Ringer 1.18 'That Woman's Never Been a Victim Her Entire Life'

I’m not sure Ringer’s attempt at repair work was 100% successful, especially since I’ve constantly made allusions to the fact that the show is really only entertaining because it’s so nuts. This week, after the explosive conclusion to last week’s episode, a more somber atmosphere permeated, and though it kind of felt a little out of character, there were a number of parts that, for the very first time, felt right.

In ‘That Woman’s Never Been a Victim Her Entire Life’ Bridget and Juliet are left devastated after Andrew’s run in with Siobhan’s hit man.  Meanwhile, Henry has difficulty dealing with Siobhan’s lies, and decided to put an end to them by asking her the truth. Juliet decides to come clean about her and Catherine’s plan.

The better parts of this episode played on the central theme of identity, and how both Siobhan and Bridget are starting to feel the strain of their little switcheroo. Siobhan realized that without Henry by her side, all of her meddling, and villainy meant nothing. I’m not sure this made all the sense in the world, especially considering how many times she’s lied to him, but for the first time I finally feel like her character’s motivations, and traits, are coming from a truthful place. After Andrew confessed his secret to her, Bridget has struggled with keeping hers, and felt the harsh reality of how much her lies could hurt her newfound family. Now that Juliet has found the courage to speak up, could Bridget finally have found the kick up the ass she needed to spill the beans to Andrew? I hope so, I’ve had enough fun with the implications of their scenario; I’m ready for some good hard fallout now.

Juliet has been one of the least likable members of the cast for quite some time now, evoking some pretty strong feelings of hatred in me, but I felt for her a lot here. It must be soul destroying to find yourself being shipped off, just after you’ve finally connected with the dipshits who want you gone. Her reasoning isn’t perfectly sound, but it’s understandable when you think about how a teenage girl would really react in a situation as crazy as this one. I’m glad the writers have been playing up on her and Bridget’s strengthening friendship. I’d like to see Juliet stick by Bridget when she finally comes clean, that is if Bridget can keep Juliet’s secret, which I’m not too sure she will.

The throttling plot twists seemed to have been sedated since last week, which is actually a good thing. Everything that happened seemed to be given time to work, particularly the search for Malcolm. He’s never been an integral part of the show, but having him killed off screen would have been a little bit of a cop-out. We’ve at least earned the right to see his dull ass get served. One story that didn’t work though was Andrew’s shooting, and subsequent recovery. I know this show likes to pull the wool over our eyes, and shock us when it shouldn’t, but come on; Andrew was never going to die. He’s pretty enmeshed in this show’s central plot, he’s far too important to be shunned off so quickly.

The phrase “too little, too late” comes to mind, but I’m glad recent events have been given the time to subside a little before we start the show’s final hurdle. Now can we please get Bridget and Siobhan face to face? I’ve had enough cop-outs to last me a lifetime.

7/10