Last night was arguably one of the most anticipated premieres of the Fall 2011 TV season. For months we have been hearing about Ringer, the new show on the CW starring Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame, Starring alongside her is….Sarah Michelle Gellar of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. Yes, that’s right. SMG takes on double duty as Bridget and Siobhan, sisters who have been estranged for years. Bridget is a recovering alcoholic and former stripper who comes to visit Siobhan, who has a seemingly perfect life in New York. They have a happy albeit brief reunion, cut short when Siobhan seemingly commits suicide by jumping off of a boat. Feeling like there’s no other choice, Bridget takes over Siobhan’s life (something that is actually quite convenient because Bridget is on the run, being a witness to a murder). However, it turns out her sister’s life isn’t quite so perfect. Her husband doesn’t seem to love her, she’s sleeping with her best friend’s husband and she’s pregnant (no clue who the father is yet). And to top it all off, it seems as though there’s somebody after Siobhan, as Bridget was attacked in her unfinished apartment. Bridget shoots the person and escapes and the episode ends with quite the twist: Siobhan is very much alive, and it seems that she is plotting against her sister.
So, my overall thoughts on the show were fairly positive. I’m a big Sarah Michelle Gellar fan, so that alone was going to be a huge draw for me. The show had a slightly serious tone due to the fact that it was originally intended for CBS, but now that it’s on the CW we’ll see how it goes. Does it need to be absolutely frivolous? No, but it also doesn’t need to take itself so seriously either. It can stand to lighten up a little, but in my opinion it’s pretty good as is. I don’t see it becoming another teen show that the CW is famous for, if anything this gives the network an opportunity to start re-branding themselves. They can move away from being a teen show network an become a more diverse channel, showing a mix of things and catering to a wide array of audiences. People are wondering how the switched twin concept can work for more than one season, but I think if done right they can pull it off. Other complaints have included too many twists and turns, bad CGI and the like but to be honest, I didn’t notice anything like that. I thought the plot moved along nicely and was not confusing in any way nor did I notice any bad CGI. Perhaps because the show seems to take itself so seriously in this first viewing, people feel the need to be serious about it as well? I say let go of serious expectations and go into it with the mindset that it’s simply an entertaining way to spend an hour.
So do I think the show works? Yes. Is it worth watching? Absolutely. I’m already anxious to see what happens next, wondering what is going to happen to Bridget and she delves further into Siobhan’s world. Whether you like it or you don’t, one thing is for certain: it’s nice to see Sarah Michelle Gellar gracing our television screens once again.