It happened fast. One minute we’re watching Ryn, Ben, and Maddie navigate the complex, often bloody politics of mermaid-human relations in Bristol Cove, and the next, the screen goes dark for good. If you've spent any time scouring streaming platforms lately, you're likely asking the same thing everyone else is: how many seasons of Siren actually exist?
The short answer is three. That’s it.
Freeform pulled the plug back in 2020, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of fans who weren’t ready to say goodbye to the Pacific Northwest’s most dangerous residents. It’s a bummer, honestly. The show had this gritty, bioluminescent atmosphere that felt different from the sparkly, "H2O: Just Add Water" vibe we usually get with mermaids. This was predator-meets-prey stuff.
The Breakdown: How Many Seasons of Siren Are Actually Out There?
Let’s get the logistics out of the way first. How many seasons of Siren can you actually binge-watch right now? You have exactly 36 episodes spanning three distinct chapters.
The first season kicked things off in 2018 with a tight 10-episode run. It introduced us to Eline Powell’s haunting performance as Ryn. She wasn't just a girl with a tail; she moved like an apex predator that didn't understand how glass worked or why humans wore shoes. People loved it. The ratings were solid enough that Freeform bumped the second season up to 16 episodes. By the time we hit the third season in 2020, they scaled back slightly to 10 episodes, which, in hindsight, might have been the writing on the wall.
Season 1: The Arrival
This was basically a thriller. Ryn comes to land to find her sister, Donna, who was captured by the military. We meet Ben (Alex Roe) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola), marine biologists who find themselves in way over their heads. It set the tone: the mermaid song isn't a beautiful melody; it’s a biological weapon that messes with your brain like a drug.
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Season 2: The Colony
Things got bigger. More mermaids showed up because oil drilling was wrecking their habitat. We dealt with the fallout of the "siren song" addiction and the polyamorous relationship between the leads, which was handled with surprising maturity for a YA-adjacent drama.
Season 3: The War
This is where the scale went global—or at least oceanic. Enter Tia, a rival mermaid from a different tribe who wanted to wipe out humanity. The stakes were high, a hybrid baby was born, and the finale ended on a massive cliffhanger.
Why Was Siren Canceled After Three Seasons?
The "why" is always the part that stings. Most industry insiders point to a classic TV tragedy: a sharp decline in linear ratings combined with high production costs. Filming underwater stuff is expensive. Like, really expensive.
According to Nielsen data at the time, Season 3 saw a double-digit drop in viewership compared to Season 2. In the world of cable TV, if your audience dips while your special effects budget stays high, you’re on the chopping block. Freeform was also shifting its branding, looking for the next "Cruel Summer" or "Grown-ish," and a dark sci-fi about fish-people didn't quite fit the new mold.
Then there was the timing. The pandemic hit right as Season 3 was wrapping up. Producing television became a logistical nightmare overnight. For a show that required close-contact stunts and elaborate makeup/prosthetics, the "COVID tax" might have been the final nail in the coffin.
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Is Season 4 Ever Coming?
Look, I’d love to tell you there’s a secret deal with Hulu or Netflix. But right now? It’s dead in the water.
There hasn't been a whisper of a revival since 2020. The cast has moved on to other projects. Alex Roe has been working on various films, and Eline Powell has popped up in other series. Usually, if a show is going to be "saved" by a streamer, it happens within the first 12 to 18 months of cancellation. We are well past that window.
That doesn't stop the petitions, though. Thousands of fans still sign Change.org forms every year, hoping some executive somewhere sees the value in finishing Ryn’s story. The cliffhanger was brutal: Ben disappeared into the ocean to find Ryn’s child, leaving Maddie alone on the shore. We never got to see if he survived or if he became a permanent resident of the deep.
The "Real" Lore Behind the Show
One reason people kept asking how many seasons of Siren were coming is because the world-building felt so deep. It didn't feel like they were making it up as they went. The showrunners, Eric Wald and Dean White, actually based a lot of the show's "science" on real-world marine biology and the "Aquatic Ape" hypothesis.
While that theory is mostly considered pseudoscience by actual evolutionary biologists (like those at the Smithsonian), it provided a grounded framework for the show. They treated the mermaids as mammals—specifically, pack-hunting mammals with complex social structures and vocalizations. This "realism" is why the show has such a cult following. It felt like a nature documentary gone wrong.
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Where Can You Watch It Now?
If you're looking to catch up or re-watch, the three existing seasons are primarily found on:
- Hulu: This is the most stable home for the series in the US.
- Disney+: In many international territories (like the UK or Canada), Siren lives under the "Star" brand.
- VOD: You can still buy the seasons on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV if you want to own them permanently.
What to Watch if You Miss Bristol Cove
Since we’re stuck with only 36 episodes, you’re going to need a rebound. If you liked the dark, "hidden world" aspect of Siren, check out:
- Tidelands (Netflix): It’s an Australian series about half-sirens. It’s steamier and more of a crime drama, but it scratches that same itch.
- The Deep (2015): Not the animated one, but the BBC miniseries. It’s claustrophobic and deals with the mysteries of the ocean floor.
- Bitten: If you liked the pack dynamics and the "secret species" living among us, this werewolf drama has a similar grit.
Final Verdict on the Siren Legacy
The reality is that how many seasons of Siren we got wasn't enough to finish the story, but it was enough to leave a mark. It proved that you could do "monsters" on a TV budget without it looking cheap or feeling cheesy. Ryn remains one of the most unique "non-human" characters ever put on screen—feral, vulnerable, and terrifying all at once.
If you haven't seen it, don't let the cancellation scare you off. The three seasons we have are still some of the best speculative fiction produced in the last decade. Just be prepared for that ending; it’s a heartbreaker.
Next Steps for Fans
If you've finished the show and are feeling that post-finale void, your best bet is to dive into the Siren: Great Divide digital comic or look for the official podcast "Siren: The Live Stream," which deep-dives into the lore of the first two seasons. While they won't give you a Season 4, they fill in a lot of the gaps regarding the various mermaid tribes and the history of the military’s involvement with the sirens.