"Looks like I just bought myself some insurance." —Bridget
After three episodes of
Ringer, about two things are clear. One is that the show has adopted the
Damages-esque way of naming their episodes which can be a detriment because this French lessons quote from the episode has absolutely nothing to do with it as a whole. (Also, episode two was named after a Siobhan quote too; a trend?) The second is that Sarah Michelle Gellar is probably in the running with Nina Dobrev for female star who has kissed practically every male co-star on her show. It also doesn't help my ego that this show has several good looking men, but I'll let the female audience determine which show has the better group of males —
Ringer or
Vampire Diaries, or of whom they're more jealous, Geller or Dobrev.
The three main problems with
Ringer were the music, the visual effects, and the writing plus direction. Well, thankfully these problems didn't surface this time around and I was able to fully enjoy the latest installment. (Or is it that I was fully enjoying the episode and didn't notice the three main problems?) And I have no hesitations about it: "If You Ever Want a French Lesson" is the best episode — by far — of
Ringer. Of course, there's only been three.
I often felt that this show would be able to drastically improve by becoming self-aware and campy. Obviously, it seemed that was the direction it was taking with the horrid musical score and casual writing. Well, tonight, the show hasn't quite dropped its serious tone but something felt different. If I may, I believe some simple character development allowed us to root for a few people this time around.
I didn't know whether Bridget was dimwitted or smart when she decided
not to leave the phone on the bench in the park. (No, literally, I wrote that down: "Ooh. I can't tell if Bridget is stupid or cunning!") But all I know is that I was rooting for her once she turned around and began to briskly walk away. And I
loved when the hitman's… boss? we really don't know who he is… found her in the apartment on Pratt (sp?) Street, to which she escaped and met up with the FBI agent. I was duped! I thought she was maybe going to clue him in that someone was stalking her but instead she used him as bait.
These are the kinds of moves I want to see these characters make, not incredibly stupid ones like leave a dead body in a loft several people have the keys to. I mean really. At least this isn't
as air-headed.
But I can't help notice that our bad guys don't seem that intimidating. We've got Bodaway Macawi, the mobster, who's supposed to be this big bad that's killed "at least nine" people but he's taken forever and a day to grab Malcolm and "interrogate" him. I do however find his form of torture quite pleasurable to watch — drugging up the addict, perfect. And on the other side we've got the, who we'll call, Hitman's Boss (or Boss for short). Shouldn't the boss of a hitman be a little scary? The most this guy can accomplish is getting Bridget to shut a cellphone quite loudly at times.
Speaking of hanging up cellphones, the person on the other end of Siobhan's conversation from the last scene of the pilot could very well be Boss. My theory is the following: Siobhan and Andrew haven't been going through the best marriage. She planned to leave Andrew and take half (or all) of his stuff but perhaps hit a snug or remembered an abuse clause in a prenup she signed. This is where Bridget comes in: her way out. She could leave her inheritance to Bridget in a will; feign her death; have Bridget assume her life; then, she'd get a hitman to kill her without a gun (if I remember correctly, he had a crow bar or something) to make it seem like someone was abusing her and went too far; frame Andrew; then she'd show up as Bridget and try to claim Siobhan's inheritance? It doesn't make much sense. But this is
Ringer. Stop thinking. Just enjoy.
Other thoughts:
- Bridget has to refuse alcohol but she's not even pregnant. I found that a bit humorous. But when is she going to draft up a plan for when she's not exactly showing in a few months?
- Sarah Michelle Gellar is doing a superb job at playing these two different characters. But is it only because Siobhan's on the show for so little?
- I believe I'm beginning to "ship" Bridget and Andrew. But you'd think the topic of sex would come up by now.
- Olivia gets snarkier. And I can't tell if I'm annoyed or if I love it!
- Why didn't Macawi notice how many calls Malcolm had made to the same number? He didn't erase the voicemail so am I to believe he's deleted his call history? Yeah, didn't think so. I assume Bridget isn't using her old cellphone, if she even had one, so wouldn't the number show that it's a New York City area code? I'm having a really hard time believing this didn't come across his mind at any time during his interrogation.
The second and third episodes of the show decided to focus on just one thing. Previously it was just the body; this time it was just the cellphone, and I'm liking the new route. If you saw the promo, you know that next week is another focused episode — and I can't wait! Three hours in and I believe I'm hooked. Now I need to decide if it's a guilty pleasure or if it's genuine. Though, neither would particularly be bad.
All I know is that I can't stop playing "Set Fire To the Rain"!
---
More of my reviews:
NoWhiteNoise.com | @
MichaelCollado
