Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Ringer: It's Gonna Kill Me, But I'll Do It

"I don't want you to feel bad. Why don't you sleep with my husband and see if that makes you feel better?"

One of the promises made by the writers prior to the series premiere was that mysteries wouldn't unfold at a glacial pace, and that answers will be given at a speed which would satisfy the viewer. Sometimes this formula can backfire a little, like in the busy pilot and its abundance of illogical plot twists. But what the show did here was throw everything up in the air, setting in motion events that will obviously create shock-waves throughout the entire series. Being so soon into the show's existence, it's pretty exciting.

Bridget's big conversation with Machado was interesting. Cleverly, she's blurring events together to create a consistent story, using half-truths to get the FBI off her back. Of course, she's once again piling lies on top of lies, which has the potential to screw everything up for her. It also didn't entirely work, since Machado was snooping around her cell phone literally five seconds after she left. But I love that Bridget is continuing to be pro-active. She's making decisions, and while they could prove fatal in the long-run, they're decisions all the same.

At the same time, Bridget got dumped on even more when Gemma discovered the identity of Henry's lover, and then she came clean about not being Siobhan at all. Part of the fun of this show is the idea of everything spiraling out of control, and seeing Bridget working her way out of trouble. Something tells me that Gemma won't react well to the twin thing, despite knowing that Bridget isn't involved in the breakdown of her marriage. That's if she actually believes her anyway...

Over in Paris, we got some movement on the whole Siobhan/Tyler subplot. He seems ludicrously naive and stupid, but I guess whatever Siobhan wants, Siobhan gets. I'm eager to find out who she's working with, though. The only logical character right now would be Olivia, who may be interested in some power-play coup at Andrew's company. Hmm.

Something I'm finding a little disappointing is the characterization for Bridget and Siobhan, which is becoming less distinctive. There was a flashback scene here in which we saw Siobhan and Henry together, and Siobhan is cracking jokes and being all personable just like Bridget is. Sarah also seems to be playing both characters too similarly, and it doesn't feel like Bridget is even trying to 'act' like Siobhan anymore. In some ways I guess this isn't really the point of the show, and that the soapy melodrama has kind of eclipsed the 'twin-impersonating-twin' angle, but it still feels jarring.

This was another fun episode. So far Ringer is batshit and ridiculous, but the writers are somehow selling that and making it seem fresh and exciting. No matter how many dumb plot twists and lazy pieces of storytelling appear (zombie Siobhan!), the show is pretty successful at creating a decent cliffhanger each week that pretty much forces you to watch the next episode

Previously posted at Unwelcome Commentary.

1 comment:

  1. Glad you are sticking with reviewing it, nice, since they are airing it on tv here now :)

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.