Ringer, S1 Ep9 – Shut Up And Eat Your Bologna

Bridget is at a cafe with Malcolm. She’s amused and happy to see him “back on the coffee,” and Malcolm replies that it wouldn’t be rehab without an eight-cup-a-day habit. Heh. Guess you might as well trade legal stimulants for illegal drugs. Malcolm wants to know what she and Charlie were talking about. When Bridget tells him that she gave him the gun to dispose of it, Malcolm isn’t sure it was a good idea for her to give up her only protection. Bridget returns, “That’s not protection. That’s evidence.” True. She knows that evidence tied to Bridget will come back to her, and it won’t take them too long to figure out she’s not Siobhan. Well, it might take Machado a while, Bridget. Since he’s thick.

"Look, you're not your dead sister. How many times do I have to remind you?"

Malcolm concedes her point, but says she could have discussed it with him first. She just says she couldn’t keep it in the house, not now that Andrew is starting to trust her. Malcolm once again bursts her bubble, pointing out that since she’s pretending to be Andrew’s dead wife, any trust between them is an illusion and a fantasy. “This is not your life,” he finishes. Bridget knows that, but she tells him she’s determined to stay until she figures out who was trying to hurt her sister. Malcolm advises she go over everything for some clues she might have missed.

Bridget goes back to the apartment and looks through Siobhan’s stuff: her orange notebook, her dresser drawers, her closet drawer full of handbags and clutches — and finds an empty prescription bottle with Dr. Anabel Morris as the prescribing doctor. She decides to make an appointment. Yeah, because that couldn’t possibly go wrong!

Bridget arrives at the therapist’s office and is ushered in. She greets Dr. Morris and sits on the couch. Right off the bat, she’s made a mistake, apparently, since Dr. Morris points out that Siobhan usually sits in the other armchair. Whoops. Bridget says, “It felt like a couch kind of day.” Dr. Morris seems to accept that. She asks Bridget how she is, to which Bridget says, “I’m good! You know, the usual!” Dr. Morris stares at her, so Bridget adds Buffyishly, “And some of the less usual.” Heh. Nice save. The doc writes something in her notebook, and Bridget looks like she might be realizing why this wasn’t such a good idea in the first place. Then Dr. Morris says, “Now before we begin, I just have to ask: why are you calling yourself Siobhan Martin?” Uh oh. Does she know?!

"Nope, I'm not Cora anymore. I'm just plain old Bridge-- I mean, Siobhan!"

But of course, when Bridget asks for clarification after the commercial break, all the doctor meant was that Siobhan never used her real name when scheduling appointments. Huh. Bridget has a brief flashback to dinner with Tyler, when Tyler accusingly called her Cora. She repeats the name, and the therapist nods. “Discretion has always been very important to you,” she says. Bridget shrugs and says that this is the new Siobhan Martin, “no aliases required.” Whatever you say, Miss Stolen Identity. The doctor is just happy that ‘Siobhan’ has returned to therapy. Bridget is glad, too, and she remarks that she can’t even remember why she stopped. But Dr. Morris doesn’t take the bait, instead asking if Bridget wants to elaborate on things being “less usual.” She wants to know how Bridget’s life has been different since they last spoke. Ha. Bridget’s eyes widen as she considers the list. Then she comes out with it: “Well, things are better with Andrew, and I broke it off with Henry. And Juliet doesn’t hate me anymore.” Dr. Morris is impressed and surprised that ‘Siobhan’ has managed this turnaround outside of therapy, and wonders why her patient scheduled an appointment this morning, after all this time away. Bridget has to think about her answer. When prompted about what was “less usual” about this morning, she flashes back quickly to all of her smooches with Andrew and says in amazement, “Oh my God. I’m falling in love with Andrew!” Then she realizes how that sounds, and quickly adds, “All over again!” Heh. And also, duh!