‘Wicked: For Good’ Is Earnest & Emotional. That Doesn’t Mean It’s Bad.

It would be easy to read the dynamic between Elphaba, Fiyero and Glinda as just another literary love triangle, with two girls torn between a dashing prince, but as charming and hot as Fiyero is (I broke into a sweat during the chaste yet horny “As Long As You’re Mine”), he’s really not that important. While it’s beautiful to see Elphaba find the romantic love she deserves, and the origin story of the Scaregrow is the strongest part of the Wizard of Oz tie-in, Fiyero mainly exists as a test of Glinda and Elphaba’s friendship. On her wedding day, Glinda has to process the fact that her ex-best friend and her fiancé are about to run away together. The tables have turned and now, she is Not That Girl. Glinda has lived a privileged life as the popular girl, always chosen, always winning, and now she’s lost not just her groom, but the bubble she so carefully constructed is also about to burst. Later, when Fiyero risks his life to save Elphaba by pointing a gun at Glinda’s face, you see her accept his love for Elphaba and her own. She calls his bluff, and resigns herself to the fact that they both love Elphaba. Of course they do. Grandé is heartbreakingly magnificent in this moment, playing Glinda’s conflict with painful awareness.