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S01.E01: The Beast Forever / S01.E02 Prison Of The Abject


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A tornado occurs while Dorothy searches for her mother, and the storm transports Dorothy to a mystical land where a powerful ruler has outlawed magic in the series premiere of this combined episode of a dark, modern reimagining of "The Wizard of Oz."

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I'm looking forward to this tomorrow. However, I would like to register my annoyance at the fact that once again the witches of the North and South seem to have been combined into a single character.

The lack of symmetry the absence of the Good Witch of the South creates bothers me. It creates a vacuum that needs to be filled.  

4 hours ago, maxineofarc said:

Is the only prominent black character the villain?

She's the counterpart to the Wicked Witch of the East, but something tells me that things aren't going to be as black and white (or sepia for that matter) as in the original story. Especially as her character is supposed to die upon Dorothy's arrival. I wonder how they will handle that. Flashbacks? Visions? Ghosts?

Also, this picture shows that one of the women in bluish robes whom I presume to be members of Glinda's order of mystics is also black. And Tipp who is, as TVTropes puts it, ambiguously brown

2017-01-05-emerald-city.jpg

Edited by AzureOwl
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12 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

I was totally prepared to snarkwatch this show until you said Tarsem Singh. The Fall is one of the most under-rated films of all time (OF ALL TIME!) [See, Kanye agrees with me!] so it's probably worth a shot.

If nothing else, it's REALLY pretty.

11 hours ago, maxineofarc said:

Is the only prominent black character the villain?

Not really. For one thing there are two prominent black characters. Plus one who as someone else pointed out is "ambiguously brown," and Dorothy herself is Latina. It's funny, that photo looks VERY white (because it is), but my perception watching it was that it was very multi-ethnic. I guess the bar is distressingly low?

6 hours ago, AzureOwl said:

I'm looking forward to this tomorrow. However, I would like to register my annoyance at the fact that once again the witches of the North and South seem to have been combined into a single character.

Without spoiling anything, I can assure you that all four directions are represented. Though, yes, Glinda is North, so if you're a book purist that will bug you.

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28 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

As a people, aren't we tired of The Wizard of Oz?

I don't know. The film is going on 78 years old and generation after generation still watches it, so...maybe not? I'm not sure about this show's execution, but I will admit it does look visually impressive. We'll see.

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14 hours ago, adam807 said:

Not really. For one thing there are two prominent black characters. Plus one who as someone else pointed out is "ambiguously brown," and Dorothy herself is Latina. It's funny, that photo looks VERY white (because it is), but my perception watching it was that it was very multi-ethnic. I guess the bar is distressingly low?

Yeah, I was going on the photo. That's somewhat reassuring.

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On 1/5/2017 at 9:54 AM, withanaich said:

Yes, they did. It was a miniseries called Tin Man. I am so in for this show. I don't care if it's bad but delightful, or just kinda bad, I am a sucker for crap like this.

Me too. Plus I'd watch Vincent D'Onofrio read out of the phone book.

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Didn't SyFy already do this with Zooey Deschanel?

My first thought as well, and yet - there's a chance the similarities will be minimal at most. The "Tin Man" mini-series sort of played off the story in alt-world sense: Oz was called the "Outer Zone," the Emerald City was "Central City," Dorothy was "D.G.," the Tin Man was just an ordinary guy who used to be a sheriff, etc. This versions appears to be taking a more literal adaptation of the story.   I'm looking forward to checking it out.

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3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

My first thought as well, and yet - there's a chance the similarities will be minimal at most. The "Tin Man" mini-series sort of played off the story in alt-world sense: Oz was called the "Outer Zone," the Emerald City was "Central City," Dorothy was "D.G.," the Tin Man was just an ordinary guy who used to be a sheriff, etc. This versions appears to be taking a more literal adaptation of the story.   I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Yes. It looks way more fantastical and more like an HBO big budget extravaganza. Ooh, I'm all atwitter with excitement.

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So far, I'm digging this show. Love that Toto is a German Shepard and I love the introduction of the Scarecrow.

The Witches are interesting as well as their relationship to the Wizard. I'm also enjoying Dorothy, I like that she's a healer with a strong moral sense. 

I never read the books but, after a quick glance at Wikipedia it seems that this show is incorporating characters from several books in the series. Although, they seem to be putting their own twist on the stories.

I'm also rather in love with the loom of the show. It's visually stunning and beautiful to look at.

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I'm finding the Witches and the Wizard rather boring so far.

But I really enjoyed Dorothy.  I think Dorothy and Scarecrow had a great dynamic and think that part of the show, as she picks up more travelling companions,  is what will keep me sticking around.

Edited by ParadoxLost
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I decided to give this a try.   I could look past a cop trying to shoot someone in the middle of a tornado who was frantically waving their arms.   Because yeah, no one needs help in a weather event, nope their just a threat.   But I damn near checked out during the water torture.   The. Munchikins. Do.Not.Torture.  But I figured it was owuld be that one.   Then I see the voodoo doll torture by one of the witches.   At that point I checked out.   This is OZ.   Life is better there than grey Kansas.   That was the whole damn point of Baum creating the land.

Why everyone has to make a "gritty" version of the story I do not get.

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So far I am digging it.   I like the dynamic of the show so far.   Interesting take on the story.

One of the things I am liking is that Dorthy is a nurse and every she uses her nursing knowledge everyone is mistaking it for magic and add to that the yellow brick road is made of opium.   I think Dorthy's knowledge as a healer and medical stuff will come into play with magic and science and stuff.

Edited by Chaos Theory
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This was soooo much better than I was expecting from a "gritty Oz reboot."  It might be that I've been totally taken in by how freakin' pretty the show is (especially for a network TV fantasy show -- I'm used to Once Upon a Time), but I also enjoyed the slightly uneasy dynamic between Dorothy and Lucas (good that he's not just a love interest ... at least not yet), and the sense that there's a whole lot going on in this world with witches and magic and the Beast and all that jazz.  I don't know where it's going, but I'll definitely be along for the ride.

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The husband picked up on Tip being a girl the second Mombi said "boy", lol

I'm glad we're finally getting Tip's story adapted.  Too bad it's an adaptation that's putting a twist on everything.

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I also remember Tin Man!  It was cheesy as hell and Zooey Deschanel was actually kind of awful in it, but it had Neal McDonough in an awesome hat, Alan Cumming being his normal awesome self, and Kathleen Roberston unleashing birds from tattoos on her cleavage (yeah, I'm pretty sure that actually happened), so I got a huge kick out of that.

This.... well, it was great looking at least.  And I kind of warmed up to Dorothy and Lucas's interactions and think the actors are pretty solid (really enjoyed Adria Arjona as a recurring POI in Person of Interest).  But it really dragged in places (especially the first hour), and all of the stuff involving Oz, Glinda, and West was goofy and strangely acted (I swear, Vincent D'Onofrio's accent seemed to change each scene.)  Although, I think Fiona Shaw wins in the scenery chewing department this time.

I was set to praise the diversity, but then not only do they kill off the witch played by the black actress (but that was expected), they replace the Asian servant (or whoever she was) with Isabel Lucas.  Still, having someone like Adria Arjona play Dorothy is actually pretty progressive for network television, I guess.

The Tip reveal was pretty good, although I cracked up at Jack's "Oh, shit!  Tip's got boobs!" look.

Still, I'm a sucker for all things fantasy, so I'll watch.  Plus, I refuse to watch Sleepy Hollow live after last season's finale.

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15 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

So far I am digging it.   I like the dynamic of the show so far.   Interesting take on the story.

One of the things I am liking is that Dorthy is a nurse and every she uses her nursing knowledge everyone is mistaking it for magic and add to that the yellow brick road is made of opium.   I think Dorthy's knowledge as a healer and medical stuff will come into play with magic and science and stuff.

Reminded me of "Outlander" in that the nurse there was also seen as a witch. Probably an even more common trope than that, but that's the one that came to mind.

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I was going to watch this based on the promos, but when I read that Tarsem Singh was the director, I really got excited! "The Fall" is one of my favorite movies ever. The visuals are stunning, as expected, and I'm really drawn into the story. Great to see Vincent Donofrio back on tv.

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I'll admit I'm here for the Dorcas (has a ship ever set sail and then crashed as fast as them?) but I'm also intrigued by the Emerald City politics going on.

Poor Lucas desperately trying out his 'Knock Knock' jokes on a shell shocked Dorothy after braining Mombi (alas only a witch can kill a witch) was so sad. He's definitely got some demons to sort out. I did love their dynamic of her saving his man in distress several times and their bonding during their travels. Given that she's named him after what she considers home, not too hard to see that in the end he'll mean a lot to her so this ship hasn't crashed and burned completely!

And when he gets his head on straight and Dorothy comes into her own power, they will be a formidable force.

Took me a while but realized that Lucas is Jonathan Harker from Dracula a few years back. Glad he bounced back on another NBC show, but sorry it's in another Friday death slot. At least the show has a chance being sandwiched between Grimm and Dateline. It could pull decent ratings.

Ruby gauntlets that disappear? Sweet.

Drone monkeys are a smart twist on flying monkeys.

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I was prepared to hate this but I loved it.

I don't watch Game of Thrones and I gave up on Once a few episodes into this season. This show will nicely fill this void.

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2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

At that point I checked out.   This is OZ.   Life is better there than grey Kansas.   That was the whole damn point of Baum creating the land.

But was that the point? If so, why was Dorothy so eager to go back home to Kansas if Oz was so much better? Why "there's no place like home"?

As for this adaption, as I said, this is usually not my thing, but it was visually awesome and I am a bit intrigued about Dorothy's upcoming adventures. And I like VDO, odd accent or not. So I'm also in, at least for a while. Glad it turned out better than I had anticipated.

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Man, that Lucas was yummy!

Most of the reviews for this were pretty horrible so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Beautifully shot. They re-imagined enough that it was still interesting without getting dragged down in the familiarity of the original story. The Wizard/Witches storyline was a bit slow. West seemed to be channeling Vanessa Ives during that funeral ceremony scene and literally barfing out the spells was comical. But overall a nice start.

Edited by surfer
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I liked it to be honest. The production value looks amazing for tv, don't know there this was filmed but it reminds me of LOTR and last year's Shannara Chronicles. The cast looks solid, nobody is terrible. My one question - who will be the true villain, the Wizard or WWotW ?

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10 hours ago, merylinkid said:

Why everyone has to make a "gritty" version of the story I do not get.

Because "gritty" is the in thing to do. Everything's a new 'gritty' or 'dark' version.

That did make me nervous because I am a little over having everything dark and gritty.

I did like this so far. I love that we are getting Tip's story. 

People have mentioned how old the classic movie version is. Well the 1st book is 116 years old.I've read alot of the books. I 'be got 3 in my stack to be read.

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Why everyone has to make a "gritty" version of the story I do not get.

I don't either, but they keep trying, because sometimes it works (Micheal Keaton's Batman after Adam West's; both were very good at what they were trying to do.)   Other times, it doesn't; for details check TV Trope's Darker and Edgier for examples good and bad.

The part that gets me is when an established trope based on other material gets praised for being "original", though there can be original bits.

In this case, I was out shortly after the "only a witch can be a witch", and the witch found the gun.  I didn't need to see the actual gunshot, no matter how much they're spending on visuals.

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The Tip twist at the end threw me for a loop. Watching the show, I wondered if we would find out that Tip was crazy/evil/monster and that ultimately Aunt Petunia was protecting everyone from him by keeping him imprisoned and giving him medicine.  

Now, I'm wondering if Tip and Dorothy are going to Be lost Cardinal Witches, thus replacing the South (Tip) and East (Dorothy).

I like the dark/edgy tone to the series. I was never a fan of the original movie and I've never read the book series. However, I tend to enjoy shows that take a well known story and twist it.  For me Wicked, Snow White A Tale of Terror, Mists of Avalon, The 10th Kingdom, Tin Man are fun twists on well known stories that make them interesting.

Edited by Morrigan2575
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I'm impressed with those of you who liked it enough to remember plot points.

I found this kind of awe-inspiring only in how something so pretty could be so intensely boring. I had to check out after 40 minutes or so because I couldn't find anything to care about.

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10 hours ago, TobinAlbers said:

I'll admit I'm here for the Dorcas (has a ship ever set sail and then crashed as fast as them?) but I'm also intrigued by the Emerald City politics going on.

Poor Lucas desperately trying out his 'Knock Knock' jokes on a shell shocked Dorothy after braining Mombi (alas only a witch can kill a witch) was so sad. He's definitely got some demons to sort out. I did love their dynamic of her saving his man in distress several times and their bonding during their travels. Given that she's named him after what she considers home, not too hard to see that in the end he'll mean a lot to her so this ship hasn't crashed and burned completely!

And when he gets his head on straight and Dorothy comes into her own power, they will be a formidable force.

Took me a while but realized that Lucas is Jonathan Harker from Dracula a few years back. Glad he bounced back on another NBC show, but sorry it's in another Friday death slot. At least the show has a chance being sandwiched between Grimm and Dateline. It could pull decent ratings.

Ruby gauntlets that disappear? Sweet.

Drone monkeys are a smart twist on flying monkeys.

And blink and you miss her Gina Bellman (Sophie from Leverage).

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Count me in among those who liked it and can remember plot points :)

True, it can be convoluted and requires attention at points, but it doesn't bother me at all. It's also beautifully shot and well acted, even if some performances are - deliberately - over the top.

I read some reviews stating that the characters are not well developed. I don't know about that, I remember GoT had similar amount of exposition and world building. At this moment, this is the Land of Oz I both know and discover at the same time. Which is neat.

I already have some theories about the Beast Forever, wonder if Karen Chapel was/is Mother South and ship Dorothy and Lucas. Also, Toto is cute.

Things I liked most in no particular order:

  • West outing one of Wizard's handmaidens as being pregnant. And then outing the father.
  • The funeral dance and song number
  • The fact that handguns can be deadly to a witch (was it a loophole or is Dorothy a witch?)
  • Glinda's cool in front of the Wizard
  • Tip and Jack, 'nuff said
  • Lucas the person in general and as a concept of amnesiac psycho
  • "The lions did that"
  • The fact that Dorothy is capable and not whinny

Looking forward to the next weeks. I wish it was a Netflix show so I could binge watch it.

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This show looks beautiful, even though some camera work was extremely wonky (like that shot in the tomb behind the arms of dancing witches). The set designs, certain scenes and the color palette look incredible. The Red Witch taunting Scarecrow and Dorothy and her dying were the most striking of all scenes in terms of visual quality.

Things that are bothering me in this is everyone's characterization and the setting of the main conflict. I think the visual part is so dazzling they kind of forgot to build up Dorothy as a character. The writers relied way too much on expository dialogue about Dorothy's biological mother. But they explained a precious little all the same. And Dorothy's scenes with "Lucas" also needed more work, as for a while "Lucas" was a non-character with no personality to speak of and only thing in common between them was that they're both attractive young people. The awkward flirting was even more out of place in all of this. However, I liked psychedelic quality of their last scene together on the road. Hope the show will deliver more of that content. It was quite disturbing and fascinating.

The Wizard didn't impress me at all so far, and I like Vincent D'Onofrio as an actor. I'm giving the writers more time with this, since the dynamic between The White Witch, The Black Witch and the Wizard is intriguing, and Joely Richardson was the best thing about that storyline in the pilot as well. The political conflict should also be good.

I read the books so long ago that I almost forgot everything about Tip and everything Tip stands for! But it became extremely obvious who the Boy in the Attic is when I remembered the books.

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1 hour ago, Morrigan2575 said:

 

I like the dark/edgy time to the series. I was never a fan of the original movie and I've never read the book series. However, I tend to enjoy shows that take a weel known story and twist it.  For me Wicked, Snow White A Tale of Terror, Mists of Avalon, The 10th Kingdom, Tin Man are fun twists on well known stories that make them interesting.

I love when they put a twist on the old stories too. Love all of those, so I knew I'd love this too.

I loved it. Didn't care for the Wizard's guard, I felt like they draaaaaaaged the story down (although, did love the Lion line).

I did like the spin on the scarecrow having no memory, and I liked that he was still obviously really wounded throughout the episodes, I hate when you see characters real banged up and then suddenly they're fine. I like the mystery surrounding him too.

Poor Dorothy, having a real bad couple of days. I do LOVE that her mother is Gina Bellman (hey Sophie!) and it really seems that Dorothy's home really isn't Kansas but Oz. Can I "call" that her mother is the Witch of the South? Or is Aunt Petunia or Tip the Witch of the South?  I do hope her father isn't the Wizard of Oz. 

Speaking of the Wizard, I'm not exactly sure who I'm supposed to be rooting for. So the Wizard's outlawed magic (Someone better tell Aunt Petunia) but the Witches can't overpower him. The Wizard is a bit of a jerk, Glinda is kinda uptight and the Witch of the West is a hot mess. 

I did like that they called the witches the Cardinals of Magic. Makes me wonder if there's more smaller witches out there, or how the magic works.

Edited by SnoGirl
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I loved it! And glad I can watch online as my boyfriend hates stuff like this.

Wicked Witch of the West updated into a crazy lunatic. Glenda isn't really that goody-two-shoes this time around. HA! 

When Lucas said he hoped the Wizard could fix his head, I had to laugh a little. At least they aren't singing and dancing their way to Emerald City. Love Toto the German Shepherd. He had no idea he'd signed up for such an adventure.

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The part that gets me is when an established trope based on other material gets praised for being "original", though there can be original bits.

Yeah - it seems like overkill at this point because there have been SO many attempts to "re-imagine" Oz and other classic stories, at this point it all feels very redundant.

Still, it was interesting. I wasn't really feeling it much in the first hour, but when they got into Mombi, Jack and Tip my interest piqued. So many Oz re-imaginings are based on the classic film rather than the books, so it was really nice to see the writers did some homework and included characters from Book 2. And, Fiona Shaw as Mombi? Too perfect. (Also a nice shout-out to Ojo from Book 7.)

So, I'm in for now. 

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I twigged to the Tip switch at the first shot of the character, so it was interesting to watch Mombi's scenes in that light: she's locking the girl away, even from herself! "It's too dangerous to go out in your 'condition.'" Must be that Life in Oz isn't any safer for girls than this world is.

I would like Glinda's dress in my closet. (Did Joely Richardson double as Auntie Em? I thought maybe, but I'm not sure.) I would also please like the complete collection of D'onofrio's cloak brooches, thanks.

I appreciate the effect of the Northern Virgins' cloaks and headdresses, but (especially in that color!) it became imperative for me to shorthand those characters as the Sisters Mary Satellite. Sorry, but if you put a dish on their heads and make them nun-ly, that's what happens. Cannot be stopped.

Eamonn's dry as dust line delivery of 'Lions' cracked me all the way up. 

The scenes with East sitting on the rock outcropping in her scarlet dress looked straight out of The Cell, another of Singh's visual stunners.

Croatia looks pretty. I want to go to there.

Edited by attica
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52 minutes ago, attica said:

Must be that Life in Oz isn't any safer for girls than this world is.

Not for all girls but for this specific girl life in Oz could be lethal, for sure.

52 minutes ago, attica said:

Sorry, but if you put a dish on their heads and make them nun-ly, that's what happens. Cannot be stopped.

The look like Sisters of Plenitude from Doctor Who to me.

 

58 minutes ago, tanita said:

I've never read any Oz books so can some of you give me hints or spoilers about these shout outs to the books. I'd like to know what to expect plotwise.

Edited by CooperTV
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Thanks. I got a crash course from another poster in a PM.

If she is immortal, could she be  the Beast Forever? My other initial thoughts are a possessed-like Dorothy or West.

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