The original story exists. It's printed all over the place and no one can ever take it away from you, my friend. This is a new story inspired by that expansive one. Let it live!

I think you are making some very heavy assumptions regarding the intentions of the unseen man. There's no reason to believe he's not doing exactly what Lumen has tasked him to do by retrieving items and taking them to the exports hall. The two O&D innies are obviously uncomfortable with the encounter and Felicia previously stated O&D took deliveries there themselves but this has changed for some reason. But the assertion that this scene indicates some sort of revolt needs a lot more to back it up.

I'm glad you wrote this article because I was a fan of the novel and I was interested in just how far the musical went with the themes in the book. The novel portrays a very compelling but dark and disturbing Oz and the musical doesn't seem to hit most of those points at all, but I could be wrong.

Knowledge of either Mephisto or the off-screen Tatum-Gambit business are needed to follow the plot of their respective projects. They add some flavor for those in the know, and in Mephisto's case, it's a way to introduce the character as existing in the universe and known to characters before the audience needs to meet him. References to other works are common in all great media and most simply fly over peoples' heads until they have wider experiences to recall and connect the dots.

Anyone who has every really experienced grief will immediately recognize in Wanda just how terrible it is. The best villains are the ones you agree with and know you could just as easily fall down that rabbit hole.

I dont follow viewer ratings or wiki-obsessions. It was terrible story-telling. At the end of every episode, I kept wondering if we were ever going to get anywhere with an actual story. The show focused on heavy-handed suggestions that something interesting was going to be revealed. Great actors and characters were completely wasted while making time for anguished handwringing. Much ado about nothing.

I appreciate the quick roundup of info about Calypso and how the series finale made it possible, but I'm left curious if any of the show's creators ever gave insights into what the purpose of the short was. It raises far more questions than it answers, even after the finale, and I fear the abrupt "red directive" description basically puts the details and purpose off to never be explored or explained. If Calpyso was just a short to give Zora some personality and perhaps explore themes of isolation and loneliness, fine... but it doesn't feel as satisfying to me to reveal a future so alien and not explore it in the slightest.