Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings. For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday blog post, I am sharing another post about Nostalgic Mermaid Media. So, as a sort of follow-up to the post from last Friday on Aquamarine, today’s subject is H2O: Just Add Water! I will be reminiscing on the Mermaid Magick, folklore, and the Mermaid characters of the show!
So, just like Aquamarine, H2O: Just Add Water just celebrated the 20th anniversary of its premiere. It is absolutely wild to me that this show has been a part of my life for that long, as I can remember watching it when it first premiered in the Summer of 2006. The story was light-hearted and sweet, showing a group of three teenage girls becoming Mermaids all because they found themselves on a magickal island and inside a mystical pool of water in a cave on the full moon. Of course, we would learn that the place Cleo, Emma, and Rikki found themselves in was the Moon Pool on Mako Island.
The following day, the three girls would find that when they came into contact with water, they would sprout Mermaid tails. This was followed by denial of the possibility that they were actually Mermaids from Emma (as the most logical of the girls). However, it was not long before that denial faded and each girl gained her power over water. Cleo could manipulate water, Emma could freeze water, and Rikki could boil water. Each girl received one of the watery gifts the Moon Pool could offer, which is why I personally believe that in season two, when Charlotte became a Mermaid in the Moon Pool alone, she got all three powers (not because she was a super Mermaid as she claimed).
The three girls are aided in their quest to keep their Mermaid identity a secret by their friend Lewis. Cleo and Lewis had been incredibly close friends before the start of the show, and she had wanted to tell him as soon as they found out, but the other girls dissuaded her. Yet, this did not last for long, as Lewis discovered the truth, seeing with his own eyes that Cleo was a Mermaid, in the second episode. From there, he was the one always there to help them. He did massive amounts of research, studied them to figure out ways to help them, and was a massive aid in keeping their secret. Honestly, they would have been discovered and turned into science experiments dozens of times if not for Lewis!
The girls also find out that the full moon has an impact on them, where they are often impacted with what they call the Moon Spell, when things go haywire if they look directly at the full moon. The Moon Spell idea seems to be inspired by the fact that the moon governs the pull of the tides of the ocean, so it makes sense in this show’s lore that the moon would also hold sway over Mermaids! Beyond that, the fact that the girls’ powers go haywire during the full moon seems to be related to the fact that the moon is tied to emotions, with the word lunatic even coming from the Latin word for moon, luna. Lewis is usually the one to save the day when one or all of the girls are under the Moon Spell. To be honest, the Moon Spell episodes, with their crazy shenanigans that change up each time, as the spell impacts them differently each time, are some of the best!
In season one, they learn that they were not the first group of girls to become Mermaids, thanks to a lovely older woman named Miss Chatham, who acts as a sort of Wise Woman guiding them on their journey. She and her friends had become Mermaids together decades earlier. More of this gets fleshed out in season two, with Charlotte finding out that Miss Chatham’s friend, Gracey, was her grandmother. Of course, this also leads to the Mermaid showdown between Charlotte and the other girls.
Through all of this, the girls stick together, keeping their secret from their parents. However, their boyfriends know- not just Lewis, but later Zane, and even Ash. Lewis and Cleo’s relationship is a sweet dynamic that shows how much a solid friendship can lead to lasting love, even if there are bumps along the way. In fact, I think that is part of why so many people hated Charlotte even before she was revealed to be so antagonistic. Even though Cleo had broken up with Lewis because she was overwhelmed by all the changes in her life, there was no denying that those two would be endgame! This show is really built on its friendships, the friendships between the girls and their friendships with Lewis. I have always thought that could be the reason why the only good relationship that remains a good relationship, whether as friends or more, was Cleo and Lewis, as they were built on friendship! Much like Aquamarine, the show wants to remind viewers that friendships and found family are just as much about love as romance, just a different type of love.
In season three, Emma had moved away, and Cleo and Rikki meet another Mermaid named Bella, who had been turned in a Moon Pool in Ireland. Bella has a new power: she can turn water into a jelly. Even without Emma, there is still a trio of Mermaids who can protect the Moon Pool on Mako Island. We are given the understanding that this is part of why the girls had become Mermaids. So, that is part of the magick of this show, that not only is it focused on the power of the girls’ bond, but also on a coming-of-age narrative that shows us how they learn to be their best selves by becoming Mermaids! I think the coming-of-age narrative told through Mermaid transformations, balanced with high school dynamics, is why this show still resonates with us as a nostalgic watch, and why it resonates with new young viewers. It even got a spin-off show, Mako Mermaids, showing the endless joy found in Mermaid Media!
I hope you have enjoyed this reflection about a truly beloved Mermaid show. Who was your favorite character? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a promotional poster for the series. I found the poster on https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/2260-h2o-just-add-water/images/posters.
LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries
Further Watching
- H2O: Just Add Water (2006)