ML SO1EO7 "The Ringer" CW

[moonnoir]

Mick meets someone who bears a striking resemblance to someone from his past....his wife Coraline!! Is Beth jealous?? Tune in tonight and find out, 9 pm on the CW!

[AttilaTheNun]

Mick meets someone who bears a striking resemblance to someone from his past....his wife Coraline!! Is Beth jealous?? Tune in tonight and find out, 9 pm on the CW!

Jealous? Why on earth would she be jealous?

[Riley]

Mick meets someone who bears a striking resemblance to someone from his past....his wife Coraline!! Is Beth jealous?? Tune in tonight and find out, 9 pm on the CW!

Jealous? Why on earth would she be jealous?

She was horribly...

[AttilaTheNun]

Mick meets someone who bears a striking resemblance to someone from his past....his wife Coraline!! Is Beth jealous?? Tune in tonight and find out, 9 pm on the CW!

Jealous? Why on earth would she be jealous?

She was horribly...

Bu she can't yet admit it, even to herself ...

[John T. Folden]

This is another episode with a great ending to it.... so much promise in the Coraline character here and in "Fleur de Lis" and then they go and screw up her character in #12, by which time the wheels are finally coming off...

[Riley]

This is another episode with a great ending to it.... so much promise in the Coraline character here and in "Fleur de Lis" and then they go and screw up her character in #12, by which time the wheels are finally coming off...

I always thought that this episode confirmed my theory. The writers had set this up so that Beth and Mick, Sarah and Josef, and Coraline and Mick all echoed each other relationship-wise. There was plenty to work with with Coraline here, I agree.

The last four episodes the wheels were completely gone. The aching tragedy of relationships was gone. Someone - I assume Joel Silver who took up as show runner, along with Gabrielle G. Stanton and Harry Werksman who eventually ended up with the title, just skittered off in an entirely different direction. They lost the characters' identities in some cases and in the case of Coraline - just lost her entirely. Its a shame - the original 12 episodes were intricately layered and complex; it made them that much more fun to watch.

[John T. Folden]

Its a shame - the original 12 episodes were intricately layered and complex; it made them that much more fun to watch.

Really, I thought the show went creatively bankrupt after episode 10. Up through that episode, Moonlight moved at a really exciting pace and was setting up a lot of new twists to explore and tension between all the characters. Beginning with episode 11, the show then starts to unravel at a spectacular pace... Almost every single episode does something to tarnish what came before. I know a lot of people talk about the different "feel" of the last 4 episodes, and it is certainly there in structure, but the loss of direction starts well before the writer's strike. It's no wonder if CBS were feeling nervous about showrunners.

Spoiler

Episode 11, Josh gets killed. They obviously aren't going to put M&B together yet they've eliminated a character in the love triangle (or quadrangle?) not even half way through the season. Now what?
Episode 12, Coraline suddenly goes from a brilliantly batshit crazy antagonist to a sane, sympathetic character. The show just lost its main villian...figuratively and literally.
Episode 13, where the creators suddenly go "Oh noes! We killed Josh!" and introduce Josh Mark II (Talbot). Meanwhile, Mick is all "Coraline who?" as the writers rush to brush every exciting thing that happened to these characters completely under the rug in the attempt of a mini-relaunch and a move away from serial story-telling towards "bottle" oriented episodes.
Episode 14, Beth's goodie-goodie image is destroyed and Mick sees more sunlight than most of the cast of Baywatch.
Episode 15, a) spends the whole episode putting forth the idea that Mick might be a grandfather - which would have opened up interesting character exploration for future episodes - when he's not, b) pushes Beth towards Talbot, and c), also, doesn't feel like Moonlight at all. I think the writers had been watching New Amsterdam.
Episode 16, probably the only really forward moving episodes since 10, wisely puts M&B together at the end just in case the show gets cancelled.

[Riley]

Its a shame - the original 12 episodes were intricately layered and complex; it made them that much more fun to watch.

Really, I thought the show went creatively bankrupt after episode 10. Up through that episode, Moonlight moved at a really exciting pace and was setting up a lot of new twists to explore and tension between all the characters. Beginning with episode 11, the show then starts to unravel at a spectacular pace... Almost every single episode does something to tarnish what came before. I know a lot of people talk about the different "feel" of the last 4 episodes, and it is certainly there in structure, but the loss of direction starts well before the writer's strike. It's no wonder if CBS were feeling nervous about showrunners.

Spoiler

Episode 11, Josh gets killed. They obviously aren't going to put M&B together yet they've eliminated a character in the love triangle (or quadrangle?) not even half way through the season. Now what?
Episode 12, Coraline suddenly goes from a brilliantly batshit crazy antagonist to a sane, sympathetic character. The show just lost its main villian...figuratively and literally.
Episode 13, where the creators suddenly go "Oh noes! We killed Josh!" and introduce Josh Mark II (Talbot). Meanwhile, Mick is all "Coraline who?" as the writers rush to brush every exciting thing that happened to these characters completely under the rug in the attempt of a mini-relaunch and a move away from serial story-telling towards "bottle" oriented episodes.
Episode 14, Beth's goodie-goodie image is destroyed and Mick sees more sunlight than most of the cast of Baywatch.
Episode 15, a) spends the whole episode putting forth the idea that Mick might be a grandfather - which would have opened up interesting character exploration for future episodes - when he's not, b) pushes Beth towards Talbot, and c), also, doesn't feel like Moonlight at all. I think the writers had been watching New Amsterdam.
Episode 16, probably the only really forward moving episodes since 10, wisely puts M&B together at the end just in case the show gets cancelled.

Nice recap - and I can't disagree with any of it. If you look closely you can see the subtle shifts that were made with each passing showrunner. Granted it got rub-your-nose-in-it blatant with 13 - 16, but the problems were there all along. They were just gradually getting worse and harder to recoup from.

I suspect that Josh died because Jordan Belfi saw the end coming (just my guess). Same with Shannyn Sossamon in episode 12. I could be wrong but they could see the writing on the wall and had begun hunting for other work. We know that both found other projects really quickly.

If they had really intended putting Mick and Beth together I think they would have done it in the beach epi. I think by doing it in epi 16 it simply served as a safety valve for the inevitable - cancellation. Even Alex had always stated in interviews that the second they got together, the show would be over. We, as people, look for the happy ending but a happy Mick would not have been the Mick we fell in love with. For the Mick we fell in love with happiness was always just out of reach.

[foolforlove]

Aww, guys....these postings are making me sad with nostagia. Nice job JTF on the "wheels coming off" recaps.

Spoiler

I didn't have as much as a problem with the Josh dying thing as much as I had with the Beth suddenly in love with him again thing. I almost wish she had continued to pine for Mick, her guilt at Josh's death would have made a more angst-filled and reasonable drama.

After episode twelve, I didn't recognize the show (or Mick - AOL must have bought protein powder in bulk during the break).

Spoiler

Beth looked awful and I hated human Mick.

Anyway....about this episode, my favorite moment in the whole show was when Mick accused Beth of being jealous. His pleasure at this is evident and her denial is so very human and real. Lovely moment.

[John T. Folden]

I suspect that Josh died because Jordan Belfi saw the end coming (just my guess). Same with Shannyn Sossamon in episode 12. I could be wrong but they could see the writing on the wall and had begun hunting for other work. We know that both found other projects really quickly.

I don't think it had anything to do with seeing the end coming. IIRC, Belfi was rather surprised he was being killed off and rather disappointed by it - even saying that if they were going to kill him off, they should have brought him back as a vampire who became obsessed with Beth. Sort of a male Coraline, as it were... which wouldn't have been a bad idea given what they were doing to her.

[John T. Folden]

Aww, guys....these postings are making me sad with nostagia. Nice job JTF on the "wheels coming off" recaps.

Spoiler

I didn't have as much as a problem with the Josh dying thing as much as I had with the Beth suddenly in love with him again thing. I almost wish she had continued to pine for Mick, her guilt at Josh's death would have made a more angst-filled and reasonable drama.

I think that was a by-product of two things, a) the speed at which the story was moving in early episodes, and b) the fact they had no show bible to steer them along. As a result, Beth's feelings are all stop and start, jerky emotional points that feel rather empty or unconvincing. It should have played out over 2 or 3 seasons (had they the chance), not 10 episodes.