This was the strongest episode so far, if only because it's clear that the writers are in the process of fixing some of Ringer's inherent problems. The biggest being that the entire premise of this show is more than a little, I don't know, silly: "Solution to my twin sister supposedly killing herself? I got it! I'll steal her entire identity!" The best moment here was Gemma's on-point put-down of Bridget's elaborate lie. As much as Bridget likes to claim that she's only keeping this charade up in order to 'fix things' in Siobhan's life, her actions are pretty self-serving.I'm enjoying the shades the writers are giving Bridget. It felt like she was being written a little too 'safe' in the last couple of episodes, in that the insanity of her entire scheme was being conveniently ignored. But here we see the natural fall-out to something like this. Bridget is lying to everybody around her, and it's not fair to allow somebody like Andrew to essentially fall in love again with someone who isn't who she says she is. The writers are making the Ringer universe far more complicated and ambiguous, which is exactly what I hoped they would do.
The problem fixing was also evident elsewhere. Henry has been an unusually bland character so far and while I'm not a fan of Kristoffer Polaha, I can't deny that most actors would struggle with playing somebody so ill-defined. But that cliffhanger ending was exciting. Has he killed Gemma? The show is at least implying a violent streak within him. Once again, it's adding shades to a character that seriously needs them.
Juliet's drama ties in with the CW demographic, but it's being played a little on-the-nose so far. I think she's a character that needs some development, since her confrontational demeanor and shallow reactions to things (public school - the horror!) are making her nothing but a one-note hag. What's saving this story is Bridget's treatment of her, with Bridget identifying with Juliet's problems. I kind of wish Andrew wasn't such a pushover, though. He needs to take charge with his kid.
A Whole New Kind of Bitch saw the show carefully walking that tightrope between soapy melodrama and dark drama, and seeing Bridget's lies slowly falling apart is creating some really wonderful tension so far. B+
Credits
Guest stars Tara Summers (Gemma Butler); Zoey Deutch (Juliet Martin); Billy Miller (Charlie Young); Zahn McClarnon (Bodaway Macawi); Noah Watts (Daniel Eknath)
Writer Shintaro Shimosawa Director Janice Cooke
Again, I seem to be agreeing with you on all levels with regards to this show! I totally agree with Henry, who so far hasn't been crazily interesting till now. Somehow I think that Gemma may not be dead, but watching the promo for next week makes me thing I'm wrong in thinking that. Totally agree with you about Juliet, she needs more development, and I said in my own review, I don't want her and Siobhan/Birdget's relationship to repair itself too suddenly, they need to allow that to happen a bit slower.
ReplyDeleteI also don't think Gemma is dead. They must have chosen to not actually confirm it for a reason. Whenever we don't see a body, it's assumed that they're still around somewhere.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting as always, Panda.