Emerald City – Everybody Lies

By: Naomi Johnson

Friday’s “Emerald City” was basically me fangirling at my TV because West (Ana Ularu) was phenomenal. This episode gave me a seductive, sympathetic and slightly unhinged West and finally had all our main characters in the same place. It all culminated into a final face to face between the Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Dorothy (Adria Arjona). Honestly, this was my favorite episode to date so let’s kick this recap off.

First, we are re-introduced to Ojo (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) who has kidnapped Dorothy and brought her to West in exchange for the release of his wife from the Prison of the Abject. I don’t blame him, but I really hope he becomes an ally because I feel this is not the last of Ojo this season. West interrogates Dorothy trying to figure out what her sister was trying to tell her before she died and to tell us that she is not a person easily loved as East was the only one who truly did… (West, I love you boo).

While Dorothy is currently locked up in West’s dungeon, Jack (Gerran Howell) and Lady Ev (Stefanie Martini) are heading into Emerald City as the city is preparing for the great Festival of the Beast. This seems rather humorous when said Beast will be making a return. Meanwhile, not too far from all the hustle and bustle an injured Eamonn (Mido Hamada) has returned to Emerald City with Lucas (Oliver Jackson Cohen) and Sylvie (Rebeka Rea) in tow. We still aren’t sure of his history with Lucas, but he is quite insistent that Lucas isn’t a traitor. He demands that Lucas stay hidden inside his house for his safety, but soon falls to the ground seeing as how Dorothy shot him last episode.

Meanwhile, West starts her interrogation of Dorothy who continues to assert that she isn’t lying nor did she kill East. Tip (Jordan Loughran) is also there and recognizes Dorothy but remains silent while bringing her mistress her opium tea. West threatens to “suck the lies from Dorothy’s marrow,” which is threatening enough to have Dorothy tell West to check her bag. West rummages through the knapsack and comes across the gun. Obviously, Dorothy was hoping for a repeat performance, but when West points the gun in her direction she flinches and inadvertently shows the witch how the weapon works. Luckily for Dorothy, West doesn’t realize the chamber is empty so when she pulls the trigger, Dorothy remains very much alive. In her anger and frustration, West knocks her unconscious instead.

The Wizard has invited Ev’s royal family to Emerald City to ask for their help in building weapons that can defeat The Beast Forever. With Emerald City’s knowledge and the Land of Ev’s technological skills, they can win the coming battle according to the Wizard. Lady Ev/Princess Langwidere are not ones to just sit on the side, which incites a bickering match between Elizabeth (Roxy Sternberg) and Anna (Isabel Lucas). These are two of the Wizard’s most trusted advisors who can’t seem to agree on the signs regarding The Beast Forever’s return.

West contacts Glinda (Joely Richardson) to tell her she found their sister’s killer. Glinda, of course, tells West not to do anything until she arrives. Frustrated, West yells for tea and Tip brings it on command. After some words from Tip telling West about her ideas on love, a look of admiration is seen on West. Obviously pleased with her pet, West orders Miranda (Amber Rose Revah) to check on the prisoner and empty the chamber pot. Curious as to who she is Tip asks West who simply states “the old you.” Ouch. A hurt Miranda takes her leave to go visit Dorothy. Dorothy is awake and using her foot to pull a piece of glass closer to her when Miranda enters and dumps the dirty liquid into something that leads to Emerald City’s sewer system. Dorothy thinks she has found a way to escape, but Miranda is onto her and steps on Dorothy’s foot, pushing it into the broken glass. Again, I say ouch.

Somewhere in the city, Sylvie awakens a sleeping Lucas and lets him know Dorothy is nearby. The two quickly set off to find her as West has returned and is basically no longer in the mood for games or lies. With a flick of her finger, she pulls Dorothy into a standing position, across the room and into the air before resuming her questioning. She wants Dorothy to tell her why East was coming to see her and whether she was acting as someone’s agent when she killed her.

When Dorothy is asked “Who’s K. Chapman?” and chooses to answer by saying “I don’t know”. West contorts her body into painful positions, prompting Dorothy to finally admit K. Chapman is her mother. Again, Dorothy says she doesn’t know her mother and after some rather tasteless comments about how inadequate Dorothy must be for her mother to have abandoned her, West drops the levitating Dorothy to the floor. That’s when East’s gauntlets randomly reappear and like in the classic tale when West attempts to grab grabs Dorothy’s hands, flames shoot up into West’s arms and cause her to scream out in pain.

We return to the Wizard who’s asking King August (David Calder) if he can count on Ev’s support in the battle to come. August; however, reveals he’s clearly lost his mind ages ago when he asks the Wizard to resurrect his dead dog in return. He can’t seem to remember exactly which year his beloved pet passed away though. The Wizard confronts Langwidere, who doesn’t hesitate to reveal just how much she despises him. Because he may have he saved Emerald City after The Beast Forever’s last visit, he left Ev’s people to drown, including Langwidere’s mother. “I want to see Emerald City laid to waste and I want to see you drown in its suffering,” snaps Langwidere. “And when The Beast returns, I shall have my wish.” I’m really liking this masked princess by the way.

A now unrestrained Dorothy is trying to open the door to the sewer when she hears Tip outside. Begging for Tip’s help, she’s shocked when Tip reveals her identity as the boy Dorothy saved from Mombi. Given what’s happened to Tip since then, she’s less than eager to help Dorothy escape and blames her for everything. Honestly, Tip, she didn’t have to help you, but let’s just continue to whine. When the dungeon door opens and another prisoner is thrown inside, we see it’s Dorothy’s mother (really Wst disguised as Dorothy’s mother). She urges Dorothy to think back to when she killed the witch and a series of flashbacks seen in Dorothy’s mind reveal that East was coming to tell West something about Glinda before she basically was tricked into committing suicide.

Later, Glinda arrives only to discover Dorothy has escaped with the help from Tip, who didn’t want another death on her conscience. When West confronts Miranda asking if she helped Dorothy, Miranda tells her mistress it was Tip who calmly claims to have been making West’s tea all day. West believes it must have been Miranda who set the prisoner free. West thinks that Miranda was jealous of Tip and because when she tried to read Tip and couldn’t tell the lie she throws Miranda into the sewer. The poor servant’s dead body washes outside just seconds after Dorothy. Later, Elizabeth shows West some footage of a meeting between East and Glinda on the day of the former’s death, contradicting Glinda’s earlier statement that she hadn’t seen their sister in years. I am ready for a witch sister smack down, but also poor West. She just needs some love.

We make a brief stopover to the Wizard who shows Anna the bullet pulled from Eamonn’s body and tells her it’s powerful enough to kill The Beast Forever. How does he know what it’s called and what it can do? Obviously, our Wizard is not from around town. Elsewhere in the city, Lucas and Sylvie are confronted by the Wizard’s guards. Lucas single-handedly takes most of them out before asking the last one how he ended up in Nimbo. The guard tells him that when some other guards had pulled over Lucas’ wagon and when Lucas wouldn’t show them what was inside, he emerged with a sword and killed ten men. Distraught, Lucas surrenders and makes Sylvie promise not to use magic for his benefit. Though Eamonn later tells his men to free Lucas, the memory stricken Scarecrow tells Eamonn his men were right and he needs to atone for his actions.

One of the most satisfying scenes to happen this episode is when a mask-wearing Dorothy leaves the festival and wanders around Emerald City, eventually stumbling upon what looks to be the Wizard’s quarters. I am guessing either she had Wizard GPS or people just have his address and give it out all willy nilly. The sounds of Pink Floyd are seen coming from a portable cassette player and we glimpse the Wizard relaxing in a chair by the fire. Dorothy turns off the music and the Wizard rises to face his visitor. “Pink Floyd?” Dorothy asks him, curious as to how she knows the name Dorothy then tells him they come from the same place. The Wizard asks if she is here to kill him. Dorothy takes of her mask and asks, “Do you know my mother, Karen Chapman?” The Wizard’s mood automatically changes and as he almost desperately states, “Oh my god. Dorothy, you’ve come home.” BOOM!! Anyone else thinking he is Dorothy’s daddy? Hopefully you guys are excited as I am and I will be seeing you next episode.