Triangle at Rhodes

Hercule Poirot goes to Rhodes (a Greek island) on vacation and, wouldn't you know it, gets involved with the death (via poisoning) of a rich and glamorous (and married, to her fifth husband) woman staying at the same hotel. Captain Hastings is not present in this one; Poirot's sidekick is a woman he meets in Rhodes.

The mystery is pretty good, once again appearances are completely deceiving, but the highlight of this episode must be the magnificent, vividly photographed island scenery. In both story and production values, "Triangle at Rhodes" reminded me of the 1982 film "Evil Under the Sun". This is a TV production of cinematic standards. (***)

The glorious island of Rhodes, a Greek island, is the setting for this Poirot mystery from season 1, "Triangle at Rhodes." Poirot is at the end of his holiday when a beautiful woman and her husband, Commander and Valentine Chantry arrive. It seems that pretty soon, a love triangle has developed -- Valentine seems to be having an affair with Douglas Gold, who is there with his wife Marjorie. Poirot smells trouble and advises Marjorie Gold to leave the island with her husband. They don't leave.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Chantry is then poisoned by a drink meant for her husband. Poirot is actually supposed to be on the ship taking him away, but he has passport problems and his friend on the vacation, Pamela, is able to find him and bring him back.

Neat mystery in stunning surroundings, with Suchet in top form as Poirot. As usual, there is a lot of attention to style, with beautiful vintage clothes, speech, and attitudes. Very good.

This is not a favourite of mine, but it is still a very good episode of a truly great mystery series. The short story wasn't a favourite either but it was an enjoyable read, and the plotting here is well constructed and easy to follow in general. The true star though is the scenery, it is utterly amazing, and captured wonderfully by the skillful and very vivid photography. The dialogue is great and the direction is efficient. And I loved the music too, the only real problem and this is very minor is that the mystery does start off fairly slowly. But everything else is fine, and among the acting David Suchet of course stands out as Poirot while Annie Lambert is a delight as Valentine Chantry. Overall, a very good episode that is well worth watching for the amazing scenery. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Poirot, Hastings and Miss Lemon have all gone off on holiday. Poirot's in Rhodes having a well earned rest, but of course The great Detective cannot escape one thing, murder.

The scenery is utterly breathtaking, no studio based sets here, beautifully filmed in Greece. It all works impeccably well for the time period. There are some wonderful costumes on show, it's a good reminder of how glamorous the era was, Annie Lambert (Valentine) looks sensational at times.

I love the music throughout the episode, so different, it adds to the exotic feel of the episode.

Fourteen minutes in you see that Poirot's newspaper is blank. It only has a front cover.

I love Triangle at Rhodes, not just for the visuals, I love the story too, I love the twist in the tale. It's an incredibly watchable episode. 9/10

I know that I've read the short story on which the Triangle at Rhodes is based, but fortunately, I don't remember anything about it. I say "fortunately" because I would have hated to have any of this wonderful episode ruined. It's so good. In this one, Poirot is vacationing in Rhodes when one of the other guests, Valentine Chantry (Annie Lambert), is murdered. As the poisoned drink had been ordered some time earlier by Commander Chantry (Jon Cartwright) for himself, it appears to most everyone that he, not his wife, was the intended victim. The police immediately suspect another guest, Douglas Gold (Peter Settelen), based on his infatuation and flirtations with Valentine. He's arrested and appeals to Poirot for help. Can Poirot unravel this love triangle?

I'll start where the other reviewers have - the scenery. It's simply gorgeous. This is big-budget, theatrical movie quality - not something you expect on television. I was immediately reminded of the outstanding location shots from the 1982 Poirot film Evil Under the Sun. It's really that good. But as much as I was impressed with the wide-open land and seascape photography, I equally enjoyed the scenes on the tight streets of the old city. The scene with the blind Italian woman in her cramped house is as expertly filmed as anything in the episode. Everything looks amazing. The direction is quite good and the episode has a nice flow. The mystery elements work and (because I can't remember reading the story) the finale really surprise me. Other technical aspects (lighting, set decoration, costuming, etc.) are also top notch.

As far as the acting goes, this is another aspect of Triangle at Rhodes I really enjoyed. The cast, including the amazing David Sucheet, is as good as I've seen in the series. Two members of the cast (however) really stood out to me: Annie Lambert as the doomed Valentine and Frances Low, whose Pamela Lyall fills the Hastings role more than capably. In fact, I enjoyed Ms. Low's performance so much, I didn't miss Hastings at all. Toward the end, when Pamela says to Poirot, "I hope we shall meet again.", I couldn't have agreed more. But, alas, this is her only appearance. What a shame.

A very strong 8/10 from me.