We’re not in Kansas for this Wizard reboot
Dark drama and unpredictability will draw grown-ups in to Emerald City, but The Expanse is best left to sci-fi fans.
New fantasy series Emerald City (Saturdays, 8.40pm, TV2) is a retelling of The Wizard of Oz. But if you’re expecting a jaunty Dorothy in red shoes and pigtails you’re in for a shock.
This Dorothy (Adria Arjona) might live in Kansas but that’s where the resemblance ends – she’s all grown up and gorgeous, flirting with colleagues at her workplace and stealing pain medication when no-one’s looking. A series of events finds her in a police car when a tornado hits and nek minnit she’s in a snowy forest, where she appears to have stumbled upon a Game of Thrones role play group.
But it’s actually the residents of the Tribal Freelands who promptly try to drown her before throwing her out of their territory. She’s faced with a yellow brick road made of opium, a landscape strewn with corpses and Toto is a police dog. Oh, and when she comes across Scarecrow he’s being crucified and pecked by crows.
Yep, this is not a reimagining suitable for kids. No jolly singing and dancing or cute little doggies here. This goes to some dark places and it’s violent, unpredictable and at times just plain gory.
Visually, it’s a feast with great costumes and stunning settings. Much of it was filmed on location in Spain and travel buffs might recognise the architecture of Barcelona and the barren landscapes of Andalucia.
Sure, it all feels a little bit derivative – grown-up fairy stories with a dark side aren’t that unusual. Think Once Upon a Time and Grimm. And there’s a GOT feel to some of the costumes (incidentally, parts of Game of Thrones were also filmed in some of the same parts of Spain). The whole thing feels a bit familiar – and not just because of the story’s origin.
Having said that, I liked it. Yep, it’s a bit flawed but its good looks, drama and darkness draws you in.
The Expanse (now available on Lightbox) is also set in a weird world. This US sci-fi series takes us to the 23rd century where humans have colonised the solar system; Mars is an independent military power; and ‘‘belters’’ mine the asteroid belt for resources such as water. Like so many fictional future worlds, everyone looks a bit grimy and jaded.
The action and storylines hop around three locations – Earth, now run by the United Nations; Ceres, a huge space docking station for resources being shipped around the solar system; and Canterbury, a space ice trawler. Throw in a mix of characters, some major, some minor – but who really knows in these early stages? – and you’ve got yourself a pretty confusing start to things.
But, it’s certainly not terrible. And by the end of episode one you have just about enough of a grip on things to see some promise of a complex story that might be worth sticking with. If you’re a sci-fi fan I suspect you’ll invest the time. As for the rest of us, I’m not so sure.