"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly
and safely insane every night of our lives."
-- William Dement
And you would have to be insane to believe that "Triangle" actually "happened." This episode is no more a part of X-Files canon than, well, the tornado from "The Wizard of Oz" is part of Kansas' meteorological history. I will expound on this later.
I am ambivalent about the technical aspects of "Triangle." It was hard not to be impressed with the camera work and editing "rub-offs" with the elevator in the Hoover Building as we played Follow the Leader with Scully in her frantic search for help. Watching from over her shoulder and then feeling whirled around the room for a different angle shot was stunning at times. At also came this close to giving me motion sickness, but it never failed to hold my attention.
Conversely, it was the continuous action gimmick that was the weak link in the chain. And let's make no mistake about it: this was a "gimmick" episode from start to finish. For the shipboard sequences, there were no slick scene changeovers, no smooth rub-offs. The show simply became "The Black Files," because that was all you could see. Foley artists and good sound editors added the background noise while the screen went blank. So, Chris Carter the director was boxed into a corner by Chris Carter the writer with these clumsy blackouts. Where I work, this was called being hoisted by your own petard.
The wide-screen format was a nice aspect. I can only imagine how spectacular this episode must have looked on a flat-tube, HDTV. Suddenly, I envy those kids in the Philips commercials.
David Duchovny acted like he was going through the motions. I saw what seemed to be a sitcom smirk when he was trying to explain to the captain that it was 1998 and that the world was at peace. Chris Carter, that master of dialogue, had to throw in the perfunctory Monica Lewinsky joke, and Duchovny delivered it with all the grace of a ballerina on crutches. Throughout the entire episode, Duchovny acted with a bemused ennui of his boss's blatant bid for a directing Emmy. I know the feeling, David.
Gillian Anderson, meanwhile, more than made up for Duchovny's passionless performance. Her "bitch on wheels" sojourn through the halls of FBI HQ was loaded with intensity. She was actually breathless by the time she reached Spender's office in the basement. Anderson was stretched dramatically by having to play herself in two different roles, one frantic to save her partner and one who was indifferent to Mulder. Ms. Anderson was equal to the task.
However, it was her dash through the building that gave me my first clue that this whole episode never happened in the X-Files universe. When she appeals to Skinner for help, she specifically states that she needs him to contact someone in Naval Intelligence. DUH! Bill Scully, Jr. works in Naval Intelligence. If she was so hell-bent on getting help from NI without incurring the wrath of her superiors, you'd think she'd have the presence of mind to call brother Bill. If she does, then there's no need for Panic!Scully to race through the Hoover Building and the best sequence of the episode is unnecessary. Nor is it necessary for Scully to show Skinner her gratitude with a lip-lock in the elevator.
I've made no secret about my disdain for the acting talents of Chris Owens as Spender. He has no depth, no camera presence in the role. I must admit, however, that I did like him as a Nazi. Chris, I think we've found your niche.
Carter took this opportunity to destroy one more piece of the Morgan-Wong legacy, by making CSM an SS officer. Hey, if he disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle, then he couldn't have been in the Warsaw Ghettos, as was written in "The Field Where I Died." Unless, of course, "Triangle" never really happened . . . hmmmm.
As a writer, Carter needs to take a look at some of his older works, like "Pilot" and "Deep Throat." Those works were cleverly laden with subtlety. That was one of the reasons I became a fan of the show. But "Triangle" was loaded with Slap-You-Upside-the Head references to "The Wizard of Oz." More astute viewers will not only have caught that Mulder's rented boat was the "Lady Garland" and the two direct lines from that movie, but other references to people associated with "The Wizard of Oz." Carter even provided his own version of continuity: in the last "Secrets of the X-Files," Carter proclaimed that "Mulder loves Scully and Scully loves Mulder." To prove it, he had Mulder tell her on his hospital bed. Subtle, it wasn't. Real, it wasn't either.
The plot was actually pretty thin. Mulder has to board the Queen Anne when it materializes in the Bermuda Triangle in 1998, and when he boards it, he's transported to 1939. Scully chases after him, and 30s!Scully saves the world by taking the ship back into the Triangle. There wasn't any subplot or subtext to the episode.
Mark Snow's score deserves special mention for this episode. The staccato beat while Scully marched through the building was as much a part of the action as Scully herself. There were several nice interludes of piccolo and strings, and, of course, the lengthy Big Band Swing opus with the pounding drums during the fight/search the ship sequence. For the first time in a long time, Snow's music was part of the scenery, enhancing the action rather than distracting from it.
Now, I'll talk about the other things that told me that this episode couldn't have actually happened in the X-F universe. Besides the obvious Bill Scully connection, there was the Lone Gunmen wearing FBI badges when they came to visit Scully. Where did they get them? Then there's Mulder and the bureaucracy of the FBI. (That's why they put the "B" in FBI, right?) A week after being called on the carpet for his expenses on a car trip in Utah, Mulder:
Meanwhile, Scully then:
At least she didn't destroy the boat she rented. :) They couldn't possibly still be employed by the FBI after those expenses were submitted. It would also be impossible to tell an Assistant Director that he had his head up his ass and that you were going to kill a fellow agent if he didn't do what you asked and still have a job the next day. The consequences of insubordination and death threats don't go away just because you travel to Oz.
Finally, and this may be a stretch, I'll give Chris Carter a big benefit of the doubt from his director's chair. When you're pulling someone's leg, you usually wink at them or nudge them in the ribs. Wink, wink! Nudge, nudge! Carter couldn't nudge us in the ribs, but he could wink at us . . . remember all those blackout scenes on the ship? Think of those scenes as Carter winking at us. ;) For these reasons, then, "Triangle" is The Episode That Didn't Really Happen.
"Triangle" was a visually stunning episode. The camera work masked a lot of plot deficiencies and the shot of two Scullys passing though each other in two different time planes or dimensions was both charming and effective. David Duchovny's episode-long, passionless walk through was more than offset by Gillian Anderson's energetic performance. Nazis make wonderful villains; they're the bad guys we love to hate. I liked the interweaving of other minor characters into the 1939 sequences, and the music was top notch. The episode suffered from thin plotting, a heavy-handed "tribute" and something that veritably screamed, "Gimme an Emmy for this." But I was on the edge of my seat for most of the episode, and I was entertained. And that's why I watch.
My Score: 8 out of 10