Ringer is a series that works well in bits and pieces, but struggles to be much at all when put together as a whole episode. This was very much an hour of varying subplots being thrown at us all at once -- some that haven't been seen for weeks, some that are painful in their predictability, and others that essentially feel like a bombardment of uninteresting information. The latter is obviously occurring with Bridget who, for the second week in a row, gets driven around Manhattan picking up clues in ridiculous places. It's another waste of the character, somebody stuck in stumble-mode where she conveniently walks right into the path of another clue, all the while completely ignorant to the fact that her sister is so obviously alive. It's ludicrous that she hasn't even theorized that Siobhan's suicide was faked.I guess the big shocker this week (and I use the word 'shocker' in it's most un-shocking sense) was the reveal that somebody on the writing staff watched Wild Things and presumably thought that it would make for great television if all the nudity, orgies, cat-fights and campy dialogue were cut right out. The whole allure of that movie was the overt Aaron Spelling soft-porn quality to it, and watching the exact same story unfold on Ringer only makes that movie seem so much more fun. It's also a subplot that already feels at odds with the characters as we know them. Juliet has been growing as a person for the far majority of the season, and yet we're supposed to believe that she's been cooking up this scheme for all that time? Mr. Carpenter and Tessa both remain ciphers at this point, too, so the obvious routes the story will undoubtedly run down (Tessa's removal from the plot, the burgeoning love triangle) will have considerably less affect than they otherwise could have had. We knew Neve Campbell's trailer trash wannabe, Denise Richards' rich seductress and Matt Dillon's pervy teacher. Here we don't even understand Juliet at this point, let alone these two other folks. Eh.
Elsewhere, I finally feel as if Sarah Michelle Gellar is playing two distinctively different characters, especially in Siobhan's scenes with Henry. She had a cold detachment through a lot of her screentime here, notably when she confronted him about picking up her video call, and later in their final scene together. She's finally putting across a ruthless vibe, even if her business-ruining scheme doesn't make for great television. It's all laptops and button-pushing, and soap operas need something a little more visceral.
This episode was, like so many Ringer hours, just 'okay'. It's a show that feels a lot like candy, something that completely works for you in the moment, but ultimately leaves you still hungry right after you've swallowed. Most of the events here (Olivia's blackmail, trust fund scandals, presumably dead kid) are fine on paper, but they feel so detached and vacant on-screen -- a show that just constantly misfires when moved from script to camera. C
Credits
Guest stars Zoey Deutch (Juliet Martin); Justin Bruening (Tyler Barrett); Jason Dohring (Mr. Carpenter); Gregory Harrison (Tim Arbogast); Sean Patrick Thomas (Solomon Vessida); Gage Golightly (Tessa Banner); Chelsea Tavares (Andrea); Alanna Ubach (Attorney); Andrea Roth (Catherine Martin); Jaime Murray (Olivia Charles)
Teleplay Shintaro Shimosawa, Eric Charmelo, Nicole Snyder Story Shintaro Shimosawa Director Guy Bee
Great review, and I agree with a lot this week.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about the differentiation. Elsewhere it's a little foggy, but around Henry and Andrew it seems so much more distinctive.
I've no idea what Wild Things is, so your references are lost on me, but we seem to be on the same page with the contrivance of the whole thing, ugh.
I actually liked Bridget's investigation this week, though it's all a little ridiculous when she basically spends 50% of the time in a car, 40% trying to open locked doors, and 10% talking to Malcolm, who isn't even on screen, ha!
What do you suppose was in that box, on being played to Henry?
And it's ratings are even worse this week.
ReplyDelete0.3 makes it the networks lowest rated scripted show ever. OUCH.
Thank God the ratings are so low. Perhaps that way Nikita might be renewed with some twist of fate as that show is suddenly firing on all cylinders and I urge you both to watch! It would be utterly heartbreaking to lose Nikita as well (although I would miss Ringer's special brand of idiocy).
ReplyDeleteWild Things is 90's campiness at its finest. You should probably check it out if you're into that kind of thing. And the Malcolm thing reminds me of how tired I am of that plot device. It's like the writers feel they need to have Bridget repeating everything she's learned, to help us out at home. So annoying. The box doesn't really interest me at this point, the whole company thing has failed to grab me.
ReplyDeleteAnd those ratings are terrible. It was joint-bottom last week with Nikita, but Nikita had more viewers and is aired on Friday nights. Either way, Ringer is guaranteed to be toast after May. And Nikita is unfortunately gonna get canceled, too. Unless they order thirteen episodes for mid-season filler.
I think the CW should clean house for next season. Keep Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, the Secret Circle and one of the others. A lot of they're stuff is so middle of the road that it's hard to discern what will and won't survive. Ringer is the living dead though. part of me would like to see them attempt to force and ending for the finale, but given how difficult they've been finding it to manage it with such a concrete plan, it could be an unmitigated disaster!
ReplyDeleteI would say Nikita is a goner, but given how awfully all the rest of the series have been performing, and it's Friday slot, there's still a miniscule chance of survival. That's my amateur opinion anyway!