Things that are good
–The visuals of this show are *stunning.* The cinematography is breathtaking; the costumes are gorgeous.
–I like all the inside references to famous Ozian mythology–the rainbow in the window; the flying monkey drone; the poppies that double as the Yellow Brick Road; the witch of the East wearing rubies which Dorothy literally absorbs into her skin.
–I like the idea of a much richer mythology (The Beast Forever; a massive flood) that informs the landscape of Oz that keeps well with Ozian mythology. It’s not just “here there be witches–beware.”
–The Wicked Witch of the East is the instant favorite; I also like the twist that it’s not really magic that kills her, but rather a human made gun with human made bullets.
–Mombi is Petunia Dursley and she’s also keeping a sickly child locked up in a small room. META
Things that are not good
–Dorothy is sadly bland. In the span of five minutes, the show gives her enough backstory to make her sympathetic but not enough to make her feel any less sympathy inducing than any other heroine on TV. I also find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t question her new reality more–you drop from the sky in a car and suddenly there are people talking about beasts and magic and wizards and she accepts it all with little argument or internal conflict.
–This is very Frank L Baum by way of George RR Martin. That’s not exactly a bad thing but it’s like the show wants very badly to be on HBO but had to settle for NBC and broadcast restrictions.
–The Scarecrow tends to mutter a bit. It’s hard to understand him.
A few theories:
–The current Wizard of Oz killed King Pastoria
–The Beast Forever is, yes, water but Dorothy/Ozma will use it for good by killing off the Wicked Witch of the West.
OVERALL: B; good enough for me to watch again next week but still some work to do.