15 September 2011

Review: Ringer - Pilot



You know what? I don't hate it. Sure, the hooker with a heart of gold thing is kinda old, and it's a ridiculously convoluted twins switch places, hilarity ensues plot, but the principal twin is a broken, beaten, frightened Sarah Michelle Gellar trying her darnedest to survive in the web of promiscuity and deceit that her asshole sister left for her, and it REALLY gets me off.

I'm gonna enjoy watching her deal with Henry, Andrew, her pregnancy, and everything else, I think. There's plenty I'd change:
  • The idea of her being dropped clueless in a situation and having to figure everything out without ever letting anyone suspect she's clueless really appeals to me. It's a shame they didn't include some montage of digging through diaries or just "remind me, what was I thinking about again?" moments, and attempts to concoct a fake accident so she can claim amnesia. Seems this sort of thing wouldn't quite fall in the scope of this, but I guess we'll see.
  • The boat scene, especially the first one was so awkward. Was it an actual boat? It looked like a rocking set piece in front of a screen. It was jarring.
  • The bit with her talking to the sponsor with music constantly cutting in, it was really awkward. They could have at least paced it better.
  • What's with SMG easily beating up a huge, professional criminal? I didn't realize she was still a vampire slayer.
  • There were quite a few scenes of SMG having an emotional moment with SMG, which were a bit odd. Now, not to disparage her ability, but I'm sure the weird setup makes acting at least a tiny bit more tricky, so I imagine this will be one of the most challenging aspects of it. They also seemed very similar at first, which, granted, they are, being twins. But with the pilot's conclusion, I think we glimpsed the potential of Bridget and Siobhan being vastly different people, and if their personalities continue to diverge in future episodes, we might be in for a delicious contrast.
Overall, it was certainly watchable. I wouldn't rave over it to everyone, as I would for, oh, Dexter's earlier seasons or Breaking Bad for instance. There's just some nebulous aspect of this that I feel you either "get" or don't, which creates much of the appeal.

Score: 3/5

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