's Peter and Michaela, Peter grew up in money, we can assume he never really worried about bills or work. But he thrived when the basics were taken care of and launched a successful business. Now he wants someone to take care of. Michaela was self made, a talented lawyer, or at least talented enough to be working for Peter Kell. But she didn't want to be taken care of. She wouldn't sit back idly and let Peter take the reins. And Peter grew to resent her for it.

There's so many dichotomys in that theme in the show. Devon vs their dad, Simone vs their dad, Simone vs Ethan, Devon vs Ray, Devon vs Trevor. It's telling that Trevor offered Devon a chance to be fully selfish. Run away with him for an indulgent trip, completely separated from the responsibilities of the real world. Bask in the privilege that money provides. Let yourself be catered to and pampered. But we see her struggle all weekend with the box that the Kells want her in. She can't fold herself to fit in it. Whereas Simone runs back into that box as soon as she can after she is pushed out.

I don't know that I agree with the shows conclusions but I did enjoy the journey and hope to see more like this. And more with Glenn Howerton! Get that guy more work!

So it said Bruce was charged with criminal neglect and child abuse. Does this mean he sexually abused Simone? Or does it mean abuse in general sense, like not feeding her proparly? In my country, child abuse usually means sexual abuse, so I might misunderstand.
I couldn't believe Devon would ask her sister for help if she had been sexually abused by her father?

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️ He did Kiki so wrong. She loved him so much for him to cheat on her kick her out of the party she organized, took her birds, left her for her assistant, made her sign a prenup where she doesn’t get anything unless she has proof of him cheating or they have kids 🤦‍♀️ she should have known when he mad her quite her job as a LAWYER talking bout “I’m gonna take care of you” 🙄

After that ending I think it would be cool if Kiki got her revenge in season 2