The final episode of Pushing Daisies of 2008 is a doozy, all full of daddy issues and betrayals and Norwegians. Yup, turns out that Emerson's PI business has a rival in the form of three Norwegian detectives who are surprisingly reminiscent of some other folks we know, and Vivian's hired them for a case pretty close to Emerson's heart: the mysterious disappearance of one Dwight Dixon. This episode has a lot of twists and turns and one shocking reveal, so to get to talking about it, just read more.

This whole season of Daisies has, in large part, been about Ned's abandonment issues. His dad left him; he stopped being able to trust people. His dad got a new family; he felt sad and lonely. But how would it change Ned's life to know that his dad was around the whole time, watching over him, making sure he didn't get himself into too much trouble? This episode suggests that Ned's father is the one who set up Dwight Dixon's fake murder scene and saved Ned and Olive from near-certain death — and now he's in the Pie Hole, possibly ready to make himself known. How long has Papa Piemaker been lurking? Does he know about Ned's powers? Does he have powers of his own?

Meanwhile, I loved everything about the Norwegians, from their matchy-matchy sweaters to their mobile lab (MILF!). It makes sense to me that Olive would go running to them — after all, she'd just proven her mettle as Emerson's "itty-bitty," and now she's back to being left out. In fact, I think she would have been justified in actually working for the Norwegians, not just operating in "deep cover" and waiting for Ned or Emerson to come calling. It really must be hard to be Olive, always being told she can't be trusted with secrets. If she did know the truth about Ned and Chuck, though, I wonder if she'd react like Vivian did upon learning the truth about Dwight — wondering if perhaps it was better not to know.

The episode ends with Ned making a big decision: He's not going to use his power anymore. Not for good, not for evil, not for the sake of saving banged-up fruit. "Waking the dead creates too many unfortunate variables," he tells Chuck, and he doesn't want anybody else cleaning up his messes. But can he really abstain? Ned without a power is just a piemaker again, and while that might be nicer for everyone, it seems like a promise that will be hard to keep.

Some other thoughts:

  • Poor Vivian, so convinced Dwight really loved her. Her reaction when Lily told her the truth really says something about their relationship: Vivian is almost always naive, and Lily is almost always right.
  • Also, loved Vivian's conception of "intimate" relations: "long walks, clarinet concertos . . . "
  • Someone on the Daisies set can't spell "cemetery," because one copy of the note from Lily totally said "cemetary" instead. Did I just blow you away with my nerdiness?
  • Considering he stole Ned's car and is out in the world somewhere with a bandaged-up dead face, Chuck's dad causes surprisingly little trouble in this episode.
  • "Oh, look at that. A dumb idea just found a friend." — Emerson.
  • Chuck's button story is so sweet! She also has a good point about her connection with her dad being deeper now even when they're not together: Nobody else can really understand being alive, dead, and alive again.
  • Getting to hear Jim Dale say "Oh, hell no" is pretty much the best thing ever.

What do you think is the story with Papa Piemaker? Will we ever get to hear the story about how Ned maybe once upon a time had a crush on Olive? So many questions, and only three episodes to go. What did you think?

Photos copyright 2008 ABC, Inc.

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