I was actually kind of loving H20: Just Add Water. I loved the theme song, the characters, the actors, the writing, the setting, etc.
Now I'm watching the last episode of the first season, and the show has made me furious.
Why?
I'm hating the way that Zane Bennett (Burgess Abernethy) is being treated.
Zane starts off as a stereotypical wealthy, spoiled bully. But as time goes on, Zane displays a much softer side.
This softer side might have come about because Zane's life was saved by a mysterious sea creature. He becomes obsessed with learning more, and the people in his life belittle him for having an idea that is a bit out there.
One of the people who is a total bitch about Zane's obsession is Rikki (Cariba Heine). Every time, Zane brings up the mystery, Rikki pretty much tells him to shut up. She even bribes him to keep quiet by offering to go on a date with him.
Now I tried to give Rikki the benefit of the doubt. The thing is, she's a mermaid and she and her friends worried that if their secret came out, they'd become scientific experiments.
Maybe because of Trump, I'm a bit oversensitive to the anti-science thing. But could we one day have a science fiction/fantasy show where the scientists aren't presented as evil murderers? Of course, scientists would want to study humans who turn into mermaids, but might they do it in a humane way? Is it really guaranteed that scientists would do cruel experiments on humans and then dissect them? Is it possible that maybe the scientists would take a few tissue samples, do a few harmless tests, and then send the mermaids home?
Anyway...back to Zane. I felt bad for the guy but also could sort of understand why the mermaid girls wanted to keep their secret.
Okay, but in this season finale episode, Zane ends up finding out the truth. This comes from a secret camera that some scientists had hidden. He then finds himself face to face with the mermaids, one of them being his girlfriend Rikki. Zane doesn't scream with fear. He doesn't act angry that the secret was kept from him. He doesn't rub his hands in evil glee. He's very kind to Rikki. His attitude seems to be more of wonderment.
Rikki, in return, is a total bitch to him and seems to be blaming him for everything. Why? Because he pursued the whole mermaid thing. The guy had a life-saving encounter with something magical, and he didn't have the decency to just let it go. Really. WTF? What is the show trying to say—that if something very unusual happens to us, we should shut up and forget about it?
I can imagine if Zane had talked about wanting to make money off the deal, or if he had some nefarious plan. But really. He just wanted people to believe him, and he wanted to get more information about what had happened to him. Is there really something wrong with that?
I think I'm getting really worked up about a TV show. Sorry.
It just bothers me on so many levels.
I'm going to blame Trump again.
A lot of us complain about all the evil Trump is doing. What do his supporters say? Get over it.
No.
If we don't like what's happening in the world, we have a right to speak out about it.
If we see something amazing, we have the right to want to learn more. We have the right to try to study it.
If we have an amazing, maybe-supernatural experience, we have the right to talk about it without being immediately ridiculed.
So...Zane. I know you are a fictional character, but still...I am TOTALLY on your side. Now I'm going to finish watching the episode and hope that those mermaids start treating you better.
