A first glance at the trailer promoting the premiere of Ringer, one of the new Fall shows debuted for a September airing, I thought, “naw.†Partly because I’m a fan of Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, her breakout television series of 1997 that led to her becoming a Hollywood “A†list celebrity, and partly because I still harboured ideas that a young teen Buffy, ‘slayer’ girl would reunite with her still kind hearted Vamp love, Angel, and the two of them would remain blissfully happy on the huntdown for vampires and demons to destroy and be made an example of.
Many fans might recall an earlier time in the life of Sarah Michelle Gellar. She was a fresh faced 16 year old, cast in the role of Erica Kane’s daughter, Kendall Hart, in the long running soap opera, All My Children.
Reality check! Sarah Michelle Gellar aka All My Children’s Kendall aka Buffy the Vampire Slayer aka Mrs. Freddie Prinze Jr and 34 year old mom to baby girl Charlotte, is no longer a teen and has moved on to another television drama I’m proposing will become a big hit for the elusive actress. Ultimately, the realization that Buffy needed to grow up and that Angel would go on to do bigger and better shows- BONES, airing on the CW Network, led me to watch Ringer.
In Ringer, Sarah Michelle Gellar is cast in dual roles. She is Bridget, a former stripper and drug addict who runs to the only safe haven she knows; the home of her twin sister, Siobhan, after fleeing a witness protection program and the man she was set to testify against in a witnessed murder.
Gellar, as Bridget takes a bit of getting used to after seeing the actress play stronger characters in prior performances. As Bridget, Gellar is the timid, trusting, and oftentimes, clueless victim, trying to set right all wrongs of her sister’s life that has become her life after Siobhan mysteriously drowns.
Playing the bitchy, evil, and conniving Siobhan, Sarah Michelle Gellar leans toward giving viewers a stellar performance. Playing dual roles cannot be a catwalk; yet the actress seems to make this transition believable. Ringer, premiering on the CW Network in America, was recently picked up for the full season and deemed the network’s best new drama!
I will continue to watch and hope that Ringer finds its audience because the popularity of a new show tends to wan as we are f
ickle sometimes in our viewing choices -Â remember Nurse HawthoRNe?
Anyway, for Buffy fans, I leave you with a juicy titbit…
In the mid season finale of Ringer, you see an original cast member from Buffy the Vampire Slayer days.
Amber Benson who played Tara on Buffy can be seen playing Tara, a snitch and stripper in a recent episode of Ringer. Her brief appearance is totally, brief. But, that’s the power of television.
Happy Holidays!
Editor’s Note:
In the UK, Ringer premiered on Sky Atlantic in Autumn 2011.
Image reproduced from screened.com