Michael Desmond/The CWThat's all, folks!
The first season of Sarah Michelle Gellar's CW soap Ringer came to a dramatic close tonight and answered a lot of fans' burning questions along the way. Would Bridget come clean to Andrew? Is Henry the father of Siobhan's twins? Would the twins finally come face to face?!
We chatted with executive producers Eric Charmelo and Nicole Snyder about the (possibly series) finale, and we got some scoop on what viewers might see in season two. Plus, the duo revealed to us if they had any Ringer regrets...
"Siobhan wanted me dead?"
Yes, Ringer ended its first season (and possible series) run without having the two sisters come face to face. (Way to go out with a whimper!) Sure, Bridget unknowingly saved Siobhan by shooting Bodawai, but she didn't realize it was her supposedly dead sister she rescued until she saw surveillance footage of Siobhan. While some viewers were frustrated by Bridget being in the dark about Siobhan faking her death, Snyder defends the decision.
"If you think about it, because the audience is in on the secret, you're quick to think, 'Oh, Bridget might look stupid,' but the reality of their scenario is she thought her sister was dead. She thinks her sister is dead, so to think someone faked their death is a crazy concept. I don't think it makes Bridget look stupid," she explains. "I actually think any clue Bridget gets, she goes on the lead, she figures things out. She's living in the world of "my sister killed herself", so why would she think otherwise?"
At least Siobhan finally got a taste of her own medicine, with Henry stealing all of her money after she lied about the paternity of her twins. While it seems Henry is getting off scot-free right now, Charmelo teases that the murder of Tyler might come back to haunt him "next season."
As for Siobhan? It seems as though the twins may have a softening effect on her come season two. "Any time you have children you start to see the world again through their eyes. You shift perspective and I think it absolutely will inevitably impact her relationship with her sister," Charmelo says.
The bright spot of the uneven finale for us? The Bridget and Andrew relationship, which has actually been the highlight of the entire season. While Bridget is hoping to come clean to Andrew on her own terms, Henry's step-dad beats her to the punch, revealing Siobhan's affair with the struggling writer to Andrew.
Bridget hopes Andrew can love her for who she really is and Andrew tells her he does love her, but says he now knows it was all a lie. "I have so many regrets about what I've done. The one thing I have no regrets about is loving you and Juliet," Bridget says. "I stayed sober because I had two people's whose expectations I wanted to live up to. I'm so sorry...I'm a better person for loving you."
We held our collective breath waiting for Andrew's reponse and weren't happy when it finally came: "You need to leave." Also unforgiving? Juliet, who is heartbroken by the revelation, telling Bridget, "I knew you were too good to be true."
While the finale left Bridget and Andrew's relationship in a pretty dire state, fans of the couple should find comfort in this quote from Charmelo: "I think Bridget and Andrew is the one relationship that not only we sparked to, but fans sparked to. On top of that, the sisters' relationship, or lack thereof. And in season two, are they ever going to see eye to eye or are motivations going to change? I think those two relationships are the backbones of the show."
Looking back at the season, Charmelo says the writers are "for the most part" happy with how everything played out, but admits there are some things he would change. "Initially, we had set such a breakneck pace with the pilot that the objective was to make every episode thereafter maintain that pace," he says. "Because of that, I think we burnt through story very, very quickly and therefore burnt through characters sooner that we we would gave liked. A good example is Charlie."
Snyder adds, "I miss Gemma and I miss Charlie."
Viewers' expectations going into the series were rather high, given Gellar's highly-anticipated return to TV, and it's no secret that a lot of them were let down. However, the series seemed to have hit its stride in the final string of episodes. So why did viewers have trouble connecting in the beginning? "I think we challenged our viewers. We threaded in a lot of mysteries, a lot of conspiracies; you had to pay attention. I think, like any new show, it takes time to fall in love with the characters and get invested in their stories," Snyder says. Charmelo agrees, adding, "I think we just had a lot of set up in the beginning."
As for the stories they are most proud of, Charmelo says: "I loved how the whole who's trying to kill Siobhan and Bridget and trying to solve it played out. I think it played out in a really interesting, organic way." As for Snyder, "I'm very proud of how we told the story of the sisters' history and the death of Sean. I think that story is something to be proud of."
What did you think of Ringer's season finale? Are you hoping it comes back next season? What would you like to see happen in season two? You still have a chance to save Ringer from the depths of cancellation hell in our Save One Show competition!