murdockhawkeye

Nate is probably the show's biggest example of toxic masculinity. (Zane has his moments, too, but he's allowed growth in a way Nate isn't because Nate isn't as important.) Nate tells Cleo to wear something "short and tight", hits on pretty much every girl in the show, and is constantly violating boundaries and being disrespectful in general. All that on top of him just kind of sucking. He's a jerk and he never changes. And you know what? He never ends up getting a girlfriend. The girls are pretty consistently annoyed or disgusted by him. Narratively, he is the butt of the joke.

On the other hand...

Lewis is by all measures a very decent guy. He's kind, respectful, trustworthy, understands basic boundaries, and treats women like human beings, and not just objects of desire. I mean his three best friends are girls. And even when he pines over Cleo both in season 1 before they get together and again post breakup, it's clear how much he values her friendship. He's in love with her, obviously, but he's also just happy to have her as his best friend. He's not perfect but by god if he doesn't respect the women in his life. And you know what? He has at least three girls interested in him. Hell, the second season is largely about two girls fighting over him.

yes! yes! I also love how Zane in season 2 is totally happy to let Rikki set the pace of their relationship and accepts all her conditions. It's all on her terms. but I also appreciate the show is careful to show that he very very willing. I think something important season two does is show that coercion can happen in any direction in a relationship. Charlotte manipulates and coerces Lewis, as an obvious example. And while that arc isn't handled perfectly for many reasons, I think one thing it does well is show us what an unhealthy, toxic relationship looks like, from both sides, and not only that, how it can happen accidentally. Neither Lewis nor Charlotte have bad intentions towards the other, and I think that's important. Being toxic, even being full on abusive, is not usually a conscious choice but the result of many complicated factors. We're all capable of it.

I also really love the episode where Cleo and Lewis are babysitting Kim and Elliot at the marine park. It shows how easy it is for someone sweet and a little naive like Elliot to be taken advantage of. It uses the simple example of one person paying for everything for someone who clearly doesn't care about them, to highlight what an unequal relationship can look like. And I especially love when Cleo and Lewis tell Elliot a relationship should be an equal partnership.

To go back to the zikki of it all, I think it's important that though Zane agrees to all of Rikki's terms, including not being seen in public with her, which imo would be a reasonable deal breaker, he does it with a smile on his face. She's calling the shots, but it's not remotely coercive, which given everything else going on in season 2 feels intentional. There's nuance to everything and what could on paper seem uneven actually isn't in practice for various reasons.

it fits that the conflict rikki and zane had in s3 was supposed to go to emma and ash - the zane i know would’ve never held the secret over rikki’s head or threatened to reveal it or disregarded it like that just for his friends - but ash on the other hand, was shown to be very pushy, literally showing up at emma’s house and barging in, tried to force her to go in the water despite her protests, etc, eventually reaching the point where she felt pressured to tell him her secret (which imo is not how you want to start things off at allll in a new relationship)

given the tension between rikki and will, and zane's jealousy, it seems like they were also setting up will to be emma's new love interest - she would've been the one to save him instead of rikki, and would've been viewed as an "angel," (paralleling zane calling her a sea monster in s1), and ash would've been continuously antagonistic towards him

rikki and zane probably would've still had their roles to play with the cafe - zane might've been a sponsor for ash and the reason he was able to buy the old juicenet cafe to begin with, given he's pretty rich, and his dad would've still pushed him to get involved in business, plus he and ash were getting pretty close in that one episode. he would've had more of a role w helping in keeping the secret, been not an antagonist and more involved in trying to fix problems instead of the other way around

and rikki could've gotten involved in the band, whether it's alongside lewis and bella or instead of them - some of the show points to her interest in music (the ipod that zane got for her, her listening to music w her earbuds in as she's going to sleep, going to a concert, sharing the same music tastes as lewis - who also joined the band)

i'm not really sure what much would change with cleo's storyline, some aspects would've probably still stayed the same, like her becoming a dolphin trainer - but lewis, though, i think since he literally had a vision of cleo's tail being revealed at marine park with too many of the details being the same for it to really be a coincidence - he probably would've prophesized mako's destruction instead of the tentacle revealing it to them, and the comet was probably not the reason for the island's destruction, but rather harrison trying to build a resort on mako like he was planning in s1 - a full-circle moment for the show

if bella was still included, she might've been a more sophie-like character - she was probably supposed to be s3's antagonist, given sophie's actress played julia in season 2 - julia probably would've had some backstory in s3, but claire leaving the show meant things were shifted around so they had to get rid of julia's storyline to make space

H2O: Just Make The Ponies.

I... I had to 🫣

Emma's a unicorn, because ofc she is. Her cutiemark reflects her ice-powers/slight cold demeanor at times, as well as her love for the water.

Cleo's a pegasus. I think it fit her the most. I would say, she doesnt fly much (a bit scared to). Her cutiemark is a dolphin which reflects her love for aquatic creatures. (also nod to Ronnie haha).

Rikki's just an earth pony, she's tough and head strong. Her cutiemark reflect her fiery personality, and her love for valuable treasures (nod to her profession in Mako Mermaids).