All Comments on 'The Wrong Man'

Average

I had pets And children.

Can't possibly learn shit from pets to help in raising children.

I have actually met parents who spend more time with pets than children and then can't understand why the kids end up in counseling and/or prison

Nice. I know all too well how interference from the in-laws contributes to the destruction of their daughter’s marriage. In my case, it was the self-righteous Southern Baptist preacher father-in-law. He was jealous of my ability to quickly learn magic tricks and illusions used in my Gospel Magic evangelism. A gospel magician himself, with many church clients, he had difficulty learning new tricks. He was also jealous of my stage presence, ignoring the fact that I had been on stage since the age of three and had worked professionally with several well-known performers. Performers from whom I learned my stage craft. It was easily adapted to my magic performances. He was a two-faced hypocrite, telling all who would listen that I was closer to him than his own son, then stabbing me in the back whenever I was out of town. The MIL participated in his destruction of my marriage to their daughter by staying quiet and not challenging her husband. It took 17.5 years but he finally succeeded.

Regarding the commenters who believed Emma was immature and spoiled, yes, she was, but she was also kind hearted and able to admit when she was wrong, as shown by her eating crow when Jeff presented the notarized letter from the other Jeff. Did she fly off the handle and immediately jump to conclusions about Jeff’s supposed infidelity? Yes, she did. She handled that poorly. Who among us have never acted immaturely and jumped to conclusions? Did we learn from our mistakes? Yes, we did and can assume that Emma did too.

I was glad to see she never cheated on Jeff and was mature enough to admit her mistakes and want to remain in her marriage.

I don’t condone Jeff’s breaking the law and framing Grant, but I understand it. Frankly, I would have considered pushing him in front of a subway train, but that would have been illegal, even if “accidentally on purpose” 😇

Emma was a spoiled brat who wasn’t prepared to be a wife. She valued her mother over her husband, and she thought nothing of spending time with another man.

/

Just get rid of her, and start over with a woman who knows how to be a partner.

ZK

Glad that Emma wasn't burned and kept her values intact. At was nice to meet Karin as I've read a couple of other stories with her in them. Well done.

This one troubles me given the wife's behavior.

Like the stories from these authors. I understand both sets of commenters about the wife in this one. She was a kind, loving person and was manipulated by her mother. BUT then again, she was also very emotionally immature and too easily manipulated by her mother to the point of disregarding her spouse. The repeated bit about the confessed near-dalliance and the coincidental letter because of her mother's influence points to someone who doesn't have their spouse's back. Would you want to have a marital partner who has such poor judgement and DOES NOT have your back? If it took an intervention from the father in law to set things right, then that marital relationship might prove not trustworthy because of her future immaturity. Especially before the marriage takes on the responsibility of children and builds assets. So this husband was taking a big risk. Counseling and psychological therapy would have been my first demand before going further with this wife.

I liked it. Another actual loving wife. Damn that MIL was a piece of work. Glad things worked out in the end and her schemes didn't come to pass.

Not great poetry at the end 🙄 but a great story.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Emma didn't do anything that would remotely warrant divorce. She was being manipulated by her mother and clearly did not entertain any relationship with Grant. All he managed was a kiss on her cheek. Jeff was just a big snowflake

The desire to burn Emna here is ridiculous. Making the opera event into a cheating incident (in certain readers' minds) is surreal. Emma obviouhad issues with missing out on love and attention from her parents. Story wss well written. MC was a compassionate, sensitive husband with some bad luck and a victim if his horrible MIL's planned character assassination, but he was also flawed. At time he was too "woe is me" without taking action. He had all that information but did nothing for so long that he almost let her get subjected to horrific actions. He needed the deus ex machina of her father to save her. There were other ways.

Me, I'd of divorced her ASAP. Without trust, there's very little to keep a marriage together.

A really good four star(+?) story but........

Karin's friend if from an alphabet agency would have all of Jeff's abilities and more.

Even if Jeff only worked for KPMG for a limited period of time, part of his soul would have been missing.

Most of the interplay with Karin is superfluous. Everything positive with Emma happened after her father became involved. Perhaps not useable in a court, but Jeff could have taken his information directly to Emma's father.

Grant Martin was hardly innocent, but he was just a tool for Lois to use. He never set Jeff up.

Love it when the scumbags loose bid time!

The comment below by someoneother was absolutely dead on target. BTB mob please take your pitchforks elsewhere. The correct people were burned. Husband was kind of a coward waiting until almost too late to go to the father. He had all the emails. How would mother and Martin spin that story? Then go to father for confirmation. He almost waited too long. Really bad things were about to happen to his wife not of her doing or at all her intent.

Whilst the story as an happy ending,I think Emma got off too lightly.He should have moved out for a while and let her stew.

Karma is a bitch. Haha

Good story and well told. I'm on the BTB side of the crowd, and in this case the right "B" got burned. The wife deserved to eat some crow but didn't actually do anything unforgivable and clearly loved him. Any painful actions she took were mostly result of seeing bad evidence (not her fault she didn't know it was bad).

The only problem with this story is that both the wife and honestly the father in law really need therapy, and the story didn't push them that way. Still 5 stars though.

I think Emma was a person missing something important in her life: the love/attention of her parents. She truly didn’t do anything unforgivable. I don’t even think she lied to Jeff. She even quickly got over a very suspicious letter to the wrong Jeff very quickly after being presented proof.

Well earned, but hard fought romance. I think it was an intelligent story with some good, but flawed characters and some absolute monsters. My only criticism would be that perhaps more subtlety is called for in antagonists, but I think it was overall very good.

Reading again

Page 1

Dump the cunt right after shes convinced he’s innocent.

There have been many a time in the real world of business where I, as a married man, had gone to dinner with a married woman. We drank wine, chatted about the business matter as well as our families, and then went to our respective homes or hotels without even a kiss on the cheek, with neither spouse getting upset (if they even knew about it). This is just how one develops and strengthens business relationships. I feel sorry for all the commentators who are aghast at an opera event under the circumstances here. They obviously have neither real-life experiences nor confidence to be anything meaningful. (Yes, I know about Pence, but that does not disprove my theory).

Emma ain't worth all that effort.

Wow. When you really think about it, maybe it isn’t worth all the trouble, eh?

Laughable.that dome readers think the wife going to an opera is worthy of a divorce. Wtf? We know from Kari that nothing else happened at the townhouse and Grant tried to kiss her and she begged off and evaded. Thr car wrnt to and from the opera and fit the schedule of.the performance. So nothing else happened. They weren't grinding on another at a dance club. They weren't even making out at a movie theater. It was an OPERA! If you thank that is real dating big activity then simply wow, don't know what to say. As we learn anyways, it was a setup with her mom.beggong off being sick. The core premise was the MIL being a monster and working to kill her daughter's marriage. Not a setup where she goes to the opera with a purported friend of the family. Have you ever been to an opera? Please. And yeah the husband was a bit of wuss with all the woe is me shit. Confront! Argue! Show her all the freaking emails. Leaving it dangling until her father intercedes was ludicrous. Seriously he could have intervened. Maybe not as dramatic but still could have put serious doubts about the MIl in his wife's mind and then gone to the father. Instead people are hung up on her going to the opera. Smh.

The critics are harsh about her going to the opera when her mom backed out claiming sick. As if that is a massive, heart wrenching betrayal. Sure it isn't cool and deserves an angry argument but not the husband feeling doomed to have to file a divorce. Full dating activity? Have you been to an opera? Really? Ummm no. Not full dating activity. It wss also a setup with thr tickets and a suppised friend of the family. It is certainly less offensive than dancing close with a guy at a club. Grant tried to kiss her (him being a sleaze and all) and she turned away. Her mom was a cancer. His wife was not cheating. Yes she failed the husband test, but the PI showed that nothing else happened. Not worthy of a divorve. The MIL and Grant were engaged in a conspiracy to destroy their marriage and turn the wife and against thr husband. That was rhe central crux, not her going to thr opera one night after beign setup. Did you read the same story?

To the previous posters who said that she didn’t cheat in any way, are you okay with it if I take your wife to the opera?!? She engaged in dating activities with someone other than her husband! It’s that simple.

ZK

While the report from Kari about the second weekend alleviated some of the MC's concerns, he really did not need Hal and Karin's help afterwards (it is referenced in a later story starring Karin with a cameo by Jeff) to save his marriage. He had the emails. He still just goes to the father and then his MIL is caught dead to rights, Grant is fired, and Emma realizes her mother's manipulations. This lets Grant (and Dennis) stay out of jail, but Emma will never have anything to do with Grant and Lois ever again.

Good story. Well written. Not sure I understand all thr histrionics over Emma. There was zero betrayal there. No affair, emotional or otherwise. Her only problem was she was being slowly poisoned by the monster-in-law. Thr roller coaster of the note, to the makeup sex after he got the other Jeff's notarized letter, to his going into Manhattan, to his mini confrontation and moving to the guest room (huh?) and then convinced his marriage was "circling the drain" was hyperbolic. The Anonymous from 2 months ago had it dead to rights. Emma never cheated one iota. Her going out with thr replacement guy when her mother opted out was not a big deal and zilch happened. There was alos nothing in her emails. Instead the MC moves all his clothes out of their room, moves into the guest bedroom, confronts her, and because she sends the text about Sharon, well now their marriage is over. I get the MIL was a threat, but their marriage was not in peril and he could have used the emails at just about any time. Worse after her father delivers the news and Emma apologizes (not for cheating but for listening to her mother and being manipulated), well they now have to spend months picking up the pieces of their broken marriage? Wtf? Once Emma apologized, it should have been a no brainer. Maybe Emma needed a bit of therapy about her parents on particular her Mom. Don't even think they need any counseling as a married couple. She was pregnant three months after that key dinner with her dad. So the "reconciliation" must not have been that arduous. I use quotes on reconciliation, because there wasn't a whole lot to reconcile. They survived the monster in law trying to put a wedge into their marriage. I mean as soon as Emma learned about her mother's plan with Grant, the affair between them, and her reasoning that she could cheat more often, would just instantly sever her relationship with her mother and thus the marriage which had withstood the onslaught, would now be healthy. Emma needs therapy due to her childhood and her mother. The MC might need it for anxiety and over-reacting. While I get that he was upset that second weekend, as soon as he got the report back from Karin, he should have been relieved. But instead he was still convinced they were in trouble. Overly worried and paranoid husband.

⭐⭐⭐

We're scratching our heads over the recent Anonymous comment flunking us for not using handwriting analysis, ink dating technology or a polygraph to prove our Jeff's innocence after his wife finds a note addressed to "Jeff" in a used book he bought. Granted, taking a polygraph may or may not convince a spouse, Movies and TV have convinced many people that polygraphs can be beaten. But our main questions for this commentator are - who are we comparing handwriting to? The 'Teri' who wrote the note is unknown to Jeff and Emma. And as for dating the note - what difference would it make if the note was written one week ago or one month ago?

So, our method of proving Jeff's innocence by getting the other Jeff's notarized statement worked and was probably a hell of a lot cheaper than going to a CSI lab for "analysis", then having a lie detector test; but one more 'LW Anonymous' had to prove their superior intelligence by commenting how we could have done it better. We're leaving the comment as a testament to this Reader's stupidly. Here's an idea - sign up for a Lit ID, write your own story and show us how bright you are.

Well developed story that had heart attack on page one.

Ever hear of hand writing analyis. Ink dating technology? Polygraph?

ALL PUT TOGETHER....would have vindicated him. You could have used any number of other, and stronger, devices, and you picked the weakest.

I gave you 3 for the story line but page 1 flunked this story.

RE: Why did MC overreact to his marriage being in danger?

*

OP fell victim to the implied threat of the commenters here. Had Emma gone a step farther, the BTB brigade would've one-voted the story and accused the writer, his family for a thousand generations and anyone who didn't one-vote this fine story, of being a cuck. As it was, some of those who can't read and only comment already deemed this story as "cuck sh*t"!

*

Therefore, anything short of MC feeding his wife into a woodchipper is declared as "cuck sh*t". That's why so many good writers have moved along, and the people who actually write "cuck sh*t" have descended like locusts. There's a lesson here worthy of Aesop. Or Lenny Bruce.

Interesting and I get why the MC acted against the two rapists. But why was he thinking his marriage was in trouble? An emotional affair? Really? Yes the monster-in-law was a threat but why did the MC feel the marriage was circling the drain even after getting the father involved. Emma never came close to cheating. Heck sounds like he flirted more with Sharon. Still a compelling read.

I didn't like the story at all. Why was the marriage at risk? So, she tried to connect with her mother, so what? She didn't do anything wrong.

Ok, I have ADHD with a good dose of dyslexia, and I was able to see that Emma never cheated. So how are you neurotypical folks missing that bit? A well presented story could have maybe used a deeper dive into the fascinating characters you created but that may have3 made it too long though i think you had enough going on longer could have simply been more detailed thax for a good read

Wow! Apparently lots of folks can't read. Emma is no skank; she did not cheat on Jeff. Emma's mom was trying to urge Emma to cheat but it really does not look like it had been going that well. In fact, the fracture in the marriage really did not seem too major to me. In the end, every one got what they deserved. I liked the story.

mfj

"My God! What did you do to your face?" might have worked more magic as, "My God! What happened to your face?"

2nd, while contemporary, you two seem to use extra care in regards to the victims using fair play.

So here's a challenge; Write such that 'justice' is achieved not by means, to which the Bible would refer to as, "bearing false witness."

The bad guy was set up by, essentially, some lies and false-theft. This made the good guy, into one, not.

Jeff why did You take the Skank Back ? I am still trying to figure that one out . I bet 80% of the people here would have kicked her to the curb .

EMMA IS A STUPID BITCH AND JEFF IS PATHETIC FOR BEING SO EASY ON THE STUPID SKANK!!

Jeff is a really stupid cuck, pussy-whipped for a skank of a wife!!

Wow. Great story, well written. 5 stars.

A fun read.

Well done, thanks for sharing.

Loved reading this well-written story.

Ed

Outstanding! I really enjoyed this well written story. Thanks.

To anon below. Great idea - thanks. We updated our bio as you suggested.

I hope that you’ll do what a number of other writers have done here and add to your bio a list of the Karin Roland stories in the order they occur (or in which it would be best to read them). I read them all some time ago, but coming back to your story page now, it’s hard to find which ones include her, and in which order they should be read. Thanks in advance.

I'm reminded again of how I feel about the people who despise Lt. Dan for political reasons.

Great story!

5

Fantastic.

Ahhhh! Mother inlaws! Aint they great! Well at least in these stories. This was a good one the loving husband did not give up on his wife. Good story.

Finally got around to reading the first of the Karin Roland stories and really enjoyed it. The plot moves at a nice pace with enough details to make the world feel lived in without bogging down the story. It's always satisfying when awful people get their just deserts. Looking forward to reading the subsequent chapter's in Karin's saga.

I'm really liking Karin and Bill. I'll be reading the other Karin Roland stories this weekend. Thanks for writing.

A fun story to read. Grant took a shellacking even if not for cuckolding the MC . But, he was a baddie, and retribution against evil is fungible, apparently.

Wonderful story. 5⭐ thanks.

What a great story, was good to see that Emma once out of her mothers clutches found out who she really was, thus saving her marriage and getting that missed relationship with her father reestablished. Well done 5 stars

for an actual 5 star tale: the damn look backs ruined this and all stories

3 stars

Excellent!!!! 5+!

you two can weave a good story. Thank you.

I loved it

My mother in law wasn't this bad, but we'll never be close. My father in law was one of my best friends until complications of respiratory disease took him last March. Those are a couple of the reasons that I love this story.

Lois could have married the Joker

should have divorce emma ,but her daddy had money .and please less background history ,no body really care;s

Or in my case a pompom girl.

"...the four holes in the asshole's sidewalls." They can replace valve cores, valve stems and plug holes in the tread but when the sidewalls get punctured or slashed as the saying goes you are flat SOL and that's not the other site. The good thing is that the tires are only flat on one side.

"It's 'The Wrong Man', James Neff's comprehensive investigation of the Sam Shepard trial for the murder of his wife; you know, 'The Fugitive'." At the time the last episode where David Janssen finally catches up to the one armed man who actually killed his wife was the most watched show in tv history at that time. The legs often shown in the opening scenes belonged to Mary Tyler Moore.

"I'm Karin, with an 'i'." We finally meet Karin for the first time.

"My preconceived notions based on a love of film noire and 40's detective movies set me up to envision Sam Spade or Philip Marlow." Actually 'noir' and 'Marlowe', Bogart will always be the best of both, but Powell, Garner, Mitchum and Boothe did very well as Marlowe. I also liked Stacy Keach in his first go around as Mike Hammer too before his little incident at Heathrow.

Talk about the wicked witch, glad I had two different mothers-in-law. Lois's face-lift was the icing on the cake. Seems to me some of the comments were way too hard on Emma, when she was actually confronted with the evidence she did the right things and cut her mother off at the knees. Perhaps not the best poem at the end but it made it's point and served it's purpose as a gotcha, asshole. The idea of a wife finding a note in a used book addressed to the same name as her husband confirming an affair was not only unique as far as I'm aware but brilliant. Signed: BTW

Good story

Sorry but if My Wife went to a Movie with someone I do not know ?? There would be trouble ...

I liked it, but one line stood out: "...she never lost her moral compass." You never hear about a moral compass here. You always hear about reasons and excuses for cheating, but no character ever decides that the right thing transcends circumstances. I liked that a lot!

his wife was KILLING their marriage to 'spend time with her mother'

unacceptable. not ONCE did Emma put SOME effort into her marriage over her mother's neediness. Not...ONCE. There is NO excuse for that. This was over the course of MANY weeks.

Her husband and father only tarnished her mother's character. She NEVER choose her marriage ONCE in this fiasco. Completely unacceptable behavior. No excuses. Not even ONE couple's therapy session, ONE date night, ONE heart to heart at the diner table.

For as much as Emma distrusted, disrespected, and decided to not even give him a chance to explain, Jeff sure didn't seem to be offended in the least. He seemed to actually crawl back to her.

I am a fan of partnerships and equality in marriage. This story certainly does not show that type of relationship.

Reading this again helps me realize just how good these authors are. This is just great story and well worth reading again. Love the justice meted out to Lois and Grant.

Ok this ended a bit fast, the way they got back together had really nothing in it. He seemed too, I'm sorry, ok hun come on back I love you. I honestly think this story could have used a bit more fleshing out on the reconciliation part, overall it's a 5 star interesting story but like I said a bit more fleshing out would have moved it into the high upper excellent instead of just excellent 97/100.

Is the lack of work that would be needed for the reconciliation to occur.

This story is a great example. She treats him like shit, dates other men, even if by accident, and gives her mother more trust than him on the way to destroying her marriage and she has to hear it from her dad before she would believe anything was up with her mother.

She had huge hurdles to overcome to make up for her extreme stupidity and lack of trust in a man that had always been honest with her.

She just says, "I'm sorry." and everything is smooth sailing because he is just so happy to have her. Sap.

Undecided whether or not he made the right decision in staying with her.Despite all her good traits ,it is apparent she has a selfish streak and could cause problems in the future.

While I agree with the reconciliation, I think some counselling should have been done. She obviously has quite a few issues (justifiably), but their marriage needs some help to make it. Otherwise, well written and entertaining. That's why the 5*.

Very enjoyable read. *****

There is a lot of detailed events that happen in this story. It's like 3 stories in one and throughout it all it's the character Emma behavior I couldn't get a handle on.

Even though she never cheated on her husband, at one point it look like he was ready to throw in the towel. Why? Because of Emma's attitude.

The husband is doing everything he can to work on the marriage and she takes this wait and see attitude. Fustrating mess for the husband. Like clapping with one hand.

By the end, I had very ambivalent feelings towards the character of Emma. I'm not sure she deserved a happily ever after ending. I'll probably read this again later to figure that one out.

wasn't five year old; she was equally guilty; there's no reason other than stupidly loving her that must have goaded the guy to take her back. What if he wasn't a geek and what if he couldn't do any of the things he did? Nope; she openly sided her with her mother and one can't be that gullible. Stupid decision.

Very enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

I'm pretty sure any man divorces Emma given what happened. How could he forget/forgive her level of betrayal? And who wants to live the next 50 years waiting for the other shoe to drop?

Karin and her husband are the best part of this story, you could make a whole spinoff series about their adventures.

Since you felt the need to trash this story I went to your site to read some of your offerings to the community. Come to find out that the site is devoid of and written word to share with the masses. I'm surprised. With your obvious great intellect I expected to see stories that would be talked about through the ages. Huh. As my old grannie used to say, "If you don't have any relevant criticism, keep yo trap shut." Then she'd go have a beer. Sounds like a great idea. Good 5* story.

I read this one some time ago. I didn't rate or comment. I almost read it again, but it's too damn long and the satisfaction per word is below the threshold needed for a reread without 3-5 years wait. I wrote a comment, stepped away a minute, then realized it just wasn't worth it, so fucking erased everything....and I wrote this instead. I never even got to say "2 * cuck shit" because I erased it.

This was one of the best stories on LW's thanks for the story!

I think I would have divorced Emma. She obviously took her mother's word instead of her husband. The only thing that "saved" Jeff was getting lucky and also doing something illegal. He had to prove his innocence because she already "knew" he was guilty. The relationship with her mom was more important than her husband. And instead of trying to work through things she went away for days.

Yes, she definitely needed to go. She didn't sleep around but she had already decided Jeff did. She has no trust in Jeff. He and anyone else deserves so much more from a spouse.

Keep on writing such good stuff. Good storyline, but even better storytelling. I loved the ambivalence of the main figures -- nobody is perfect. But -- there could have been more on the healing of the marriage, the feelings of Emma and of Jeff, and how their different upbringing plays out along those lines... how they doubt and overcome their doubts, what the guilt trip does to her etc..

The story moved around to much, going from past to present.

You have done yourself two big favours in your writing:

1. Got away from willing cuckold stories

2. Got away from BTB stories

I like unwilling cuckold stories with true remorse and reconciliation. This was not far from that.

I like how some of the characters intertwine with other stories

This is another excellent story. The development of the plot, the characters, and how something fairly complex could be told with excellent rhythm. I am a real fan of Karin and Hank.

was a nice touch. lol

Establishing a relationship with her mother

was more important than

maintaining the one with her husband.

The husband planted the seeds of doubt, and the mother-in-law fertilized it. Given those circumstances, the wife clearly tried to hold onto the marriage despite the external force. I would have liked to see just a bit more recognition from the husband in the role he played setting this in motion.

The wife has a grown-up problem, she hasn't.

... I’ve found reading LW, to date. How’d you come up with that scenario?

5-stars

she was old enough to be accountable for her actions. The fact that she treated her husband so badly showed that she was totally invested in letting her marriage go. I am not sure that the husband should have let her off the hook so easily. The fact that she went to the play with the other man shows that she was just looking out for her own wants and gave little thought to her husband and his wants. Not much left by the time her father became involved. I wouldn't think that there would have been enough left for Jeff to even want to try to work it out. Hard to save the marriage when he was the only one doing the lifting. Wife was immature and I didn't like her. But hey, that's just me.

The flashbacks may have been better placed but that wasn't a spoiler for me. In all an entertaining story with a lot of thought and effort put into it. Don't know if it's technically sound but enjoyed it no less.

That was basically all that the"poem" was missing at the end. LOL.

But yeah, the minor trouble with this one were the flashbacks, dont were fluid enough and it does feel that somewhat interrupt the reading. However its a minor problem and overall the story was great, good character (sans the evil mother in law), good conflict, and good resolution. Here in Mexico we have a say "Cambio suegra por víbora, pago la diferencia" which translates like more or less as "Trade up/change mother in law for snake, i pay the difference" meaning that sometimes its preferible deal with a snake (real or "in spirit") that with an evil vindictive bitch from hell bend on fuck your life.

An entertaining story, though I think the flashbacks got in the way, felt more like typical LW genre filler than something that added to the narrative.

Complex and interesting. Could have benefitted by more exposition.

Enjoy stories where the bad guys pay and things end well. Thanks

Nice story, but ...

The flashbacks! Urgh!

I must be in the minority as I actually like all the history most stories have. It helps me identify with the characters. In stories having multiple comments about cardboard characters, there usually is no history and limited or no dialog.

That said, these flashbacks did not occur at opportune times. The last one really got in the way. Why describe how he first met Emma while he's talking with his FIL?

I may be the only one who just wanted the history together at the start or inserted to help make the story flow.

Second point: It's always better to be vague about hacking. Any good antivirus and/or firewall would easily catch your ploy. This is especially true with computers connecting to a bank's internal network.

Others have pointed out other inconsistencies. My main complaint had to deal with how he handled Emma. You don't freeze out your wife when you want to keep her loyalty to you.

Regards, ttom

A happy ending, which I like, and a faithful though suspicious wife that didn’t blow up the marriage in the end. The flashbacks and fill-ins were a little distracting, and I can’t decide if a linear story would have been better. I am happy to see the wicked witch of the East get her just desserts.