Moonlight Episode Discussion - Ep 7: The Ringer

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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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eris wrote:
wpgrace wrote: Mick's been on this 20 year dry spell
That ends in the shower... :whistle:
(Or would have if a certain nosy blonde with bad timing hadn't shown up -- the ONLY time she actually knocked before barging in.) :slaphead:

Well if she had barged in on THAT, his little "it's not what you think" lie... I mean line ....would NOT have worked even a little bit...

Tho of course, this all happens in FdL... tho Eris I agree with you, The Ringer SHOULD'VE been titled Fleur de Lis...

But then, what would FdL have been titled? Wet??
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by coco »

wpgrace wrote:That's the cool thing about this ep, Sister... and you're right coco... suddenly a triangle...

Mick's been on this 20 year dry spell and now suddenly he's got 2 girls.

We've chatted about how fascinating it is that he is so rattled in this ep... and we've not gotten to the end yet, but it ends on such an interesting note in this regard.

He DOES have 2 girls and he has some level of interest AND history with them both. And that rattles him, I think, as much as the concept that the woman he murdered is come back. He had made his little solitary life, had kinda emerged a little, with Beth, and now smack... there's Cora too and he's full out of the monk closet.

And of course, part of the reason Cora has suddenly shown herself (cause we'll find out in FdL that she's been taking pics all this time) is that Cora now must step in or risk MickBeth going too far... if she herself will still have a shot with Mick, she knew it was now or never... or now or wait until Beth dies a mortal death anyway... so Cora also managed, as Mick says at the very beginning of the ep, to appear just in the nick of time, as Mick was starting to feel like he and BEth had "something."
This is true Grace. With the eps that have gone before, Mick & Beth had been building towards something and now with the appearance of Coraline, it kind of set them back and suddenly everything was up in the air and poor Mick was in the middle of these two woman trying to figure things out. I think you're right that Coraline had to make her move before Mick & Beth moved on any further together.

What made this episode uncomfortable for me is that we knew that Coraline was a distraction to Mick and a definite cause for concern when it came to Mick & Beth's relationship. She was a very real problem for them and I was actually never sure how things were going to turn out :confusing:
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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coco wrote:
wpgrace wrote:That's the cool thing about this ep, Sister... and you're right coco... suddenly a triangle...

Mick's been on this 20 year dry spell and now suddenly he's got 2 girls.

We've chatted about how fascinating it is that he is so rattled in this ep... and we've not gotten to the end yet, but it ends on such an interesting note in this regard.

He DOES have 2 girls and he has some level of interest AND history with them both. And that rattles him, I think, as much as the concept that the woman he murdered is come back. He had made his little solitary life, had kinda emerged a little, with Beth, and now smack... there's Cora too and he's full out of the monk closet.

And of course, part of the reason Cora has suddenly shown herself (cause we'll find out in FdL that she's been taking pics all this time) is that Cora now must step in or risk MickBeth going too far... if she herself will still have a shot with Mick, she knew it was now or never... or now or wait until Beth dies a mortal death anyway... so Cora also managed, as Mick says at the very beginning of the ep, to appear just in the nick of time, as Mick was starting to feel like he and BEth had "something."
This is true Grace. With the eps that have gone before, Mick & Beth had been building towards something and now with the appearance of Coraline, it kind of set them back and suddenly everything was up in the air and poor Mick was in the middle of these two woman trying to figure things out. I think you're right that Coraline had to make her move before Mick & Beth moved on any further together.

What made this episode uncomfortable for me is that we knew that Coraline was a distraction to Mick and a definite cause for concern when it came to Mick & Beth's relationship. She was a very real problem for them and I was actually never sure how things were going to turn out :confusing:

Ah! Well for me the ep was a bit different... as I've mentioned ad nauseum... this was one of my first ML eps, so I didn't realize MickBeth were supposed to be a couple and so did not have an investment in that. So I just saw in this one the love triangle... which I thought was interesting, because he's a good looking guy and why wouldn't he have more than one woman interested? I had seen part of BC... and while Beth had come onto him, she sorta took it back the next morning. I hadn't see the parking lot kiss yet... and all either of them said all thru the Ringer is, Beth has a boyfriend, I have a boyfriend, boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend... so it looked to me that Mick was up for grabs...

Plus the two women are so different; I found it intriguing that he was interested in 2 such different ladies, literally dark and light, night and day... and as we've said, that whole rattled and uncool thing that he descends into in this ep is just intriguing. I was willing to just let the relationships play out...

And I have a question for those of you who had been watching the show all along... I had NO idea whether Morgan was really Coraline in this ep... I saw the flashbacks in this ep, but hadn't seen any from before or heard any of those early conversations about Coraline... when she goes home and takes off that makeup... were you all surprised or had you pretty much figured Morgan was Cora?
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by eris »

I can't see anyone who's seen pretty much any tv series in the last thirty years being surprised that Morgan was Coraline. If anything, the writers laid it on too thick; there was no real doubt about who she was.

The whole time it was "Well, we know Morgan is... [throw in a sudden reminder about Coraline!!!!]"

She'd have given him more doubts if she had showed up human and claimed to be Coraline while the show provided doubts as to whether or not she was Morgan.
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by SirenSong »

I don't think it was a surprise at all to the viewers that Morgan was Coraline. Maybe the writers intended for it to be a surprise given that tattoo reveal at the end, but I think we all saw it coming. It was just as interesting having Mick confused and troubled by it that the lack of drama about that one point seemed irrelevant.

I've always questioned the motive for Cora making her appearance at this point in time. If the reason is that Mick and Beth were getting too close and she needed to step in before it went too far, I'm not sure I buy that. Mick hated being a vampire and wished every day to be human again. Cora knew that. So given that info, I'm not sure that she would have ever bought the idea that he would eventually turn Beth into what he hated. Sooooo....if turning wasn't on the table, so to speak, why not just wait it out? Vamps are eternal. Eventually Beth would die off and Cora could then make her move to reclaim what she still thought of as hers.

Just a thought. ;)
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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I always thought that Coraline coming back right at this moment was because she was human - and therefore thought that she had a better chance of getting Mick back. I'm sure that Beth's growing closeness was some kind of precipitating factor but, all her work on the cure had finally paid off and she was putting her plan in motion.

Become human; promise Mick humanity; get him back.

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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by eris »

If I had to guess, I'd say Coraline and Cynthia had been playing around with the cure (per Lance's "We've tried this already" in the Mortal cure), she got in over her head with the family and went to the one person she had a chance of getting protection from.

Only, being Coraline, she couldn't just walk upto him and say "Hi, Mick, I'm back." She had to put way too much thought into it. (Kind of like Mick putting too much thought into outing Morgan rather than taking a more direct approach) - yep... made for each other.
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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eris wrote:If I had to guess, I'd say Coraline and Cynthia had been playing around with the cure (per Lance's "We've tried this already" in the Mortal cure), she got in over her head with the family and went to the one person she had a chance of getting protection from.

Only, being Coraline, she couldn't just walk upto him and say "Hi, Mick, I'm back." She had to put way too much thought into it. (Kind of like Mick putting too much thought into outing Morgan rather than taking a more direct approach) - yep... made for each other.
:giggle:

OK...at risk of sounding stoopid... I was a little surprised Morgan was Cora... BUT, recall I hadn't seen the show before and so, for all I knew, this actress who was playing Morgan had been hired just as a guest star on this one episode... and thus also played in the Cora flashbacks. There hadn't been any Cora flashbacks in BC, so I didn't know she was a regular... and I kinda didn't believe Mick wouldn't recognize FOR SURE his damn wife. So the fact that HE seemed unsure about it... I thought the guest star was literally just a ringer... and throw into the mix to create this triangle thingey...

And Red... yes Cora had turned human, but she had the opportunity to PICK the timing for when she took the cure... I have assumed she took it NOW because she was hoping to bust up MickBeth. She had to figure Beth was no real competition for her... Cora did not lack in the self-esteem department... So if what Mick wanted (and was exhibiting that he wanted by dogging Beth around) was a human girl, a human girl is what he'd get... Only Cora had to figure HER version of a human girl was cooler...
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by GuardianAngel »

No, I wasn't surprised that Morgan was Coraline. There were way too many hints dropped. Cora was seriously messing with his head.

I had a different perspective on her coming back. I thought she had revenge in mind. She was going to play around with Mick for a while. I don't know if Beth was actually in danger - Cora's look at the end of Ringer makes me think she might have been. But in the process of what she had planned (which somehow incorporated the cure - maybe she meant to dangle it in front of him) she realized she still loved him and wanted him back.
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by redwinter101 »

I'm still going with, she was back for Mick. Everything else was circumstance or convenience.

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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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redwinter101 wrote:I'm still going with, she was back for Mick. Everything else was circumstance or convenience.

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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by coco »

I must admit that I always just thought she came back to get Mick. She didn't like seeing him with Beth and happy which he clearly was becoming with her. Coraline wanted Mick for herself and made her move.
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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eris wrote:If I had to guess, I'd say Coraline and Cynthia had been playing around with the cure (per Lance's "We've tried this already" in the Mortal cure), she got in over her head with the family and went to the one person she had a chance of getting protection from.

Only, being Coraline, she couldn't just walk upto him and say "Hi, Mick, I'm back." She had to put way too much thought into it. (Kind of like Mick putting too much thought into outing Morgan rather than taking a more direct approach) - yep... made for each other.
Interesting theory on why she returned, at least in picking that moment, which would explain Lance showing-up soon after. She knew Mick would protect her no matter what had transpired.

And the game-playing, indirect approach was apparently their dance. Maybe that's a little something Mick picked-up from Cora. :snicker:
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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

Post by GuardianAngel »

I feel like I've been doing a lot of apologizing lately. I AM sorry to have been so delinquent on my updates. RL has been a B*@#h. This is a nice, long update for you.


Mick does as he told Beth, he goes to find a body at the fire. First he clears himself with the guard, saying that he's working with California Fidelity as one of their investigators. Mick asks about the arson rumors but the guard can't comment and reminds Mick not to touch anything.

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Mick goes in to look around.

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He uses his smelling ability to sniff out a body.

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He pulls up some timber and finds a hand. When he touches it, it disintegrates.

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Since there IS a body, Mick's next stop is at Morgan's to check for prints and to let her know he's given the photos to the police.

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Mick goes ahead and opens his kit and gets to work. He wants to dust for prints before Homicide gets there.

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As Mick is lifting prints, Morgan settles herself at her computer and puts on some music. It's "Just Like A Woman". Mick stops to comment. He asks how she knew that was one of his favorite songs.

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She says it's like when you feel you really know someone that you've just met. Mick asks how that happens. Morgan says it's just one of those great mysteries.

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Mick responds by saying 'passed life maybe'. Yeah, maybe.

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She asks if he had any luck. Yes, he got a clean print. But it will only help if the thief is in the system.

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Mick sees the pictures on the computer from the fire. He comments that it's hard to believe she caught it on camera. She pull the picture up for a closer look and asks if the woman was identified. Not yet. She was just ashes, some bone.

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Referring to the fire, Morgan says it's got to be the worst way to die. Mick stares at the photo and flashes back to when Coraline died in flames.

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Morgan goes on. Imagine the pain before you actually die; hair singing, skin blistering. She shudders.

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Mick says it's a bad way to go, no doubt. Morgan laughs. Bad? It's horrific!

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Mick leans in to see the computer screen as he spots something. There's something on the murdered girl's back. Morgan magnifies the photo and asks what is it. It's a tattoo. Flashback to when Mick first meets Coraline at her party.

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As Mick's band is packing up to leave Coraline beckons him outside, asking him if he wants to get wet. Mick says she doesn't even know his name. Coraline asks if she needs to. Mick comes in closer and says maybe she should come to one of his real gigs. She laughs and tells him this WAS one of his real gigs.

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Coraline stands with her back to Mick and asks him to give her a hand. He unzips her dress, revealing a tattoo and the rest of her as well. Mick's hungry eyes takes it all in. (Ain't That Just Like A Woman plays in the background).

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Coraline steps out of her dress and goes into the pool. Mick's riveted.

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Back to the present. Morgan is commenting on the tattoo, that it could be good, a way to identify her. She asks if he's sure it's a tattoo. Yes. It's a fleur de lis.

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Re: The Ringer (Episode Seven)

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Very intimate scene between "Morgan" and Mick; it FEELS like an intimate moment between a couple.

And if I felt stooped asking y'all if you knew, when you watched for the first time, if Morgan WAS really Cora (cause I wasn't sure), just think how stoopid Mick is gonna feel a couple eps later... seeing as how he knows her in the biblical sense and all... AND she's playing his favorite song AND describing to him in some detail how it feels to burn to death. Which is not a bit of esoterica that all of us share. Josef hasn't said it about him yet, but he's really NOT thinking... you know... with his actual brain... tho you'd think that other body part might start with the warning signals about now...

Tho he looks good, doesn't he?
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