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Meghann Fahy doesn’t have the best luck with vacations. _The White Lotus _took her to Sicily, where her character’s marriage was tested and many people got killed. In _The Perfect Couple_,
her character _was_ the murder victim, whose death derailed a Nantucket society wedding. Fahy’s latest bad trip, _Sirens_, feels a lot like this year’s _Perfect Couple_. Both are Netflix
shows that cast big-name actors as rich people summering on exclusive New England islands. Each pits a young heroine of humble means against the formidable, possibly sinister lady of the
estate; this time, that quintessential Nicole Kidman role is played by a serenely terrifying Julianne Moore. And while _Sirens _shows flickers of ambition to transcend the typical A-list
crime soap, its admittedly addictive pleasures are chiefly of the sudsy variety. Advertisement Advertisement Based on a play by creator Molly Smith Metzler (_Maid_) and backed by a team of
executive producers that also includes Margot Robbie, the miniseries introduces Fahy’s Devon as a Central Casting burnout, exiting a police station in all black, combat boots, and smudgy
eyeliner. Never mind, for now, what she was doing there. Devon has been stuck in Buffalo caring for a dad with dementia (Bill Camp). Now, she’s hit a breaking point and needs help from her
semi-estranged sister, Simone (_House of the Dragon _breakout Milly Alcock). The trouble is, Simone loves her job as the live-in assistant and creepily close confidant of Michaela (Moore),
the charismatic but exacting wife of a billionaire (Kevin Bacon), whose philanthropic foundation seems kind of like a cult. Devon’s raccoon-eyed arrival on an island that might as well be
sponsored by Lilly Pulitzer, at the beginning of an event-packed Labor Day weekend set to culminate in Michaela’s big annual gala, throws the household into chaos. _Sirens _has been
promoted as a dark comedy with a “Greek mythology vibe” befitting its title; flourishes such as a trio of fawning Michaela followers who speak in unison do occasionally conjure a surreal,
satirical mood. The finale implies a desire to comment on the misogyny and wealth worship underlying stories like _The Perfect Couple _rather than reproduce it. Yet Metzler too often stops
short of true wit and strangeness. This makes for an inconsistent tone, from which we’re happily distracted by a dazzling backdrop, a twisty plot, and diva-worthy performances—all elements
that make _Sirens _just as fun to watch as the shows it means to critique, but not much more insightful.