Ringer: “Oh Gawd, There’s Two of Them?” Episode Review

SPOILER ALERT:  There’s nothing like watching a liar really lie.  I mean reallyyyy lie.  And that’s what Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) does in this particular episode.  She lies to her husband, Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd), and lover, Henry (Kristoffer Pohala), admitting that she has a twin (actually herself) who she is ashamed of and never wanted to mention because it was easier to forget the past.  And any decent liar, who is naturally part con artist, knows that you must tell some truth in order to make the lie believable.  David Mamet’s House of Games is a great primer if you want to be a con artist.  I’m thinking maybe this is what Bridget needs to do from this point forward.  This show is losing me quickly.  The problem is that they are drawing out a plot that would probably be better as something for ITV in the UK.  What I’m saying is… more than about six episodes per season of this storyline is too much.  It takes away from the suspense and you start to wonder when and if there will be a bigger plot twist.  Then it goes from about being a suspenseful show to simply hitting plot points.  I guess some viewers like that.  I’m just not one of them.

We also get to witness Bridget ‘crossing the line’ with her NA sponsor, Malcolm (Mike Colter).  Ah people with boundaries.  But boundaries are always shifting and in Bridget’s and Malcolm’s case it looks like their feelings could never uncross the line they crossed.  And Bridget seems to blur boundaries with multiple (or at least 2 and counting) NA sponsors since she turns to Charlie (Billy Miller) for help in taking the heat off Henry for Gemma’s (Tara Summers) disappearance.  She has no idea that Charlie is actually Siobhan’s plant and bad guy in New York and kidnapped Gemma.  He’s probably also the guy who tried to kill Bridget in the first place.  Or maybe the plot will thicken.  Juliet gets into even more trouble and her daddy cuts off her trust fund.  Seriously, do you even deserve access to a $10,000,000 trust when you are 16?  I know I did fine on an allowance plus baby sitting money.  But then again, I wasn’t buying loads of drugs either.  Just tons of Martinelli’s carbonated apple juice which looks like beer so I could pretend I was drinking at parties but not actually drink… I must have been the healthiest 16 year old in the state of California with all the apple juice I drank for 3 years.  Somehow, I don’t think Juliet is going to age gracefully.  If teens only knew the ravages of drugs and alcohol on their bodies about 20 years later.   All one needs to do is look at pictures on Facebook of the big party people in high school and college.  It’s a cautionary tale.  Maybe there should be a reality show about it.  But I digress – probably because this week’s episode was not that compelling.

In other plot and narrative hijinks, Malcolm is allowed to escape so he will lead the bad guys to Bridget.  Of course he shows up in New York City.  Bridget faints and ends up at the hospital.  And now Andrew is about to discover Bridget isn’t actually pregnant.  Oh Bridget, another lie?  I know.  This show’s entire narrative is based on lies.  Just sometimes, the lies all get a bit old.  Maybe next episode there will be some truth?  One can only hope.

Ringer: “A Whole New Kind of Bitch” Episode 5 Review

Two Unhappy Couples

Things are looking up for Sarah Michelle Gellar.  This week the CW announced it had picked up Ringer for the full season.  That’s good news if you’re a fan of the show.  Thankfully, the storyline is picking up speed and I’m hoping it will go speeding all the way to the end of the first season with a great cliffhanger.  One can at least hope.

This week we learn that in some ways Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is no better than Siobhan when it comes to being a good friend to Gemma (Tara Summers).  In both cases, the sisters ultimately put Henry (Kristoffer Polaha) first; there is  Siobhan having the affair with him and getting pregnant with his unborn child and Bridget warning Henry about Gemma’s scene to catch them in bed together so he won’t get a penny in their upcoming divorce.  The one she hadn’t told him about yet.

Bridget has to put out several fires, mostly involving Gemma’s threat to out her to Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) that she isn’t really Siobhan.  As Bridget feels that she’s losing control, she desperately wants to pop some pills so she goes to a NA meeting (Juliet her stepdaughter follows her there and later tells Andrew but Bridget/Siobhan claims she went as research because of Juliet’s drug problem).  She meets a new guy, Charlie (Billy Miller who is none other than Billy Abbott on the Young and the Restless), who gives her his number.  She ends up meeting with him when she can’t reach her boyfriend/sponsor, Malcolm (Mike Colter) but he’s being shot up with drugs by the man who wants to kill Bridget.  What a betrayal!  Especially when she ends up hooking up with Billy, which I’m positive will happen sometime in the near future.

Gemma, furious with Bridget for not helping with her plan, calls Andrew to meet her at the apartment in the middle of the night.  When Andrew arrives, Henry claims Gemma isn’t there and must have called from her office.  He sends Andrew home and proceeds to go upstairs where the is evidence of not only a violent fight but possibly a murder (big blood stains on the wall usually indicate more than a paper cut…).  Gemma’s murder?  We can only hope.  Actually, Gemma is a good foil so it might not be a great idea to kill her off this soon but then Henry could be a great crazy stalker.   And why hasn’t he noticed that Bridget doesn’t have Siobhan’s ‘cooking burn scar’?    I’m looking forward to next week.  Did Henry kill Gemma?  Did he dismember her? That would take him to a whole new level of bad husband if that’s the case.

Ringer: “It’s Gonna Kill Me, But I’ll Do It” Episode 4 Review

SPOILER ALERT:
This particular Ringer episode focuses on Brigdet’s/Siobhan’s (Sarah Michelle Gellar) birthday.  They reflect on their past celebrations when money was tight and they were children.  This year, Bridget gets to celebrate her birthday in the Hamptons with Gemma (Tara Summers), Henry (Kristoffer Polaha), and Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd).  While Andrew tries to get closer to his wife, Henry also takes his shot, reminding Bridget of their romantic tryst at the Hamptons house for her last birthday.  Bridget tells Henry the affair has to end and Gemma overhears.

Meanwhile  in Paris, Siobhan repairs her relationship with Tyler (Justin Bruening), the banker from her husband’s company.  She confesses it’s her birthday and she has no money (Bridget made that large withdrawal as Siobhan a couple of weeks ago), so Tyler comes to her rescue and puts her hotel bill on Andrew’s company’s bill.  Problem solved.  It appears that Bridget, as a drug addict and alcoholic, has far more integrity than Siobhan.  So far.  Siobhan manages to steal some paperwork from Tyler’s briefcase and make a call to her anonymous partner that their plans are still moving forward.

Agent Machado (Nestor Carbonell), not one to miss a party, shows up at the Hamptons after the FBI discovers two things:  Bridget/Siobhan made a distress call from Siobhan’s boat in the Hamptons back in September when Bridget first arrived in town, and, Bridget/Siobhan, accessed the locker where Bridget’s belongings were stored and took her bag.  He confronts Bridget (as Siobhan) and tells her that he knows all of Siobhan’s secrets and he will find Bridget.  He also informs Gemma that Siobhan has a twin sister (before any of the revelations of the affair has taken place) so Gemma confronts Bridget/Siobhan who admits to having a twin who she is no longer close to.  Finally, Agent Machado quickly searches Bridget’s phone and sees through the call history that she has placed calls to Malcolm (Mike Colter).  Things aren’t looking good for Bridget.

In the Hamptons, things go from bad to worse for Bridget.  She discovers Gemma overhead the conversation wtih Henry and gets decked in the face.  Then, in a desperation move, she admits to Gemma that she’s not Siobhan, she’s Bridget.  Next week’s previews look like Gemma tells Andrew that Siobhan is really Bridget.  Things will now hopefully pick up.

Ringer: “If You Ever Want A French Lesson…” Episode 3 Review

SPOILER ALERT:

Things aren’t going so well for anyone in this episode.  Bridget (Sarah Michelle Gellar) tries to discover who hired Siobhan’s killer through any clue she can find in the killer’s phone but that’s proving to be a bit of a problem.  First, the second hit man demands the phone back more than once through the episode and she discovers that unless she’s a drug dealer with surveillance equipment or an FBI agent, she probably can’t discover any sort of call history on the disposable phone. Bridget tries to get help from her NA sponsor Malcolm (Mike Colter) but he gets kidnapped by the bad guy gunning for her and beaten.  By the end of the episode he’ll be shot up with heroin (I’m guessing) so Malcolm might be accidentally giving Bridget up sooner than anticipated.  And just to make Bridget a bit more paranoid, she discovers a copy of the photo the hit man had.  First, she is positive that Andrew gave it to him because the photo is in a cabinet.  Later, Bridget discovers Gemma  (Tara Summers) has the same photo.  She questions her and Gemma reminds her most of the New York power players have that photo since it was the one Siobhan and Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) sent out as a Christmas card.  Oh well, my money is still on Gemma or Andrew, or Andrew’s business partner, Olivia (Jaime Murray).

In the meantime, Gemma and Henry (Kristoffer Polaha) fight about money.  Henry decides to withdraw funds from their joint hedge fund account brokered by Andrew without telling Gemma.  In Paris, Siobhan meets a banker who she flirts with (he’s working for one of her husband’s branches) then later attempts to seduce.  She has to abort the seduction as she is so nauseated she kicks him out of her room and takes a pregnancy test.  It’s confirmed, she’s knocked up with Henry’s child.  If we weren’t sure, she calls him to listen to his voice as she looks at the positive pregnancy test in her hand.

Bridget has her own troubles.  Hit Man #2 is angry.  She refuses to give up the phone.  Bridget calls FBI Agent Machado (Nestor Carbonell) so the hit man will see her talking to him.  She then tells Hit Man #2 (on a phone call) that if he tries to kill her, etc. that Agent Machado will get the phone in question.   Andrew tries thank Bridget for her party the previous week but she doesn’t trust him, probably for good reason, although I’m not entirely sure how untrustworthy he is.  It looks like something juicy will be revealed next episode.  I’m looking forward to seeing what that might be…

Ringer: “She’s Ruining Everything”episode 2 review/recap

In the second week of the CW‘s new fall entry Ringer, things pick up a little for Bridget/Siobhan (Sarah Michelle Gellar).  The question is:  will it be enough to keep the show from the chopping block?  There has been a significant decline (26%) in viewership and if it keeps declining I’m sure the show will suffer a death earlier than some of the characters who will most likely be scheduled to die this season.  For the record, I’m enjoying the show and hope it makes it through as unscathed as possible.

SPOILER ALERT:

We get to worry about what on earth Bridget is going to do with that body.  The one of hitman she shot and killed in the last episode.  I’ve got to admit, I like how it’s taking her a long time to figure out what the hell to do with it.  Because if you not a ‘cleaner’ and you are in New York City, and you’re a small-framed female, your options are limited.  I particularly like her moment contemplating the power saw.  I believe the writers did a great job raising the stakes just when Bridget thought she would have an extra day or two to clean up her mess, her ‘husband’, Andrew (Ioan Gruffudd) tells her they are now going to have to have the fund-raising event (literally his company is procuring clients/investors) she didn’t know about in their unfinished loft.  She scrambles to get back to the loft and move the body but there is an event staff already there clearing up and setting up.  Now she’s stuck.  She must wait until after the party to finish what she started.

Now, I must once again voice my annoyance at the CW.  A friend of mine who writes for a TV show on a different network, but did once write for a CW show, explained something to me when I complained to her.  I was saying I was so sick and tired of every CW show having an ‘event’ each episode.  Apparently that is a CW mandate.  I’d go farther saying they believe it is their signature style.  I’m here to say:  hey, CW, that is stupid.  I get the need to have an event here and there but seriously, your events are interrupting the flow of your narratives at times.  This is especially true with shows like The Vampire Diaries.  Because the events have become so ridiculous I started to dread watching the show.  I am still watching it but I’m stuck in last season I’ve been so annoyed.  I just wish the networks would shut up and butt out and let the creative people create.  There is a reason an executive is not a writer.  Everyone at a network needs to remember that.  And that is usually why shows start to fail.  I’m bringing this up only because this is one of the times an event actually worked for the narrative and I would deem it fine.  What gives me that right?  I’m a viewer who is willing to invest something called “my time” in their show.  And if I’m investing “my time” that usually will lead to “my money” if I see something as product placement I admire or a product on a commercial if I don’t fast forward on my DVR.  It’s something networks tend to forget.  Or try to quantify.  Why don’t you stop targeting and just make the best show you can once in a while?  You might be surprised.   Now back to the episode.

It turns out that the assassin had a cell phone which goes off during Andrew’s Investor Pitch speech and Bridget has to lie that the one going off in a trunk must be one of the workmen’s.  I’m not buying it but I’ll let it slide.  A ‘waiter’ sees her reach in and grab the phone.  He eyes her menacingly and we know he’s not a waiter.  The stakes have been raised again.  The dead body isn’t Bridget’s only problem.  FBI Agent Victor Machado (Nestor Carbonell) is nosing around the loft and the party.  Juliet, Siobhan’s step-daughter is clearly developing a substance abuse problem and Bridget sees she can do her some good so begins to form a bond with her.  Finally, Bridget screws over Siobhan inadvertently by closing out her secret bank account and stashing the cash for an emergency run she’s planning.  Siobhan is less than pleased.  Oh and that body?  Well, Bridget goes back to the loft to proceed with her ‘cleaning job’ and the body has disappeared.  Somebody knows something.  I can’t wait to see what they have planned for poor Bridget next.

Ringer Pilot Review: Buffy’s not in Sunnydale anymore

SPOILER ALERT:

Sarah Michelle Gellar is back (finally!) in a new show on the CW, Ringer.  I was a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan so out of pure allegiance to Gellar I decided to watch this show, with some trepidation.  I’m not a fan of using twins.  I find it annoying when I know that it is all trick/digital photography and we are looking at the same actress in dual roles.  I start to think about that more than the story.  So, I had a bit of a problem with the first part of the show, but as soon as Bridget’s twin, Siobhan, takes a powder, I warmed up to the show.  The scene on the boat was so particularly bad that I wondered if I could stomach the whole episode.  I was actually happy and thankful to see one of the twins had disappeared.

Once we begin on Bridget’s journey to impersonate her wealthy, but as we learn, increasingly troubled and dangerous twin, Siobhan, and to hide in her life, things pick up.  While Bridget as Siobhan throws Andrew Martin (Ioan Gruffudd), her husband,  off and unnerves Henry Butler (Kristoffer Polaha) her lover when she dumps him, she grows more confident as the story progresses, becoming more decisive and realizing she must make healthy choices to survive in her new life.  The more Bridget owns Siobhan’s life, the more it seems to spiral out of control.  There are twists and turns for Bridget that she can’t see coming and her newly acquired life becomes just as dangerous as the one she fled.  The moment Bridget is attacked by a hitman and manages to kill him, she realizes she is screwed either way – because the hit, she discovers, was put out on her sister, or so we think.  We can’t be sure because the final scene of the pilot reveals that Siobhan is actually alive in Paris, in contact with somebody who knows the truth, and she wants her sister gone.  I’m hoping I will be in for a wild ride alongside Bridget because I’m ready to be entertained.

Ringer airs Tuesday nights at 9pm on the CW.