The CW's Sarah Michelle Gellar vehicle started off quite… well, terribly… but something in me, and about 2 million other people, said there was reason to stick around. There's a certain
je ne sais quois about
Ringer that makes me anticipate every single Tuesday — and I can't exactly pinpoint why that is. It's the same as
Awkward. Let me preface by saying there's nothing smart, per sé, about
Ringer in the slightest. It's not careful with how it presents its story. And it certainly isn't set in a world with actual consequences staged in reality. There's no telling if The CW rushed in picking up
Ringer because of Gellar (and her supposed rabid
Buffy fan base) or because they knew where the showrunners were going and thought it would be good. I'm betting the former. But
Ringer, a show that's at least a decade older in cast than any of the other shows on the network, is the most compelling new show of the season (tied with
Revenge for me).
I've complained about music scores, I've groaned at the visual effects, and I've demanded more intense writing and directing. But I've also — and those who have read my reviews can vouch for all of this — mentioned endlessly that there's something that keeps me coming back for more. As I mentioned, I can't exactly put my finger on it. But now that
Ringer has gotten a full-season pickup, aside from a review of the latest episode coming tomorrow, here are three reasons (just a few) I'm
there every Tuesday at 9pm, in no particular order:
1. Sarah Michelle Gellar is good at playing two characters
I've never watched a television series, short from a Univision telenovela, where the lead had to play two parts. (Well, actually, let me clarify: Anna Torv on
Fringe kicks ass at doing this. And she not only has played two characters but also a "possessed" one, so I bow down to her. But these two characters are in the same world and interact with each other a lot more.) And Sarah Michelle Gellar knocks it out of the park. Some have told me that her
Buffy-isms come through and they can't take either character seriously, but thankfully I never truly watched that show.
Gellar provides these subtle differences that make knowing which character is onscreen undeniable to the audience. Even her voice has this slight change in inflection when she's either Siobhan or Bridget. And Gellar isn't just playing two characters.
No, she's playing both characters in two different time periods as well as one who's pretending to be the other currently. That's not exactly an easy feat.
Gellar, as well as everyone else's, acting remains one of the best individual aspects of the show and it doesn't seem like that will be changing any time soon. …
Read reasons two and three at NoWhiteNoise.com!
