Ringer, S1E1 — Pilot

Next day must be Thursday, because Bridget is arriving at the hotel where Henry said they should meet. Bridget says she’s not here to sleep with him, and although it didn’t bother her before, the fact that he’s her best friend’s husband bothers her now. When Henry asks why (and okay, he looks really good in this scene, but still: slimeball), she says it’s because Gemma is onto them. They should lie low for a while. Henry tries for some innuendo on that line, but Bridget stops him. “If you really love me,” she says, “you’ll stay away.”

Andrew, meanwhile, is arguing with Juliet back at the apartment. “This is the third time!” he yells. He’s not putting up with this crap from her anymore. She could have gone to jail, he says over his daughter’s protests. “And did you ever stop to think what your behavior is doing to this family?”

“What family?” Juliet says, but not snottily. Sadly, instead. “Siobhan hates me, and you’re never around.” Then she says she’s going to Mom’s, but Andrew tells her that’s not an option. “Right, Daddy,” Juliet says. “Just throw it in my face that she doesn’t want me, either.” Aw. She may be a brat, but that’s still not cool. Andrew tries to call after her, but Juliet has already stormed down the hall.

Bridget arrives back just as this is happening — aaaand another mirror use (drinking game, anyone?). Andrew barely speaks to her, so she sighs and answers her cell phone. It’s Dr. Marks, who is wondering why she didn’t show up for her appointment this afternoon. Bridget, looking annoyed, says she must have forgotten to write it in her book. Heh. Way to be organized, Siobhan. But then Dr. Marks continued that her bloodwork came back positive. “Is that a bad thing?” Bridget asks.

Oh Bridget, you really didn't know your sister at all.

The doctor quickly says no, and then congratulates her: she’s about four weeks along. As Andrew walks back into the room, Bridget stammers, “I– I’m pregnant?” Uh, way to go blurting that out in front of your not-really-husband. And now I’m really, really hoping they figure out a way of not having Bridget go the fake pregnancy route. Glee illustrated very well how that does not work. I guess she could “lose” the baby or something. Meanwhile, Bridget walks into the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror (drink!) and whisper, “Siobhan, what did you do?” Because that’s not a cliched line or anything.

It’s night, and the Martins, Gemma, and Henry are all at some kind of club. Gemma is congratulating Bridget and saying that must be why she wasn’t drinking. Bridget looks absolutely stunning, and Andrew is smiling. Henry, on the other hand, can barely paste on a smile. Gemma says that’s just because his editor didn’t like his latest pages. Henry manages, with bad grace, to shake Andrew’s hand. “Thank you,” Andrew says. “We’re both very happy.”

Andrew takes Gemma with him so they can both refill their glasses. Henry immediately glares at Bridget, and they walk off to a slightly more private corner. Bridget apologizes for how the news came out, and Henry growls that the baby is his. He and Siobhan have slept together “a thousand times”, while he knows Siobhan has only slept with Andrew maybe twice in the past few months. Delightful. He says he can’t just stand by and congratulate Andrew when he knows the truth.

“What do you want me to do?” Bridget asks.

“Leave him,” Henry says quickly. “If you don’t, we’re through.” Bridget has to choose between Andrew or him. Um, those ultimatums rarely work well on TV, Henry — and it doesn’t go well for him here, either. As Bridget walks back to her ‘husband’, Henry stares after her, looking sad.

Back at the Martin apartment, Andrew is talking to someone on his cell phone in a low voice: “Look, I know we negotiated that, but I want out,” he says. When Bridget walks in, he makes his voice a more normal volume and says they’ll finish this later. Hmmmmmm. Bridget has brought in a tray of tea, and the two sit down. “Do you think Henry was acting strange last night?” Andrew asks.

Managing to seem casual enough, Bridget says those artist types are always so temperamental. Andrew nods, not looking completely convinced, so Bridget changes the subject and asks what Juliet and he were so upset about. Andrew tells her she got kicked out of boarding school, and when Bridget asks for what, he takes something that’s obviously drug paraphernalia of some kind out of his pocket. Bridget scoffs a little. “You’re kidding me.”

“Tell me about it,” Andrew replies.

“Well, she can’t stay here,” Bridget declares, and then tries to soften it. “… Not with the baby coming.”

Andrew protests that Juliet has nowhere else to go, calling Bridget “Shiv”. Cute that he has a nickname for her, although it looks a bit unfortunate in print. (“Siobh” just looks too weird, though.) Bridget is understandably unhappy about this whole development.

In East Hampton, cops have discovered the storage locker Bridget used to hide her stuff after the boat incident, due to some kids trying to break into the lockers. Machado has been called in because among the items she hid there is the letter Siobhan wrote to her sister. Machado remembers how Bridget-as-Siobhan said the sisters hadn’t had any contact in years. “I wonder what else she’s lying about,” he mutters. Quite a bit, I’d say.

That night, when Bridget leaves her local NA meeting, she gets a call from Gemma saying to meet her at the loft — she thinks she knows who Henry is having an affair with. Uh oh. So is Gemma in on it?

And now we’re back to the beginning of the episode, and Gemma is of course nowhere to be found at the loft. Bridget is attacked, the guy knocks her to the floor, Bridget yells that he has the wrong girl, and then she manages to get free for a few moments. The two of them crash through some drywall, and while her attacker is stunned, Bridget reaches for the conveniently located gun that she stashed earlier. “I’m not Bridget!” she cries as the attacker rises — and then she shoots him. She’s horrified at what she’s done, but she pulls off his mask. It’s not anyone we recognize. Then she looks through his pockets and finds a photo — labeled “Siobhan Martin.” Ooh, twisty.

Yep - Siobhan isn't dead. Surprise (or not)!

But that’s not the last twist of the episode. We cut to an apartment in Paris, where a very much alive Siobhan is sitting on a couch and smoking (hope she doesn’t know about the baby, because she should really stop doing that). Her phone rings — and it’s the final mirror shot of the episode as she picks it up. “Siobhan, we have a problem,” a man’s voice says. Siobhan looks icy as she shuts it off and looks at her reflection. The end.

Well, this certainly had its issues, and it’s certainly very soapy, but I liked it overall. I’ll be looking forward to seeing where the show goes.