"There's no place like home." It's one of the most iconic movie quotes of all time, and although NBC's version of Dorothy Gale never said those exact words, the sentiment — and the character's goal — remained the same. But, after going home on the Emerald City finale, will Dorothy ever return to Oz? (SPOILERS for the finale below.)
You'll remember that, at the end of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard Of Oz (as well as its 1939 film adaptation), the Wizard nearly lived up to his promise to take Dorothy back to Earth with him, but his finicky hot air balloon blew away before she could climb aboard. In the end, Glinda saves the day, informing Dorothy that her magic slippers — and a hopeful mantra — were all she needed to return home.
Well… things played out a bit differently on Emerald City. Dorothy took the Wizard captive after his soldiers were defeated by Glinda's army of witches (it turns out that only a witch really can kill a witch, even with a gun) and attempted to force him to fulfill his vow to return her to Earth. But he balked when Dorothy insisted she was taking him back with her; insisting that he had nothing to go back for, he was about to destroy the twister-producing machine rather than be forcibly returned. Fortunately, Jane chose just that moment to show up and shoot the Wizard dead.
Dorothy's birth mother then urged her daughter into the machine, with a promise to follow close behind. Of course, she ended up locking Dorothy inside and sacrificing herself so that her daughter could go home; someone had to remain behind to work the machine, after all. And just like that — right as Princess Ozma was claiming her rightful seat on the throne of Emerald City and The Beast Forever was swooping inexorably towards Oz's capitol — Dorothy was swept up into another twister and deposited back in Kansas.
And she lived happily ever after, right? Well, no. Just as Dorothy was re-acclimating to her life on Earth, that magical land somewhere over the rainbow beckoned to her once again… this time in the form of Lucas/Rowan, who suddenly appeared in the Gale family cornfield. It seems that quite a bit more time has passed in Oz than has passed on Earth since Dorothy left, as apparently The Beast Forever has conquered Emerald City and imprisoned Jane — but not before Jane dispatched Lucas in her machine to find Dorothy and bring her back to help them defeat the winged villain.
So with her former lover-slash-enemy's husband standing before her and a tornado ominously forming in the sky above their heads, Emerald City ended its first season on an ambiguous note. Will Dorothy return to Oz? (Well, if the show gets a Season 2, of course she will.) But will she be able to defeat The Beast Forever? And once she does, which home will she ultimately choose to remain in? Hopefully NBC renews its fantasy series for Season 2 so we can get answers to some of the questions next year.
