Two Sisters: One Face
I had initial interest since it stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and I'm a big fan of Buffy. However, Ringer is nothing like Buffy. It's more of a revamped classic nighttime soap like the '80s Dynasty or Melrose Place from the '90s. My interest waned a bit mid-season, but I think eventually the writers embraced the wacky and just went for the most dramatic plot turns possible. This is an extremely basic recap: Bridget adopts her estranged twin sister Siobhan's identity after Siobhan mysteriously disappears. Bridget's a former stripper involved in a case with the FBI where she was scheduled to testify to ID some thugs, until she escaped her life to assume the life of Siobhan, who's a rich bitch with secrets and married to a Welsh dude. Unbeknownst to Bridget, but known to the viewer, Siobhan is alive and well in Paris as she faked her death.
Ringer plays up the lavish lifestyle of NYC socialites with uber trendy fashion and glamour. The plot progresses quickly with each character in Siobhan/Bridget's life accused of lying, committing murder or lying about committing murder. Suspend your belief, check your brain at the door. This is not deep television, but the mystery aspect continually evolves, and there are a lot of nasty characters to hate, so it's kind of devilish fun.
Why You Should Watch: Ringer's chances of a second season are highly unlikely. Everything I've read points to a fairly inevitable cancellation given the low ratings. But for when it makes it to DVD, consider this: Ringer is appropriately wrangled trainwreck TV. I personally have no tolerance for any show with the word Housewives in it, but Ringer satisfies that dishy soapy void I didn't realize I had. Lots of pretty faces with vapid rich people problems. Also, Richard "guyliner" from Lost plays a detective working hard to give this show credibility. To be fair, SMG is stellar at playing both sisters in the present and in flashbacks.
Factoid: The original announcement about Ringer stated the show would air on CBS, but it was instead picked up by the CBS-owned CW network. Probably a good move; I don't know if Ringer would've lasted on CBS.
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Trainwreck TV... that's an excellent description of this. Which I couldn't stop watching no matter how trainwreck-y it got. And I'm kind of hoping it does get a second season. I loved the music on the show so so much.
ReplyDeleteI started watching Ringer from the start, and like you, I found my attention starting to wane. I have a bunch of them stacked up on my PVR, that I'll maybe get to eventually. Knowing that the show will likely be cancelled has kind of kept me from jumping at watching them. I'm sort of getting tired of investing the time in TV shows only to have them cancelled after I'm already hooked. I can't count the number of times this has happened.
ReplyDeleteMy 'R' show for the day was Revenge, a show I really like, but that still hasn't gotten a confirmed renewal. Ahh!! :)
I made it through 8 episodes, which I really enjoyed, and then yeah...my attention started to fade.
ReplyDeleteI'm not watching a lot of TV these days, though.
I kept hoping the ratings would improve, but they just kept dropping.
ReplyDeleteEllie
I'm obsessed with Buffy and SMG, so I actually didn't watch this show because I was nervous it would be awful and ruin all my SMG love. (I know, I know.) :) I have the feeling this will be one of those shows I Netflix too late...
ReplyDelete