Being a Jane Espenson script, Triangle is by no means boring. There are some really wonderful lines of dialogue ("The land of the trolls, he'll like it there -- full of trolls"), great sight gags (the Buffy mannequin; the hammer falling through the glass counter at the end) and the inherent nuttiness of a big troll asking for some babies to eat. But, at the end of the day, it's still an episode about a troll smashing shit up. And man does Willow bug...It's a little unevenly explored, but there are some interesting moments detailing Willow and Anya's weird relationship. They can't stand each other, and it definitely seems to be Willow who's the cause of the problem. She clearly has some kind of issue with Anya dating Xander, something that's possibly rooted in her long-lasting friendship with him and her one-time infatuation with the guy. It feels a little jarring to throw this development into the show right now, but it at least gave the two characters something to do for a change. If only Giles can be granted the same attention sometime soon...
I continue to love the Spike subplot, especially his constant attempts to convince Buffy he's a good person (which are still being played for laughs at this point). I'm also a huge fan of that moment where they're both knocked back on the floor of the Bronze and he's literally stopping her from getting up again. Heh.
The aftermath of Riley's departure was interesting because of the lack of said aftermath. Buffy is relatively calm about the whole thing, which proves their love died a long time ago. She's been a lot more hung up on other guys in the past, even Parker. Some of the Buffy work was a little spotty here, though. I really didn't like the whole 'breaking down into tears' thing she did. Gah. And I didn't buy at all that she, Giles and Joyce would speak so openly about Dawn and the Key right there in the middle of the Summers dining room. Clunk.
Triangle is filler. It's obviously crazy funny at certain points, but it doesn't completely overshadow the fact that it's a really routine story. There's a monster. Monster causes minor damage. Buffy kills monster. Blah. C+
Credits
Guest stars Abraham Benrubi (Olaf); Amber Benson (Tara Maclay); Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers)
Writer Jane Espenson Director Christopher Hibler
great review, but I actually lve this one. Anya is stupidly hilarious, the Troll stuff was wildly entertaining and though the idea fo exploring the Willow/anya dynamic, like you said, is a little weird at this point, I still thought it was necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of Riley aftermath, from what I remember, is such a non-event, like you said. I was glad he had gone.
The crying at the end wasn't needed but I laughed when she spoke to Tara and when they allowed her to repeat 'miraculous love'!
ReplyDeleteAnya and Xander's chat at the beginning was so bitchy, it really irked me that apparently 'she couldn't make it work with Angel', er, it wasn't really down to that, clearly they don't get it.
Yes, Willow was a bit jittery and silly throughout but I liked seeing her not hide her disdain for Anya (also a bit bitchy I suppose, but necessary!), I thought it was very Willow of her to connect the dots and think Anya could hurt Xander but it was a bit shallow for them to keep shoving the gay label out there, I guess they were excited to say it, but technically I would've thought Willow was bi sexual. Anyway!
I suppose they thought they had a continution from the conversation last episode so that's why they chose to address the 'triangle' now.
The "gay/bisexual" thing has been a bug for fans for years. Personally I feel like it was probably easier for Willow herself to publicly identify as 'gay', and maybe out of respect for Tara. But I refuse to believe that she didn't have heterosexual feelings for Xander and Oz. She may have connected with Tara on a deeper level, but Oz was her first love, absolutely.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! I totally agree with you. Yes, it probably was out of ease- rather that then having another group discussion focused on her sexuality!
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled upon this. I recently dusted off my buffy DVD's and watched the first few seasons and this was one of the ep's I watched! I gotta say though I always did think the hostility was mainly due to Anya. After all, Willow was right in the end. Anya did try to hurt him and go all demon again. Although obviously given the whole wedding thing it's not suprising. Just saying, I think Willow's opinion is much more justified then Anya's..
ReplyDeleteThanks for finding the blog! I guess she was right in the end, but I definitely remember feeling she was the bigger annoyance here. Then again, I like Anya more generally, so maybe I'm bias. Heh.
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