Ringer "Pilot" Review (series premiere)

The 2011-2012 doesn't officially begin until the 19th; however, new shows premiere this week as well as returning ones. So, here we go with the first review of the new season:

There are many questions left unanswered in Ringer's "Pilot." The CW's been heavily promoting Microsoft's search engine, Bing, and among the searches shown in the promo is "film noir." Ringer's advertised as a film noir. The definition of film noir's been debated for decades. Contemporary filmmakers and screenwriters have embraced "neo noir," which essentially sought to update the genre. If Ringer wants to associate itself with a genre, neo noir fits. Neo noir deals with issues of identity. Ringer's about identity and the social ramifications of living double lives. The visual style's bleak despite its use of bright colors. The production for the pilot happened during the winter in New York, which no doubt attributed to the bleak feel.

Of course, the narrative's bleak and a bit boring. The plot's not especially complicated. It's a twist on mistaken identities. The viewer's dropped into the world of Bridget, an ex-stripper set to testify against a man who murdered a stripper. Bridget's the lone witness, the one person capable of putting the man behind bars for the rest of her life. Bridget wants to run. The criminal wants her dead. Her testimony will only motivate the murderer to kill her because he'll be facing a life sentence or death. The night before the trial, she escapes from the hands of the FBI to East Hampton, New York, where her twin sister resides.

Siobhan's opening moments are enigmatic. We're led to believe that Bridget's the one sitting in the diner, especially when the cop stops her and she freezes. However, she meets Bridget outside. The twin sisters haven't seen one another in years because of a tragedy that resulted from Bridget's drug addiction. The bond between the sisters isn't warm or sisterly but rather cold and sterile. Siobhan, specifically, moves and speaks like a robot. She resembles a mannequin in the way she's dressed and made up. Perhaps she's numb from the tragedy that took her son's life or maybe she's despondent from whatever recent events motivated her to take her own life. Bridget resembles a corpse until Siobhan kills herself and the twin decides to live her rich sister's life. Initially, Siobhan's suicide seems like an act of love until Bridget realizes the trouble her sister's created.

The scenes between the sisters were stilted because Sarah Michelle Gellar portrayed both characters but the dialogue was terse and empty. None of the actors emoted. The characters seemed well aware they were pieces in a neo-noir with mysterious motivations, double crosses, adultery, and murder. The husband, Andrew, acts like the stereotypical wealthy Englishman who’s disinterested in his wife. The marriage between Andrew and Siobhan was complicated. Once Bridget's committed to her new role, she experiences the coldness that existed between her sister and husband; she discovers Siobhan's affair with Henry; she also discovers that someone wants her dead after she shoots a man who attempted to murder her. Bridget expected to find a life foreign to her own, but her sister's life's more dangerous.

Theoretically, the show could succeed if future episodes improve on the bleakness and boredom of the pilot. It'd help if the creators were less vague and more forthcoming about Siobhan's secrets but I understand one cannot open the entire box of secrets in one episode. The stakes never felt particularly dire. One scene showed the murderer stalking Bridget's sponsor and boyfriend, Malcolm, but the character had two scenes and she's abandoned him to save her life.

Bridget's the most problematic character because she's the main character and I don't know why we're supposed to care about her. I'm a character guy, so I want to know why I should root, fear, and care for a character. The ingredients for a sympathetic character exist for Bridget--she's a recovering addict, an ex-stripper, and Siobhan was so ashamed of her that no one knows she exists. The world wants her dead. However, I feel nothing for her or any of the characters. Again, this a noir world where characters are mysterious, so subsequent episodes should transform these ideas of characters into fully-formed and developed characters.

Pilots are tricky episodes. Writers have a tremendous task in constructing the first episode of a series because they need to establish the world, build it, provide a sense for future episodes, and make the audience care about characters in 42+ minutes. The second and third episodes present a clearer idea of what a series will be long-term.

The "Pilot" for Ringer is miserable. The preview for episode two wasn't encouraging. I'll probably write about two more episodes for a better sense of the lay of the Ringer land. I'm interested in the structure of the episodes now that we're free of the pilot's strict structure and beat sheet.

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