Emma, Cleo and Rikki are sixteen year old girls growing up on the sun-drenched beaches of the Gold Coast. Emma is confident, brilliant, responsible, and athletic, Cleo is slightly insecure, sweet, and awkward while Rikki is the aloof and rebellious new girl.
The girls find themselves stranded at sea one day, floating towards the mysterious Mako Island. The three girls explore the eerie jungle-covered island before becoming trapped in an ancient cavern under a volcano. Discovering an underwater channel, they decide to swim to safety. As they enter the pool, the light from a full moon illuminates the water, creating a mysterious glow.
Emma, Cleo and Rikki get off the island as fast as they can and back to "normal" life. However, the girls discover life is never going to be normal again; ten seconds after they touch water, they turn into mermaids. After further experimentation, they find they have supernatural powers; Emma can freeze water, Rikki can boil water and Cleo can manipulate the amount and shape of water.
The girls enlist the help of their friend Lewis, who considers himself a scientist, and he attempts to discover the secret behind their transformations.
Everyday situations turn tricky as the girls struggle to cope with their new-found powers, which have numerous advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else.
Emma Gilbert
She first became a mermaid one morning while swimming at the beach. She has the ability to freeze any object or liquid containing water. She also, with the help from Rikki & Cleo has the power to summon on a hurricane like storm, she also has the power to create Blizzard. She liked Byron in the first season but he left, in the second season she found love in a new boy Ash who is a co-worker at the juice net cafe and a stable boy who taught Emma's little brother to ride a horse. This was how they met, she couldn't stand him at first, but with a talk with her best friends Cleo and Rikki she realizes her love for him. At the end of season two, she reveals her secret to Ash.
Rikki Chadwick
She first became a mermaid when she was hit by water from the park sprinkler system. Rikki was the last to gain her powers. Rikki is able to boil water or anything containing water, she also has the ability to start fire and summon lightning. She is the rebellious new girl who finds an attraction in the local bad boy, Zane Bennet. They briefly date but find they have too many differences. But rekindle their relationship. In the first season, Miriam is her enemy because she gets very jealous of Rikki when she is with Zane because they briefly dated, but in the second season she and Zane got back together.
Cleo Sertori
She first became a mermaid while she took a bath. Cleo has the power to turn a drop of water into a bucketful and mould it into any shape as well as being able to control and manipulate it. She is shy and very bright, and a loyal friend. She is in love with Lewis but is the enemy of a marine biologist dr.denman because she was jelous and she was also enemies with the new girl Charlotte who causes problems for Cleo which eventually lead to Cleo running away. But when Lewis rescues her, they realize their love for each other.
Lewis McCartney
Lewis has been Cleo's friend since they were five, and following the girls' transformation, also becomes friends with Rikki and Emma. He is academically gifted, thinks of himself as a scientist and has a passion for fishing. He discovers the girls' secret early on in the series and becomes determined to find the cause. He is in love with Cleo, which is later revealed to be reciprocated, and the two form a relationship late in series one. After the happenings of the first full moon of series two, Cleo breaks up with Lewis. They stay friends but remain a little embarrassed. Lewis develops a friendship with Charlotte, the new girl, who has a crush on Lewis and becomes his girlfriend after he finally gives up the thought that Cleo still cares about him. At the end of series two, Lewis suddenly dumps Charlotte because of her behavior towards the other girls, mostly Cleo. After he saves Cleo from a shark reef, they get back together.
Charlotte Watsford
Charlotte is the new girl in town and is the girls' rival during series two. She enjoys various forms of art, appreciates the sciences and 'becomes' Lewis's girlfriend after Cleo leaves him. She hates Cleo as well as Rikki and Emma who hate her back, a dislike made even stronger after she becomes the fourth mermaid late in series two, armed with the powers of all three girls. Charlotte is eventually revealed to be the granddaughter of Gracie, one of the original three mermaids who 50 years earlier gave her powers up to the 50 year full moon. In the end of series two she becomes increasingly jealous of Cleo and asks Lewis to stop talking to the other girls, out of this Cleo feels abandoned and alone and runs away which leads to Lewis dumping Charlotte and returning to Cleo. Charlotte gets revenge by planning Emma, Rikki and most of all Cleo to lose their tails and powers, so Lewis would only care for her, but in the end she is the one who loses everything, including her mermaid abilities due to the 50 year full moon.
Zane Bennett
Zane is the local bad boy, and seems to think that he can get away with anything because his dad is rich. He appears to be arrogant, but has been seen to have a softer side. He desperately wants to impress his father, local land developer Harrison Bennett, who is more arrogant. Zane is an excellent swimmer. After becoming trapped on a sinking boat, he is rescued by Emma, and sees the end of her tail before she is able to slip away. Because of this, Zane becomes obsessed with finding the "sea monster". Later on in series 1 Zane and Rikki develop feelings towards each other to the disappointment of Miriam who assumed that she was with Zane. This happens when Rikki and Zane get locked up on a balcony together. While they later break up due to being "too different" from each other, they rekindle their relationship in series two after Zane discovers the girls are still mermaids. Zane becomes more of a supporting boyfriend in series 2.
Ash Dove
Ash is the current supervisor of JuiceNet due to Emma's disappointment at first (Emma wanted the job). Ash is a keen horse rider, and has worked as a riding coach. He and Emma have formed a relationship and have gone out on a few dates. In the episode 'Moonstruck' of season 2, Emma was affected by the full moon (with Cleo and Rikki) and almost revealed her secret by calling him into the bathroom when she was wet with a tail. Luckily, Lewis steps in and stops him. During the series two finale, Emma reveals that she is a mermaid to Ash, and he is so stunned that all he has to say is "Cool". In the beginning Ash likes to wind up Emma because he discovers that when he does this Emma feels more attracted to him. Ash also has a falling out with Zane in the Juicenet causing the girl's group to split.
Lockets
The three lockets were made by Max Hamilton for the original three mermaids, (Louise Chatham, Gracie Watsford and Julia Dove). Emma discovers the first one at the bottom of the moon pool on Mako Island. Later Emma gives it to Cleo to keep after Miriam almost manages to steal it. She gives it to Cleo and says, "Anyone who can hide a mermaid tail in the middle of a party has got what it takes to look after that" Cleo is later told by Miss Chatham that this locket belonged to Gracie. Near the end of Season 2, Cleo fights with Charlotte and Charlotte steals Cleo's locket saying "This was my grandmother's and now it's mine". In the end of Season 2, Charlotte returns the locket to Cleo.
The second belonged to Miss Chatham, but unfortunately sank with her boat due to Zane's mishap. Miss Chatham was devastated after it was lost because it was the 'treasure' that she had spoken fondly of. Emma, feeling sorry for her, went down to the wreck of the boat, found it and gave it back to Miss Chatham.
The third, belonging to Julia, is found by Rikki in a jewelery store after Julia dies when she's with Zane. Rikki tries to find the money to pay for it, but Miriam gets there first and buys it. She teases Rikki with it and leads her to start a fight. Later Miriam, who's fed up with the locket, tries to get Zane back by telling him to kiss her while Rikki is at the café. After being brutally talked to by Zane, Miriam throws it in the Broadwater next to the JuiceNet café. Zane dives into the water to find it before Emma can get there, and gives it to Rikki. But Cleo hints that she will get a tail if she touches it as it is wet. Rikki realises this and pretends to drop it so she can heat it up and keep it. Rikki however feels it is selfish to keep it, and returns the locket to Miss Chatham. Miss Chatham gives the locket back to Rikki, and gives hers to Emma, saying "It feels right they are all together."
As stated by Max in "The Gracie Code", all three are slightly different, most noticeably in the crystals at the top of the lockets: Emma has a white stone, Rikki has a red one and Cleo's is purplish blue. On the back of the lockets is what seems to be waves represented by 3 wavy lines.
Power advancement
At the beginning of season two, the girls are once again affected by a full moon. After entering the Mako Island moon pool during a rare planetary alignment, the girls' powers advance to a new level. Although the girls can still do what they could before, new and more powerful abilities begin to form. Cleo can now control the wind; Rikki can create fire at will and summon lightning; and Emma can freeze any object regardless of the presence of water by using the water in the air and create blizzards, and in "Control" is shown having some control over the weather. and when all three girls use their powers together they can create storms. At first, the girls had difficulty controlling both their old and new powers, but by the end of "Fire and Ice" had regained some discipline.
When Charlotte becomes a mermaid there is a normal full moon but the strange thing is that not only does she have all three original powers (which is probably because the moonpool divides the powers amongst those in it, so if there is only one person in it, she will acquire the three powers) but for some unknown reason she develops the additional powers as well.
Production
The mermaid costumes took six months to build, with the tails made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. The finished product weighs between 12 and 15 kilograms. Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water. On-screen, the zip on the mermaid suit is visible from the back, though attempts were made to minimise this, such as adding extra scales and crafting a ridge of material around the length of the zip. The tail fin itself was designed with a foot pedal to assist the actresses with swimming. This, along with the fin, adds two feet to the length of the costume.
There are three different types of tails: the tails the girls swim in, the "floppy tail" used for bath and shower shots and the "hard tail" for stunts.
Due to the recently developed third season the creator of the show says, "Thank goodness we saved those mermaid tails in a preservation storage!" because originally the show was supposed to be only two seasons.
Episodes:
Series one: 2006
Metamorphosis"
02 "Pool Party"
03 "Catch of the Day"
04 "Party Girls"
05 "Something Fishy"
06 "Young Love"
07 "Moon Spell"
08 "The Denman Affair"
09 "Dangerous Waters"
10 "The Camera Never Lies"
11 "Sink or Swim"
12 "The Siren Effect"
13 "Shipwrecked"
14 "Surprise!"
15 "The Big Chill"
16 "Lovesick"
17 "Under the Weather"
18 "Bad Moon Rising"
19 "Hurricane Angela"
20 "Hook, Line and Sinker"
21 "Red Herring"
22 "Fish Out of Water"
23 "In Too Deep"
24 "Love Potion #9"
25 "Dr Danger"
The girls find themselves stranded at sea one day, floating towards the mysterious Mako Island. The three girls explore the eerie jungle-covered island before becoming trapped in an ancient cavern under a volcano. Discovering an underwater channel, they decide to swim to safety. As they enter the pool, the light from a full moon illuminates the water, creating a mysterious glow.
Emma, Cleo and Rikki get off the island as fast as they can and back to "normal" life. However, the girls discover life is never going to be normal again; ten seconds after they touch water, they turn into mermaids. After further experimentation, they find they have supernatural powers; Emma can freeze water, Rikki can boil water and Cleo can manipulate the amount and shape of water.
The girls enlist the help of their friend Lewis, who considers himself a scientist, and he attempts to discover the secret behind their transformations.
Everyday situations turn tricky as the girls struggle to cope with their new-found powers, which have numerous advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else.
Emma Gilbert
She first became a mermaid one morning while swimming at the beach. She has the ability to freeze any object or liquid containing water. She also, with the help from Rikki & Cleo has the power to summon on a hurricane like storm, she also has the power to create Blizzard. She liked Byron in the first season but he left, in the second season she found love in a new boy Ash who is a co-worker at the juice net cafe and a stable boy who taught Emma's little brother to ride a horse. This was how they met, she couldn't stand him at first, but with a talk with her best friends Cleo and Rikki she realizes her love for him. At the end of season two, she reveals her secret to Ash.
Rikki Chadwick
She first became a mermaid when she was hit by water from the park sprinkler system. Rikki was the last to gain her powers. Rikki is able to boil water or anything containing water, she also has the ability to start fire and summon lightning. She is the rebellious new girl who finds an attraction in the local bad boy, Zane Bennet. They briefly date but find they have too many differences. But rekindle their relationship. In the first season, Miriam is her enemy because she gets very jealous of Rikki when she is with Zane because they briefly dated, but in the second season she and Zane got back together.
Cleo Sertori
She first became a mermaid while she took a bath. Cleo has the power to turn a drop of water into a bucketful and mould it into any shape as well as being able to control and manipulate it. She is shy and very bright, and a loyal friend. She is in love with Lewis but is the enemy of a marine biologist dr.denman because she was jelous and she was also enemies with the new girl Charlotte who causes problems for Cleo which eventually lead to Cleo running away. But when Lewis rescues her, they realize their love for each other.
Lewis McCartney
Lewis has been Cleo's friend since they were five, and following the girls' transformation, also becomes friends with Rikki and Emma. He is academically gifted, thinks of himself as a scientist and has a passion for fishing. He discovers the girls' secret early on in the series and becomes determined to find the cause. He is in love with Cleo, which is later revealed to be reciprocated, and the two form a relationship late in series one. After the happenings of the first full moon of series two, Cleo breaks up with Lewis. They stay friends but remain a little embarrassed. Lewis develops a friendship with Charlotte, the new girl, who has a crush on Lewis and becomes his girlfriend after he finally gives up the thought that Cleo still cares about him. At the end of series two, Lewis suddenly dumps Charlotte because of her behavior towards the other girls, mostly Cleo. After he saves Cleo from a shark reef, they get back together.
Charlotte Watsford
Charlotte is the new girl in town and is the girls' rival during series two. She enjoys various forms of art, appreciates the sciences and 'becomes' Lewis's girlfriend after Cleo leaves him. She hates Cleo as well as Rikki and Emma who hate her back, a dislike made even stronger after she becomes the fourth mermaid late in series two, armed with the powers of all three girls. Charlotte is eventually revealed to be the granddaughter of Gracie, one of the original three mermaids who 50 years earlier gave her powers up to the 50 year full moon. In the end of series two she becomes increasingly jealous of Cleo and asks Lewis to stop talking to the other girls, out of this Cleo feels abandoned and alone and runs away which leads to Lewis dumping Charlotte and returning to Cleo. Charlotte gets revenge by planning Emma, Rikki and most of all Cleo to lose their tails and powers, so Lewis would only care for her, but in the end she is the one who loses everything, including her mermaid abilities due to the 50 year full moon.
Zane Bennett
Zane is the local bad boy, and seems to think that he can get away with anything because his dad is rich. He appears to be arrogant, but has been seen to have a softer side. He desperately wants to impress his father, local land developer Harrison Bennett, who is more arrogant. Zane is an excellent swimmer. After becoming trapped on a sinking boat, he is rescued by Emma, and sees the end of her tail before she is able to slip away. Because of this, Zane becomes obsessed with finding the "sea monster". Later on in series 1 Zane and Rikki develop feelings towards each other to the disappointment of Miriam who assumed that she was with Zane. This happens when Rikki and Zane get locked up on a balcony together. While they later break up due to being "too different" from each other, they rekindle their relationship in series two after Zane discovers the girls are still mermaids. Zane becomes more of a supporting boyfriend in series 2.
Ash Dove
Ash is the current supervisor of JuiceNet due to Emma's disappointment at first (Emma wanted the job). Ash is a keen horse rider, and has worked as a riding coach. He and Emma have formed a relationship and have gone out on a few dates. In the episode 'Moonstruck' of season 2, Emma was affected by the full moon (with Cleo and Rikki) and almost revealed her secret by calling him into the bathroom when she was wet with a tail. Luckily, Lewis steps in and stops him. During the series two finale, Emma reveals that she is a mermaid to Ash, and he is so stunned that all he has to say is "Cool". In the beginning Ash likes to wind up Emma because he discovers that when he does this Emma feels more attracted to him. Ash also has a falling out with Zane in the Juicenet causing the girl's group to split.
Lockets
The three lockets were made by Max Hamilton for the original three mermaids, (Louise Chatham, Gracie Watsford and Julia Dove). Emma discovers the first one at the bottom of the moon pool on Mako Island. Later Emma gives it to Cleo to keep after Miriam almost manages to steal it. She gives it to Cleo and says, "Anyone who can hide a mermaid tail in the middle of a party has got what it takes to look after that" Cleo is later told by Miss Chatham that this locket belonged to Gracie. Near the end of Season 2, Cleo fights with Charlotte and Charlotte steals Cleo's locket saying "This was my grandmother's and now it's mine". In the end of Season 2, Charlotte returns the locket to Cleo.
The second belonged to Miss Chatham, but unfortunately sank with her boat due to Zane's mishap. Miss Chatham was devastated after it was lost because it was the 'treasure' that she had spoken fondly of. Emma, feeling sorry for her, went down to the wreck of the boat, found it and gave it back to Miss Chatham.
The third, belonging to Julia, is found by Rikki in a jewelery store after Julia dies when she's with Zane. Rikki tries to find the money to pay for it, but Miriam gets there first and buys it. She teases Rikki with it and leads her to start a fight. Later Miriam, who's fed up with the locket, tries to get Zane back by telling him to kiss her while Rikki is at the café. After being brutally talked to by Zane, Miriam throws it in the Broadwater next to the JuiceNet café. Zane dives into the water to find it before Emma can get there, and gives it to Rikki. But Cleo hints that she will get a tail if she touches it as it is wet. Rikki realises this and pretends to drop it so she can heat it up and keep it. Rikki however feels it is selfish to keep it, and returns the locket to Miss Chatham. Miss Chatham gives the locket back to Rikki, and gives hers to Emma, saying "It feels right they are all together."
As stated by Max in "The Gracie Code", all three are slightly different, most noticeably in the crystals at the top of the lockets: Emma has a white stone, Rikki has a red one and Cleo's is purplish blue. On the back of the lockets is what seems to be waves represented by 3 wavy lines.
Power advancement
At the beginning of season two, the girls are once again affected by a full moon. After entering the Mako Island moon pool during a rare planetary alignment, the girls' powers advance to a new level. Although the girls can still do what they could before, new and more powerful abilities begin to form. Cleo can now control the wind; Rikki can create fire at will and summon lightning; and Emma can freeze any object regardless of the presence of water by using the water in the air and create blizzards, and in "Control" is shown having some control over the weather. and when all three girls use their powers together they can create storms. At first, the girls had difficulty controlling both their old and new powers, but by the end of "Fire and Ice" had regained some discipline.
When Charlotte becomes a mermaid there is a normal full moon but the strange thing is that not only does she have all three original powers (which is probably because the moonpool divides the powers amongst those in it, so if there is only one person in it, she will acquire the three powers) but for some unknown reason she develops the additional powers as well.
Production
The mermaid costumes took six months to build, with the tails made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. The finished product weighs between 12 and 15 kilograms. Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water. On-screen, the zip on the mermaid suit is visible from the back, though attempts were made to minimise this, such as adding extra scales and crafting a ridge of material around the length of the zip. The tail fin itself was designed with a foot pedal to assist the actresses with swimming. This, along with the fin, adds two feet to the length of the costume.
There are three different types of tails: the tails the girls swim in, the "floppy tail" used for bath and shower shots and the "hard tail" for stunts.
Due to the recently developed third season the creator of the show says, "Thank goodness we saved those mermaid tails in a preservation storage!" because originally the show was supposed to be only two seasons.
Episodes:
Series one: 2006
Metamorphosis"
02 "Pool Party"
03 "Catch of the Day"
04 "Party Girls"
05 "Something Fishy"
06 "Young Love"
07 "Moon Spell"
08 "The Denman Affair"
09 "Dangerous Waters"
10 "The Camera Never Lies"
11 "Sink or Swim"
12 "The Siren Effect"
13 "Shipwrecked"
14 "Surprise!"
15 "The Big Chill"
16 "Lovesick"
17 "Under the Weather"
18 "Bad Moon Rising"
19 "Hurricane Angela"
20 "Hook, Line and Sinker"
21 "Red Herring"
22 "Fish Out of Water"
23 "In Too Deep"
24 "Love Potion #9"
25 "Dr Danger"