Ringer Review

Network/Writer(s): CW/Eric C. Charmelo, Nicole Snyder

Actors: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd, Tara Summers

Summary: A young woman on the run from the mob poses as her wealthy twin sister to try and evade them, but soon discovers that her sister has a price on her head as well.

 ***

Sarah Michelle Gellar (miss you, Buff) plays a dual role, which she does a lot better as separate characters than acting with herself (more on that later). She plays Bridget, a recovering addict stripper, and Siobhan, a New York Socialite. She's a lot stronger as Bridget, probably because it's much closer to Buffy than the cold Siobhan.

First off, I'd like to point out that I know that the CW is a little more low-budget than the big four networks, so my next point should be taken with a grain of salt. The scenes where Gellar act opposite herself are laughable in production quality. Though I enjoyed the mirror scene because it was as if they were showing off. Also, she was very wooden and awkward in those scenes, and I was glad when they were finished.

I understand that they wanted the slow, film noir-ish type of storytelling, but the beginning was painfully slow. It was the opposite feeling I had with the ABC Family series "10 Things I Hate About You", where they tried to cram every plot point in the first 10 minutes, and I turned it off at that point.

But Ringer does the opposite, and tries hard to hold back plot points, and kinda takes us through one thread at a time early on. Maybe this is the way it should be but it was way too sleepy for me. Thankfully, things picked up once Siobhan commits "suicide". Hopefully, the writing continues to be this good for the whole series, and doesn't slide back into sleepy mode.

They do a solid job of showing Bridget being overwhelmed in her new life, and trying to figure out how to keep her secret. She's doesn't immediately know how to fit in, and she tries to do things as she thinks they should be. Most notably, her sister's marriage.

In her attempts to save it, she finds out that Siobhan was having an affair with her best friend's husband, Henry, played by the underrated Kristoffer Polaha (Miss you, Baze). After the confusion lifts, Bridget ends things with Henry, and thinks she has every thing under control until... SPOILER (please watch the episode first before reading past this point)

***

Siobhan is pregnant!

The only good thing that comes from this is that Bridget now doesn't have to keep making excuses for not drinking (priorities!). Even though the fake pregnancy has been done before (Glee, for starter), this one actually causes a dilemma more that just an evil scheme.

The writing in the pilot was  uneven, probably the result of some rewrites after CBS passed on it, but the ending...the ending they nailed.

They cut back to the opening scene where Bridget was being cased by a masked man. Seriously, did he really need the mask? He was sent to kill one skinny former drug addict, and I assume he planned on succeeding. You only wear the mask if you plan to leave living witnesses.

I digress. The reveal that Siobhan is alive (BTW, did the CW really have to reveal this twist in the preview) was perfect. It made me sit and wait for the preview of next week's episode, and that is all you really want from a pilot ending; make people want to come back. Thoroughly enjoyed the final 40 minutes of the show.

Rating: 7.5/10. Would have been higher with a better start.

Interest: The ending has me hooked, so let's see how long they can tell this story before it gets boring.