Show: Agatha Christie’s Poirot
Episode
Particulars: S1EP6, “Triangle at Rhodes”, original airdate February 12th,
1989.
Standalone
Thoughts: While we still haven’t quite hit the formula I’m used to in
Poirot mysteries, this episode’s much closer to that standard. Specifically,
we’ve got a larger cast of characters who are all interacting with each other
instead of just hanging out in separate scenes. It’s amazing how much that
makes a difference; it allows us to see much more of their various
personalities, and makes the episode enjoyable to watch, even if it once again
takes three-fifths of the episode for the crime to take place. And the actors
are all very good too, playing the admittedly stock characters just right. I
particularly like Down, who plays Mrs. Gold in a way that kind of reminds me of
myself, and Lambert, who does “the dance” perfectly. Thanks to those elements,
I’d say this is probably my favorite of the episodes so far.
There’s also the matter of the “exotic location”, which I
think is done pretty well. There’s some nice use of the scenery (like in my
header), though the filmmakers are smart enough not to go overboard with it,
and they also show both the touristy and the more local segments of Rhodes,
which is nice. It’s also very good at establishing a sense of time; pictures of
Mussolini appear several times, and a boy spits at the sight and sound of
blackshirts. You can kind of feel WWII lurking in the background, though not
enough to distract you from the plot. Not bad for a show that’s mainly supposed
to be a mystery.
The episode still has some weak spots, of course. One
character is clearly only there to further the plot, even though the writers
give them enough of a backstory that it seems like they should be more
important. The key piece of evidence is found a bit too conveniently. The
pacing is a little shaky here and there. Above all, I feel like they added a
little unnecessary drama by having Poirot about to leave Rhodes as the crime is
being committed, only to be detained by the 30’s equivalent of the TSA so he
can be called back to solve the case. If he was asked to stay to solve the
case, that’s one thing, but to have him be held back on suspicion of being a
spy just feels contrived. Having him be present when the event happened would
have been much tighter and probably led to just as much drama, I feel. Still,
it’s a decent episode, and lacked the elements that got me exasperated at some
of the previous mysteries. Plus, it might make you want to go to Rhodes
yourself, which I certainly think the show (and Rhodes) would count as a win.
Number of Tropes Followed/Subverted:
It’s going to be surprisingly difficult this time. There were four variations
of tropes that showed up, but I’m not entirely sure how to classify some of
them. For example, there are numerous hints of Italian fascism and one
character turns out to be a spy, but that has very little to do with the plot.
Is that enough to qualify it as a subversion of “The Spy Who Killed Me”?
There’s also a case of “Fingerprints or Lack Thereof” that you could argue
would go either way. But in the end, I’ll say there are 2/15 tropes and 2/15
subversions. “The Spy Who Killed Me” and “Fingerprints or Lack Thereof” I’ll
count as subversions, while there’s a very big case of “An Affair to Forget”.
As for “Playing Fair”…I’ll put it in the “trope” category, albeit with an
asterisk. It does make sense when you look back on it, and there was one fairly
obvious hint, but one of the supposed big clues that Poirot mentions in the end
probably won’t register for modern viewers. But as I’ve said before, that’s the
danger of the passage of time.
Other: *I’ve
given up on trying to figure out some of the continuity of this show. In
today’s episode, the doorman at Poirot’s apartment says that Hastings does live with Poirot, when it seemed
like he didn’t in “The Third Floor Flat”. Since these things aren’t important
to the story (especially since this show feels like it was mostly designed to
be watched in any order), I’ll just let it be.
*Speaking of Hastings, this is a Poirot only episode.
There’s a mention of both Hastings and Miss Lemon at the start, but neither
they or Japp actually show up. This will become par for the course later, but
having it happen this soon is a bit of a surprise.
*I like that they remixed the Poirot theme to be played
on what I must assume are traditional Italian/Rhodian instruments to fit the
locale. It’s a nice little touch.
*During an excursion, the group comes across a snake, one
that we learn is dangerous. But both Miss Lyall and Mrs. Gold look at it with
fascination and no fear, which is a nice subversion of expectations, especially
from Mrs. Gold, who’s been demure and kind of timid up till that point. If this
was part of my main blog, they would have earned a spot on my “Best Female
Characters” list for that.
Most Interesting
Character: For once, I had a toss-up between two characters. But in the
end, it made the most sense to choose;
Pamela Lyall
She does lose some points for arranging an excursion for
all the English speakers, since it’s heavily implied she’s doing it to fan the
flames for her own personal amusement, but she’s quick thinking, fairly smart,
and two of her outfits are particularly lovely. There’s a line that offers up a
slim possibility that she could appear again (although it’s unlikely), and I
kind of hope that she does.
Two sets of comments today. First, reactions BEFORE re-reading your review. This was a pleasant enough exercise cycling episode but even through the fog of exhaustion a couple of things cut through, both good and bad.
ReplyDeleteOn the good side, having been to Rhodes a few months ago, it was great to see some of the outdoor sets used. It was even better to see that the story was set in a period when the Italians had control of the island and were building huge imagined reconstructions of Rhodes at its zenith. I would personally have liked a few references to this fake grandiosity, or Rhodes history in general, but at least an attempt was made to set it in a real place and time.
I also thought the bit at the start which established that this was a Mr. P only episode was well done. In addition, some of the roles were engagingly played.
On the down side - THAT ZITHER MUSIC of the Poirot theme. It made me want to leave to find some good music (if you catch the reference). More seriously, I had a problem with the Mr. P "love" interest, both in concept and in execution. Plus a number of the major roles were overplayed I thought (the victim for one) and the studly husband's portrayal went from Bond thug to Bond suave in a short space of time. And why was the Italian police captain out there in that boat at the end? Who was he chasing exactly? And where was he coming from? Turkey?
Now for comments AFTER re-reading yours... You might think you liked this episode more than I did, but I'm not sure that would be true. The positives are positive enough that the negatives were just slightly sour accent notes for me and not enough to stop me from enjoying soaking up the atmosphere and the plot.
I would absolutely give this one a re-watch.
I'm glad to see we're actually mostly in agreement. It suggests that my tastes aren't entirely disparate; it's just that certain aspects of Poirot didn't work for me for whatever reason.
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