Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: The Witch Hunter

My life has gotten crazy busy, so I almost missed this week's edition of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. But I managed to carve out enough time to take care of that tonight. Ona walk through the forest, the Lion is convince they're being followed. Everyone else assures him they're safe, but of course nobody notices the Wicked Witch, Wilhelmina, Frank, and Lyman really are following them. Their latest plan is simple: As soon as Dorothy is alone, they'll grab her. No luck, but Frank thinks they are being followed. Sure enough, a mysterious figure is picking them off one by one, and eventually he chases the Wicked Witch and Wilhelmina, capturing them at last. They've been seized by a witch hunter! (What, you're surprised? Hey, what's the name of this episode?) It turns out that Baron Fernando von (or is it van?) Soozle is not the ripest banana in the bunch, as Frank puts it, and he lets slip the location of his impenetrable witch prison. But the Witch uses some psychology on the baron to convince him that there is an even more powerful witch leading their coven. Eventually, they reveal her name: Dorothy! Sure enough, one by one, the baron captures the Lion, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, Toto, and finally Dorothy. But Dorothy manages to trick him into believing there is an even more powerful Witch Queen so that he will release her friends. But the baron just keeps accusing everyone of being a witch and tries to recapture them all again. In the ensuing melée, the (real) witches and the monkeys are freed, and Wilhelmina uses her magic to finally capture the baron and send him on his way in his cart. Dorothy and both witches commiserate about not being able to get through to some people, the witches make one last effort to capture Dorothy, but she uses the ruby slippers to slip away. "Eh, it was worth a shot," exclaims Wilhelmina.

This one is pretty much a pure farce. No matter what they do or say, nobody can convince von (van?) Soozle that (a) they aren't a witch, and (b) there isn't an even bigger, wore powerful witch lurking around the corner. (I'm surprised Ozma didn't get involved in this one.) The whole situation just keeps ratcheting up more and more until it all falls down like a Jenga tower over van (von?) Soozle's head. All cowes out well in the end at last, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if the baron finds his way back and tries again, not having learned his lesson at all.