Freeform’s ‘Siren’ puts its love triangle front and center

We just got word that Siren has been renewed for a third season. With that in mind we’re revisiting the fishiest love triangle on TV.

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There are three of them, they’re hot, they’re sultry, and even a little fishy — and yes, I’m talking about about a love triangle between two humans and a mermaid.

Freeform’s latest millennial-targeted TV show Siren features an emerging love triangle with marine biologists Maddie Bishop and Ben Pownall with mysterious and gorgeous mermaid Ryn — and it’s a love you’ve never seen before.

Although the love triangle TV trope has been overdone on shows targeted for the 18 to 34 demographic, this love triangle differs from other similar shows because it features two females and a male who are all interested in each other romantically, rather than two male werewolves or two male vampires fighting over a beautiful and mystical teen girl.

According to Freeform, the show is run by Emily Whitesell (Finding Carter) and executive producers Eric Wald (View from the Top) and Dean White (The 100). It focuses on mysterious sea creature Ryn — played by the otherworldly ethereal beauty and Belgian actress Eline Powell (Game of Thrones) — who washes ashore on the fictional town of Bristol Cove to search for her missing siren sister, who was captured by the government in the ocean for testing.

While searching for her sister, Ryn ends up running into Ben Pownall, played by the scintillating Alex Roe (The 5th Wave) and his girlfriend, Maddie, played by the lovely Fola Evans-Akingbola (Death in Paradise).

Although Ryn hasn’t been intimate with either, there is a sweet sort of understanding that both of the humans are entranced by Ryn, while Ryn seemingly loves both of the humans as well.

Other similar type shows often feature two mysterious creatures fighting over a girl, such as:

• the hunky Salvatore brothers who were in a love triangle with human turned vampire teen cutie Elena Gilbert for the majority of the eight seasons of The Vampire Diaries;
• Ben and Noel fighting over Felicity in Felicity;
• Logan and Duncan fighting over teen detective Veronica in Veronica Mars;
• Matty and Jake with Jenna on Awkward;
• Spike and Angel with Buffy on Buffy the Vampire Slayer;
• Fitz and Jake fighting over Olivia in Scandal;
• Emmett and Travis with Bay on Switched at Birth;
• Dawson and Pacey fighting over Joey in Dawson’s Creek;
• and Clark and Lex fighting over Lana in Smallville.

Some shows feature even three boys fighting over one girl like Eric, Bill and Alaric fighting over Sookie in True Blood; Jess and Dean and Logan fighting over Rory in Gilmore Girls; and Chuck, Nate and Dan fighting over both Serena and Blair during different arcs in the six season run of Gossip Girl.

Having two girls fighting over a guy is also quite common in TV shows, like Betty and Veronica with Archie in Riverdale; Peyton and Brooke fighting over Lucas on One Tree Hill; Kelly and Brenda fighting over Luke in 90210; Rachel and Quinn fighting over Finn in Glee; and Addison Montgomery and Meredith Grey fighting over Derek Shepherd in Grey’s Anatomy.

The only other TV love triangle that Siren could possibly be likened to is the old triangle between female inmates Piper and Alex and Piper’s then-fiance Larry in Orange is the New Black. Although that love triangle included two females and a male, the Siren love triangle is hinting at a mutual love triangle between all three, not just two people directing their love at one person and that one lucky person getting to choose between two hunks.

Instead, it seems that there is a possibility for Ben, Ryn and Maddie to have a loving and consensual throuple together. Or at least the palpable chemistry on our TV screens lends to it.

In the March 29 article “Siren’s Strangeness Saves the Supernatural Genre From Drowning in Predictability” by TV Guide’s Tim Surette, he claims that “there’s no clear indication that Ben and Ryn will be two legs of a love triangle that also includes Ben’s marine biologist girlfriend Maddie. Instead, Ryn can barely communicate.”

This was written when only one episode had aired but, even the first episode did give the audience an indication that Ben and Ryn would be romantically involved in some way, due to the way Ben couldn’t keep Ryn out of his head when he sleeps and the way he looks at her like he wants to protect her and make out with her at the same time. And the way Ryn keeps coming back to him when she realizes she trusts him and that he truly wants to help her.

And slowly over the last seven episodes, the showrunners have developed the strong friendship between Ryn and Maddie and Ben even more by having Ryn swim back to them when she needs food, even though she knows she is in danger on land.

And although neither Maddie or Ben have outwardly expressed their feelings towards Ryn, other then that she is their friend who they care for, it is clear in the way they look at her and the lengths they go to to lie to their families to help her that they are smitten with her.

As for Ryn? Well, that little fishy planted a kiss on both Maddie and Ben already! So when the day comes that there is a mermaid threesome between these three sexy characters, well let’s just the ocean won’t be the only wet thing on this show anymore.