Emerald City - Episodes 1 & 2

 

The Oz books penned by L Frank Baum have proved to be inspiring fodder for a number of versions and adaptations across various media. As the best known ones are The Wizard of Oz film and the musical Wicked, the tales have become synonymous with songs. A more ambitious attempt to relocate this world to that of drama was made with Emerald City. First developed by writers Matthew Arnold and Josh Freidman for NBC the concept was to extrapolate familiar characters and scenarios from the books to give them a futuristic, edgier twist.  They also wanted to make a version grounding some of the more fanciful concepts in a more realistic though still unusual context as well as bringing characters who featured in all of the original fourteen books together to exist at the same time.

The show had endured an awkward beginning when creative differences between Freidman and NBC led to the project being canned in 2014 before a moment had been filmed. The main source of disagreement was NBC wanting the show solely to revolve around Dorothy whereas Freidman had envisaged an ensemble cast to each have fully developed storylines. In 2015 the studio relented and gave the green light. However there was a new showrunner – David Shulner -replacing Freidman. Perhaps one reason for NBC’s turnaround was the phenomenal success at the time of Game of Thrones with it’s extensive regular cast though that would prove a mixed blessing in that any show seeming remotely like it would be unfairly compared to Jon Snow and co. Speaking to Empire magazine when the series was launched, David Shulner was generous to credit both Arnold and Freidman for their development work on the series. He suggested that Emerald City was  “an adult show but we’re not a dark show”. He also focussed on how much came from the books themselves including a trans character which in tv dramas at that time was unusual. The series hoped to add a new spin on the legend as many people were only aware of the story of the Wizard of Oz film.

Ten episodes of Emerald City were made and the series was shown in early 2017. Unfortunately, it was cancelled in May leaving some storylines unresolved albeit with an ending that provided some closure. It is difficult not to interpret this as the studio feeling their initial reservations about the show were justified. Audience feedback at the time features comments about the show being too dark and difficult to follow. Critics picked up on what they saw as weak dialogue and that they felt there was no humour to balance the grimness. Some claimed the show had gone out of its way to look like Game of Thrones which it doesn’t especially and besides it’s not as if Game Of Thrones looks unlike anything else. There is a `look` about fantasy that stretches right back to those elaborate book covers of long ago.

In the end Emerald City was too expensive to justify continuing after such a lukewarm reception. That does not mean though that it contains little of worth. Eight years on a viewing reveals a show with a high standard both in front and behind the camera. It does have grim moments – and for sure the occasional confusing ones- and not the best dialogue in the world but at the end of the season I was ready to see more of this version of Oz. I feel it’s a show that would probably fare better if made nowadays. Especially rewarding is the way that each of the totems of the well known story are re-imagined in clever ways so there is no actual lion rather a warrior who has committed a terrible crime when wearing a leonine mask and cowers from it. There isn’t a scarecrow but instead a man who has been tied to a cross for crimes he does not recall. In place of a man made of tin there’s someone who has smashed body parts replaced by metal. Each of the characters also struggle with issues of identity and a number of them change names during the season.

One unusual aspect of the series is that all ten episodes are directed by the same person- Tarsem Singh. Traditionally a series like this would be divided between at least two and possibly four directors sometimes shooting in different locations simultaneously so that production does not over run.  Singh pitched that he wanted to undertake this marathon and in exchange “I’ll make something you will not have seen before.” “It’s probably the easiest thing I’ve done,” he told Collider in 2017, “They did such a brilliant job in wiring it”. He had form in this genre having previously helmed the film Mirror Mirror which was a reinvented version of the Snow White fairytale. He suggested that his approach was bound to be a different because “you’ve got an Indian guy telling a quintessentially white tale to a Western audience.” He revealed he had not actually watched The Wizard of Oz till three years earlier. “What I wanted to do was the complete opposite and have it be completely grounded, like a real place,” Locations utilised for his vision included a national park in Croatia, fifteenth century castles in Hungary, and the Park Güell in Barcelona where filming had never been attempted before due its inaccessibility.

Emerald City remains the only tv the director has undertaken to date. His other work includes films such as, The Fall, Self/Less and Dear Jessi and in his early career a number of well-known music videos including REM’s `Losing My Religion` and En Vogue’s `Hold On` plus a large number of adverts which he has continued to direct right up till the present day.  Definitely some of this sensibility is evident in the bold colours amidst rugged landscape ethos of some of the series’ best moments.  It was also the director that persuaded Vincent D’Onofrio to become involved as he had starred in Singh’s 2000 movie The Cell. The actor also worked on his character with the writers to expand on the psychological aspects. “The behind-the-curtain thing is a much bigger metaphor for his life and his own psychology,” he said, “Then it became how far will he go to keep up the masquerade?” The rest of the cast included Adria Arjona as Dorothy, Oliver Jackson- Coehn as Lucas, Ana Ularu as West, Gerran Howell as Jack, Jordan Loughran as Tip and Mido Hamada as Eamon.

 

Episode 1 The Beast Forever

A nurse called Dorothy is caught up in a tornado while visiting her mother in a remote location. Taking shelter in a police car she is whisked away with the vehicles into the whirlwind and ends up deposited in a snowy locale. After finding the body of a woman she seemingly ran over during the storm, she is taken by tribesmen who declare that she killed the great witch. Her arrival may also be a portent that a beast of some kind could be about to be released.
Banished from this land to warmer climes she is advised to go to Oz via a yellow road; the colour is caused by poppy seeds by the way which might explain a lot! Along the way she meets a man tied to a cross who has also been tarred and feathered and has with no memory of who he is. Soon after she helps him both are caught by that woman we saw earlier, the East Witch who is alive and well and very dangerous until Dorothy tricks her into shooting herself in the head.

As that brief synopsis shows this is not a series that pulls any punches. There is blood, people writhing in a mud filled prison and even East’s demise is displayed in graphic slow motion. Conversely it looks terrific, the landscapes and the staging giving maximum effect none more so than East whose flowing red accoutrements flutter in the wind behind her against the sunrise as if she’s about to launch into a song, director Tarsem Singh’s music video background coming into play. Every shot is impeccably staged while the tornado- which see almost entirely from the confines of the car- is suitably frightening.

The episode does flash over to Emerald City itself at intervals which is a bit of a mistake as, surely, we need to wait to see it whenever Dorothy does. All the talk about similarities with Game of Thrones, there is instead a definite Dune vibe coming off these scenes. I can see why though the series did not necessarily make the right impact from the start. It speeds through developments without stopping to pause and allow us to learn more. Dorothy must react quickly to a ton of developments without much explanation as to what is happening. It is also curious that even clear references to the wizard of Oz spar no recognition with Dorothy. To me that would be a way to add some humour to proceedings; her quips about the well-known story against the serious-minded attitude of the people she meets who are living a version of that story.

Other references to the Oz legend are less direct so there’s a rainbow decoration in the window of Dorothy’s home, the munchkins are a regular sized multi ethnic tribe whose name for a dog is “toto”. The ruby slippers of legend become blood-soaked boots. The flying monkeys are metal drones shaped like monkeys though still look eerie. Emerald City does not look especially emerald coloured though. There’s also a nod to the wizard not being as he seems when, after delivering a rousing speech to the people, he goes back inside and we see him unexpectedly take a wig off! The man Dororthy finds, whom she dubs Lucas, is essentially the scarecrow reimagined as a traumatised soldier.

All this does look sumptuous and despite dialogue that could do with a more natural flow the cast work it well. Florence Kasumba is great as she toys with Dorothy and Lucas; it’s a shame she perishes in this episode. Vincent D’Onofrio brings his versatility to a role that could easily be overplayed while Adria Arjona adds to her sparse dialogue to bring some warmth to her character. Oliver Jackson Cohen also gives a strong performance as Lucas. 

 

Episode Two – Prison of the Abject

It was probably this episode that turned some viewers off the series as it gets to the kernel of exactly what sort of show this is going to be. Conversely it is the episode that made me realise how intriguing a narrative Emerald City is. While seeking a way home Dorothy, looking for help for Lucas, comes across a lady called Mombi living in in isolation in a place with no name who agrees to help but only after she sees the sword Lucas carries. Turns out this is a sword belonging to the Wizard’s guard. Played with furtiveness by Fiona Shaw, Mombi is hiding a boy called Tip upstairs. It becomes clear that attempts to rescue him before by his friend Jack have failed. Mombi is all kinds of weird but raises doubts in Dorothy’s mind as to exactly what Lucas did in the past life he cannot remember. It ends up in frenzied sequence where after Mombi has tried to poison Lucas, Dorothy rescues Tip to allow him and Jack to escape before Lucas kills Mombi.

In a likely clue to Lucas’ past even when she is dead he won’t stop bashing her over the head. Understandably Dorothy is traumatised b this and their subsequent walk lacks the banter of the one that opened the episode. At the end of the episode Tip appears to turn into a girl, presumably Momb’is medicine was what was preventing this from happening. Whatever it was we effectively have a Trans character several years before they started to appear in dramas.

In Oz meanwhile tis the East’s funeral for which the Wizard has allowed the witches temple to be unsealed after a long time. There’s much to be enjoyed in the pomp of Glinda’s arrival as played by serene Joely Richardson. Her polar opposite is sister West who is a cauldron of emotions and craziness; Ana Ularu really puts her all into this role. The funeral itself is like some Kate Bush lookalike convention and as the Wizard comments is “quite the show”.

You could say that about the episode. Brimming with ideas and laced with moments of shock it is not always an easy watch and there are moments in the witches’ funeral when you may find it all absurd yet there is a tension and inventiveness in this episode.