This week, Emerald City attempted to make up for lost time. Although “The Villain That’s Become” failed to pick up speed for the series itself, this episode did give us something that many previous episodes have lacked; curiosity about what is to come.
Tip and West
Last week we learned that Tip is actually the princess of Oz, and after drinking the remains of the witch of the East, she is now also a Cardinal Witch. West convinces Tip that it is her duty to take back the throne from the Wizard, but they can’t do it alone. Now that Tip possesses East’s powers, West takes her to the Prison of the Abject, where they free the witches that were trapped there. Although the witches are hesitant to join their cause at first, Tip asserts herself as a powerful leader and the witches pledge their allegiance to the Princess of Oz.
Queen Ev and Jack
Just as she promised, Queen Ev manufactures the guns that the Wizard asked for, but when the Wizard comes to retrieve them, she refuses to give him the weapons. Angered by this betrayal, the Wizard and his guards invade her castle and hold her captive. The Wizard threatens the soldiers of Ev to hand over their weapons as he holds a gun to the Queen’s head in front of them. Queen Ev demands them to hold their ground and defend the city, even if it means she must die. Jack, who just can’t seem to say away from the Queen, asks his creator, Jane to add a gun to his tin suit. As he stands on the balcony at a distance, he aims his gun at the Wizard, who meticulously pulls the Queen in front of him just as Jack fires.
The queen is shot and although the Wizard tries to escape during a tacky shootout scene in the castle, the guards of Ev capture him and sentence him to death. Jack rushes to aid the Queen but it’s too late, so he takes her to Jane. We then get the biggest bomb dropped on us all episode when we find out that the Queen died many years ago, and this was just a constructed robot that Jane had made to please the old king. This finally explains her weird mood swings and inability to sort out her emotions for the entire season. Jane tells Jack that she can rebuild her and make her the way she was, but Jack’s shock and anger leave him wanting nothing but revenge on the Wizard.
Dorothy
Once again, Dorothy seemed to have taken a backseat in this week’s episode. After escaping from Glinda’s palace she runs into Roan, who is dead-set on killing her. He tries and fails a few times, until he finally has her pinned and chokes her. Dorothy makes one last-ditch effort to save herself and pulls a knife from Roan and stabs him. She then puts him up on a cross and leaves him there, the same way she found him.
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Without Roan or Sylvie, the only thing on Dorothy’s mind is finding a way home. She decides that her best option is to use magic to awaken the Giants that helped fight in the last war. Just as the Guards of Ev prepare to shoot the Wizard, one of the Giants, led by Dorothy, arrives to the City of Ev.
Though this episode did do a decent job at setting the stage for the finale next week, it continued to lack any real excitement or anticipation. The Wizard continued to give a dreadful performance that left me laughing for most of his screen time. On the plus side, Roan and Dorothy’s dramatic brawl proved to be quite thrilling, and Tip’s assertive and fierce transition into a powerful leader did give me some goosebumps.
With so many sides, it is hard to determine who’s right and who’s wrong, but this does add an interesting element to the show that will make for a somewhat interesting finale. Though this episode did make up for last week, it still seems doubtful that Emerald City will leave us impressed or satisfied in the end.
Rating: 6.5/10
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Emerald City airs Fridays at 9 PM EST on NBC
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