Contributor: Henry T.
Written by Cathryn Humphris
Directed by Jeff Thomas
This show has been off the air for two months, and you would think those involved would take the time to correct some of its glaring flaws. Somehow, they managed to make the narrative structure of the show more confusing. Siobhan was inserted into the ongoing storyline (amazing what a simple return trip to New York will do), yet spent most of this episode passive and in the background. Bridget is still enjoying the fruits of her sister’s high lifestyle, not once having the thought that she’s hurting all of these people by perpetuating a lie. Juliet may be lying about her teacher raping her, though that’s hard to tell from the information given in this episode. Everyone dances around the truth — “Ringer” has been doing it all season — and so it’s difficult to see if the show or the characters will ever acknowledge the consequences of those lies.
At least the beginning of the episode held some intrigue. Siobhan comes into her home, only to see that her twin sister is showering and basically living her life. Siobhan ominously walks into the bathroom and stops at the shower, where Bridget is bathing in ignorance of everything. Maybe she confronts Bridget? Maybe all the lies stop now? It makes for an interesting teaser.
Yet, what follows doesn’t live up to that initial promise. After committing the murder of Gemma and framing someone else for it, Siobhan spends her time in New York working to get all the information she can on Andrew’s financial dealings. She’s committed to bringing him down for some still-unknown reason. It has the feel of a rote storyline, especially when we’re treated to a scene where Andrew blandly describes his company’s growth projections for the next decade. Siobhan’s goals are still fairly nebulous at this point so it’s hard to connect with the character.
She also manages to alienate Henry during the course of this episode, but it’s understandable. Half the time, he’s not even talking to the real Siobhan. He’s talking to her twin sister masquerading as Siobhan. Also, he is blaming Siobhan for his wife’s murder so a little alienation is understandable. Everything would be clarified if someone had the guts to tell the truth for a change, but the show continues to tease that possibility every chance it gets. It’s become a regular pattern for the show to spin its wheels like this, with characters left and right stopping short of saying something clear, then settling for a partial truth or no one saying anything at all. It’s becoming a little frustrating to watch all of it unfold.
It’s more of the same with the plot involving Bridget. A friend of Siobhan’s named Greer throws yet another fundraiser for Juliet’s school. What’s revealed through this interaction between Bridget and Greer is the fact that Siobhan engaged in yet another illicit affair with a married man (Henry is apparently not the first) and that Greer hated Siobhan for it. Going for yet another affair is repetition of the highest order, and demonstrates a lack of imagination on the writers’ part. We never see the affair, as well, only going so far as to have Greer describe what happened.
It isn’t like Bridget will feel true regret for it because she didn’t live any of the things being ascribed to her. She apologizes, they will move on. Ultimately, I have to question what Bridget gets out of this. Is she really in love with her sister’s husband? Does she enjoy the high life just a little too much that it’s getting to her head? Perhaps Siobhan is letting Bridget live her life so that she will eventually bring ruin to both her husband and her sister as a final act of revenge.
The fundraiser subplot is merely designed to also connect Juliet with what’s happening in the episode. Rape of a child by an authority figure is a serious charge, yet there is no weight behind it because Juliet has been presented up until now as a pathological liar and prone to sudden emotional outbursts. I’m not sure the show can treat such a storyline with the respect and seriousness it deserves.
We are around the halfway point of the season and I still don’t know what “Ringer” is, or what it wants to be. I have to wonder if the writers know what it wants to be. The show spent two months off the air and didn’t appreciably get better. The music selection is still oddly tone-deaf, the characters spend entirely too much time having conversations on the phone, and there’s no sense of intrigue or forward momentum to anything. I tend to favor shows with ambition. “Ringer” seems to have none of that, especially when it just continues to stand idle with so many of its plots and its characters stare silently into space for much of its run.
Telling the truth is apparently something the characters avoid doing, which is why I was disappointed they took out Gemma so early. She was one of the few people on the show who knew the truth, and that was never properly used or developed. I fear more of the same kind of thing is in store for this show’s future.
Grade: 4/10
