Lost in Oz, Chapter 5: The Pearl of Pingaree

It's getting to the point where I don't want to say too much in these summaries for fear of giving too much away. It's becoming pretty clear that this show is an unfolding mystery, so knowing too much spoils that. But I'll see what I can do. Dorothy, Ojo, and the Scarecrow are off to find information about the Pearl of Pingaree, one of Glinda's magical items that has gone missing. They meet up with Ojo's father, an aquaculturist who knows about everything that grows underwater. He shows them around, but then gets very evasive when the Pearl comes up. Ojo doesn't think much of it, but Dorothy is convenced he knows more than he's letting on, and so she hides and begins to investigate after everyone goes home, including the Nomes. Yep, we get our first look at the Nomes in this episode, and they are very cool, if not much like their counterparts from the books. They discover a hidden oyster farm where the Nomes are trying to grow a new Pearl of Pingaree, but then the robot tending things discovers the original. (Let's just say the Scarecrow was really good at hiding things before he was affected by the water of oblivion.) They try to escape, but are stopped and captured by—who else?—Fitz! West, meanwhile, is summoned by her mother to help out at the clinic where she works, and it doesn't go well. West bristles at the restrictions her mother is putting on her use of magic, but her mother assures her that she's doing the right thing, because magic is dangerous. At the end of the episode, at school, West meets her new substitute magic teacher, Miss Langwidere—whom we met earlier, as she admonished her acolyte Fitz for messing up so badly.

Yup, this is getting good. A whole list of Easter eggs as Ojo's father reels off a long list of people who might want to kidnap Glinda, each and every one of them from the books! Of course the episode title is also an Easter egg, but here Pingaree seems to be a magical property and not a location. And Langwidere, besides also being a character in Ozma of Oz, wears a ruby bracelet. reminiscent of the ruby key she wears in the books. And then there's a lunchbox tree!

I am really enjoying this show, certainly a lot more than a fifty-one year old man should, and not just for the Ozziness. Dorothy is just a cool, spunky kid, and I suspect my niece would be impressed that she's a rock climber. Her relationship with Toto is great, and West just keeps developing layer after layer as a character. We even get a little character arc with Ojo, looking uncomfortable when his father brags about how Ojo will take over the farm some day. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next.