In the land of Oz, they’re busy building the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. Sounds perfect, right? But there’s a snag: the Wicked Witch of the West is up to trouble—or so everyone thinks. But hang on. It turns out Elphaba, that so-called “witch,” isn’t bad at all. She just wants to reveal how the Wizard’s full of it. Problem is, a lot of folks buy into Madame Mortimer’s tall tales about her.

Then there’s Glinda, supposedly good and all that. She’s popular and adored but guess what? She’s really just playing pretend—no magic powers here.

“Wicked” dives deep into this unlikely friendship between Elphaba and Glinda—they’re as different as night and day but together they might just change things for good.

As we get into the heart of it—based on the hit musical inspired by Gregory Maguire’s book—we’ve got two threads running. One centers around a kind of political drama depicting witch hunts (literally) and shows how Madame Mortimer stirs up trouble with her newspapers and magazines. The other thread gives us a bit of romance between Elphaba and Prince Fiyero—yep, love in its usual messy glory!

So if you’re ready for twists in Oz like you’ve never seen before, buckle up!
This part of “Wicked” dives deep into the shiny but phony image of Oz. Even when people find out it’s a lie, they still believe in it. In today’s world, it’s not about what’s real; it’s about what people decide is true. It’s all about confirming what we already think, even if it doesn’t line up with reality.

Elphaba explains to Glinda that she’s been condemned because folks need someone to blame. It’s like they need a villain so they can play the hero. This switches everything up for everyone: the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow all get their own backstories, plus you learn why the Wicked Witch of the East’s death happened and how Dorothy ended up in Oz thanks to that wild cyclone.

The movie has a ton unraveling in this part. It’s got a bit more seriousness than it maybe needs, but it still matches the fun from earlier on. There are some standout musical numbers even if not every single one hits home perfectly. There’s this sharp line—”For the first time I feel wicked”—that seriously lands without any irony at all. But then there’s also this romantic bit that plays out sweetly and ties itself back into the story at the end, sorta turning the whole thing into a love story mix—which is something you won’t find in Baum’s book or even in that classic MGM film version.
The story wraps up by taking us back to where it all started—the big celebration for the Wicked Witch of the West’s death. But now, after everything we’ve been through, things don’t look quite like they did at first. It’s like seeing the same scene through a whole new lens.