The second Hobbit movie held nothing back. The quality was better, the soundtrack is moved from ripping off “The Lord of the Rings,” and the plot had so many twists and turns that the cliffhanger ending kept even true Hobbit fans wondering. There’s only one flaw, which I will get to momentarily.

In “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug,” released on Dec. 13, we return to our weary band of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins, and Gandalf – who takes quite a few excursions to a scary castle called Dol Guldur, leaving the dwarves and Bilbo to fend for themselves. We find out the origins behind the antagonists of “The Lord of the Rings” with Gandalf’s little escapades – for example, for those of us who have not read The Appendices of “The Lord of the Rings” volumes, we get to learn more about The Nine Riders (scary ghost kings on horses from “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”) as well as the rise of Sauron. And for those of you wondering about the random White Orc – yes, he does have a greater purpose.

Speaking of characters with greater purposes – the dwarf Kili gets some screen time, although some die-hard Hobbit fans will be dismayed as their greatest fears come true. Yes, Kili is part of a love triangle. Now we know why they have a handsome dwarf.
So, love triangle: you may be wondering how there can be a love triangle in a franchise that is well-known to be male-dominated. It turns out that the pretty girl elf from the trailers, Tauriel, is to be the female representative, as well as the center of the love triangle. Because obviously, that is the only thing female characters are good for. In any case, she may have some greater purpose, which not even great Lord of the Rings scholars know about. Because guess what? She’s not supposed to exist!

Tauriel was created for “The Hobbit” trilogy. She is not mentioned in “The Silmarillion,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” or in any of J.R.R. Tolkein’s other books on Middle Earth. She’s a brand new character, with a mystery of a backstory and terrible quote delivery. Don’t get me wrong, she can fight just as well as Legolas – those Mirkwood elves are badass – but while she seems to have great potential, the awkward love triangle she is placed in feels like just that: awkward.

I’m not going to gripe about the added plotlines – I actually find that they add a greater depth and complexity to the original story line, and I can’t wait until the third movie. I just wish that the only female character wasn’t a romantic interest. What do I want her to be? I want her to be important and significant in some other way other than this weird elf and dwarf romance. I guess we will see what happens when “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” comes out Dec. 17 this year.