Tin Man

“That’s the OZ I remember. I am so glad to be home.” ~ DG

That’s it? This is where the journey beyond the yellow brick road ends – one big happy family (and a few friends) smiling at the sunrise. For this darker re-imaging of the Wizard of Oz I expected a more satisfying ending then smiles and sunshine, especially after this final chapter full of action and homage’s to the Baum classic.

It started off with DG and company finally reaching Finaqua, and DG skipping a stone shaped as a heart, activating a holographic message from her mother. In which she tells DG to seek out Ahamo for the rest of her journey. Ahamo is her father Toto tells DG, and since abandoning her mother has been hiding in the realm of the Unwanted. But before they even reach the realm, Cain brings up issue with were the loyalties of Toto lie, and in result he travels with them now solely in pooch form.

The realm of the Unwanted brings trouble as the gang is falsely lured by a gypsy who offers up a seeker to reveal where to find Ahamo – however she is just after the reward money for turning the foursome in. DG gets kidnapped, and Raw, Glitch, and Cain are taken into custody by Zero and the Longcoats. On their journey back to the castle, the group is stopped in the forest by a broken wagon in the road. We see Cain’s son is alive and he rescues Glitch, Raw, and his father in a Robin Hood like display. Since his mother’s death it appears he has become a freedom fighter, and is eager to take revenge on Zero, but Cain stops him. Later, after having nightmares of his wife’s death, we see Cain get some closure himself, as he puts Zero in the tin suit.

Meanwhile, DG awakens and again finds herself in a mystery location – the seeker arrives out of the corner of the room and for defense the first things she grabs is a broom. The seeker discloses himself to be the real Ahamo – DG’s father. Not ready to make nice just yet, it takes some convincing on DG’s side – but then she sees the dolls her and sister made years ago on his desk. Ahamo gives DG a compass of sorts as the token her mother wanted her to have to find the emerald. While DG is trying to figure out how to work the compass, Ahamo goes and gets his balloon ready – wait balloon? Yep, seems DG’s Popsicle is the Wizard we are familiar with.

The next scene was my favorite – what I was waiting for, the true connection to the Wizard of OZ. Ahamo and DG enter a secret passage door in the woods, which transports them to the royal Annex. It is here that Ahamo takes DG to the “Grey Gale.” “She was your greatest great grandmother – the original slipper. She was the first one to make it through to OZ from the other side. You were named in her honor,” he tells DG as she looks up and reads DOROTHY GALE above the door. So DG is the great grandchild of little Dorothy Gale.

DG’s mark on her hand opens the door, and she crosses into the black and white depiction of her Kansas farmhouse. She hears a voice say, “I have been waiting for you.” As she turns around we see a young Dorothy (who looks nothing like Judy Garland) dressed in pigtails, silver slippers and that blue gingham dress. Dorothy hands DG the Emerald – which looks like a mini emerald city – and then she is gone and DG is back in color in the annex with her father.

Of course this whole time, Azkadellia has been closely following behind DG, and after reducing her father to size - she seizes the emerald from DG. She leaves DG buried alive in a green marble casket in the annex. Lucky for DG, Toto has also been following her and upon sniffing out the clues runs to the woods to gather up Cain, Raw, and Glitch to rescue her.

Once reunited, the foursome head to the castle for a last-ditch effort to try and stop Azkadellia from darkening the O.Z. forever. Before they break in, we witness another familiar scene. Hearing, that Raw is losing his nerve, DG reassures him he is not a coward. She says he taught her to have courage. “Courage is not about being fearless, but about standing up in spite of your fears,” she tells him. Glitch thinks if he had no brain that he would be four times braver. DG declares to Glitch that he is the smartest guy she knows, and without him he would not have unlocked her memories. Cain witnesses the whole display and tells DG he knows what she is doing – he had to send guys into battle before, but admits that she is doing a good job. Cain warns DG not to lose her head when battling Azkadellia – that if she must save herself first. DG responds to that by telling Cain that family is what really is important (i.e. heart).

Inside the castle, Raw, Glitch, Cain and Toto run off to shut down the power of the sun-seeder, while DG attempts to reclaim her sister back from the old evil witch who has possessed Azkadellia for so many years. DG finds Azkadellia in a green glow on the balcony of the castle. To pull the inner child and real Azkadellia out, DG sings the nursery rhyme about the two princesses and begs Azkadellia to take her hand – that she won’t let go this time. We see flashes of the old witch, then her in full flying form as Azkadellia grabs hold of her sister’s hand and stand next to her in fear. The green light dims and in that moment the witch begins to sink.

“She melted.” Yes, DG the old witch melted when the sun-seeder’s power was cut. She went quietly, and it just wasn’t as thrilling as having water thrown on her and hearing her shriek. Sisters hug, and family and friends are reunited just in time to see the sun shine out on the O.Z. The end.

Short recap on Tin Man versus Wizard of OZ characters:
The Queen = Glinda the Good Witch
Ahamo = The Wizard (Omaha spelled backwards – remember that is the fair his balloon was from)
Witch of the Dark = Wicked Witch of West (melting scene and all)
DG (named after her greatest great grandmother) = Dorothy Gale
Glitch (Ambrose) = Scarecrow
Wyatt Cain = Tin Man
Raw = Cowardly Lion
Tutor = Toto
Hank and Em = Aunt Em and Uncle Henry
Resistance Fighters = Munchkins
Longcoats = Winkie soliders
Mo-bats = Flying Monkeys

Quotes:
Cain to Toto: “I’d shoot you in the heart if I thought you had one.”

Glitch referring to Toto: “Maybe we could keep him on a short leash.”

DG to Ahamo: “Where I come from…freaks like you have vans.”

Cain to son Jeb: “If you don’t have a heart, you have nothing.”

DG : “Green’s not your color.”
Azkadellia: “You look good in green – green marble.”

Azkadellia: “Want to share you shiny new trinket with your big sister?”
DG: “Noooo.”

Azkadellia to her mother after revealing she has the emerald: “You don’t know how long I have waited to see that look on your face.”

I have mixed emotions on this mini-series – I liked some parts and disliked others. I was thinking how they would continue it has a series before I saw the ended but now I think I would like to see where the yellow brick road goes from there, but I am not making room on my DVD shelf anytime soon. My somewhere over the rainbow will always be found in the classic MGM picture and the prequel novel and musical- Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of OZ. What did you think? Were you Ozified by it? I look forward to reading you comments.

Relive the journey in our Online Video Guide.

Hello my fellow Ozians, it’s good to hear from me isn’t it? Ok, don’t burst my bubble - I will admit this action packed chapter held my attention more, and really wasn’t too shabby.

I took pause in the opening scene tonight trying to think how Tin Man could send Dorothy (I mean DG) back to Kansas already. Maybe that would have been a more exciting twist having DG trying to find her way back into the O.Z., but alas we should have know it was all the evil trickery of Azkadellia (aka Bitchzellia as one of you wittily referred to her as). “You are twisted,” declared DG to Azkadellia having seen she has re-programmed Hank and Em to be her parents now. Is that her story – desperately seeking attention and approval from her mother and longing to get out of DG’s spot light?

Azkadellia tries to (unsuccessfully and unconvincingly) play the sympathy family card on DG. She apologies for her actions when they where younger, chalking it up to child foolishness. Azkadellia went as far as to indulge DG with stories of how they were the best of friends as children and recounted how they had great adventures together. DG still does not give up where the emerald is – so she thrown into prison.

Meanwhile, Cain is alive and ticking, and nursed back to health by Glitch. They set out to find DG, and Raw, and in a true reminiscence scene they pose as Longcoats to get into the castle. I could just hear the chant in my head, “Ooo - eeeee - hoo! Yooo - ho!”

In prison, DG finds herself in a cell across from the Mystic Man which is all part of Azkadellia plan to listen in on their conversations. Knowing of this fact, the Mystic Man still reveals to DG that she is the key to the ancient battle between light and darkness, and the emerald – whose location is buried in her subconscious – will determine who will rule over the O.Z. during the double eclipse. Before Azkadellia comes to take him away, he mentions “grey gale.” After having no luck using her “viewer” to pry the secrets out of the Mystic Man, Azkadellia once again does some soul sucking and kills him. “So eager to please the wrong sister,” stresses Azkadellia.

A dog arrives out of nowhere and breaks DG out of her cell, and along her way out of the castle she frees Raw and is joined by Cain and Glitch. When safely back in the forest, the dog shape shifts into a man who claims to have known DG as a child. DG remembers him as Toto (yay! There is a Toto), he was her Tutor (she mispronounced as Toto as a child). He was now sent by her mother to reawaken her memories – we see throughout tonight though that he is also working for Azkadellia, dropping her clues along their journey.

Journeying back through the devastated land of Pa-Pay they are ambushed by a group of hungry Runners. They walk away unharmed however, when we get a glimpse into the powers DG posses as she renews life in their orchards. Dodging the enemy Longcoats who are blocking their next route, they take refuge in a cabin owned by homesteader Claude Bedose. He tells them Azkadellia has been pushing the local miners for mauritanium, a magic-conducting metal she needs for a machine called a “sunseeder.” This turns out to be another invention of Glitch’s, but even through Raw’s “viewing” he can no longer remember its purpose.

As they leave the home, Cain finds out his family passed through that very house a few months back- which reveals they really are alive. Once across the crack in the O.Z., Cain runs ahead of the group to a house – longing for his family to be there. It is deserted with an empty tin man suit in the front yard, but Cain also uncovers a grave for his wife Adora.

Back on the yellow brick road, DG and company are headed for Finaqua, “this side’s version of the Garden of Eden” she explains. This is the place she keeps remembering in flashbacks of her youth- it was once paradise but was quickly put into ruin by Azkadellia.

All throughout DG’s flashbacks we see that her and Azkadellia truly were friends and played together. DG was even the one that never followed the orders of mommy and daddy which always landed in trouble. DG is left alone to unearth one pressing memory. It brings her to a cave where she remembers as a child herself pressuring Azkadellia to explore it with her, and they come across a huge face made of stone which behind it is a crying little girl. But it is no little girl as it morphs into a frightening old lady (who at first reminded me of the old witch from sleeping beauty – but then just creeped me out), and the mo-bats. Afraid, DG and Azakdellia clasp hands and her sister tells her not to let go, but the older women scares DG into letting go and she runs out leaving helpless Azkadellia behind. What happens next explained a whole lot about Azkadellia. One, we learn why and how she has that ridiculous mo-bat tattoo and releasing power, and secondly we see the old lady transfer her wickedness into young Azkadellia.

Closing scene we are left with present day DG crying, “I am sorry my sister” now realizing it is her fault for Azkadellia’s evilness, and back in her castle Azkadellia sending out the mo-bats to retrieve DG.

Some quotable lines:

After being hit, Glitch saying “that could bust a zipper.”

Azkadellia: “The little witch is connecting with her past.”

Young Azkadellia to DG, “Clever how you tricked that tree to throw fruit at us,” and “Lions and tigers…” Young DG: “oh my.”

As I mentioned before I think the series is picking up and I am eager to see the conclusion tomorrow night. I am still confused as to why it is entitled Tin Man though? You think the title would reflect DG or even the Outer Zone. Tonight, I did love the part when Glitch was rambling on about being a dancer to Cain – too funny. Also I was happy to see Cain (aka Tin Man) show some heart this chapter with mourning the loss of his wife. Oh, and what about when head mo-bat Xora was killed and it deeply struck Azkadellia and she asked for water!? I guess it does not affect her in the same way.

Will DG find the emerald in time? Meet me back here tomorrow night to discuss the end of the brick road, until then leave your thoughts on tonight’s chapter. I enjoyed reading your comments from last night.

The journey continues in our Online Video Guide.

"This isn't a nightmare. This is the O.Z. — Outer Zone." — Glitch

I don't think we are in Kansas anymore…or at least not the Kansas we all know and love. The Sci-Fi Channel has definitely taken us on a journey far beyond the yellow brick road we are used to with the dark mini-series Tin Man.

The series opens up on a young woman having bad dreams (that could mirror the boat-ride scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory mind you), which feature a lady with lavender eyes warning her of a storm that is coming. She is then speeding to work on her motorcycle when a cop starts to pursue her. She quickly hides, and then rushes inside to the HillTop Cafe where she works, and changes into her uniform — a blue and white gingham dress (a la Judy Garland's Dorothy), pigtails and all. A customer is waiting for pie, she is told. That customer is police officer Elmer Gulch (another shout out to the classic MGM picture), with a speeding ticket in hand.

Meet DG (Zooey Deschanel) an intelligent and yet rebellious farm girl, living with her parents Hank and Emily out in Kansas farmland, who is looking for more in life then just this. Her parents are worried of her longing for another world, which she lives in through her dreams and the pictures she sketches. Hank repeatedly tells his daughter of the town he used to live called Milltown, and that "home is where the heart is, and all of life's answers can be found along the old road."

We now see the O.Z. (the Outer Zone), a fantasy realm now desolate and not the great wonder it used to be. O.Z. is ruled under dictatorship by the sorceress Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) — Tin Man's version of the Wicked Witch, I suppose — she is looking for the emerald, which she needs to retrieve or else in seven days the double eclipse will darken their skies and everything she has worked for will be lost. Azkadellia has no crystal ball but uses "viewers" — creatures hooked up to machines — to act as her oracles. For some reason she is threatened by a mysterious "light" on "the other side," and she dispatches her henchmen (known as the Longcoats) to find the source. The Longcoats arrive on the farm via a tornado, and the parents seem oddly not shocked by their arrival — which tells me they know more then we think of this O.Z. They push DG into the tornado telling her it's time and to trust her. DG awakens in the woods — which she quickly finds herself in no place like home.

She is captured by the Resistance Fighters of the Eastern Guild (munchkins, if you will) who take her to their village (which is a Peter Pan-ish tree town) to torture her to find out if she is a spy. "Squeal as you peel, until the truth brings a deal," the blue-faced munchkin cries. While DG is in a hanging cage awaiting her fate, she meets Glitch, a head case the fighters keep around for laughs. He has a zipper on his head, from when the sorceress took half his brain — why, he cannot recall — but he does remember that in his hay-day (hay get it?) he used to be a government advisor's right-hand man. This reincarnate of the scarecrow got his name from sometimes getting stuck repeating phrases over and over — hence a glitch.

DG and Glitch runaway from the Resistance Fights and head out on their journey to find the old brick route (aka the broken and tattered yellow brick road) to Central City, the last known location of her parents. Here they stumble upon the Longcoats beating up a man and his family, the fearless DG runs ahead, avoiding the warning from Glitch to stay back, to help save the man — the image fades away and she is left standing in front of a rundown house. It was all just a hologram-projected image. Glitch reveals it as TDESPTL (Time Dimension Energy Stored Projection Time Loop). Ah, so we learn he was once a genius inventor as well. DG sees a tin suit and looks inside to catch a glimpse of a man. Once freed, the man we learn is an ex-cop (aka "tin man") named Wyatt Cain (Neil McDonough) who was forced to relive the tragic scene of the Longcoats and his family for years as he was trapped in the metal box — he is now out for revenge on the commanding officer Zero.

After some reluctance Cain finally lets the twosome accompany him on his journey to the old (yellow) brick road. Traveling through the dangerous Fields of Pa-pay, they rescue the cowardly human/wolverine mix named Raw (Raoul Trujillo), who used to be a "viewer" for Azkadellia. After escaping being chased by the deadly Runners of Pa-pay, the foursome comes into a mysterious hidden, town that is exactly like the one from DG dreams, and they discover her parents there. The town DG learns is Milltown, the one her father was always talking about, and the community is all robots. More shocking is that fact that Hank and Em are not her parents, but "nurture units" programmed to take care of her, and tell her stories of their world to prepare her for her return. Her real mother — the one with the lavender eyes — is from the O.Z., and sought the help of Father Vue to smuggle DG out of the O.Z., yet upon her return Father Vue was tasked with marking DG's hand with a symbol to help guide her on her journey. Father Vue sends DG to the mystic man (aka the wizard) for answers on her mother's whereabouts.

While DG and company are heading towards Central City, Azkadellia is brought the locket DG lost and seems unnerved by the picture of DG inside. She is then seen digging up a grave only to find it empty and storms off to go and question a mystery woman, who is in her captivity, about DG. Later, she has Hank and Em brought in for questioning and upon the news of DG going to see the wizard she sends her henchmen to get her.

Once DG and company see Wanted posters for DG, they realize they need a plan to get into Central City to find the mystic man. Cain gets them a ride into the city — which looks more like Gotham City in the 1940s — through disreputable Antoine Demilo and his "sin wagon." Cain parts ways, as he is off to find Zero, and Demilo tells them to go to the Twister Cabaret, which is the home of "The Blunderful Mystic of O.Z." floor show. The Twister Cabaret is like entering a scene straight out of Moulin Rouge. The Mystic Man, (Richard Dreyfuss) DG, Raw, and Glitch learn is loopy from the vapors, aka Azkadellia's "magic mystic," and is not at all himself. He proves to be somewhat helpful and tells DG that her journey for her mother starts at the Northern Island. The wizard urges Cain, who has come back to help save them from Zero and the Longcoats, to not leave guard of DG. "Do you know who she is? She is the key," he tells Cain, who in returns gives his word as a Tin Man not to leave her side. The mystic man stays behind and gets capture by Zero and brought to Azkadellia.

DG and company now start the journey to Northern Island (aka Ice Mountain). "Frozen in time in a sea of ice," they find it. Once again the riddles from DG past play a part in the journey, and she breaks them in the castle. It is here where the plot gets interesting. We learn this was once DG's home and her mother was the queen, whose advisor was none other than Glitch. "The queen sat gazing upon her frozen realm — waiting for her daughter to return," DG remembers but finds her mother not at home. Raw feels that bad things happened there and through visions reveal that her evilness — Azkadellia was/is DG's sister. Azkadellia killed her sister when they were younger so she could be the one — and only one — to take the throne. Their mother finds DG and saves her by what appears to be transferring some of her years to give young DG life again. Mother tells DG there is only one thing that can stop Azkadellia — the emerald of the eclipse, to which she then whispers something to young DG. Which I assume is where to find the emerald. Just at that moment, Azkadellia and the henchmen walk in on DG and company.

Azkadellia is after the emerald, but DG has not yet recalled where it is. This however does not satisfy Azkadellia, and a battle ensues. The mobats (flying monkeys/bats) are released to chase after DG, Glitch, and Raw, while Cain has it out with Zero.

Tonight's chapter ends with Cain falling through the castles window into the icy waters, and DG, Raw, and Glitch all being captured by Azkadellia.

"Welcome back little sister. There's no place like the O.Z."

Now I am sure we are all filled with questions. Here are some of mine:

• Who is the mystery lady Azkadellia is talking too? Their mother, perhaps?

• What role will that mark on DG's hand play?

• What exactly are Azkadellia's powers and what is with how she releases the mobats? Also who was she talking to when she was in conference?

• Why does Cain act like he is part Wyatt Earp/Indiana Jones, and is he alive?

• Where is Toto?

Some memorable quotes:

Glitch to Cain: "I have a proper name you know... and when I remember it I will tell you."

DG to Cain: "Nothing personal but when we found you, you where in a tin box! You don't know me."

Cain: "Believe me, heart's got nothing to do with it."

Azkadellia on DG being in O.Z.: "[she's here] tripping over her pigtails as she wonders in circles."

Glitch to Cain: "Oh come on, Tin Man, have a heart. I'm a thinker not a hiker."

Azkadellia: "My god, the little b---h has gone to see the Wizard."

Being a huge classic Wizard of Oz fan, as well as a Wicked: The Musical fan, I was very eager and intrigued to see Sci Fi's reimagination of Baum's timeless story, I must say I have yet to be impressed by the story or visuals. Granted I know this is the Sci-Fi Channel so I knew it would be a little out there, but I think we traveled too far over the rainbow. There are no ruby (or silver) slippers, no one is green or gets killed by a falling house in this story. I did however enjoy the spunky nature of DG, and the witty lines from Glitch. Also I am curious about Azkadellia and DG being sisters.

Will tomorrow night's chapter win me over or will I be clicking my ruby slippers wishing I was back in Baum's Land of Oz? I'll see you back here tomorrow night, until then I am curious to hear what you thought.

The journey continues in our Online Video Guide.