Monday 7 May 2012

TV: Ringer (S1) (6/10)

I'll hold my hands up, this show is something of a guilty pleasure of mine, which may have something to do with my old teenage liking for Sarah Michelle Gellar.


Set in upper class New York, Ringer's story revolves around two identical twins both played by Gellar. On the run to avoid being killed, Bridget takes her sister Siobhan's place in wealthy New York in order to stay alive when she believes Siobhan has killed herself. However, as it pretty quickly turns out, by doing this she unwittingly inserts herself into her sister's devilish schemes.


The story is dizzying with twists and turns and it can be slightly convoluted with the same actress playing two roles on top of flashbacks of each role. It can take time at the beginning of a scene to work out which character is being portrayed by Gellar. Helped at first with Siobhan hiding out in Paris, this challenge only increases when she moves back to New York.

Weighing in at a ridiculous 22 episodes, Ringer is definitely several episodes too long yet as the story lines finally begin to be wrapped up towards the end of the season, there are some strong episodes and twists aplenty as the scheming and backstabbing takes its toll on several characters. Serving as executive producer, Gellar managed to recruit a strong supporting cast including Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell (Richard from Lost). Ringer features a very contemporary soundtrack which fits well with its glamorous New York suburbanite settings.

There were times I doubted how much scope remained in the story for any future seasons but with the final revelations the writers set the scene for a second season of sibling squabbles. However, the future of this show remains in doubts as a second season is yet to be confirmed.




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