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Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 13, "Kerplunk"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:30:59 -0700

I think I need a hug. The last episode of Pushing Daisies is about as solid a finale as possible, considering that nobody knew it was a finale at the time. It has a story that brings most of the major characters together and a massive reveal at the end - and even the last-minute bit of closure seemed to fit. "For endings, as it is known, are where we begin," we'll chat about this episode when you read more.

I wrote last week about my mixed feelings about the return of Pushing Daisies, especially knowing there wouldn't be much wrapped up at the end. But "Kerplunk" makes it all worthwhile. Not only is it a solid episode, it ends on a note of hope. While I knew it was unlikely - especially with a comic book on the way - I feared the show would end with a rushed Chuck/Ned kiss. But what we get in this episode is so much better. Chuck makes herself known to the aunts, and while we don't get to see the reaction, that final sweep through Coeur d'Coeurs shows that it's ultimately happy. It's "the promise of a new family, brought about by the words 'I'm alive.'" And while I so wish we could have seen that family thrive, I'm surprisingly satisfied just knowing it exists.

Even better, the moment of Chuck's big reveal is completely earned. We see young Lily and Vivian - Lily by turns annoyed with and protective of her little sister, born with a hole in her heart - and their journey to becoming the Darling Mermaid Darlings. And at the hands of a vindictive former (well, apparently current) swimming rival, Vivian learns the truth about Chuck, Lily, and Charles Charles at long last. It's impressive to see Vivian - normally so gentle, she wants fresh lilacs in their swimming contract - hurl something against a wall, and even more impressive for her to seriously consider living without her sister. Well, for a second anyway, since the moment of her breakdown is also exactly the moment Chuck turns up at their door.

Chuck's story in this episode is fascinating - and not one I saw coming. The whole time she's been alive again, she's gone to great lengths to make sure the aunts are happy. But it turns out a full-blown European tour isn't the kind of happy she wants them to be, because she'd miss them too much if they weren't nearby. She nearly sabotages their return performance - something, it should be noted, that would certainly not make them happy - when Ned makes his confession: Ned fears he'd be less important if Chuck and her aunts could reunite. But that's selfish; if he truly loves Chuck, he should let her love the ones she loves (presumably under close supervision, of course).

Some other thoughts:

Great Lily quote, and one that could only ever be uttered on this show: "Don't sign my name to that 'Sorry a shark ate your b*tch of a sister' letter."
Emerson and Olive's matching sweatsuits are amazing, as is Olive's crime moll voice in the interrogation scene.
Wilson Cruz! As a synchronized swimmer! That's inspired.
Amazing that Ned has a picture of Chuck and her aunts still sitting on his old instamatic camera. Actually, just amazing that Ned still has his instamatic camera.

So let's talk about the final moments. Penny comes back to Emerson! The aunts go to Europe! Olive embraces Randy and his sack of pasta and opens a mac-and-cheese shop called The Intrepid Cow! It's all so happy and bouncy and sweet, complete with Digby bounding through yellow fields. It's unfortunate the show couldn't wrap up the stories with Chuck's father and Ned's father on TV - I'm especially curious to learn more about Ned's dad, because I have some theories - but I suppose that's what the comic is for. And with an ending like this, I can wait. What about you?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 12, "Water and Power"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:30:29 -0700

This week's episode of Pushing Daisies - well, really the whole series, but this episode in particular - is about the silly things we do for love. In this installment, it's level-headed, eye-rolling Emerson who falls head over heels into stupidity when a case leads him to his daughter's mother. Olive, meanwhile, makes some questionable relationship decisions of her own about how to proceed with Randy Mann. To chat about this episode, read more.

Love really must be a powerful thing if even Emerson Cod can fall victim to it. Beneath that hardened exterior, Emerson's been a fool for beautiful and mysterious women ever since he willingly got himself in trouble as a child just so he could sit in the office of his lovely principal. More recently, there was Lila, of whom he probably should have been suspicious from the start considering she met him in the middle of a con job. She was supposed to steal the "dam ruby" but ended up with Emerson's heart instead - and, eventually, his Penny. She comes back into Emerson's life in this episode as a suspect once more, this time not just as a thief but as a murderer of the dam ruby's owner. What I loved about this story is how the whole crew gets involved: Chuck, Ned, Olive, and even Randy Mann turn out to help Emerson, who they fear is blinded by "Lilaberry juice." And in many ways, the hero of the whole operation turns out to be Simone, who pulls Emerson away from a rushing flood just in time to save his life and the ruby. For a moment, Emerson even looks redeemed: the killer isn't Lila after all.

But Emerson still falls victim to the "maneating, shape-shifting grifter" who mothered his child. I couldn't believe he would give Lila his keys without walking over to make sure Penny was in the car first, but I guess that's what Lilaberry juice will do. He's expecting to see a little girl with braces; he instead just sees a doll. Luckily - in an ending that felt a little tacked on; I wonder if it was added later when the producers knew they were only getting a few more episodes? - Lil Gumshoe is getting published after all, so maybe Penny will find her way back on her own.

Meanwhile, just as Ned and Chuck are feeling all schmoopy about Olive and Randy, Olive cuts him off. She's not ready to plunge into a real relationship - and even as Ned is convincing her that a rebound is exactly what she needs, Randy's telling her he doesn't want to be her second-best. Ultimately, she confesses everything: that she did want to use him, that he's a difficult person, that she doesn't want to get him caught up in her issues. But before they can work out a real solution, Randy leans in for a kiss - and that seems like a good answer for now.

Some other thoughts:

Though it ultimately gets them discovered in Lila's trunk, the conversation Ned and Chuck have about the nature of love is precious. Chuck's been saying their love is "hardy" (Ned chuckles because he hears "heart-y"), but she really means their love is hard. Why love at all? Chuck wonders. It just leaves people with more to lose. Ned gives a perfectly Ned-ish answer: "Why love something? Because we can."
Olive on her relationship hangups: "I'm that girl in high school who's afraid of real relationships, so she's attracted to guys in college. Or Canada."
How funny was it to hear Jim Dale narrate "dam" over and over again?
Emerson on Lila's shifty eyes: "She's lied so much in her life, her eyes are like that permanently."

How did "Water and Power" work for you? Have you braced yourself for next week's finale?

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 11, "Window Dressed to Kill"

BuzzSugar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:30:46 -0700

Welcome back, Pushing Daisies fans! It's been a long time since this beloved show went off the air, and while it's sad that the final episodes are airing in what may be the worst time slot on television, I'm just relieved that they're airing at all.

This episode picks up with Ned holding fast to his promise from the last episode to stop using his powers - not for good, not for evil, not even to un-rot the fruit for his pies. But can he hold out when there's a whole world in need of his powers? Meanwhile, we get a glimpse of young Olive and her daddy issues (go figure), and that helps to bring the Chuck-Olive-Ned love triangle to some delightfully awkward new heights. Ready to chat about it? Just read more.

There's no denying that Ned and Chuck have a magical romance. But what if what Ned really wants is a hand to hold (without a glove)? He gets a taste of what that might be like in this episode, as he pretends to be Olive's fiance in an effort to please her childhood kidnappers/surrogate fathers. (Only in the world of Pushing Daisies would such characters even exist!) Apparently she's been writing them letters about the man she loves for years; she just neglected to mention that he doesn't love her back. And now, not far removed from Ned's confusing "I wouldn't say never" moment, the two of them are acting like lovers. Ned takes pains to point out it's temporary, once again breaking Olive's heart (but opening up the opportunity for her to make a real connection with Randy Mann). But maybe he enjoyed "trying on" this relationship more than he thought? Even after assuring Chuck that he only wants to be with her, he glances out at Olive and Randy effortlessly clasping hands and feels a pang of jealousy. Maybe Ned could be swayed by the chance to kiss someone without a layer of plastic wrap between them.

Then again, maybe not. Because Ned's the kind of guy who does the right thing, even when "the right thing" is waking up Randy Mann's dead rhino. Ned has a power, and while keeping it under wraps is an interesting experiment, it's destined to be temporary. As Randy says, who wants to be a "super-tall, clumsy guy" like Clark Kent when Superman is only a quick change in a phone booth away? By the end of the episode, Ned's back to the status quo of waking the dead and saving rotten fruit.

But before that, it's fun to watch Emerson and Chuck try to solve a crime the good, old-fashioned way. Chuck's not a half-bad detective, and in the end, Ned's abilities only confirm their hunch about who's killing off the Dicker's window dressers. Dick Dicker seemed a little off from the start, but as usual, the resolution of the case is beside the point; it's just fun to see all the twists and turns Daisies takes to get there.

Some other thoughts:

Who would neglect a child as adorable as Olive Snook? Her inadvertent kidnappers were right to tell Olive's parents what they were missing - even if it did land them in jail.
Speaking of Olive, love her reenacting the water tower moment on a Pie Hole cherry light and reading Double Negative: What You Shouldn't Not Know in an effort to suss out Ned's true feelings.
How sweet is the kiss that transfers Chuck's lipstick to her glove and then to Ned's cheek?
On Olive's list of things you try on: "You try on your best friend's bra and you smile on the inside cause yours are bigger and better."
I could really go for a slice of Pearway to Heaven.

Did it feel good to be back in the world of Daisies? And what would you like to see resolved in the next couple of episodes?

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 10, "The Norwegians"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:44:47 -0800

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?

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode Nine, "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:30:32 -0800

On this week's Pushing Daisies, Charles Charles is still alive and well-ish thanks to Ned's powers and Chuck's reckless decisions - but let's just say gratitude isn't exactly the first emotion he's showing. Meanwhile, Shane Botwin (er, Alexander Gould) turns up as the son of a lighthouse operator who's been fried to death on her own spotlight. It may have been one of my favorite Daisies episodes of all time - was anyone else loving it? To talk about it, just read more.

Chuck thinks that watching Ned and Charles fight is kind of cute - like she's any other girl whose boyfriend and dad don't get along. She says they can pretend to be the teenagers they never were, the star quarterback and the head cheerleader deep in puppy love, fighting against a dad who's protective and overbearing. But Ned? Ned's not so interested in going toe-to-toe with Charles Charles. Looming over their whole relationship is one uncomfortable little fact: Ned killed Charles (albeit inadvertently). And Charles doesn't seem at all interested in forgiving Ned's adolescent mistakes, dropping little reminders into every interaction (like putting "the last 20 years of my life back" on the grocery list).

This could be bad for Ned, very bad: Word could get out about what he does, and he figures it's not a big leap from there to angry mobs with pitchforks. But Charles has no interest whatsoever in obeying Ned's guide to the "alive-again lifestyle" (which involves things like announcing when you're moving around and, you know, not driving around in public with mummy bandages on your face - or, worse in the case of Charles, without mummy bandages on your face). He can't believe Chuck would choose such a small and restricted life and instead asks her to run away with him, to "choose cake over pie" and go on grand adventures like he promised her as a child. Ultimately, Chuck chooses Ned, but when they head upstairs for the apology they believe is coming from Charles, there's just an ominous note on his empty chair: "I chose, too."

Meanwhile, Olive and Emerson take on the lighthouse case together, which is quirky even by Daisies standards, involving a singing barbershop quartet of raincoat-clad sailors, a castaway rescued by a gay family cruise, and a murderer whose idea of a good time is making dioramas of her dead "notable husband" with glitter everywhere. Frankly, I didn't even bother to follow all its twists and turns - I was just in it for the spectacle. And, ultimately, there's a sweet ending: Olive cracks the case (!) by admitting her still-burning love for Ned, and Emerson tells her that if the Pie Hole ever gets too unpleasant as her crush cavorts with someone else, he has a PI job waiting for her.

Some other thoughts:

Olive's coordinated crime-fighting raincoats are genius! Olives for Olive, cod for Emerson, pies for Ned.
"Sometimes I just think to myself: Life. You can't make this crap up." - Annabelle
Also, "Such a depressing word, diorama." And "'Tis better to have loved and lost than to be you." And "Shut the a-capel up." What a great episode for one-liners.
So many adorable Ned/Chuck plastic wrap kisses in this episode! I think my favorite, though, is the giant bear hug with the tarp after Ned tells Chuck he understands why she kept Charles alive.
I love Ned's aghast reaction to Charles saying he's not one for chocolate: "Everyone at least tolerates it!"

Will Charles Charles spill Ned's secrets? Are Chuck and Ned (especially Chuck) being too naive in believing that somehow, maybe they'll all be a big, happy family? And why am I not at all surprised that Lily hates clowns?

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode Eight, "Comfort Food"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:30:45 -0800

On this episode of Pushing Daisies, Chuck stirs up all kinds of trouble in the graveyard, doing the one thing that Ned probably wishes she wouldn't. But Ned doesn't know about it till the very end, because he spends most of the time baking pies and fighting crime with Olive at the annual comfort food cook-off, complete with silly hats. This episode has intrigue, romance, jealousy, and singing, and if you're ready to talk about it, you should read more.

So, Charles Charles is alive and well-ish, about as well as you can be if you've been buried underground for 20 years. Chuck had her 30 seconds with her dad all planned out, but when push comes to shove, she can't let him go again and devises a devious plan on the spot: If Charles wears a glove, Ned's touch won't work, and he can just play dead until Chuck comes back to dig him out. Great, except: 1) Now there's a dead man who actually looks dead wandering around because of Ned's powers, 2) Someone else had to die to keep Charles alive, and 3) Ned doesn't know about any of this.

Point No. 2 ends up not being such a big deal, though, because the victim of the "alive-againing" is Dwight Dixon, who was waiting in the graveyard to shoot Chuck. He could have killed the whole gang had his surprise not lasted 61 seconds, so to see him go down isn't exactly a shame - but he does give voice to Chuck's guilty conscience, saying that even if she did the right thing, she should have told Ned by now. Add that to Lily once again turning up dangerously close to Chuck's whereabouts, and that was definitely the plot holding my attention for most of the night.

With all of that going on, it was a bit hard to focus on Ned and Olive's plot at the comfort food cookoff - though it was fun to watch the two of them try to solve a case alone. Ned manages to wake up the victim without Olive finding out about his powers, follows clues to nab the murderer, and even wins a blue ribbon at the end, thanks to Olive's plan B of stashing a pie in the fridge. Through it all, Olive's realizing just what a big crush she still has on Ned, so when he reaches for her hand at the end, it's bittersweet - and it's enough to drive Olive back to the Pie Hole kitchen to sing a little "Eternal Flame" while Ned breaks her heart (again) by leaving her with cleanup duties while he searches for Chuck.

Some other thoughts:

The best part of the comfort food cookoff: the crazy costumes! Ned and Olive's pie hats were great, but my favorite was the ice cream cones. Close second may be the Waffle Nazi: "I do not speak a word of German. I speak English with a German accent. Pageantry!"
The Pie Hole's blue ribbon is nearly Olive-sized.
Did anyone else get confused when Dwight started talking to Chuck? In a show with so many dead people talking, it might be nice if the ones who were staying dead could stay quiet too!
I'm always so happy to see Beth Grant. Her characters are so wonderfully twisted ("Don't make me whip up another batch of beat-down"), and she makes me remember Sparkle Motion.
Ha, Emerson: "'Less alive'? Nice euphemism, killer."

So, Ned's discovered the still-living Charles Charles, who's set up in the house across from the aunts. How much longer will Chuck's alive-ness remain a secret? And can we get a love interest for Olive so she pines for Ned less (and maybe sings more)?

Source

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode Seven, "Robbing Hood"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:00:25 -0800

On this week's Pushing Daisies, Dwight Dixon is getting dangerously close to the truth about Chuck, tempting Vivian into giving up more details than she should about her niece's tragic death. Meanwhile, the gang investigates a murder that involves do-gooders doing more wrong than good. (Is that a lesson for Ned?) To chat about it, just read more.

Wow, the ending of this episode has me feeling anxious about next week. Dwight knows the truth about Chuck being alive (though not "alive again" - I'm guessing he just thinks she faked her own death, but more on that in a second), and with his motives still unclear, Ned finally gives in and offers to wake up Chuck's dad so they can find out what Dwight's after. But as the two of them stand in that graveyard, shoveling dirt, Chuck appears to realize for the very first time what a bad idea this could be. After all, she'll only have a minute for all her questions, and after that, she'll have to watch him die again. Ned says if he'd known what his powers could do, he'd never have woken up his mother; will Chuck just regret this? And will Ned's presence be enough to make it OK? He's done things he knows are wrong out of loyalty before (reanimating his classmate's python and rabbit) - but this episode's mystery shows that doing wrong to make things right isn't always the best call.

Besides, what if Chuck's dad can't tell them anything about Dwight? That man is creepier every day - and the hotel room with all the semi-automatic weapons just takes the cake. Plus, he's already got Vivian's heart, and he knows someone is after him now because of the missing pocket watch. And it's not like he doesn't know where to find Chuck. I'm starting to think Ned's suggestion of skipping town might actually be the best idea.

Meanwhile, the case was good for a bunch of gags, especially Olive dressed as a Zsa Zsa-style princess with Pigby on a leash, sashaying into the Ring for Rights office to set up the aunts for a robbery. Also: setting up the aunts? They really must have been pretty convinced that the robbers weren't actually going to be large, angry men, because I'm pretty sure Ned, Emerson, Lily, Vivian, and Olive couldn't look fearsome if they tried. I loved Chuck's tin-can eavesdropping machine hooked up to the victrola in the living room and the fact that the aunts have turned Chuck's old room into a cheese locker; it also figures that it's Chuck's good heart that lets Rob Wright (heh) get away the first time. There were also a bunch of lovely little moments, including:

Ned's a stress-baker! Perfect, then, that Olive's a stress eater.
Olive: "Counterintelligence via pie delivery - like gossiping with a purpose! My speciality."
Ned doesn't know what a key party is! "It's a kind of raffle." "Of the porno variety." And then, later, "Ohh - I was still really wrong about what I thought that was."
Love Gustav for some reason calling Ned, Emerson, and Chuck "Roger, Elmer, and Sassafras."
The entire idea of Ned in a room full of taxidermied things? Hilarious.
Lily: "An imposition is ordering clams at a kosher deli!"

So, what's Chuck going to say to her dad? Will Ned be able to "dead-again-forever" him? What do you think Dwight's after?

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 6, "Oh, Oh, Oh...It's Magic"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:30:21 -0800

A few weeks back, it was the circus that got a melancholy treatment on Pushing Daisies, and this week, it's magic. No cute bunny rabbits and white handkerchiefs here - just a whopping dose of death, daddy issues, and the dastardly Dwight Dixon. Ready to chat about it? Just read more.

So Ned's half-brothers are magicians ("illuuuuuusionists!"), which has Ned hitting the Tums pretty hard. It's understandable: If my magician dad ditched me, only to go find some other family to love instead, I'd probably have some intestinal distress when forced to watch said loving family perform magic tricks, too. Ned tries to get himself up for the Two for the Show show ("I love magic. As much as I love other forms of popular entertainment."), but despite the "sequins and drama and the promise of bloodshed," the fact remains that magic just makes Ned think of the father he lost. And he realizes Maurice and Ralston can go about their magic business so easily because they don't know the truth about their father leaving; the Great Herrmann protected them, letting them believe their dad was attending to "manly man business."

Of course, the Great Herrmann ("Call me Great." "No.") meets his demise when a trick called Cementia goes horribly wrong. While the first suspect is Herrmann's assistant, it soon becomes clear that the real evildoer is the Geek, a magician who desperately wanted Herrmann's attention and possibly to be his successor on the Conjurer's Castle stage but never managed to be anything more than an opening act. And I gotta say, I'm with Herrmann on this one; all that glass-chomping and animal-regurgitating just made me feel queasy. Anyway, Ned and co. unravel the plot (removed shoe magnets, switched blocks of cement, etc.) and send the Geek off to the slammer.

Meanwhile, now that Ned can reconnect with the family he never knew he had, he wants Chuck to do the same. With the help of a little bug microphone pinned to Olive's sweater, Chuck can ask Lily all the questions she has about being a mother. After that hilarious but sad sequence of Chuck desperately trying to get Lily to admit to being a mother (as a telemarketer, cheese saleswoman, and life insurance peddler), it was touching to see her get some answers.

And just in time, too, because that rascally Dwight Dixon is poking around again. He already knows too much about Chuck's family, he's cozying up to Vivian, and now he's exhuming Chuck's coffin only to find it empty - making Chuck's "no body, no murder. Makes for a great urban legend, though" seem awfully prescient.

Some other thoughts:

I had to pause my DVR because I was laughing so hard at Olive accidentally calling Maurice and Ralston "magically delicious little devils" to Emerson.
Lily's bird drinks martinis!
What on earth was that black feather getup of Chuck's?
Some of the special effects in this episode (the red velvet curtain, the random sperm interlude) seemed a little odd to me.
So wonderful that Alexandria is getting a copy of the Magic Book of Magic, too. Unlike the Geek, her loyalty deserves a reward.

Anyone else crack up at Chuck's suggestion that they play "ding-dong, ditch" at the aunts' door? Wondering what Dwight is up to now that he's found the empty coffin? Hoping this show lasts long enough for a happy ending? Discuss.

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode 5, "Dim Sum, Lose Some"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:44:51 -0700

It's probably not surprising for one with his particular gift/predicament, but Ned the piemaker has never been much of a gambler. On this week's episode of Pushing Daisies, Ned reveals a little more of the background that's kept him away from most games of chance. Emerson, on the other hand, takes some chances of his own with love on the brain, and the murder made me suddenly, insatiably hungry for pork buns. To talk about this episode, just read more.

Oh, poor Ned and his daddy issues. Well, really, family issues: We learn in this episode that once, in a weekend of boredom at school, he gambled away a box of chocolates from his mother, the last thing she ever gave him. Not only has that made him resent his father all the more for sticking him in boarding school anyway, but it's made him an unusually cautious person (aside from, as the narrator notes, pouring all his money into a bakery at the height of the low-carb craze and bringing his childhood love back from the dead).

So it's understandable that he gets freaked out when a man named Dwight starts stopping by the Pie Hole, inquiring after Ned's parents and specifically asking to find his father. It's also understandable that he'd hand over his father's address to Chuck so she could pass it on to the guy and get him to leave - but Chuck, of course, has to meddle. And her meddling takes her to Ned's father's house, where he's gotten up to his ol' abandoning ways again, this time leaving his twin magician sons to fend for themselves. When Chuck tells Ned what she's learned, Ned gets really mad - like, jaw locked, eyes glaring mad, maybe the first time we've seen him like that. What does Ned need with a family? He's got Chuck (and Olive, "to a slightly lesser degree"). But eventually he relents and meets his half-brothers, who instantly fall on him with a big, schmoopy hug. Too bad Dwight's across the street, fingering a gun . . .

Meanwhile, the case - which comes to Emerson's office in the form of a fortune cookie message - also involves gambling, this time of the more literal kind: a card game (but with cards swapped out for food) that's been going on at Emerson's local dim sum place. Turns out the chef, who's been keeping Emerson in pork buns and crispy shrimp for years, placed a bad bet, gambled away his daughter's hand in marriage, attempted to get it back by putting a life insurance policy on the table . . . and then got killed by a wayward pipe when the fiance wanted his insurance payout. That would have been fine by itself, but the brilliant twist is that the game involves Simone, the dog trainer Emerson fell for last season. The two take another passionate spin but decide they'll end badly - until Emerson takes a big chance himself, tells Simone his true feelings, and puckers up for a kiss.

Some other thoughts:

The names in this episode were cracking me up. The dim sum chef named Bao? A gambling thug named Shrimp Boy? Also, apparently Kitty Pimms has really taken hold as Chuck's full-time alias.
You can say "piss-jitters" in the 8 o'clock hour?
Metaphor alert! Ned says his feelings for his father are hidden behind a door that's been wallpapered over so long ago, you can't see the seams.
So, Chuck speaks Chinese. Just one of those things she knows, like cheese?
Chuck's suggested secret passwords: "Antwerp," "fiddlesticks."
Loved Ned's reaction to finding out his half-brothers are named Ralston and Maurice: "Goodbye Ned, hello Mercucio and Ribald."
I love how Bubblegum the (adorable) puppy saved the day. Good dog!

Your thoughts? Anyone else starving for some dim sum? And what's Dwight got planned for Ned and his family?

Pushing Daisies Rundown: Episode Four, "Frescorts"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 09:30:21 -0700

Ah, friendship. As all of the Pushing Daisies characters learn one way or another, it's a necessary component to a full life. Then again, when you get trapped in a locker or gifted a creepy taxidermied dog, friends don't look so good, do they? This episode is one quirky meditation on friendship, and we can talk about it if you read more.

Starting with my favorite thing about this episode: Emerson! Through meeting Young Emerson, we learn he's been a spy since babyhood and grew up super-close with his P.I. mother. The appearance of Calista Cod is all-around fantastic, as she turns out to be investigating Emerson himself after she came across a rejection letter for Lil' Gumshoe. I loved the way Emerson breaks out this sad puppy-dog face around his mama, and the scene with the two of them simultaneously interrogating their clients is outstanding. And in the end, Mama Cod gives Emerson some wise advice: If he wants to bring his daughter home, he should stop talking about what a cool kid he was and start focusing on what a great dad he'll be.

While all of that is going on, the case leads the team to My Best Friend Inc., a rent-a-friend company where the murder victim was working as a "frescort." Suspicion initially falls on Randy Mann (guest star David Arquette), considering he likes taxidermy and meat pies and obviously needs some friends. He and Ned start to form a bond, since Ned gets the whole loneliness thing, but when Randy gives Ned a taxidermied golden retriever with a guitar, well, all bets are off. Another suspect, Barb, was dating Joe, and she starts to look guilty after she shoves Chuck and Olive in a locker, but she turns up dead in a hug machine. Finally, the team hits on its culprit: Buddy Amicus (ha), the nerdy founder of My Best Friend Inc. who invented the lie that he was a former star quarterback just trying to pass on his abundant social skills to others. This is all revealed in a particularly quirky sequence involving Spartan costumes and jock straps.

Meanwhile:

Oh, Ned is so, so lonely. I loved his reactions to the hug machine - first horror, then a resigned, schmoopy-happy face as the arms close around him.
It's nice that he recognizes that this loneliness is something he can work on, though. Yes, Chuck can know all his secrets, but that's not an excuse to avoid dealing with the regular world.
Chuck and Olive trapped in a locker together is one of my favorite scenes of the season. Obviously their issues were big enough that all that water wasn't going to stay under the bridge. The "Our universe is forever expanding" "Like your neediness" exchange was harsh, and Chuck's "I feel like a sachet in the panty drawer of a shut-in who was shut in her closet by her cats so they wouldn't have to smell the scent of freesia" was just . . . wow.
Actually, this episode has a few great Chuck and Olive moments, including the one where they imitate different emotions to get hired at My Best Friend. "Consternation!"
"I want to duvet you right this second" is my new favorite expression. But I am surprised that a buck-naked Chuck is a comfort to Ned, considering the whole no-touching thing.

What did you think? Are you ready for Ned to find a friend? What hilarity will arise from Olive and Chuck being roommates? And can we make Emerson's mom a permanent addition to the team?