Mako Mermaids: An H₂O Adventure

While mermaid TV show H2O: Just Add Water only had three seasons, that wasn't the last we saw of that universe because it spawned this spin-off show, which also goes by the title Mako: Island of Secrets.

Where the original series had a trio of human girls turning into mermaids, this show flips the set-up with three mermaids who gain legs: Lyla (Lucy Fry), Nixie (Ivy Latimer) and Sirena (Amy Ruffle). The trio are exiled from their mermaid pod after being blamed for human boy Zac (Chai Romruen) falling into the moon pool and becoming a merman, so they go on land to try to reverse Zac's transformation. These mermaids don't know much about the human world, but they're able to get by when they befriend Rita (Kerith Atkinson), an older mermaid who's been living on land for years and is willing to mentor them.

Season two replaces Lyla and Nixie with newbies Ondina (Isabel Durant) and Mimmi (Allie Bertram), a pair of mermaids who believe they can accomplish what the first trio didn't, which initially sets them at odds with Sirena, who has by now befriended Zac. Additionally, Zac's girlfriend, Evie (Gemma Forsyth) joins her boyfriend in getting accidentally transformed in the moon pool into a mermaid, and the show introduces Eric (Alex Cubis) as a natural merman who has no connection to Mako.

In the shorter third and final season, Sirena and Eric are gone, and there's newcomer Weilan (Linda Ngo), a mermaid from an eastern sea pod who was raised mainly on land. Ondina and Mimmi's pod have returned to Mako due to the resolution of the previous season, Zac and Evie have comfortably embraced being a merman-mermaid couple, but there's a new threat in the form of a water dragon that might have followed Weilan to Mako. Also, Rikki shows up in the final two episodes of the show! Grown-up and sad that her friends group drifted apart :(, but hopeful for the future.

The world of this spin-off does not perfectly match the original show despite the Mako Island name and Rikki's appearance, so I think of this show as its own inspired-by story that's doing its own thing. All merfolk have the original sets of powers but more on top, including invisibility, telekinesis and spellcasting, with everyone generally having the same abilities but at different skill levels, like Mimmi is particularly good at spells and potions. There are various magical objects in play, and the merfolk worldbuilding is more extensive, showing mermaid culture of how the mermaids live in pods and are governed by a council, while mermen are aberrant to them. The underwater scenes are great, with season 2 in particular being a highlight for me, though overall I personally enjoyed season 3's story and mermaid line-up the most.

Thanks to Wong for the head's up on this show.