‘Emerald City’ Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: They Came First

By
Rebecca Murray
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Emerald City Episode 7
Oliver Jackson Cohen as Lucas, Rebeka Rea as Sylvie, and Adria Arjona as Dorothy in ‘Emerald City’ (Photo by David Lukacs/NBC)

Prepare yourself for heartbreak as NBC’s Emerald City‘s season one episode seven delivers a blow to Dorothy and Lucas’ budding relationship. The February 10, 2017 episode kicks off with the Wizard’s guards searching the city for young girls who could be witches. Eamonn (Mido Hamada) announces there’s a plague carried by girls that could ravage the city, telling the parents their children are being taken to be examined. The Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio) wants to make sure there’s no possibility of a witch hiding out in Emerald City, and he doesn’t care if the search scares the town’s inhabitants. However, he hasn’t decided what he’s going to do with Glinda’s people who make up the High Council.

Lucas (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), Dorothy (Adria Arjona), and Sylvie (Rebeka Rae) take a break to stretch their legs, and Lucas seems genuinely happy now that he knows his past. Dorothy reminds him he’s sworn to serve Glinda, and Lucas points out she’s protected by the Wizard. Dorothy doesn’t think the Wizard’s all that bad, and Lucas can’t figure out why the Wizard’s guards aren’t pursuing them.

Lady Ev (Stefanie Martini) and Jack (Gerran Howell) travel home, and it’s obvious Lady Ev is missing her father and angry he was murdered. Jack says he’s sorry for her loss and Lady Ev takes her anger out on him, taunting him about Tip. They continue to argue, although Jack truly is trying to be kind and sympathetic. She kicks him out of the carriage, and Lady Ev and her men ride on without him. After they’ve gone, Jack realizes he’s been left on the edge of the Screaming Forest.

Lucas thinks they’ll make it to a cottage where they can spend the night by dark. From a distance, they hear Toto barking and realize Sylvie is not close by. Calling out, they run toward Toto and Dorothy sees Sylvie lying in a field unaware of approaching wolves because she has her earplugs in. Dorothy screams in panic and her gauntlets appear. A force emerges from them that scatters the wolves.

Back on the road, Dorothy cradles Sylvie and asks Lucas why the witches would have tampered with her hearing. He thinks maybe it was done to protect her, and Lucas seems pleased the gauntlets are now becoming part of Dorothy since she can control them.

Lucas checks out the cottage to make sure it’s safe while Dorothy spots a scarecrow nearby in the field. She suggests a game with Sylvie while they wait for Lucas to finish the inspection, asking Sylvie to point out things as she names them. Dorothy asks if she can hear the birds but Sylvie can’t, and Dorothy wants to remove the plugs from her ears. Sylvie reluctantly agrees and the sounds flood in, with Dorothy suggesting she focus on just the sound of the dove. Sylvie does and the rush of sounds calms down. Lucas watches all this from the front porch and then asks Dorothy if they can have a talk. He warns her she’s going to have to give Sylvie up and doesn’t want her to get hurt.

The Wizard pays a visit to West’s place where she’s high on drugs and in no shape for a visitor. The Wizard needs her to point out which of the young girls is a witch, and West (Ana Ularu) immediately responds by telling him she won’t kill the girls for him. The Wizard says she doesn’t have to and he’s not going to either; only Glinda kills witches. West refuses to help the Wizard or Glinda, and he reminds her Glinda hid her mother and built an army of witches. The Wizard believes Glinda will sacrifice the girls but he swears he wants to help West save them. West asks if she can have them and wants a promise he’ll protect them, and the Wizard gives her his word.

Dorothy makes dinner while Lucas stares out the window. Dorothy joins him and says she doesn’t want to give up Sylvie to Glinda. Lucas is firm in his belief she has to, but Dorothy suggests they keep her from Glinda. Lucas is confused about which side Dorothy is on.

Back in Emerald City, West says none of the children the Wizard’s guards have rounded up are witches.

The Wizard’s guards continue looking for more children in the city. Two guards track down a girl who’s been running from them, but before they can grab her she floats in the air, screams, and the building explodes in flames around them.

Jack slowly makes his way through the Screaming Forest which very much lives up to its name. He’s starting to rust and yells for help.

Dorothy puts Sylvie to bed and the child asks if Dorothy has a mother. She talks about her Aunt Em and Sylvie says she also has a mother. Dorothy gives her a good night kiss and joins Lucas back at the window. He says he’ll take first watch and then Dorothy reveals the Wizard’s guards will never come after them. She confesses she made a deal with the Wizard. Lucas is upset she lied to him and Dorothy warns him if he fights for Glinda, then they are not on the same side. Lucas takes her face in his hands and says, “There’s only one person I fight for since the moment we met. And you for me.” She kisses his hand and then they kiss.

Eamonn and the Wizard watch the fire rage at the house destroyed by the young witch, and since the child is dead the Wizard doesn’t think he needs West anymore. West tells him he’s wrong and heads into the fire, retrieving the girl who is unharmed by the flames. The Wizard has his guards clear the area and commands his men put the girl in the carriage. West tries to keep the girl safe but when the Wizard orders his men to grab the child, the child runs and is caught in a flaming pit. West goes with the Wizard after he tells her the townsfolk will rip her to shreds if she stays. She doesn’t want to leave the girl but is forced to as the Wizard’s guards close the palace’s gates behind them.

West confides in Tip that the death of the other witches was her fault. She took away their fear, giving them milk of the poppy and then sending them out to fight. They didn’t return because of her.

Night is falling and Jack is still stuck in the forest. A horse approaches and it’s Lady Ev with an oil can. He’s leery of her motivations but agrees to let her oil him so he can finally move again.

Dorothy and Lucas wake up in each other’s arms, and he asks her what they should do next. They kiss and Lucas says maybe they can just stay in this cottage taking care of each other. “Screw the witches and damn the Beast.” Dorothy admits she’s never been this happy, but Lucas doesn’t understand why she’s not smiling. She says she’s going home soon, if she can convince Glinda not to go to war with the Wizard. If she convinces Glinda, then the Wizard will send her home. Lucas can’t believe she made a deal with the Wizard and demands to know how she could have let either he or Sylvie love her when she knew she was leaving. He’s angry, and Dorothy says she knew Lucas would keep Sylvie safe.

Dorothy gets up and starts getting dressed, determined to leave by herself to go face Glinda. Dorothy doesn’t want Sylvie to fight a war and says she’ll do whatever it takes to stop Glinda. Lucas tells her he knows she’s afraid of him leaving her because her mother did. He asks if she’s running away and leaving them to lose her just like Em and Henry, and Dorothy answers, “I have to go back. I’m sorry, but they came first.” (I’ve got to say this is an incredibly heartbreaking scene well played by Adria Arjona and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.)

Dorothy tries to leave but the front door is locked. Then suddenly the house turns upside with them trapped inside. It ends up on its side and when they go to check on Sylvie, her eyes are pitch black and she’s vibrating. Dorothy knows Sylvie did this to stop her from leaving because she heard them fighting. Dorothy asks if she wants to go to Kansas and Sylvie nods her head yes. “It’s not running away if you come too,” she says to Lucas. He seems to agree, telling Sylvie, “I’m man of the house, aren’t I?”

Emerald City episode 7
Gerran Howell as Jack and Stefanie Martini as Lady Ev in ‘Emerald City’ (Photo by David Lukacs/NBC)

Lady Ev and Jack return home and she takes him to her father’s suite which is now hers. She tells Jack she used to play with her father’s crown but she never wanted to rule the kingdom. As he turns to leave the room, Lady Ev asks him to stay (even saying please). She reveals only her father saw her true face, but now she’s willing to let Jack see it. He stops her, telling her she doesn’t have to do that. “I do see you,” he says before kissing her passionately on the lips.

The Wizard gathers his people and confesses he lied to them about their daughters. He apologizes and then lets the children free to return to their parents. The Wizard explains he thought he could control magic but now realizes it must be extinguished. He then lies and tells them his High Council gave their lives “trying to apprehend this threat” when in reality his guards killed them all. The Wizard declares witches are the Beast Forever. Tip hears this and visits the pit where the young girl witch and the members of the High Council were sent to their deaths.

It turns out the young witch actually didn’t die in the pit but she’s close to death, and in a peaceful field West and Tip send her to her death. West does it by pulling the life from her and after she’s gone, the witch finally notices Tip clutching a golden, bejeweled cane-type item. Tip says she took it from the place where she grew up and West recognizes it as King Pastoria’s and it was passed down to his daughter, Princess Ozma.

Dorothy, Lucas, and Sylvie arrive at Glinda’s palace, and Dorothy thinks she can use her gauntlets to kill Glinda if necessary. They enter the sparkling white palace which initially appears devoid of life, and the door transforms into a wall behind them. A woman meets them and says Dorothy isn’t allowed, but then Glinda (Joely Richardson) arrives and stops Lucas from using his sword to protect Dorothy. Glinda thanks Dorothy for returning Sylvie and Roan to her, calling them two very important people. Dorothy begs to differ, saying she’s not returning them and that they volunteered to come.

Glinda approaches Roan, kisses him on the lips and something changes. He seems to have new memories (or is under a spell) and he kisses Glinda passionately, completely ignoring Dorothy. When she says, ‘Lucas…,’ he tells her that’s not his name. Glinda’s followers enter the room as Roan says, “I return to our fight against the Wizard.” Dorothy stares at him, completely devastated. He asks Glinda for clemency for Dorothy, saying she’s a healer who spared his life. He then tells Glinda Dorothy was sent by the Wizard to kill her. He throws back Dorothy’s words at her, saying, “Sorry, Dorothy, they came first.”




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