10 Terrific Trios Power Grid By Natasha SimonsDec 20th, 2011, 12:32 pm You are seeing this message because you have javascript disabled. To use our slideshows you need to enable javascript. There's no cross domain hackery or tracking voodoo, it's just some sweet jQuery animations. Please, think of the animations. In the meantime, enjoy the html version below. I guess. If that's your thing. Allow Us To Explain To simply say that The Power of Three is a popular trope would be to vastly understate its importance in creative works. The Trio pops up all over film, television, literature, and assorted other mediums. The concept of three plays with and unseats our natural preference for the more stolid (or boring!) number two and creates something more unstable, and with inherently more possibilities. You won’t be surprised to see a lot of our picks have got some…issues to work out. Consider the typical love triangle. George Harrison, Patti Boyd, and Eric Clapton could tell you what’s so exciting and dangerous about this bound-for-unhappiness combination. Or the psychology of the phrases “third wheel” and “odd man out”, a set-up that implies someone’s awkwardness or unwanted intrusion – perfect for drama. Of course, there’s always the triple set that completes each other, as well, representing the id, ego, and superego, or the knight, the knave, and the squire – but we’ll get to that. In fact, let’s get to it now, with some of the best threesomes (er, but not like that) around. Angel, Cordelia, and Wesley Yes, I’ve chosen this trio over the more fully accepted trio of Buffy, Willow and Xander. (And especially over the canonically named Trio from Buffy, whose buffoonery and misogyny benefited no one, especially not Season 6.) For one thing, this trio just has better actors, and I don’t mean to start a fight, but it is objectively the case. More subjectively but still fairly apparent is their easy and immediate chemistry with one another, the banter rolling off much more easily, and with an aim toward creating the strong and deeply understandable bonds that remain with the characters until the last moment of the show, whereas Buffy, Willow and Xander’s friendship wanes and waxes as new characters ingress and egress out of the forefront. Angel, as a show, doesn’t really become good until Cordelia gets the visions, Doyle leaves (sorry, Doyle stans) and Wesley enters. And in season 2, this trio gets their chance to shine. You can refer to Eleusis Walks’s rundown of why this trio is the greatest one in existence here. He pinpoints Angel, Cordelia and Wesley as the crusader, the martyr and the scholar. As their typified roles, they perform marvelously. Angel ventures bravely into the world to save humans as part of his act of redemption, Cordelia literally feels the pain of those humans, and Wesley buttresses their quests with knowledge and logic, the Spock of the group. Of these three, Cordelia is the only one who does not find fault with her destiny in the grand scheme of things: she, with the occasional outburst, embraces her function as saint and savior and pursues without fear the end of her journey. So much so that she voluntarily, though sadly, gives up her chance at love with Angel, reflecting two mature characters so aware of their destinies that they forsake each other with little drama, but much grief (now compare that to Angel and Buffy’s break-ups). Wesley spends much of the show desiring Angel’s hero role without ever really deserving it or making the proper decisions to get there; Angel, of course, goes moral grayscale in season 2, leaving things open for Wesley to take over and try to fill that hero role. This switch creates ramifications that resonate until the very last episode of Angel. Through those darker edges, the characters become a close-knit family who use Whedonspeak as humor, sure, but also to grow so close that fourth-and-fifith partiers Gunn and Fred round out, rather than disrupt, their essential dynamic. Let’s reminisce about their first breakfast together: Wesley: Well, I'll be off then. Farewell, Angel. Who knows when our paths will cross again. Angel: Wesley. [they shake hands] Cordelia: Do you even know where you're headed? Wesley: Rogue demon hunters rarely do. Wherever evil lurks, wherever the forces of darkness threaten humanity, that's where I'll be. [Angel and Cordelia sit down to breakfast.] Cordelia: Oh, okay. Well, keep in touch. Wesley: Yes. Yes, I will. But now, the evil lurking everywhere bids me onwards! So... I go. Cordelia: Take care! Wesley: Yes. [sets out, then leans back into the apartment] No rest for the wicked fighters. Through storm and rain. Heat. Famine. Deep, painful, gnawing hunger... I go. Angel: Breakfast? Wesley: Oh! [taking off coat] I suppose so! Harry, Ron, Hermione Our generation’s Luke, Han and Leia, these three never fail to make me have some real feelings. Who can forget Harry and Ron’s romp in the flying Ford Anglia, and Hermione’s tacit disapproval? Or Hermione straightening her bushy hair for the Yule Ball and her and Ron’s first fight? Or Harry relying on Hermione for strength in his last moments before facing Voldemort in the woods? Sorry, you’re not crying, I’m crying. In a series that can get fairly cloying about the importance of friends – more than once is Voldemort’s lack of pals pointed out as a weakness – the moments that tie our trio together never fail to resonate. It’s helped by the fact that J.K. Rowling knows how to write teenagers, and allows her beloved three to be flawed, dramatic, angry and happy all in equal measures. Harry and Ron are Doofus 1 and Doofus 2, and the series from Hermione’s point of view is popularly described as “The Time I Saved the Idiots From [Fill in the Blank].” But they’re important to her storyline, too, softening her Ravenclaw-ian edges and giving her something to boss around. Without these three and what they each bring to the fight, Harry Potter The Everlasting MegaSeries wouldn’t be the emotionally rich masterpiece it is. You’ll notice that Edward, Bella, and Jacob aren’t on this list. Bunk, Kima, and McNulty This is actually the best trio there is, please. Take a minute and consider these three: the hero (McNulty), the pragmatist (Kima) and the comic relief (Bunk). Hovering around their edges is Lester (the scholar), but he rarely inserts himself into this mix, rather judiciously. When Bunk and McNulty get a little too off their wagons, Kima’s the one who restrains them with a carefully exercised side-eye, grumpy but happy to play a mother she’s not comfortable playing in her personal life. McNulty relies on Kima to give him advice without making him chafe at the authoritarian bit, and Bunk relies on her to bust his balls about his total bluster. Bunk: You know what you need at a crime scene? Kima: Rubber gloves? Bunk: Soft eyes. Kima: Like I'm supposed to cry and shit? Bunk: If you got soft eyes, you can see the whole thing. If you got hard eyes - you staring at the same tree missing the forest. Kima: Ah, zen shit. Their banter in the station and on the case forms the basis of some of the best scenes on the show, and theirs is probably the only relationship that doesn’t totally deteriorate by show’s end. Luke, Han and Leia What trio list could possibly be complete without the boys and gal from the space western that got us geeks all hot and bothered for geekdom in the first place? Luke, Han and Leia are an OT3 in many, many senses of that term. First of all, for an icky moment where George Lucas hadn’t written the whole trilogy out yet, they’re an actual love triangle, which, given filial concerns later, is – say it with me – gross. But in their more intended formation, they’re the id (Han), the ego (Luke) and the superego (Leia). They’re the hero, Casanova, and the chick. Each one mediates the other, taking off the edges or spurring them to action as the case may necessitate. Did you know that the beloved scene where Leia calls Han a scruffy-looking nerfherder is actually an important narrative ploy to clear up the gray areas of the anti-hero before he gets, um, too anti? Well, it is! You’d be surprised how much Lucas studied up on the conventions of storytelling while he was laid up in bed after a car accident. Or, not, considering you’re reading this site and probably know his shoe size and favorite color. What’s excellent about these three, in addition to their general rockingness, is that they get to basically take a run at swapping roles while maintaining their own personalities. They all get a chance at the dark edgy thing, they get to be brave hero types, and they get to play moral center, even Han! It’s a rare and glorious thing, and it’s no wonder they’re immortalized. Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Emma Frost I chose these three over the more typically known Cyclops, Jean and Wolverine because, frankly, they’re more interesting? This is the classic love triangle storyline, fleshed out (no pun intended) by a complex and fascinating seductress (more than January Jones could give you). Cyclops and Jean Grey were the high school quarterback and head cheerleader at X Manse. We arrive in medias res of their story, being as they are so firmly devoted to one another. Wolverine may try to shake that up, but in the end, he’s just too short to do any real damage. No, it’s ermine queen Emma Frost who whirls in to drive a wedge in between Brad and Jen – and ends up with us rooting for Angelina. After all, this is the woman who, when left off of a guest list, threatened to mentally warp the host into having a fetish for the works for Leroy Neiman for the rest of his natural life. With a stunning wit and the powers to back up her bravado, Emma is a femme fatale bar none – and has her fair share of detractors in the fandom. Of course, she’d argue that possession is nine tenths of the law, and she and Scott have been together for quite some time now. Stay in your lane, Jean. Walt, Jesse, and Saul Goodman What do you do when your two nudnik protagonists have about worn each other and the audience down with all their agita? Better call Saul. If Walt and Jesse are the glue of Breaking Bad, their crafty lawyer Saul Goodman is the silver and gold glitter decorating the diorama. When things get too serious, enter Saul to crack a few jokes – and point out the realities of the fearsome twosome’s situation. After all, he’s the prophet here, having the experience with the criminal world in spades. And it’s this experience that inspires an extremely healthy flight response when times get tough. A response, I should mention, that our bullheaded duo seem to be most classically lacking. Bob Odenkirk as Saul is perfectly positioned to bring levity and practicality to the Shakespearean drama that is Breaking Bad. Carly, Sam and Freddie My love for iCarly has been well documented inter alia, but hear me out before you click that little next button. Carly, Sam and Freddie are canonically the Two Girls and a Guy trio, playing the scholar, buffoon and martyr, respectively. (I mean buffoon in the kindest sense, Sam. Please don’t hurt me.) They also represent the two forms of femininity allowed in most mediums, joined by the guy who gets to have relationship dramz with both of them. Usually, the guy ends up with the main character, often the more feminine. But in a nice change of pace, Freddie and the more “butch” Sam coupled up, gave it the old…high-school…try, and decided very maturely to call it off. It’s worth it to point out they did so because the relationship was warping the dimensions of their trio, which is so obviously the draw of the show – their great chemistry with one another – that status quo was much more preferable. The Doctor, Amy and Rory I got an assist from my good friend and personal Doctor Who scholar Regina on this one, who writes over at her sci-fi blog Small Galaxies. Read her take: Our favorite trio of time travelers, set to part ways in 2013 (insert all your sad animated GIFs here), are a classic love triangle that...isn’t. When the Doctor showed up on eight-year-old Amelia Pond’s doorstep 15 years ago, he made quite an impression: having nearly crashed his TARDIS during regeneration, he was seeking temporary refuge, and food. Lots of food. Young Amelia bonded with her raggedy Doctor over a meal of fish fingers and custard, and proceeded to spend more than a decade wishing for his return. When the madman with a box finally comes back to whisk her away for adventures through time and space as he had promised, Amy’s a grown-up kissogram girl engaged to a sensitive, sweet nurse, Rory Williams. The appeal of The Doctor/Amy/Rory relationship, aside from the obvious physical charms of all three cast members, is that the tension among the characters is entirely unconventional. The Doctor may adore his spirited Amelia, but his affection is never cast as anything other platonic. And yes, Amy is the first companion ever to literally chase the Doctor around her bed (the first of many times that Matt Smith plays Eleven as a skittish virgin), but it isn’t clear that she’s interested in anything more than sex. The Doctor may be the icon of Amy’s childhood fantasies, but it’s Rory who stood beside her during the Doctor’s 12-year absence. He’s the boy who waited for the girl who waited. And it’s poor Rory on whom the conflict takes a toll, as he agonizes over whether Amy truly loves him -- until she tells him definitively (we hope!) that his is the “stupid face” she cherishes. And when that minor angst is cast aside, The Doctor, Amy and Rory are a trio who share a single motivation: devotion to one another. So let’s enjoy the remaining adventures of our favorite marrieds and their Doctor...and ready our tissues for 2013. Sam and Dean, Castiel and Bobby Here we have a classic example of the Three Faces of Adam in the extremely, excessively handsome Supernatural boys…and Bobby. These four (I know, but bear with me) embody the hunter, lord, and prophet types pretty dead on. Sam and Dean are the hunters (their literal nomenclature on the show), the young men who, after the formative and traumatic experience of their mother’s death, go out to forge their way in a world they are inexperienced with, bound to misstep again and again in their quest to do good. Castiel is the lord, a mediating force who tries to eke out a way in a world he is all too familiar with, growing ever more cynical as his constant trials wear on. Bobby, then, is the prophet, the old man who holds the wisdom of the world and teaches the hunter and lord as much as he can before he dies. The wonderful Castiel, in his angel sidekick role, was one of the few fourth-person interlopers who fit perfectly into the dynamic, offering both a hysterical wide-eyed inexperience to the tribulations of being human and a world-weary approach to the troubles of the supernatural world. Now having killed off both Castiel and Bobby, the show’s seventh season is suffering from the loss of two of the funniest characters, as well as the only two that can take the edge off the headstrong brothers. Watching two guys bristle back and forth at each other is the perfect example of why, even just for the viewers’ sake, we need trios. Zelda, Link, and Ganondorf This is about as explicit a power trio as you can expect to run into – these three kids form the three points of a triangle, representing Wisdom, Courage, and Power, respectively. (Zelda-as-Sheik kind of messes the dynamic up, to be honest, but doesn’t the fourth interloper to a trio always?) Ocarina of Time is a childhood romp with some darker undertones and implications, namely, that these three characters all need and rely on each other to make the world go round. It’s a pretty philosophical kid’s videogame that basically tells you that without evil, there’s not much use for good. I personally always thought that was the reason that you could never save your game after having defeated Ganondorf, but were instead set back in front of the castle to best him once more. Link can’t ever defeat Ganondorf, not really. He and G-Money and Zelda are part of an unbreakable cycle where everyone has a specific and essential role to play, which is why Ganondorf actually needs the other two in order to activate the Triforce. Them’s the breaks in a mystical trio, guy. (Art by Ryan Shiu) Natasha Simons is a freelance writer who does not write fanfiction about any of these trios. She blogs here.Have a tip we should know? [email protected] Filed Under: AngelBreaking BadBuffy the Vampire SlayerHarry Potter (franchise)iCarlyStar Wars (franchise)SupernaturalThe Legend of ZeldaThe WireX-Men (team) Follow The Mary Sue: Twitter Previous PostNext Post Previous PostNext Post
