Not Your Grandma's EMERALD CITY

Article first published as EMERALD CITY Review on Seat42F.

I’m a big fan of The Wizard of Oz. Not just the MGM movie, though that is great, but the world of Oz in general. As a child, I devoured all fourteen of L. Frank Baum’s books over and over again. And while no faithful adaptation has yet been made (at least not that I’m aware of), a fact that is very disappointing to me, I have enjoyed some of the more interesting modern versions, such as SyFy’s Tin Man and the Broadway musical Wicked, as well as Gregory Maguire’s series of Wicked books. So it was with great anticipation that I sat down to sample NBC’s new drama, EMERALD CITY.

What EMERALD CITY does right is use more of the Oz mythology than most works. The Judy Garland film is actually quite a bit departed from the written work, but even then, only makes use of the first in the series. There are a rich tapestry of characters and corners of the land that are not explored in that initial offering, and while Disney’s horrible movie Return to Oz combined books two and three (since the second is the only one Dorothy isn’t in), most projects that tackle Oz ignore the other thirteen volumes. I feel this is a mistake that EMERALD CITY at least partially corrects.

Dorothy (Adria Arjona, True Detective) is the star, which is likely the right move, given that she is the character most people are familiar with. But the other central player in the books, which the second one centered around, is Tip (Jordan Loughran, Evermoor). Those who have read them will assume where EMERALD CITY is going with the boy, long held prisoner by a lesser witch, and who is extremely important to the land as a whole. I feel like this television series will likely pay that off based on what I’ve seen so far, though I’m not convinced Tip’s importance will be as high as it is on the page.

Other main players include familiar characters like The Wizard (Vincent D’Onofrio, Daredevil, Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Glinda (Joely Richardson, Nip/Tuck, the Patriot), West (Ana Ularu, Inferno), as in The Wicked Witch of the, Tip’s pal, Jack (Gerran Howell, Young Dracula), and Lucas (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, NBC’s Dracula).

Now, while Lucas is lacking straw, he’s clearly some version of The Scarecrow, and Jack has got to be Jack Pumpkinhead, though he appears to be perfectly human. This is something EMERALDN CITY does wrong, in my opinion. Although magic is part of this Oz, there are no magical creatures, which is essential element of any Oz tale. It doesn’t quite feel right if everyone is human, as is the case here, and that certainly takes away from the overall mythology.

Besides the witches, there are supernatural elements, including prophecy and giants, but these start to build a world that isn’t Oz. These are something else. Which makes me wonder if perhaps the show shouldn’t have ditched the Oz tie-ins completely and just done something completely different. It feels like sometimes too much effort is made to use a familiar property when originality would be the better way to go. Renaming the realm, the witches, and the protagonist could depart it enough to give EMERALD CITY more freedom without needing to give up the things they kept in common.

It also seems that EMERALD CITY may ditch the inaccessibility of Oz, including the nearby land of Ev, another element from the books, in the show as well, but presumably making it easier to come and go from Oz, with no sign of the deadly desert completely surrounding it. Like using the name Ojo (Olafur Darri Olafsson, The Missing) but failing to make this Ojo anything like the one Baum wrote, some of the choices seem like they were made purely to name drop something without actually using the source material. This seems odd.

None of this matters as much as the overall feel of the show, though, which is that of a lower quality program (except for the special effects). The action isn’t gripping, and none of the performances engage the viewer as much as one would wish. Despite having a couple of decently-known performers, EMERALD CITY feels more like it belongs on SyFy than network television, not quite at the level of a mainstream program. Parts of it are boring or confusing, and I am not sold on the core plot thread. The witches don’t feel powerful, I don’t buy Oz himself being in charge for this much time, and tying Dorothy’s past into the land is unnecessary and weird.

Also, where are the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion? I mean, come on! And Toto is a German Shepherd? Seriously? OK, now I’m just being breed-ist, but that one does hurt a bit, more than any other casting decision.

I don’t hate EMERALD CITY as much as many critics do; I actually continued right to the third hour after the double-length pilot. But there is nothing in those initial installments that makes me think I’ll rank it up there with the films and novels listed in the opening paragraph. I wonder how much of my continued viewing will be based in my high regard for the central property, rather than the merits of the series itself, which seem a bit lacking, though there are some intriguing bits throughout.

EMERALD CITY premieres this Friday at 9/8c on NBC.

NBC Sinks Fangs Into DRACULA

Article first published as  DRACULA Review on Seat42F.

NBC’s DRACULA, premiering this week paired with Grimm, is surprisingly good! It has not been taken to the modern day (although the 1890s is modern by Dracula-legend standards), does not have anyone solving crimes, allows most characters to speak with non-American accents, and is set in London, England. I never thought one of the Big Four networks would deliver something like this.

DRACULA does differ quite a bit from the novel of the same name. In this version, Dracula (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors) is awoken from his slumber nearly 500 years after the death of his wife. He is intent on stopping the Order of the Dragon, a secretive group that murdered his beloved, and are still around today. Since they are oil barons, poised to control the energy industry of the coming century, Dracula seeks to circumvent them with another power source.

Which is not to say that Dracula is fang-less, far from confined to the business world, which is conducted in parties, not boardrooms. We see him skulking the streets and rooftops, preying on those with the blood he needs to survive and dueling with vampire hunters who seek to kill him. While DRACULA is not gory, there is a creepiness about him and the show, and Meyers makes the character radiate threat.

The weird thing about the way the titular character is portrayed is that he is frequently forced to fake an American accent to keep up the persona of Alexander Grayson, the colonial entrepreneur he is pretending to be. Meyers’ lilt seems strange and off. One might say that the character is faking the accent, too, so this is OK, but he’s supposed to be faking it well, and he doesn’t. The scenes in which Meyers switches back to a European timbre are better.

Stylistically, DRACULA is interesting. It maintains some of the best elements of the character, especially the danger, but puts it in a new setting, and not a lazy one a bunch of other shows already share. Many of the variations with the source material seem well thought-out and make sense to the tale being told. The sets and costumes look pretty cool, though may not be accurate, and there’s kind of a steam-punk feel to the technology Dracula is playing with.

The major characters from the novel are present in DRACULA, but most have departed a bit from their origins. Renfield (Nonso Anozie, Game of Thrones) is still the vampire’s manservant, but he is also a former slave, and there is no sign of him snacking on insects. Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann, The River) remains an intelligent, educated man, but is willing to compromise his principals for the greater good. Mina (Jessica De Gouw, Arrow) and Lucy (Katie McGrath, Merlin) are very pretty, but are not as weak.

The one person that hews closest to the novel is Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Mr Selfridge). A dedicated reporter and boyfriend of Mina, Jonathan wants to know what Dracula is up to, but is mostly in the dark. He’s earnest and smart, and while he does come across as a little gullible at the start, he will likely rise above it, though perhaps not in a way that will pose a threat to Dracula.

The question is, will Harker be the hero of DRACULA? If not him, who? Van Helsing isn’t acting too noble in the first episode. Instead, if anything, the program seeks to make Dracula sympathetic. Immediately, viewers will begin to root against the vampire king’s enemies, hoping that he can gain some kind of revenge against them. Except, any scene where Dracula isn’t directly working on this mission doesn’t paint him in a good light, either. Is DRACULA actually daring to live in the grey, murky middle, with each player having their strengths and faults, but none clearly in the right or wrong? Because that would be amazing.

To accomplish that, the villains must be given layers, too. This wouldn’t be so hard. Yes, they are guilty of ruining Dracula’s life, once upon a time, or rather, their forbearers were. But Dracula is an undead creature of the night that deserves to be punished, right? With none of the Order of the Dragon among the main cast, I don’t know how much time might be spent developing them, or if they are merely a distraction until other roles can be grown into serious contenders.

One character that is not in the book, as far as I recall, but is part of the main cast, is Lady Jane (Victoria Smurfit, Trial & Retribution). She is fascinated with Dracula, and quickly puts the moves on him, despite being married herself. If Dracula isn’t going to feed on Lucy or Mina yet, he needs a replacement to seduce, and Lady Jane fits the bill. I’m just not sure where they are going with her.

DRACULA has its flaws. Some of the dialogue is cheesy, the direction isn’t clear, the Order of the Dragon is a very nebulous challenge, the first scene between Dracula and Van Helsing reads extremely staged, and the style and setting isn’t likely to appeal to an NBC audience. However, it’s more intelligent than much of the network’s fare, and hopefully the horror element will draw Grimm’s fans to it, allowing it time to show us what it can do. DRACULA could be really good. It isn’t quite yet, but it could be, and because of the risks it takes, it’s worth giving a chance to.

DRACULA premieres this Friday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.