Ringer - Episode 1.01 - Pilot - Review

“You’ve got the wrong girl!” —Bridgette as Siobhan

I came into watching the Ringer pilot thinking that it had been produced on a CBS budget. Now, that may or may not be true but what I do know is that the show was shopped to CBS and they canned it; The CW picked it up immediately. In my mind, I thought that they had produced a pilot and then scrapped it. But after having watched the pilot, I’m guessing it was made with The CW’s budget.

Why? Because those special effects were atrocious.

Special effects shouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but the truth is that they’re distracting. I tolerated watching Sarah Michelle Geller talking to Sarah Michelle Geller in one shot, green-screened, and super-imposed over herself — but that boat scene? No. It leaves no leeway for verisimilitude. All I kept thinking was: you’re on a stage in some Hollywood lot somewhere; just stop both of you Sarahs!

And if the pilot was produced with CBS in mind, then there would have been no reason for that cruddy indie soft rock music to be playing where suspenseful instrumental music would have made scenes exponentially better. It’s as if someone didn’t realize what was going on.

When Bridgette greets Siobhan for the first time, there’s this eerie music that plays as they walk through her Hampton’s home. Then Siobhan “kills herself,” and Bridgette is walking into her New York apartment and this bubblegum music comes on that makes it seem like Carrie Bradshaw is in a shoe store. Which is true, Siobhan’s home is glamorous. But let’s get one thing straight: Bridgette is taking over someone’s life. She has decided not to tell the police her sister is dead and instead is committing fraud and running away from a mobster plus the FBI. That’s not exactly cause for campy music to come on my TV. That’s got to be one of the most suspenseful, darkest things someone can do (in soap opera land, right?) and they completely missed the mark.

And that’s just one example. There are countless throughout the entire pilot where everything is so mismatched: Bridgette realizing her sister committed suicide is written, directed, and acted so matter-of-factly it’s practically forgettable; little Sarah Michelle Geller (not Buffy!!!) can overpower an FBI agent and tie him up in the bathroom… yeah, I believe that; this creepy guy (who turns out to be Henry, Siobhan’s lover) is stalking Bridgette and no music is played to intensify this; Bridgette literally shoots someone and it all happens so quickly I can hardly remember why; and then the kicker, we find out Siobhan’s really alive —  dun dun dun right? Wrong. The show still doesn’t know what’s dramatic, it just happens. And what’s with that phone call? Who hangs up when someone says, “We’ve got a problem.” Wouldn’t she respond? Couldn’t the episode just end before said response if they wanted it to be a cliffhanger?

Then again, the baby twist — otherwise known as the only thing not divulged in the promos — actually made me gasp, and that scene wasn’t directed any differently than the others. So perhaps it’s the promotion’s fault.

There was so much going on in this episode, the writers didn’t know how to transition from one scene to the next but overall it was an okay pilot. The acting was good, the storylines were solid, and I have a feeling the twists are going to continue. Plus the cliffhangers aren’t unbelievably over the top as is the main plot point: you’ve got the cause for Siobhan and Bridgette’s breakup, the cause for Siobhan and her husband’s disdain, Juliet’s drug addiction (or dealing), the baby, why Siobhan decided to leave, who’s trying to kill her, and the best one the body.

Ringer intrigued me; it still intrigues me. And I will be back Tuesday for more.

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