Kris’s Reviews > Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West > Status Update

Due to the events at Shiz, Glinda (formerly Galinda) has changed. And she feels that she has changed. She wants to become Elphie’s friend and asks her about her family.

Elphie and Boq meet at the cafe so Boq can show Elphie what he found at the library- and how it can help Doctor Dillamond’s research. They don’t see each other again until the start of the semester, which brings an eerie beginning to the school year.

Elphaba is working on research with Dr. Dillamond during summer break. She receives a letter from Galinda. She invites her to stay at the summer house. Elphaba, Boq, and Avaric travel there. When they arrive, Pfannee reveals that she wrote the letter to Elphaba as a joke. Elphaba stays at the summer house anyway.

We are now introduced to Boq, who finds Galinda very attractive. Elphaba plays as wing woman and sets up a time for Galinda and Boq to talk privately. This doesn’t go that well- Galinda finds Boq more amusing than attractive.

Madame Horrible hosts a poetry party for the students and staff at Shiz University. After reading two poems (that ended in rather mean, disdaining statements), Doctor Dillamond is upset and offended. We also meet Boq, who knows Elphie from his youth.

A few days later, Elphaba defends Doctor Dillamond’s perspective in class. Madame Morrible says that those poems were “ironic”.

We are introduced to Galinda, who isn’t happy that she’s rooming with Elphaba. After 3 months of rooming together, she finally begins to talk to Elphaba, who was reading essays about the origin of evil. They stayed up to discuss this.

The next day, as Galinda was eating breakfast with her new friends, she makes fun of Elphaba behind her back.

Turtle Heart opens up to the family about why he left Quadling Country. They are glass-blowers; and use this glass to look into the future. They saw bloodshed in their poor, but delicate country. To which Elphaba says her first word, “Horrors”.

Some time passes, and Nanny visits the family. Frex and Elphaba have a special father-daughter bond, though there are moments of disappointment.

Nanny expresses to Melena that Elphaba needs to socialize with other children, to help her “grow armor” for the ridicule she is bound to face as she grows up.

The baby is born- green! Her parents are in horror of her. Melenda asks Nanny to help “fix” the baby. The family even brought up ways to kill the child. We come to find out that when Frex was away on his preaching missions, Melenda would commit adultery. In one instance she drank a green bottle of Miracle Elixir.