Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz: The Return of the Silver Slippers

Yes, they're back! I don't know how regular these are going to become, but I really want to try and get Season 3 done as quick as I can. And this one is going to be a little different. Usually, when I do these recaps and reactions, I write them as I'm watching them. That works out great for one that takes up a single segment and takes less than fifteen minutes to watch, with ads. But "The Return of the Silver Slippers" is four parts long, and Boomerang showed them all at once in an hour-long episode. So I watched it last night, and am now going to do the recap. It probably won't be as detailed as usual, and I can't guarantee I got all the details right. Dorothy and the boys are in Munchkinland, helping a Munchkin cursed by Wilhelmina, when Frank and Lyman try their latest attempt to get the Ruby Slippers. No shock, they fail. But in the course of events, it turns out that the slippers are on the fritz, and Dorothy can't transport very far with them. They have to walk back to the Emerald City, where Ozma tells her to see the magic cobbler, the man who first made the Ruby Slippers. Dorothy reluctantly gives the slippers to the cobbler to examine them—and he turns out to be the Wicked Witch of the West using a magic locket to disguise herself! She puts the slippers on, and her magic is restored! Now that she is free to do so, the Wicked Witch creates havoc in the Emerald City. Since she doesn't need the Ruby Slippers any more, she locks them up in Wilhelmina's castle. Dorothy and the boys go to retrieve them, where they also find the real magic cobbler, who tells Dorothy the problem isn't in the slippers, it's in her! They make it back to the Emerald City, where Dorothy calls upon Glinda to help them out. Glinda arrives, and takes Dorothy to her palace (all pink and made of spheres that look like bubbles!) to talk about the slippers, while the boys stay behind to help Ozma and the Wizard defend the Emerald City. In her palace, Glinda reveals some secrets behind the ruby slippers. First, they can do a lot more than transport the wearer. Essentially, the ruby slippers give you all kinds of magic powers. Second, the reason they're not working for Dorothy is because Dorothy is lacking self-confidence. Dorothy only needs to start believing in herself again, and the slippers will work just fine. Third, the ruby slippers once belonged to Glinda! They were designed to help the wearer protect Oz, but the Wicked Witch of the East stole them from Glinda and used them for her own nefarioun purposes. Fortunately, not long afterwards, a certain hous elanded on the Wicked Witch of the East and stopped her from being a threat. Glinda recognized Dorothy as someone who could also protect Oz, and so decided to let her have them. Fourth, there's another pair of magic slippers! When they were made, there were two pairs, ruby for Glinda and silver for Ozma. And finally (!), after the ruby slippers were stolen, the silver slippers were hidden to protect them. They were hidden so well, not even Ozma and Glinad know where they are. Of course, Frank and Lyman overhear this and report back to the Wicked Witch of the West, who now has a new mission: Find the silver slippers! After all the revelations, Dorothy practices using the ruby slippers for more than just transportation, and gets a decent handle on her new powers. She then returns to the Emerald City and helps her friends defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. But now everyone has a new quest: Find the silver slippers! The title is a misnomer, since nobody finds the silver slippers. But at least the knowledge of them is out in the open. Based on some of the story titles later in the season, it looks like this will be a continuing arc. One nice touch in this episode is seeing the Wicked Witch of the East in a flashback. (And you thought the Wicked Witch of the West looked like a bad character!) I also liked the Wicked Witch using the magic locket, from way back when this show started, to impersonate the magic cobbler. The season is off to a good start, and I look forward to where this is going to go.