Emerald City Episodes 1-4 Review/Theories

Hey guys, welcome back to the channel, and today we'll be reviewing Emerald City, uh, episodes 1 through 4. Um, and I'm, uh, late to the series because I actually forgot the air date. I do recall the, the trailers early on and that it would be done by NBC. It just kind of snuck up on me. However, I wanted to look into the series because every so often NBC does these really great fantasy shows where they invest a lot of money and they have good actors. They did Merlin years ago. I think they may have done Jack and the Beanstalk. They've just— they've done several adaptations to these various stories, so wanted to tune in and see what direction they were going to take uh, with this show. So what I want to do is summarize these all up and give my thoughts, and we'll move along on a normal schedule with the rest of the series, which I believe is going to be 10 episodes. So the first episode was entitled The Beast Forever. The second, The Prison of the Abjac, which, uh, aired on the premiere both together. So you, you got episodes 1 and 2 together, as you know, it's one episode. And then episode 3 was titled The New Mistress, and episode 4, Science and Magic. So I think at this point everyone has probably seen the original Wizard of Oz with Dorothy from Kansas. However, since then there's been several adaptations and reboots, from Return to Oz, The Tin Man done on the Sci-Fi Channel, The Wiz with, um, Diana Ross, The Great Powerful Oz with James Franco. But what I find interesting is since the model of Game of Thrones, a lot of shows in the fantasy genre is starting to take a darker, more realistic turn. I find that interesting. We're just a different audience, more complex time, different from when it was simpler, you know, back when we knew our good guys were completely good and our bad guys were completely bad. So it's changed a lot from, from there. So what we get in the beginning, the character of Dorothy is being mysteriously delivered to a home as a baby. There's a strange marking on her hands. We find over 20 years later Dorothy has grown up and is now a nurse. She's never met her real mom, and she's at this stage now contemplating meeting her real mom after having a discussion with her Aunt Em. She leaves the house only to discover her mom dying in the house. Later, a cop comes up to the house. He pulls a gun on Dorothy. Now, I'm under the assumption the cop was either responding to a 911 call or the cop isn't exactly whom we think he is. So a giant twister or tornado descends on them, seemingly taking out the cops. You know, this is, uh, the cop— this is Kansas, so you know, this is Tornado Alley, and Dorothy jumps into the police car with a K-9 dog in the back. The twister picks up the cop car and Dorothy lands in this strange new world. So I'm assuming the twister created some type of gateway to another dimension, a world. The car then lands and is pushed by the force of the tornado over a woman with a flowing gown. and the woman is apparently killed by Dorothy, or at least it appears, in the car. Dorothy and the canine exit the car and find themselves in the company of a tribe of what appears to be childlike people. They're called Munchkins, not pronounced munchkins like in the original Wizard of Oz, and they seem to be a mix of this Native American kind of slash Viking culture blend. And they make Dorothy aware she's killed the Witch of the East. And so they believe Dorothy to be a witch because they believe only a witch can kill a witch. And Dorothy is taken into their custody as they're trying to find out what exactly they should do with her. Now, one tribal member is, um, they come, you know, to the, you know, the the agreement that they, they need to banish Dorothy. They need to exile her, and they select the tribal, you know, member to escort Dorothy out, you know, of the village. And I'm assuming that they don't want to be affected by any negative outcomes that Dorothy, or they, will face, um, you know, with Dorothy killing the, uh, the, the witch, you know. And, you know, because this would basically Uh, you know, as they're explaining it, as we're seeing through the series, you know, we understand that the Wizard is the ruler and the witches, they have like this council order that, and they kind of all work together with the Wizard. So next we cut to Emerald City and we find out that there are flying monkeys just like in the original series. However, there's a, there's a different take on these flying monkeys. These Uh, flying monkeys are actually more like machines or drones, and they have these, this video recording, uh, uh, instruments in them, and it's like rolling out a field film on a reel. And so we get to see the wizard, who's actually played by Vincent D'Onofrio, same Vincent D'Onofrio from Daredevil and many other great shows. He's a really great actor. And we get that he rules Oz pretty much with an iron fist. He exudes his power in this version. So they're coming to understand as they're watching all the footage from the flying monkeys of Dorothy arriving and killing the Witch of the East that this is all part of a prophecy they know about where this beast will come and, you know, destroy them all. So the tribe member explains to Dorothy that in their language, uh, you know, uh, the word for dog— you know, as we move on to the next scene, rather— he explains to Dorothy that the word for dog is called Toto. And, um, because initially they're speaking another language, or like a tribal language, they're not speaking English. And, uh, but, you know, a few minutes later they are speaking English. So I can only assume that maybe they know English as they that they've had people fall from the sky before. It's been people coming from, you know, uh, Dorothy's world before. And they— and basically they're saying that's never been a good thing. So, uh, you know, so I'm assuming that maybe they picked up English, you know, from, from, you know, having that history. But, uh, you know, it's interesting that they— from the original series Dorothy's name was Toto, and she named it— we're assuming she named the dog Toto on her own. But we find out in this version Toto is just another language for how they say dog. So we get to learn, um, you know, Dorothy, as she's being escorted out of the village and onto the yellow— what, you know, which is this yellow road, which is, you know, it's supposed, I guess, to be the Yellow Brick Road. That the reason it's yellow is because it's made of poppy seeds, the poppy that makes opium, the drug. So that's a very interesting take on the Yellow Brick Road. And this tribesman, he informs Dorothy that if it were up to him, he would have killed her. And they take a shortcut, and we learn that the tribesman's wife is trapped by the wizard for partaking in magic because magic has been outlawed. And that by Dorothy being involved with killing the Witch of the East, that she was the only person that could have possibly freed his wife, you know, from being trapped, you know, where the wizard had, uh, you know, had them trapped in this kind of, uh, it's like, uh, uh, it's almost like they're in this, uh, uh, it's like a tar pit, I guess, and they're just covered with this tar and a pool, and, uh, it's part of their punishment to stay there. Uh, so they had to go through this place to take a shortcut, and after this point Dorothy is on her own going down the Yellow Brick Road. And then she discovers, um, uh, basically what appears to be the Scarecrow. And it's this, this man, he's up on this, the stake or this cross, and he's, um You know, he's covered in, uh, looks like straw. You know, he's, he's covered in, uh, uh, straw, and he's wounded, and he's forgotten who he is. Uh, he does have a mysterious sword with him. So, um, you know, Dorothy doesn't know what to call him, so she just starts calling him Lucas because Lucas is the name of the city she comes from in Kansas. It's called Lucas, Kansas. So we discover, you know, uh, you know, basically like in the original stories, how the Scarecrow, uh, didn't have a brain and he wants to go see the Wizard to possibly get him a brain. Because just like him, or just like Dorothy, he's now on a quest as well as Dorothy is on a quest to go along the Emerald City to try and find a way home, he now needs to find out who he is. But instead of him actually physically missing a brain, it's kind of just, you know, kind of, you know, the idea, you know, that he doesn't know who he is, so he has no mind, he has no brain in that sense. So they move on together. Along the Yellow Brick Road. Uh, but we— as they're taking a break, we find out that although we thought the Witch of the East was killed by Dorothy, that the body is gone, that she isn't dead, and she's actually walking over Dorothy and the Scarecrow's body as they sleep. Uh, Dorothy and the Scarecrow awaken, and they're being tortured by the Witch of the East's magic spells, and she's trying to figure out who Dorothy is. And as she's going through Dorothy's belongings, she picks up a gun that Dorothy brought with her from the cop car. And she's asking Dorothy, how does this mysterious object work, as she's never seen a gun before. So she's holding the gun with the barrel facing her head, and, you know, Dorothy tells her Well, all you need to do is squeeze the trigger for the gadget to work, and the Witch of the East actually pulls the trigger and she shoots her own self in the head, killing herself. So as the Witch of the East dies, she has these ruby gauntlets on her hands. And unlike how Dorothy had the ruby slippers, she has these ruby gauntlets. And it's, uh, as, as she dies, it's almost like her magic and her abilities in some sense passes on to Dorothy, because all of a sudden her gauntlets, they just merge onto— these ruby gauntlets just merge onto Dorothy's hands. Um, so, um, we now move on to another character, you know, in this series, and the character's name is Tip. And Tip's being held hostage or captive by this mysterious woman they call Mom. And Tip has a friend outside named Jack outside, and he's trying to get in to free Tip. However, Jack can't get in because it's just this thick group of hedges and it keeps everyone out. It seems to be almost like it works under some type of spell or magic. And, um, you know, at that very moment, Dorothy and Scarecrow, um, they come across Jack outside the home, and Jack takes off running because I don't think Jack wants to be discovered that he's outside and he's trying to get in to rescue his friend Tip. But, uh, Dorothy and the Scarecrow, you know, Scarecrow was severely wounded from whatever happened to him when he was hung on that, hung out in the field, uh, Dorothy, uh, confronts Mom, and she comes out and she explains to her, hey, my friend needs medicine, uh, you know, can you help us out? And, uh, this Mom character, she seems genuinely okay with giving them some help so they could be on their way. However, she discovers the Scarecrow's sword, and she understands that this sword is only carried by the guard of the ruler, or the Wizard of Oz, you know, his personal guard. And she despises, uh, you know, the Wizard's guard because of all the bad things they've done, the atrocities they've committed under the Wizard's rule. So she does allow Dorothy and the Scarecrow to come in, but she doesn't make them aware that she plans to actually harm them. So once inside, Dorothy hears strange noises and, uh, a notice pushed underneath the door by Tip. You know, Tip's basically letting her know that, hey, I'm a captor here, I'm being held, you know, uh, you know, captive, you know, and I want to get out. So Dorothy then confronts Mom about this and asks her, well, you know, why are you, why are you holding, you know, this child hostage? And somehow Mom strikes a nerve with, you know, she touches a nerve with Dorothy because You know, Dorothy has a great sense of abandonment herself from not, you know, having her mom around as she grew up. And so Mom is explaining to her that she's doing all this to protect her from the horrors of the outside world, and if she was in her place, wouldn't she do the same thing? So Dorothy is seemingly going to just leave the entire matter alone for now. However, Dorothy then discovers that Scarecrow has actually been poisoned by Mom, and, you know, as a means of retaliation by him being a, you know, a part of the Wizard's guard. Dorothy, as a nurse, discovers that, uh, you know, uh, the poison, and she uses charcoal to, you know, to, uh, you know, to stop the poison, um, in Scarecrow. Dorothy then goes out to confront Mom about poisoning of the Scarecrow, and they get into a fight. And Mom is about to kill Dorothy, but the Scarecrow steps up behind and stabs Mom with a sword. After which, after Mom's dead, the Scarecrow begins to repeatedly beat Mom over and over again. And this seemingly is providing a window into his past, which Dorothy doesn't like, and she becomes very afraid of the Scarecrow and who he really may be. You know, so Dorothy and Scarecrow, they leave along with Tip. Tip goes away with Jack. However, as Tip escapes with Jack, Tip turns from a boy into a girl. Uh, so we find out that Mom was at using some type of medicine or spell, you know, in order to keep Tip from turning into a girl. We then cut to the, um, to the Witch of the North and the West. And, you know, as I said earlier, the witches and the wizards, they all seem to work together. The witches seem to have these divisions in their own kind of order where they, they originally had a Witch of the North, East, um, West, and South. The Witch of the South, I believe, died under natural causes And the Witch of the East, of course, was, uh, you know, originally thought to be killed by Dorothy, but actually, actually shot herself in the head with the gun. And they're doing this ceremony to preserve the magic, you know, her magic some kind of way. But the ceremony doesn't go well, and the Wizard seems quite pleased, as the Wizard doesn't want any magic in Oz at all. So he's always glad when And then, you know, magic fails. And, uh, you know, that pretty much, you know, covers, um, you know, the end, the, the premiere episodes 1 and 2. Um, and, um, I'll just wrap it all up, my thoughts on it as a whole. But, you know, again, I thought the, the wizard is a very interesting character. We, we do get that The Wizard is a, you know, he's a bit of a fraud just like in the original series because he's his— we find out his hair isn't real, he's actually wearing a wig. And so, you know, he's, uh, you know, he's, he's, it's, it's, it's kind of a mirror to the original, you know, how he was just the man behind the curtain, that he didn't really have the abilities we thought he, you know, that you know, they thought he had, but it was all just, uh, you know, he was all a fraud himself, you know. Uh, so we, we now move on to episode 3, which is called The Mistress. So in this episode, we have Tip dealing with now being a girl, and Jack and her venture out to try to find a way to turn her back into being a boy, you know. So they go into the city and they find out that, you know, they're trying to use medicines and They're told by this medical clerk that this medicine was actually stopping you from being who you really were, which was a girl. That it wasn't that it turned you into a girl, it's that you always were a girl. And so it gets a bit, you know, so Jack, you know, of course Tip is turned into a beautiful young girl, so hey, you know, I guess Jack starts to see her in a different light now, and Jack decides to kiss her, but you know, Tip just goes into a rage because she's lived her entire life as a young boy and it's all odd and weird to her. And she goes to push Jack. She actually ends up pushing Jack off a ledge, and Jack seemingly falls to his death. Next we cut to Dorothy and Scarecrow, and they come across a castle with a storm over it, and the guardian of it notices Dorothy has the Ruby Gauntlet of the Witch of the East and asks her to stop the storm, um, you know, that's over this castle, because apparently the, the Witch of the East was able to just control the weather to some degree. So Dorothy doesn't know if she can or not, but they're kind of just going through the motion with this guardian in order to try to get to Emerald City. So as she tries to use the gauntlet, she does demonstrate some magical abilities with the gauntlet, but when she touches the storm, it actually transports her to another place in Oz, which seems to be this dumping ground where a lot of things that come from Dorothy's world just seemingly go. Like, she finds a her mom, her biological mom it seems, or at least we think it is, like her work jacket, and it has her name on it. So we next also find out that the Wizard may not have any of the power we thought he had. Apparently how he was able to conquer Oz was through the use of these stone giants. They're like monuments stationed all over the city, and they come alive and they're powerful. But he's actually confronted by an aide, uh, you know, who was saying— who has this big theory about the Beast and, uh, what's been going on with Oz, and that she doesn't believe that he actually, um, was able to awaken the giants or even control them. And so although the Wizard doesn't confirm or deny it he does imprison her. So we're kind of left with the thought that the Wizard may not be powerful at all. And so that kind of pretty much wraps up episode 3. And then we move on to episode 4, entitled Science and Magic. And in this episode, Dorothy and Scarecrow, they come across this young girl named Sylvie who mysteriously seems lost from her parents. Dorothy tries to take Sylvie back to her parents but is in danger of being captured by the Wizard's guards. Some people acting as her parents come forward, but it's discovered that they aren't really her parents. As Dorothy tries to retrieve Sylvie, she discovers that Sylvie has turned them into stone, you know, uh, and we don't know how she did it, but she's just kind of sitting there and we don't know who she is, but she apparently has some type of magic in her. So as Dorothy is attempting to leave the village with Sylvie, the captain of the Wizard Guard catches her, you know, and but he's surprised to find she's holding the Scarecrow's sword because Dorothy was dressed up as, uh, using the Scarecrow's, uh, clothing and his sword to appear to be as a man so that if she was detected, they wouldn't pay her much attention. They would think maybe she was a, a man instead of, uh, the woman that they're looking for, but it doesn't work. She's caught, and the captain of the guard recognizes the sword and knows the man who carries it personally and is explaining to Dorothy he's been looking for this man for a long time. And so he's holding, you know, Dorothy there, but Dorothy has the gun with her that she got from the police car, and she actually shoots the Captain of the Guard to escape. But the Captain of the Guard is screaming the name Nolan, and apparently that's who Scarecrow really is. So Scarecrow wants to know how the Captain of the Guard knew him. So next, we then move on to find that Jack, who was pushed off the ledge by Tip, isn't actually dead at all, but he's very much alive. But He's in this, uh, seems to be like a, uh, a laboratory, and he's been experimented on and modified because Jack's body is all broken up. It no longer works. Um, he can't move, he can't do anything. And so they're sawing off his limbs, they're attaching mechanical body parts to Jack. And interesting enough, we get to learn that Jack has actually become the Tin Man in a different take from the original that we are accustomed to. He's actually become mechanized to replace his, his battered and bruised body and crushed limbs. Whilst in this laboratory being recuperated and recuperating and, you know, learning how to walk walk and use these new mechanical limbs, he encounters this mysterious woman wearing a mask. And, uh, Jack is very interested in who she is. However, later the doctor comes in and explains she's not a very nice person, but that Jack will now have to leave this place. And the doctor takes Jack to the woman with the mask, and we learn her name is Lady M and that she was a client of the doctor. And that she may be similar to Jack in some way. We can't really tell if she's wearing this mask, and she also seems to maybe be some type of royalty or princess because the same captain of the guard— there's a captain of the guard who's under her control that we learn later on, you know, escorts Tip to Witch of the North. And which brings us to our next scene, which is Tip again, who's about to drop off, jump off a bridge. And before she can jump off a bridge and kill herself, a soldier comes along and is persuading her not to jump. And so Tip believes that she can join his army because Tip says, I won't jump if I can join your army. And serve you and fight for you. However, the soldier kind of tricks her. He takes her to the Witch of the North, Glenda, who wants to groom her. And she's grooming these young women for something. We don't know exactly what it is. The Witch of the West arrives, and you know, because as I mentioned earlier, all these witches are— they work with the Wizard in a sense. They're all kind of under the same government, if you will. They kind of have their Council of Witches And, uh, so the Witch of the West and Glinda the Witch of the North, they're basically fighting over Tip. So there seems to be something very important about Tip. We then also get that the Wizard, uh, reveals to the aide that he had imprisoned that it's true, he can't control the Stone Giants and that he doesn't have any power And, you know, they then venture out and they're going to try to find a way to stop the beast prophesied to come the best way they can. So my thoughts so far on this entire series— so far the show really looks good. It's turned out to be better than I thought it would be. I could tell NBC has spent a lot of money. The acting looks great. I like the more realistic approach that these are actually people, and which symbolically embody the ideas of the Scarecrow and the Tin Man. And although we haven't got the Cowardly Lion yet, my prediction is the captain of the guard who knew the Scarecrow, who said he had been tracking and trying to find the Scarecrow for so many years, I believe that he's gonna turn out to be the Cowardly Lion because in the trailers we do get a man wearing a lion-like headdress or some type of mask or head covering in the shape of a lion. And, you know, so I believe symbolically he may represent the Cowardly Lion because although he's serving the Wizard of Oz, he may really want to be in opposition to the Wizard of Oz, but he just doesn't have the courage at this stage to do it. Another prediction I have is that Dorothy is maybe from Oz herself, and she may either be the daughter of the Wizard or she may even be the true ruler of Oz. Uh, now The Beast prophecy and what the Beast may actually be, or what it is— I don't know exactly what the Beast will end up being. I'm gonna assume that Chip may be the Beast because of the great deal of importance placed on her. But if she isn't the Beast, I'm starting to believe that she may be the only person who can stop the Beast. Or maybe it's Dorothy. I don't know, but so far I think the series is great. It's been a total surprise. Uh, probably right now I can say one of the best Wizard of Oz adaptations I've personally seen. Uh, if you like the series so far, please comment below. Let me know what you think. Let me know what your favorite adaptation of The Wizard of Oz is. Don't forget to like and subscribe. And next week we'll be reviewing episode 5. Take care, guys.