Ringer: The Poor Kids Do It Everyday (1.6)

So I guess Bridget is abandoning the concept of making this a 'short-term' deal. And I guess Siobhan is straight-up evil. I like both girls a lot (well, more than I did at the beginning of the series), but it would be foolish to claim that they were being written well. A problem with a show like this, one that depends on twists and cliffhangers, is that in the relentless pursuit of curve-balls to throw at us, the writers become susceptible to losing track of the protagonists involved. The Poor Kids Do It Everyday did a good job of adding new levels to both sisters, but I'm not sure they totally worked from a logic stand-point.

In this episode's big reveal, Bridget plants her finger-prints on the Gemma crime-scene baggage and kisses goodbye to the life she once had. It's interesting to see her decide to stick with this charade for the long haul, possibly out of pure disdain for her old life, or unexpressed rage in what Siobhan inadvertently landed her in. Or maybe she's just irrational and always doing the stupid thing. But I kind of wish we understood more about why she's making these decisions. Considering the poop she's waded through over the last two weeks, you wonder why she wouldn't be more hesitant to being Siobhan forever.

Speaking of Siobhan, she also surprised, having at one point suggest to Henry that they bump off both Andrew and Gemma in order to be together. It's a major character point, something that pushes her into a much darker direction than had initially been implied. But, again, the motivation needs a better explanation.

None of the Gemma follow-through was particularly surprising (I'm assuming she's faked her death to get away from the identity-swapping/infidelity fun), but it continued the interesting work they're giving Kristoffer Polaha. It's a testament to the actors on this show that they somehow manage to sell their scenes despite having pretty shallow characters to work with. I still don't feel like I know most of these people, yet Gellar and Polaha had me pretty engaged during their various throw-downs here. But I sure would like a better understanding of these characters. Is Henry naive and in love? Or is he sociopathic and disturbing for covering up his wives' apparent murder? It's ambiguous, sure, but crazily frustrating at the same time.

It's pure coincidence, but I found it amusing that both new shows I'm reviewing have just featured teenage girls being targeted by high school bitches on their first day at school. Only it's not just catty sniping, but aggressive threats of physical violence. Eek. Is that what teenage girls are like nowadays? Or has it become the defacto story for unambitious TV writers? Juliet's drama didn't blow my mind in the slightest, since it feels completely unrelated to literally every other character on the show, all of whom are wrapped up in the same saga. I like Jason Dohring a whole lot, but the show will need to do a lot more to get me to care about this particular subplot. And please don't go down the 'teacher-student affair' route, show. Seriously.

I'm enjoying this show, but I'm at that point where I want to know more about these characters, rather than simply watching them do things that are soapy and melodramatic. I think we can all agree the show would generate more power if we had a handle on them before we discovered they were, for example, huge potential murderers. C+

Credits
Guest stars Zoey Deutch (Juliet Martin); Billy Miller (Charlie Young); Jason Dohring (Mr. Carpenter); Gage Golightly (Tessa Banner); Darren Pettie (Jimmy Kemper); Adina Porter (Principal Caruso); Zahn McClarnon (Bodaway Macawi); Noah Watts (Daniel Eknath); Emily Swallow (Detective Elizabeth Saldana); Maximiliano Hernandez (Detective Towers); Gena Shaw (Maddie Springfield)
Writer Robert Doherty Director Jerry Levine