# H2O: Just Add Water (2006)

> Three teenage girls juggle everyday adolescence with the secret of growing fins and transforming into mermaids whenever they touch water.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/2142

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 78
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: fantasy, drama, family
- Created by: Jonathan M. Shiff
- Network: 10
- Cast: Phoebe Tonkin, Claire Holt, Cariba Heine, Indiana Evans, Luke Mitchell, Angus McLaren, Burgess Abernethy, Paul Bishop
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0491603/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, warm, hopeful, gentle, whimsical

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, valuing its light teen drama and fantasy premise, though ratings are modest.

## Synopsis

H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010) is an Australian family fantasy drama series created by Jonathan M. Shiff for Network Ten. Three teenage friends, Cleo Sertori (Phoebe Tonkin), Emma Gilbert (Claire Holt) and Rikki Chadwick (Cariba Heine), discover that contact with water gives them fins and turns them into mermaids. Their everyday struggles with school, crushes, family and friendship are complicated by the secret they must hide from the people around them, while other principal figures such as Will Benjamin (Luke Mitchell) and Lewis McCartney (Angus McLaren) get pulled into their world. Each episode mixes lighthearted teen problems with fantastical transformations, and the story builds across three seasons of twenty-six episodes each, a serialized arc rather than a case-of-the-week format. Set in a sunny coastal Australian town, the show carries a breezy, warm and hopeful tone, with a gentle sense of wonder and a focus on loyalty and belonging. Fans of Mako Mermaids, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Teen Wolf will find resonance in its blend of adolescent drama and supernatural secrecy.

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