Emerald City – Mistress – New – Mistress

By: Naomi Johnson

The episode opens with a bang…literally. Dorothy (Adria Arjona) and Toto are awakened by the sound of gunshots, which is no doubt a jarring experience for anyone, but when you find yourself in a new land with people trying to kill you and your attractive travel companion possibly a psychopathic killer it is definitely a cause for concern. Her companion Lucas (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is nowhere to be found, but the most sensible character on this show, ToTo, leads Dorothy to him. Lucas it appears is spending quality time with Dorothy’s gun.

Lucas acknowledges the fact that his actions last episode scared Dorothy and I mean why wouldn’t they? For those who don’t know, Lucas killed Mombi (Fiona Shaw), a woman who tried to kill them. Lucas successfully stabbed her and he then proceeded to bash her in the head. His explanation to Dorothy…instinct, but of course nothing is scarier than Dorothy with her gun. I mean, seeing someone die instantly and quickly is a lot scarier then seeing a face bludgeoned right? The soon to be shipping pair (Dorcas) make up and return each other’s weapons and continue on to Emerald City.

They take refuge in a circus wagon headed in the same direction, but the caravan is shortly stopped by Eamonn (Mido Hamada) and other Emerald City guards. Lucas accesses the situation and think they should leave and hide, but Dorothy wants to be taken to the Wizard; she wants him to help her get home that is all she every wanted. So, why not allow herself to be captured and save the trouble of traveling when they can take her straight to him. Lucas disagrees and hesitantly takes his leave and soon after Toto (again, being the only sensible character) takes his leave. Seriously, Dorothy listen to the dog. He has literally been right every single time. He knows what he’s doing because Dorothy follows the dog out of the caravan to retrieve him. Lucas grabs her when she exits the wagon to follow Toto. They hide in the brush and hear Eamonn issue an order: “Find the girl. She must die.”

Dorothy has no idea why they want to kill her and Lucas arrives at the conclusion that it is the Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio) who wants her dead. This doesn’t bode well for her plans on returning home. Meanwhile, back in Emerald City, the Wizard is in an uproar as three women have placed themselves atop the knee of his giant statue performing what looks to be some ritual. Why exactly are they doing this? Well, I guess to ascend. Thus, to these three magical women means dancing, floating in the air, dropping hundreds of feet to be stopped by some invisible rope twenty feet above the ground and hanging oneself. I, for one ,think it’s a bit overkill, but that’s just me. The wizard wants answers and doesn’t like the ones he receives. The beast is to return in only eight days in a hailstorm of fire. The wizard ignores this and instead decides to go meet with the Mistress of the West (Ana Ularu) as the three suicidal women come from her brothel.

Cut back to Dorothy, Lucas and Toto who have arrived at the Mistress of the East (Florence Kasumba) castle, where a giant tornado looms overhead. Now why exactly would Dorothy go to the house of the woman she murdered? Well, the Mistress of the East controlled weather and since she arrived into this land of Oz in a tornado then perhaps she can return in one as well. They are met by the Mistress’ most faithful servant Sullivan (Deobia Oparei) who accuses these new trespassers as looters and thieves and prepares to take them out. Right at that moment the mysterious gauntlets hidden on Dorothy’s hands show themselves and Sullivan asks Dorothy whether or not she is his new Mistress. Dorothy tells him yes that she is indeed the East’s replacement who has come to “settle the weather” before it devours the castle. Sullivan believes her but before she does she must go through the rituals of purification, which basically means to bathe and change ones clothes.

The Wizard meanwhile has arrived at West’s brothel where he angrily accuses her of having brought magic in Emerald City. West tells the Wizard she had nothing to do with the three girls committing suicide and why would she? She is a high priestess, one of the last of her kind who chooses to live her life in a brothel instead of meddle with magic. Magic that she has seen destroy everything. The Wizard is unconvinced and tells West that Anna (Isabel Lucas) will be the judge of that. It is then that West reveals that Anna’s mom once worked at her brothel and had sent Anna away so that she may live a better life, only for her to return to the world she had so desperately wanted to protect her from. West continuing to provoke both Anna and the Wizard says to Anna, “I bet under that robe you’re just as succulent as she was, and she was succulent. I tasted her myself… So did he.” Somewhat appalled, Anna leaves and the Wizard turns to West. She tells him not to worry as Anna is not his and she can taste Anna, too. Let me just say gross, but also I am falling more in more in love with Mistress West who has this air of cockiness and antipathy I find delightful.

Back at the Castle of East, Dorothy emerges from purification clad in a gorgeous red dress that had both myself and Lucas slack jawed. She has to reach a platform surrounded by water and all seems impossible when suddenly in Jedi force fashion she literally walks on water. With her dress billowing around her, she raises her arms to the sky and disappears. When she reappears, she is standing on another platform in the middle of a stream in some snowy woods. Miscellaneous items are strewn all over including a white lab coat that floats straight to Dorothy with the name “K. Chapman,” which just so happens to be her mother’s name.

Dorothy appears back at the castle with questions for Sullivan on how this object could possibly be in Oz. He explains to Dorothy that this item belonged to “interlopers” who never should have been in Oz in the first place and furthermore that particular interloper was brought to the Mistress of the East for a ticket back home by the Wizard himself. Dorothy then blows her cover by stating that that was her mother and Sullivan, in anger, attacks. Lucas saves Dorothy, but is easily defeated by Sullivan. Before he can take him out, Dorothy pleads for his life. Somehow Dorothy wins Sullivan over and our trio is able to escape the castle before it crumbles to the ground. At first, a despondent Dorothy believes she has lost all possibility of finding any answers, but a look of steely resolve washes over her face and she begins to walk away. Lucas calls after her curious as to where she is going and she responds “To see the Wizard.”

Anna, after conducting her interviews and concluding her investigation, tells the Wizard that the girls who had committed suicide were not imbued with the magic of West, but by The Beast itself. She says that The Beast is definitely on its way and will arrive when the two moons become one. She then accuses the Wizard of having lost control of his giants and doubting whether or not he ever had control in the first place. She tells him that she will keep this secret even from Glinda. Side note: Never ever have confrontations of balconies. The Wizard approaches her quite menacingly and instead of throwing her off the balcony locks her up.

Now, onto the narrative I believe carries the most substantial story line…Tip (Jordan Loughran). Last week’s premiere had him waking in a female body. She and her friend Jack (Gerran Howell) traveled to the City of Ev to find a herbalist who could make more of Tip’s medicine so that he could return to his former body. The herbalist tells them that he won’t and neither will anyone else, the medicine Tip was taking was actual a magical elixir that disrupted Tip’s true nature. Tip is reeling after he learns this because for him he has always been a boy and feels completely out of place in this new body.

Jack finds Tip on a balcony high above the city close to unraveling. Jack isn’t quite sure how he can help his friend and shows Tip that he stole Mombi’s jewel encrusted knife and that they can sell it and stay together forever. Instead, it further angers Tip so in an effort to calm them done Jack kisses his friend. Tip understandably freaks out and yells at Jack that this isn’t who they are and pushes him away. Unfortunately, it was a little too hard because jack falls 100 feet seemingly to his death with Tip looking over the railing at their friend. The screen cuts to black. So, again I quite enjoyed the episode and was glad to have a bit more action though I am still left with thousands of questions and no answers. I look forward to next week’s episode.