‘Emerald City’ Season 1 Episode 4 Recap: Science and Magic

Emerald City Season 1 Episode 4
Oliver Jackson Cohen as Lucas and Adria Arjona as Dorothy in ‘Emerald City’ (Photo by David Lukacs / NBC)

Secrets are revealed and another key character arrives in NBC’s Emerald City episode four. Titled ‘Science and Magic’ and airing on January 20, 2017, episode four begins with a doctor being shown from the patient’s point of view. She’s busy working on whoever this is on her table, telling the patient not to be frightened. A mask is briefly shown, but no explanation is offered.

After leaving her best friend for dead, Tip (Jordan Loughran) is about to jump off a bridge when a soldier stops her. She calls herself a killer and asks to join his brigade, promising to kill for him.

Dorothy (Adria Arjona) and Lucas (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) make their way through the snowy forest, keeping off of the yellow brick road to avoid the Wizard’s guards. Dorothy’s impatient but Lucas thinks safety is more important than speed. Dorothy’s still carrying her mother’s coat and Lucas asks if she’s positive the coat belonged to her mother. Dorothy knows it did, but Lucas just wants to be sure going to Emerald City is the right choice. Toto keeps barking at Lucas and Lucas barks back, asking Dorothy what’s gotten into the dog. Dorothy, Lucas, and Toto’s discussion is interrupted by the arrival of a child who clutches Lucas’ legs.

The Wizard’s guards are carrying dead bodies from burned areas of Nimbo when the captain is alerted to the discovery of what looks like a portal. The Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio) is informed of the discovery and Elizabeth (Roxy Sternberg) wants to journey to Nimbo to see if the portal is magical. The Wizard says he’ll go check it out for himself and he doesn’t want her to accompany him.

The Wizard frees Anna (Isabel Lucas) from her cell, telling her he’s putting her to work.

So…Jack (Gerran Howell) isn’t dead from his fall after all. He’s the mysterious patient the doctor was working on at the beginning of the episode. He’s bound to a table and knocked out while the doctor goes to work with a saw.

The captain delivers Tip to what looks like a castle where a woman pays him for this new orphan. From a balcony above, Glinda (Joely Richardson) says Tip is to be baptized.

Back in the woods we go with Lucas, Dorothy, and the little lost girl. She won’t answer Dorothy’s questions and Lucas sets the girl aside, ready to take off and leave her to fend for herself in the forest. Dorothy says she won’t abandon the child and wants to take the girl to a nearby village. She’s worried about the girl’s parents and if they’re wondering whether she’s dead, and Lucas calms Dorothy down by telling her the girl isn’t her. Lucas is about to take off but Dorothy refuses to continue the journey to Emerald City until after she takes the child home.

Jack wakes up on the operating room table, asking after Tip and wondering where he is. The doctor introduces herself as Jane (Gina McKee) and tells Jack he was battered and nearly dead when they found him. The doctor informs Jack they’ve made him new again, pulling the sheet off and exposing her handiwork. Jack screams as he looks at his new metallic body. Hello, Tin Man!

Lucas waits with Toto outside the village as Dorothy assures the girl if they don’t find her parents, she’ll take her back to him. As she speaks, she notices the girl has something pushed into her ear. Actually, the plugs are in both ears and when Dorothy removes them, sounds flood in and overwhelm the child. Dorothy puts them back and apologizes.

On the road to Nimbo, Anna asks if the Wizard is displeased with her. He admits he was but he’s not anymore, and confesses she was right – he can’t bring back the giants. Anna says they can’t kill the Beast Forever this time anyway and describes this new Beast as coming from the sky. It will have a brain, a heart, and relentless strength when it arrives. She tells him because it has a heart, they will be able to kill it.

Jack walks through the room with his new metal appendages. He’s angry he was saved and turned into this, and Jane calls him a special project. She removed his heart and gave him one that will never break. He disagrees, telling her she’s wrong.

Glinda speaks before a gathering of young girls, telling them they’re meant to join the Wizard’s high council. Tip can be heard in the background screaming, refusing to take a bath. Tip yells that she doesn’t belong there and Glinda says they’re just trying to help her while attempting to convince her she can give her everything she needs. West (Ana Ularu) shows up and thinks Tip looks like trouble, which means she should have her – not Glinda.

It appears no one in the village recognizes the child. As Dorothy’s about to give up, a woman approaches and strokes the child’s hair and calls her Sylvie. Dorothy gets a bad vibe and wants to follow them home.

Eamonn (Mido Hamada) and his men ride into town as Dorothy looks around from the doorway of Sylvie’s home and doesn’t see Sylvie’s bedroom. Lucas runs up and drags Dorothy away while she protests that those weren’t Sylvie’s parents. She won’t leave the village, even with the guards now scouring the town, until she can grab Sylvie.

Dorothy grabs her gun and is prepared to shoot a guard if necessary. Lucas tells her if she fires it, they’ll know she’s a witch. She demands he take off his clothes. What?! Yes, Lucas asked that and I’m sure so did the audience.

West and Glinda argue over who should have Tip and the other lost girls at the orphanage. West asks which one Tip wants to go with, and they both make their cases. West offers her a chance to be worshiped as a courtesan and Glinda wants her to be untouched and pure. Tip asks, “So you’re saying my only choice as a girl is nun or whore?”

Jack is continuing to get used to his new body (his head, part of his chest, and one shoulder and arm remain intact). A woman arrives who Jack believes is like him. Her face is a mask and she says she’s unlike anyone else. Jack thinks she’s rude and tells her so when she refuses to bring him his wheelchair.

The Wizard and Anna arrive in Nimbo where he’s met by protesters angry his guards burned their homes and killed their families. Anna examines the portal and when she touches it, it vanishes and she’s knocked out.

Dorothy, dressed in Lucas’ clothing, returns to Sylvie’s home and finds the young girl quivering, eyes jet black. She’s shaking, scared, and sitting in between what appears to be her “parents” who’ve been turned to stone. Dorothy tries to calm Sylvie down, telling her she’ll take her back to Lucas. With the mention of Lucas’ name, Sylvie’s eyes return to normal and she stops shaking. Unfortunately, Sylvie’s hands are clasped by stone hands and Dorothy has to break the statues so Sylvie can be released.

Anna comes to and the Wizard admits he was scared he lost her. She asks if there are more villages with citizens that refuse to follow him. She believes they must turn those who are against him into followers instead of killing them.

Tip’s indulging in her first bubble bath and after dunking her head, she opens her eyes to find another orphan in the bathtub with her. Tip admits she doesn’t trust Glinda at all and her new bathtime friend tells Tip West is much better – and pickier – than Glinda. Tip dips her head under the water again and the camera pans to show the other orphan was actually West.

Back in the village, Dorothy and Sylvie try to look inconspicuous as they make their way to Lucas. Dorothy’s stopped by Eamonn who rips down her hood and says, “So, the girl who fell from the sky.”

Jack continues to work on his new body, picking up items with his new hand. He’s proud of his new skills, but Jane wants to talk about the woman who visited him. Her name is Langwidere and she’s a client of Jane’s. Jane is acting odd and hands Jack clothes to cover his metallically-enhanced body, telling him his “new world awaits.”

Over at the orphanage, Glinda’s girls leave in a carriage while Tip stays behind with West. She wants to know if West was telling the truth and lets the witch know she wants her magic.

The Wizard tries to get answers to where the tunnel in Nimbo led and what was its purpose. He questions his men and asks two of the survivors if they believe in magic or science. They choose magic, and the Wizard reminds them magic didn’t save them from the Beast Forever. The villager says the Beast comes to purify and asks where the Wizard’s “science” was when he ordered the village burned down.

Eamonn is about to carry out the Wizard’s death sentence when he suddenly stops, eyeing Lucas’ sword which is now in Dorothy’s possession. He grabs the sword and demands to know where she got it. Neither Dorothy nor Sylvie will reveal Lucas’ location, as Lucas listens from his hiding place. Eamonn grabs Sylvie and puts the sword to her throat, continuing to demand Dorothy tell him where Lucas is. Dorothy pulls out her gun and fires it into the air as Lucas races up and grabs Sylvie. Dorothy yells for Lucas and Sylvie to run while keeping her gun pointed at Eamonn who no longer cares about her as he calls out after Lucas is running away. Eamonn keeps following Lucas screaming what must be his real name and finally Dorothy shoots him in the chest and flees. She meets up with Lucas who can’t believe that guard knew him.

Emerald City Season 1 Episode 4
Stefanie Martini as Lady Ev in ‘Emerald City’ (Photo by David Lukacs/NBC)

Jane helps Jack make his way up a lengthy staircase to the palace of the King of Ev and his daughter. Lady Ev is actually Princess Langwidere (Stefanie Martini), the woman with the mask for a face who Jack met earlier and insulted. Jane is dismissed, telling Jack he must stay behind. He doesn’t want to but is forced to stay because, as Lady Ev explains, his surgery was paid for by their kingdom. Lady Ev tells him he should be grateful and Jane says the Princess now owns him.

Sylvie and Toto huddle asleep in the snow as Lucas and Dorothy talk by the fire. They don’t believe Sylvie is a witch, but they know she does have powers. Lucas asks if there’s magic in Dorothy’s world and she says yes but it’s different. She tries to explain that in her world there’s also science and technology. She whips out her iPhone, gives him her earphones, and plays “Ain’t No Sunshine” for him and of course he freaks out. He can’t understand where the music is coming from and Dorothy tries to calm him down by telling him to just listen. He asks if it’s science and she smiles. “No, it’s magic.”

Back in Nimbo, the survivor who spoke with the Wizard tells his fellow villagers they were wrong to put their faith in magic. The witches didn’t save them and so he suggests they allow science to rule instead of magic.

The Wizard watches over Anna as she sleeps.

Dorothy and Lucas are sitting nearly nose-to-nose, and Lucas says he’s sure the Wizard’s guard knew who he was. But, Lucas has figured out the man he is today is who he wants to be. They share a lengthy kiss, each wearing one earphone.

The following morning they’re startled awake by a noise in the forest. Lucas grabs Sylvie as Dorothy sprints off into the woods. Lucas follows after Dorothy but he’s stopped by Eamonn on horseback while Dorothy is struck and knocked down by a boomerang.