SPOILERS for Sirens are ahead!
I’ll admit it took me an episode or two of Sirens, the new five-part miniseries available with a Netflix subscription, to hook me. At first, I didn’t like it and was unfavorably comparing it to The White Lotus, mostly because of the choice of music Sirens used. Then, about halfway through the second episode, we were introduced to the until-then mysterious Peter Kell, played by Kevin Bacon.
I immediately liked the character. Sure, it helps that Kevin Bacon is incredibly charming both on and off screen, but I also just liked how nice Pete was. Up to that point, we’d really only met some horrible people, like the conniving Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore), her ruthlessly ambitious assistant Simone DeWitt (Milly Alcock), and Simone’s tragic sister Devon (Meghann Fahy). All three were obnoxious in their own way. Then there was Pete.
He Was Nice To The Help And Seemed Down To Earth (For A Billionaire)
Sirens sets Pete up as the nice guy. Sure, he’s a billionaire who probably stepped on a lot of people on his way up the financial ladder, but he was a kind person. He got to know the people who worked for them and seemed to have a real connection with many of them. Many had clearly been loyal to him, even as the group texts between staff members trashed Simone and Michaela, or “Kiki,” as she was known to her friends.
As the series progressed, it seemed like Pete was victim of his wife Kiki’s manipulations just like everyone else in her orbit. He’d cheated on his wife, which can be unforgivable, but we learn just how persuasive Kiki is, and I began to understand how it happened. Or I thought I did, anyway.
Still, Pete likes to clam and then make clam chowder with his staff in the kitchen. He smokes the occasional doobie and is seemingly at ease with everyone he meets; even the wildest characters on the show, like Devon and her father Bruce (Bill Camp). Most importantly, he clearly loathes some of the ridiculous requests made of him and the staff by his overbearing wife and is never afraid to offer his unvarnished opinion.
Boy, Was I Wrong About Pete, Though
In the end, it turns out Pete is as bad or worse than all the other silly rich people on whatever New England island enclave they are existing on in Sirens. For Pete, cheating on his wife and moving right on to the next young thing seems to be second nature. He thinks nothing of ditching Kiki when she’s no longer serving him and moving right on to Simone.
At one point, Kiki even explains that they are all working for Pete. It doesn’t seem like for most of the show. Kiki appears to be the one making all the decisions. However, in Pete's final scene, as he is making his toast at the garden gala with Simone by his side mere moments after dumping Kiki, we learn that he’s just as heartless and sociopathic as anyone else on the show. Maybe more so.
Just like so many others around him, I was completely taken in by Pete’s charms, only to be let down at the end when I learned he’s just like everyone else. It’s truly one of Kevin Bacon’s best performances because of it.
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