Ah..Ringer...
Nov. 9th, 2011 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWhat to say about Ringer? Well, at least the story wasn't offensive, this is something. Although may depend on your definition? Everyone's is different. I've watched at least two offensive tv shows this week already, I'm on a role! (As a palate cleanser watched last week's Parenthood which didn't tape - nifty thing the internet you can now watch tv shows that you missed on the network tv website sans commercials.)
* Apparently Siobet lost the baby. It was tubic pregnancy resulting in a miscarriage. Well guess that was logical...and the least soapish way out of the problem. Also explains the fainting - she was having a miscarriage. No wait she had it earlier. We still have no idea why she fainted. I'm guessing Malcom. Although tripping due to eating too many bagels in a hot pavillon could be another reason. (It's possible I misheard that explanation.)
No need to tell Andrew she wasn't pregnant to begin with. Actually Siobhan, most likely, still is - just doubt Andrew is the father. At this point, I'm wondering if Siobhan knows who the father is? Siobhan sort of sleeps around. As far as we know, it could be her reluctant hitman in NY, Charlie, who doesn't want to kill anyone else. Siobhan doesn't want to hear him whine about his job, she's had it up to here with pretty Banker boy to do it long distance with Charlie. Poor dear, life must be tough when you have to deal with whiny hitmen. Poor Henry is the last to know, of course. He's bummed out. As is teenage step-daughter who looks like she is 25.
* Speaking of teenage step-daughter( Juliet)...she's making eyes at Logan, no wait, Mr. C. Everytime they call him Mr. C, I keep having flashbacks to Happy Days and Welcome Back Carter (ah the good old days, when kids weren't having sex at 16 on tv, there was less violence, and everybody ended the show with a warm hug or a nice moral lesson...sort of miss those days, tv just is not the same - although I could always hop over to TVland on a nostalgia trip.) Mr. C has wisely decided to transfer Juliet not Tessa to another class.
He decides to do this after Juliet asks him out on a date to watch a movie at a film festival. Juliet has forgotten that she's a teenager and not actually 25 years of age.
Except of course for the minor problem of having her trust fund revoked until she turns 25.
So...I'm guessing Juliet had access to her trust fund up until the car accident? Well that would explain how she was able to fund that drug habit. Cocaine isn't cheap after all.
Now, poor thing has to wait...9 years before she can get access. Life is tough when you're a teenage trust fund baby, ain't it? Now to add insult to injury, Mr. C turns down her movie invitation, stating he doesn't have to watch it on the screen - he owns the DVD. Oh, that's okay, she says, we can just watch it at your place - flutter of lashes. This provokes Mr. C into transferring Juliet to another class. Sigh..dude, you didn't think the girl would get ideas when you gave her your cell phone number and came out to rescue her, instead of calling her Dad right off the bat? I'm wondering if Mr. C thinks he is in an old 1970s sitcom, in which case, sorry dude, you aren't. Hate to disappoint you. But you aren't Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back Carter - times have changed, and not necessarily for the better if Ringer is any indication. Not to be easily dissuaded...Juliet decides to crash Mr. C's Young Samaritans Group - which I guess explains why he gave her the cell phone number and rushed to her rescue? He's a good samaritan. Except, wouldn't it have still made more sense to call Dad right off the bat? These pretty rich city girls, what's a struggling teacher to do?
*Meanwhile...Malcolm is struggling with his heroine addiction. And Siobet who at first is oblivious and trying to push him out of town, begins to feel guilty about it - and convinces Andrew to take him in - instead. Prior to this - FBI guy contacts Malcolm and tries to get him to talk about Bridget, he refuses. God knows why. It's not like Bridget has gone out her way for him or anything. But protect her, he must. So FBI guy blackmails Siobet into wearing a wire - which is sort of funny, considering. Siobet ingeniously finds a way to let Malcolm know this has happened, by paying the waiter to show him an obvious note in a menu. (Okay, is the waiter really that trustworthy?) At the end of the show - Siobet takes Malcom to her new sponsor Charlie's place for help - this is after Charlie has told Siobhan he doesn't want to deal with Malcolm the same way he did Gemma - he really isn't cut out for that sort of thing and hadn't signed on for it (making me wonder if he killed Gemma, maybe he didn't? Hope springs eternal). At any rate, Siobet takes Malcome directly to Charlie. With friends like Siobet, who needs enemies?
*Siobhan has sort of hit a small wrinkle in her plan. Banker-boy has flown to NYC to meet with her hubby Andrew for a job offer. And who should pop up at the business dinner but Siobet. To whom - Bankerboy turns, somewhat in shock, mid-course, and says in a whisper, you could have told me while we were in Paris, that I was banging the boss's wife. What did you do fly here right afterwards? And why did you lie and say your name was Cora? Siobet is understandably confused and says, huh? Then smiles prettily at her hubby and ignores him.
Both Banker Boy and Siobet are a bit slow to the punch. I mean, if some guy turned to me and accused me of spending time with him in Paris, and sleeping with him - and not that long ago, and I knew I had an identical twin sister who mysteriously disappeared off a boat as an alleged suicide - I'd think, wait, maybe she's in Paris living it up? Just saying. Granted she was taken by surprise and has a lot on her mind...but still.
Meanwhile...has it occurred to Banker Boy - that it is a bit hard to jump a plane, go to NYC, pop in for dinner, hop back on a plane and end up back at your hotel all within 30 minutes. Granted Malcolm was able to make it from Wyoming in that amount of time. I swear Ringer is going by soap opera time. There's no logic here. Banker Boy breaks up with a shocked Siobhan. I guess she didn't know he was flying to NY to take a job with Andrew?
If not...what was that scam in Paris all about? Siobhan still makes no sense.
*The previews once again tease that all will be revealed next week. Siobet's secret will come out and she'll figure out Siobhan is still alive. I'm thinking, yeah right, keep teasing me show...see if I care. We played that tease one too many times.
The problem with Ringer, and there are a list of problems...pacing, writing, direction, production value...but the main problem is Siobhan/Bridget. I don't care about these two women. I don't like either. Their motivations aren't clear. And the actress has not generated any sympathy or concern for either. It's actually painful to watch her at times.
Everyone else is okay. Except for Juliet and SMG - who appear to be battling each other for worst acting of the year award, at the moment? It's a toss-up. I am very close to giving up on this series, because, frankly? I'm bored. Have something happen! Anything! Okay, I guess the miscarriage is something...but more than that.
Oh well, it did have at least one laugh out loud moment - when Jamie (that's the character the actor played on AMC, because I have no idea what his name is in this thing) Banker Boy
saw Siobet enter the restaurant and did a double-take. You could see him thinking - "wait, didn't I just leave you naked and in bed in Paris? WTF??" LOL! Priceless. It's the little things that keep me watching bad tv shows, in case you were wondering. Most likely not, but just in case.
* Apparently Siobet lost the baby. It was tubic pregnancy resulting in a miscarriage. Well guess that was logical...and the least soapish way out of the problem. Also explains the fainting - she was having a miscarriage. No wait she had it earlier. We still have no idea why she fainted. I'm guessing Malcom. Although tripping due to eating too many bagels in a hot pavillon could be another reason. (It's possible I misheard that explanation.)
No need to tell Andrew she wasn't pregnant to begin with. Actually Siobhan, most likely, still is - just doubt Andrew is the father. At this point, I'm wondering if Siobhan knows who the father is? Siobhan sort of sleeps around. As far as we know, it could be her reluctant hitman in NY, Charlie, who doesn't want to kill anyone else. Siobhan doesn't want to hear him whine about his job, she's had it up to here with pretty Banker boy to do it long distance with Charlie. Poor dear, life must be tough when you have to deal with whiny hitmen. Poor Henry is the last to know, of course. He's bummed out. As is teenage step-daughter who looks like she is 25.
* Speaking of teenage step-daughter( Juliet)...she's making eyes at Logan, no wait, Mr. C. Everytime they call him Mr. C, I keep having flashbacks to Happy Days and Welcome Back Carter (ah the good old days, when kids weren't having sex at 16 on tv, there was less violence, and everybody ended the show with a warm hug or a nice moral lesson...sort of miss those days, tv just is not the same - although I could always hop over to TVland on a nostalgia trip.) Mr. C has wisely decided to transfer Juliet not Tessa to another class.
He decides to do this after Juliet asks him out on a date to watch a movie at a film festival. Juliet has forgotten that she's a teenager and not actually 25 years of age.
Except of course for the minor problem of having her trust fund revoked until she turns 25.
So...I'm guessing Juliet had access to her trust fund up until the car accident? Well that would explain how she was able to fund that drug habit. Cocaine isn't cheap after all.
Now, poor thing has to wait...9 years before she can get access. Life is tough when you're a teenage trust fund baby, ain't it? Now to add insult to injury, Mr. C turns down her movie invitation, stating he doesn't have to watch it on the screen - he owns the DVD. Oh, that's okay, she says, we can just watch it at your place - flutter of lashes. This provokes Mr. C into transferring Juliet to another class. Sigh..dude, you didn't think the girl would get ideas when you gave her your cell phone number and came out to rescue her, instead of calling her Dad right off the bat? I'm wondering if Mr. C thinks he is in an old 1970s sitcom, in which case, sorry dude, you aren't. Hate to disappoint you. But you aren't Gabe Kaplan in Welcome Back Carter - times have changed, and not necessarily for the better if Ringer is any indication. Not to be easily dissuaded...Juliet decides to crash Mr. C's Young Samaritans Group - which I guess explains why he gave her the cell phone number and rushed to her rescue? He's a good samaritan. Except, wouldn't it have still made more sense to call Dad right off the bat? These pretty rich city girls, what's a struggling teacher to do?
*Meanwhile...Malcolm is struggling with his heroine addiction. And Siobet who at first is oblivious and trying to push him out of town, begins to feel guilty about it - and convinces Andrew to take him in - instead. Prior to this - FBI guy contacts Malcolm and tries to get him to talk about Bridget, he refuses. God knows why. It's not like Bridget has gone out her way for him or anything. But protect her, he must. So FBI guy blackmails Siobet into wearing a wire - which is sort of funny, considering. Siobet ingeniously finds a way to let Malcolm know this has happened, by paying the waiter to show him an obvious note in a menu. (Okay, is the waiter really that trustworthy?) At the end of the show - Siobet takes Malcom to her new sponsor Charlie's place for help - this is after Charlie has told Siobhan he doesn't want to deal with Malcolm the same way he did Gemma - he really isn't cut out for that sort of thing and hadn't signed on for it (making me wonder if he killed Gemma, maybe he didn't? Hope springs eternal). At any rate, Siobet takes Malcome directly to Charlie. With friends like Siobet, who needs enemies?
*Siobhan has sort of hit a small wrinkle in her plan. Banker-boy has flown to NYC to meet with her hubby Andrew for a job offer. And who should pop up at the business dinner but Siobet. To whom - Bankerboy turns, somewhat in shock, mid-course, and says in a whisper, you could have told me while we were in Paris, that I was banging the boss's wife. What did you do fly here right afterwards? And why did you lie and say your name was Cora? Siobet is understandably confused and says, huh? Then smiles prettily at her hubby and ignores him.
Both Banker Boy and Siobet are a bit slow to the punch. I mean, if some guy turned to me and accused me of spending time with him in Paris, and sleeping with him - and not that long ago, and I knew I had an identical twin sister who mysteriously disappeared off a boat as an alleged suicide - I'd think, wait, maybe she's in Paris living it up? Just saying. Granted she was taken by surprise and has a lot on her mind...but still.
Meanwhile...has it occurred to Banker Boy - that it is a bit hard to jump a plane, go to NYC, pop in for dinner, hop back on a plane and end up back at your hotel all within 30 minutes. Granted Malcolm was able to make it from Wyoming in that amount of time. I swear Ringer is going by soap opera time. There's no logic here. Banker Boy breaks up with a shocked Siobhan. I guess she didn't know he was flying to NY to take a job with Andrew?
If not...what was that scam in Paris all about? Siobhan still makes no sense.
*The previews once again tease that all will be revealed next week. Siobet's secret will come out and she'll figure out Siobhan is still alive. I'm thinking, yeah right, keep teasing me show...see if I care. We played that tease one too many times.
The problem with Ringer, and there are a list of problems...pacing, writing, direction, production value...but the main problem is Siobhan/Bridget. I don't care about these two women. I don't like either. Their motivations aren't clear. And the actress has not generated any sympathy or concern for either. It's actually painful to watch her at times.
Everyone else is okay. Except for Juliet and SMG - who appear to be battling each other for worst acting of the year award, at the moment? It's a toss-up. I am very close to giving up on this series, because, frankly? I'm bored. Have something happen! Anything! Okay, I guess the miscarriage is something...but more than that.
Oh well, it did have at least one laugh out loud moment - when Jamie (that's the character the actor played on AMC, because I have no idea what his name is in this thing) Banker Boy
saw Siobet enter the restaurant and did a double-take. You could see him thinking - "wait, didn't I just leave you naked and in bed in Paris? WTF??" LOL! Priceless. It's the little things that keep me watching bad tv shows, in case you were wondering. Most likely not, but just in case.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 12:24 pm (UTC)It's funny. I care about each of them when they aren't pretending to be the other. When it's clear. When Bridget starts pretending, that's when it weakens, or faking caring in Siobhan's case. I guess maybe that's intended.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 02:54 pm (UTC)My problem with characters in Ringer is that besides the sisters almost all of them seem to be either contestants or past grand-prize winners of "America's Most Gullible."
As I said last week there is a special charm about the awkwardness of Ringer, that makes me see it as a black comedy and good clean fun instead of the headache producing pseudo drama it would be otherwise.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-11 03:52 am (UTC)But parodies...can only take me so far, before I get bored. I was sort of bored during this week's episode. So I may give up soon.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-10 06:38 pm (UTC)According to the Wikipedia,she is actually still a teenager.
The character motivation is a problem for me. Like why does Siobahn want so much to get out of her old life that she'd fake her own death. Bridget should be seeing more cracks in the life, instead of just discovering that her twin was a big ho.
I would definitely add "characterization" to your list of problems. Kristoffer Pollaha is tall and handsome but Bridget and the viewer needs some clue why Siobahn preffered Henry him to Andrew. It can't be for his whining.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-11 03:49 am (UTC)Really? She so doesn't look it. Neither does Tessa for that matter. They look the same age as Mr. C actually. Although...except for certain things, Wiki isn't necessarily reliable. It's hard to find reliable info on actors and tv writers online for some reason. As well as politicians.
The character motivation is a problem for me. Like why does Siobahn want so much to get out of her old life that she'd fake her own death. Bridget should be seeing more cracks in the life, instead of just discovering that her twin was a big ho.
You aren't wrong. We aren't told much about Siobhan. The problem with this series is that it is completely in Siobhan and Bridget's pov and to an extent Malcom's, I suppose. Be better if less focused on one pov and two characters. Then again...
I would definitely add "characterization" to your list of problems. Kristoffer Pollaha is tall and handsome but Bridget and the viewer needs some clue why Siobahn preffered Henry him to Andrew. It can't be for his whining.
That's probably my biggest problem with it as well. If I didn't care so much about characterization...maybe I'd like the show better - it does feel like an unintentional parody of a Jackie Collins/Daniele Steel/Judith McNaught 1980s cliff-hanger romance.
The character of Henry is poorly drawn, I feel sorry for the actor, he had a better role on Life Unexpected.
None of the characters resonate or jump off the page. And I can't really blame the acting...even the best actor in the world would have troubles breathing life into Henry and Andrew.
I don't know how much longer I'll stick with it. Not enough of a fan of Gellars...or Ion Gruffold's for that matter.