5x11 “Triangle”Episode Rating = 4
This ep is hard to rate, given that my feelings on it depend on whether I watch it as a single entity or in the context of S5. On its own, it’s an enjoyable if below-average bit of fluff, but when seen sequentially, it’s a breath of fresh air after a turgid trio of ‘all angst, all the time’ episodes. In fact, this was probably the first time since “Buffy Vs Dracula” that I’d laughed while watching the show, and the dialogue has a zeal that’s been long missing – making this ep feel more like classic “Buffy” than many of those that surround it. However, the series’ true classic comedy shows are able to support their humour with a meaningful theme and substantial character development, and “Triangle” doesn’t have either of those. Instead, it’s a piece of amiable filler, but one that’s more than welcome at this point in the season.
What I Liked about “Triangle”:- Overall, the dialogue was much better than it has been. It felt like writer Jane Espenson had put effort in to making sure there was humour to every scene, and it made this ep entertaining on a moment-by-moment basis that hadn’t been present since “Fool For Love”.
- Though it does cause the occasional enjoyment lockout, I’m now okay with the season’s internal continuity. It’s cool how Willow and Anya’s argument last episode built for the events here, and that this one set up material for the next two in the context of its plot.
- The Dawn scenes are all nice, and her conversation with Buffy was good, with meaningful discussion of the Riley issue and some worthwhile character progression. I’m choosing to interpret this as the calm before the storm in “Blood Ties”.
- Olaf was a very silly character, but his dialogue was consistently humorous (“Haha! PUNY RECEPTACLE!”), and his lumbering, over-the-top approach befitted his hulking stance. As strange as it was, the reveal that he and Anya had dated was hilarious, and there was a twisted nobility to his ‘rewarding’ Xander’s fighting by letting him decide which of Willow and Anya would live.
- Tara’s brief scenes were sweet, and I really liked her talk with Buffy as they left class. There’s always a novelty to seeing her interact with people besides Willow, and such moments let us see the character from a different perspective.
- Parts of the Willow/Anya bickering are funny, and it’s rewarding to watch them work together at the end (“Anya, I have faith in you. There’s no-one you cannot piss off”). Other comedic bits like Buffy at the nunnery; “I have finesse coming out of my bottom!”; the disappearing cash register; “I wish Buffy was here... I wish I had a million dollars”, and the ‘world of shrimp’ reference were fun; and worked together to keep the story’s tone pleasingly light.
- Spike’s practise talk with the mannequin is a wonderful scene, and his later material (telling Olaf he could get some babies to eat at the hospital; wanting credit for not feeding on disaster victims) was equally entertaining.
What I Disliked about “Triangle”:- To avoid eating up unnecessary space, I’ll group the three typical S5 complaints of poor incidental music, overly-yellow indoor lighting and arbitrary cliffhanger endings together. It’s a shame these things are such constant issues, but that’s just how the show is now.
- The primary issue with this episode is its theme. The topic at hand is Willow and Anya’s mutual antagonism, and what its cause is. I’ll be honest and immediately say that it’s not something I’m particularly interested in, and even if I did find it a gripping concept, it wouldn’t require an entire episode’s worth of analysis. Now, ignoring the fact that the payoff from what happens here is practically nonexistent (okay, Anya helps care for Tara after Glory attacks her, but that’s about it), you really have to question the development itself, which I’ll do in the next point to prevent this one from becoming the mother of all paragraphs.
- Onto the ‘development’. This episode states that the reason Anya and Willow don’t get on is because they’re both concerned about the other hurting Xander – but that’s hogwash. Removing him from the equation, there are plenty of reasons for them to hate each other. Anya lied to and insulted Willow in their first proper interaction (the spell in “Doppelgangland”), and shares more than a few qualities with Cordelia, who Willow also loathed. On top of that, she’s flat-out irritating (don’t get me wrong – she’s hilarious, but that’s only because we’re watching her. Being constantly around someone like that in real life would do most people’s heads in). Taking Anya’s side, we have the fact that Willow tends toward being self-centred and spoiled, never gave her a second chance, and has often tried to belittle or exclude her in group interactions. All of those things are more prominent issues than Willow stealing Xander away or Anya casting a vengeance spell; and it’s annoying that the episode chooses to ignore them.
- Buffy’s characterisation is poor in places. The fallout from Riley’s departure is handled excellently in several scenes (Xander and Anya’s introductory chat; Buffy’s conversation with Dawn), but the ridiculous, over-the-top tears and wails that Xander and Anya’s love was forever were painful to watch. SMG’s acting in those scenes was horrible (though in the interests of fairness, it would have been hard to make those lines sound good), and they were inconsistent with the basic tenets of her character. I appreciate that each writer has their own take on what she’s like, but things are starting to get out of hand, and this Buffy had scant connection to the one in “Into the Woods”.
- While Anya is a funny character, she’s starting to fail as a believable entity. This episode changed her background significantly (yet
again), and made basic errors (like forgetting that she could drive). And why would she ‘punish’ Olaf by giving him super-strength and near-invulnerability?
- Despite now having something to focus on, Giles remains a spare part. I was actually surprised to see him in this ep, as his role in the season so far has been marginalised or negligible.
- It’s too coincidental that the crystal Olaf was in just happened to be on the Magic Box counter as Willow was trying out her new magic.
- If even a single non-ritual word could mess up the sunlight spell, why did Willow choose to cast it in the middle of a public shop that was currently open for business? Sure, it was devoid of customers at that moment, but there’s no guarantee that someone wouldn’t have walked in and caused disruption.
- The Bronze getting trashed was fine as a plot point, but it’s sad that this is the last time we’ll see the old building, before its transformation into a garish hipster bar.
- If Olaf’s hammer is both magically enchanted and wielded by someone with super-strength, getting hit with it should cause massive damage or fatalities, even to Buffy.
- As I’ve noted before, Xander needs to be shown going to work (or at least mention it). Even if there aren’t explicit scenes, it would be more believable than his constant daytime presence at the Magic Box.
Do I like this episode more or less than the last time I watched it?Since I was suffering from emotionless angst overload, I like this one’s playful mindlessness quite a bit more. However, that’s not enough for me to change my rating – being better than some of the soap opera-ish stuff from this season doesn’t automatically make something good, and there are too many flaws with plot and characterisation for me to give this a high grade. Still, I appreciate “Triangle” for providing me with some laughs and a legitimate attempt at writing something in the classic era’s style, and that makes it good for a score of four out of ten.
