Mako: Island of Secrets
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Created By:
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Produced By:
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Executive Producers:
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Jonathan M. Shiff
Julia Adams |
Story Producer:
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Greg Millin
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Written By:
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Sam Carroll
Anthony Morris Chris Roache Max Dann Simon Butters Michael Joshua Mark Shirrefs |
Director:
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Evan Clarry
Grant Brown |
Starring:
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Lucy Fry - Lyla (Season One)
Ivy Latimer - Nixie (Season One) Amy Ruffle - Sirena (Seasons One & Two) Chai Romruen - Zac Blakely Isabel Durant - Ondina - (Seasons Two & Three) Allie Bertram - Mimmi (Seasons Two & Three) Gemma Forsyth - Evie McLaren Alex Cubis - Erik (Season Two) Linda Ngo - Weilan (Season Three) |
Official Page:
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Airing:
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26 July, 2013 (Netflix, Season One)
13 February, 2015 (Netflix, Season Two Part I) 29 May, 2015 (Netflix, Season Two Part II) (listed as Season 3 on Netflix) 27 May, 2016 (Netflix, Season Three) (listed as Season 4 on Netflix) |
Mako: Island of Secrets (international title Mako Mermaids: An H2O Adventure) is the spin-off series of H2O: Just Add Water.
The mermaids are played by Lucy Fry, Ivy Latimer, Amy Ruffle, Isabel Durant, Allie Bertram, and Linda Ngo. Zac Blakely is played by Chai Romruen, Evie McLaren is played by Gemma Forsyth, and Erik is played by Alex Cubis.
Mako Mermaids made its debut in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland on July 26, 2013 on Netflix. Australian television station TV Ten also debuted Mako: Island of Secrets on the same date. In season 2, aired on February 13, 2015 on Netflix, the producer said that the mermaids from H2O: Just Add Water may appear as mermaids claiming that they still have their old tails from the show.
Mako: Island of Secrets series 1 was originally planned as a prequel to H2O: Just Add Water but as season two developed, the creator of the show decided it would actually be a sequel. Rikki Chadwick from "H2O: Just Add Water" appeared in the final two episodes of series three.[1]
Main Characters[]
- Lyla (Lucy Fry): Lyla and her mermaid friends, Nixie and Sirena are guardian Southern mermaids of Mako Island. One full moon, local land boy Zac falls into the magic waters of the Moon Pool. They are banished from Mako and have to get legs and go on land to take away Zac's powers, but Lyla develops feelings for him. She is the fiery, rebel mermaid, and is very determined and passionate. In Season 2, Lyla left with Nixie to search for a new home for the pod.
- Nixie (Ivy Latimer): Nixie and her mermaid friends, Lyla and Sirena are guardian Southern mermaids of Mako Island. One full moon, a local land boy Zac falls into the magic waters of the Moon Pool. The girls are banished from the island and must get legs to take away Zac's powers. Nixie is very adventurous, loves playing around, and sometimes gets in trouble because she can't stay still. In Season 2, Nixie left with Lyla to search for a new home for the pod.
- Sirena (Amy Ruffle): Sirena and her mermaid friends, Lyla and Nixie are guardian Southern mermaids of Mako Island, One full moon, a local land boy Zac falls into the Moon Pool. They are banished from the island and have to go on land to take away Zac's powers. Sirena provides the moon ring in which gets the girls legs. She is the mediator and peacekeeper between Lyla and Nixie. She's a beautiful soul and a bit naïve, but that can work to her disadvantage. Sirena has a strong connection to her sister Aquata, who gave her a moon ring. In Season 2, Sirena returned to her pod, but is forced to return to Mako Island when Mimmi and Ondina go against the council's will to try and remove Zac's powers. In season 3, Sirena vacations with her sister in Hawaii.
- Zac Blakely (Chai Romruen): Zac is 16 years old and is the main character of Mako Mermaids. He goes camping on Mako Island, then falls into the Moon Pool which causes him to receive long lost merman powers. Zac is sporty and grew up surfing. His powers include Telekinesis and Hydrokinesis. Zac later finds out he was born as a Northern merman and finds his true connection to Mako.
- Ondina (Isabel Durant): Ondina is a Southern mermaid from the Mako Pod. She's a reckless girl who takes things into her own hands but learns to care for others with gentleness.
- Mimmi (Allie Bertram): Mimmi is a Northern mermaid immigrated to the Gold Coast where she became part of the Mako Pod. She has knowledge of various potions and spells. In "Reunion", she and Zac find out that they are actually siblings.
- Evie McLaren (Gemma Forsyth): Evie is Zac's girlfriend and feels he's hiding something when he frequently pulls away, so she tries to find out what. She initially breaks up with Zac because he won't reveal what is going on and thinks he's cheating on her with Lyla. Evie finds out Zac is a merman in Episode 25 "Betrayed". They have apparently been dating for 8 months but have been close friends since they were six years old. Evie gains a mermaid tail in Season 2 because she comes to the moon pool during a full moon. Her courage and acceptance of her role as a mermaid leads to her initiation into the pod. During her mermaid training in Season 3, Evie loses her tail to the Water Dragon.
- Erik (Alex Cubis): Erik is a Southern merman who moves to Mako in Season 2. He befriends the mermaids and Zac, but soon loses their trust. Erik shows infatuation to Ondina, and they later become a couple. His obsessive curiosity with the Merman Chamber on Mako eventually leads to him almost destroying all mermaids, resulting in him losing all trust from the mermaids and leaving the Gold Coast.
- Weilan (Linda Ngo): Weilan is an Eastern mermaid who was forced to flee when the Water Dragon wiped out the entire Eastern pod.
Major Secondary Characters[]
- Cam Mitchell (Dominic Deutscher): Cam is Zac's best friend, and a lifeguard. He knows about Zac's secret, and that Nixie, Sirena, and Lyla are mermaids. He has always been Zac's equal, but things change when Zac becomes a merman. Towards the end of Season 1, after Zac locked the Trident away, Cam convinced Nixie to help him reopen the Trident chamber and pull it out again. In episode 26, "Decision Time", it is revealed that Cam's real purpose and intent all along was to steal the Trident and become a merman so he could rule over Mako Island, although this secret plot changed the nature of Cam and Zac's relationship. In season 2, Cam and Zac work things out. After becoming a couple with Carly, Cam comes to accept his role as a land dweller and chooses loyalty over power.
- Rita Santos (Kerith Atkinson): Rita is the school principal, and a Southern mermaid. She has long given up life of the ocean, due to her romantic relationship with her late fiancé Harry, but when three mermaids appear in her life, she begins to find companionship with the three.
- David (Rowan Hills): David is the boy-next-door—cute, honest, matter of fact, and always happy to help. David works at his dad's café, Ocean Café, and is well liked in the local community. He and Sirena are in a relationship. David finds out about the mermaids in Season 2 and also Sirena being one of them in the season finale.
- Carly Morgan (Brooke Nichole Lee): Carly is Evie's best friend and works at the Ocean Café. She attempted a romantic relationship with David, who was uninterested due to the sudden arrival of Sirena. She develops a relationship with Cam and finds out about merpeople in Season 2.
Overview[]
*Note* Netflix seasons are different by having season 2 become season 2 & 3, and season 3 becoming season 4.
Season One[]
- Main article: Season 1 (Mako: Island of Secrets)
Three mermaids, Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla, are assigned with the task of protecting their magical Mako Island from trespassers, only to be thwarted by the arrival of a 16 year old land-dweller Zac – who forms a special connection with the island and is granted a blue fish-like tail and amazing marine powers. Threatened by his existence, the mermaid pod are forced to move away, abandoning Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla, who in a bid for survival, must get legs, venture onto land, and take back Zac's powers or risk being outcasts forever.
Season Two[]
- Main article: Season 2 (Mako: Island of Secrets)
Two new mermaids, Mimmi and Ondina, (Allie Bertram and Isabel Durant) arrive and are afraid that Zac is a threat to mermaid pods, but what they don't realize is that another merman, Erik, (Alex Cubis) is bent on seizing Mako Island for himself. The mystery of Mako deepens, when Zac discovers the ruins of an ancient Merman Chamber. The entrance opens up on a full moon, just like with the Trident Chamber. This season also sees Zac's girlfriend Evie turn into a mermaid. Cam slowly regains Zac's trust and, by the end, decides that his desire to be a merman is not worth losing his best friend. New pairings for season 2 include Erik/Ondina and Cam/Carly.
Season Three[]
- Main article: Season 3 (Mako: Island of Secrets)
Life is trouble-free on Mako Island—until Ondina meets Weilan, a mermaid from Shanghai. They immediately clash and Mimmi must act as the peacemaker. But a greater threat to their peace has arrived, in the form of a fearsome Chinese water dragon that destroyed the Eastern pod. But the dragon is not all it appears. On their perilous quest to defeat the dragon Zac's girlfriend, Evie loses her powers and tail, and Zac and the mermaids discover shocking secrets until a final confrontation reveals all. Cariba Heine reprises her role as H2O: Just Add Water mermaid Rikki Chadwick.
Trivia[]
- This is the second series Lucy Fry has main role that is created by Jonathan M. Shiff. The first was Lightning Point (Alien Surf Girls in U.S.).
- Lucy Fry made a cameo in the last episode of H2O: Just Add Water. Her name was announced at the graduation ceremony and she was seen in the crowd.
- It is still unknown how natural mermaids got into Mako Island.
- The Moon Pool in this series looks completely different than the one in H2O: Just Add Water, though this can be explained in real life by the original Moon Pool set not being preserved between series production. Rikki Chadwick claims that it "hasn't changed at all since (she) was last here",[2] implying that she either witnessed this change or that the change is not meant to be noticeable in-universe.
- In Australia, the series is known as Mako: Island of Secrets instead of Mako Mermaids.
- Every main character in the series has been a mermaid or merman, except for Cam, who did have powers in "Decision Time" and "Careful What You Wish For."
- A movie was planned but likely got cancelled due to COVID and other factors.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
Sources[]
- http://www.makoislandsite.com/
- http://www.screenqueensland.com.au/news/onscreen-news/961-mako-mermaidss-goes-into-production-as-jonathan-m-shiff-productions-wraps-reef-doctors.html
- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mako-Mermaids/137127539716011
- http://if.com.au/2012/07/17/inprod/Secret-of-Mako-Island/BUSNLJSRVR.html
- http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=105830