Pushing Daisies

[ACADEMY SCIENCE LAB: a portrait of the stern founder with a snarling German Shepherd hangs over the blackboard where the students are lined up against; the subject of the day is "Flight"]

Narrator: The motto of the Longborough School for Boys was “Institutem Superior Omnibus” or “Tradition Over All”. But on this morning, whether it was the topic of flight or the brandy in the teacher’s parlor, Mr. Galt threw tradition to the wind and let the students choose their own lab partners. [the science instructor nods and all the boys immediately run to their tables with their partners, leaving Ned and an Indian boy in orthodontic headgear standing alone] Young Ned, however, found his chosen for him. Eugene Mulchandani was an exchange student from Gorakhpur, India. Young Ned felt a gnawing pity growing in his stomach, as was tradition. But beneath Eugene’s headgear thrived an active imagination and a useful gift for aeronautical model building, as well as the hope that someone might not dislike him for the simple fact that he was different. [Eugene tears several pages from a composition notebook and folds it into an elaborate paper airplane, then inflates a balloon with gas and ties it to the airplane. Ned smiles admiringly as they watch it float in the air, then notices a classmate sitting in front of them getting ready to shoot down the balloon with a spitball] Young Ned found himself breaking with his own tradition and in a moment of passion … [Ned throws a book and nails the bully in the head] … he fought back. For the first time since his father dropped him off, Young Ned made a friend. [outside during recess, the boys run through the trees; Eugene jumps and lands on a pile of leaves, then lets Ned have a turn] In a surge of emotion, he forgot his mother had died, his father had left him, and that he missed a girl named Chuck. He also forgot he was jumping into a pile of dead leaves that were once alive. [Ned jumps on the pile and as he swims through the leaves, the brown ones turn green; he fearfully looks up at a shocked Eugene, who runs away] Eugene Mulchandani fled in a flurry of saliva and fear. Eugene would eventually forget Young Ned’s mistake and chalk it up to magic leaves. But Young Ned would never forget that happiness borne of passion is always short-lived. [the classmate that Ned nailed with a book approaches and warms up his fist]

[THE PIE HOLE KITCHEN: Ned is sitting at the table waiting for the toaster to pop up; Chuck enters happily and sits next to him]

Narrator: Yet, through no fault of his own, he had once again stumbled into happiness …

Chuck: Good morning!

Narrator: … which terrified him.

Ned: Morning. [muffins pop up and he places a plate in front of Chuck; she starts cutting strawberries for their breakfast]

Chuck: Guess what day it is today?

Ned: [smiling] World Hello Day.

Chuck: Oh, you finally put up my calendar of Obscure of Holidays!

Ned: Yes, and “hola”! That’s Español-a.

Chuck: “Merhaba”, “selamat pagi”, “o-si-yo”! That’s Turkish, Indonesian and Cherokee, although the Indonesians really says “Good Day” which I think is much better than “Hello”, because what does that say? That says “I’m here, your turn to talk”! Kinda selfish. [Ned chuckles and smiles] What?

Ned: [fondly] Nothing.

Narrator: The Pie Maker wished to express to Chuck exactly how intense his feelings were for her.

Ned: [suddenly] Am I your boyfriend? [behind the counter, Olive’s head pops up in shock] I realize that boyfriend-girlfriend are familiar, trite labels – if convention were soaked in boyfriend would be dripping with it – but we’ve never actually said it. And not that we need to define the relationship, but it might be helpful in a familiar, trite way – the way on a holiday created to sell greeting cards – it’s still nice to get a card … and are you going to cut me off with a “Yes” anytime soon?

Chuck: [bemusedly] Yes. [behind the counter, Olive lets out a breath. So does a relieved Ned, who proceeds to put jam on Chuck’s muffin]

Ned: You never said what today is.

Chuck: Thank you. Today is my daddy’s birthday. You know he would’ve been sixty today if he were still alive?

Narrator: The mention of Chuck’s father sent The Pie Maker’s thoughts spinning. [Ned’s face falls and he drops the jam jar on the table]

Chuck: What’s wrong?

Ned: Nothin’.

(more…)

[ACADEMY – NIGHT: Young Ned is lying awake in bed; turns and looks at the clock, which reads 2:01 a.m. Digby is lying at the foot of his bed]

Narrator: At this very moment at the Longborough School for Boys, young Ned was 9 years, 41 weeks, 14 hours and 3 minutes old … and exhausted. [Ned sits up; Digby whines in sympathy] For despite the endless waking hours spent assuring himself that his heart was on the mend, Ned discovered the truth in his sleep. Sadly, not a single night had passed since the death of his mother that he didn’t dream of her coming back to him. [gets out of bed and leaves the room] Realizing he couldn’t rush his heart into healing, he concocted a plan: to reconnect with his mother in a way that only he could. [KITCHEN: in the dark, vast industrial room, Ned looks up on a high shelf and sees fresh strawberries out of his reach. He looks at his reflection off toaster and sees the image of his smiling mother handing him a pie]

(more…)

[ACADEMY - NIGHT: In the community sleeping quarters, slumbering boys occupy the beds, except for one noticeably empty bed …]

Narrator: Bedtime at the Longborough School for Boys was a time for dreams, dreams filled with the bliss that came from a happy childhood. But on this night, one boy chose to dream with his eyes wide open. [Ned is wearing a makeshift Pterodactyl outfit and holding two Play-Doh figures modeled after his mother and himself, along with a model of Chuck] Eleven weeks, 1 day, 7 hours and 41 minutes ago, young Ned was living that happy childhood, complete with a lovely home, caring mother and boyhood sweetheart, a girl he called Chuck. [Digby pops his head out from inside a trunk in front of his bed] But when his mother died – twice – young Ned awoke to a new reality. Though he could reanimate the dead, young Ned could only animate the inanimate with his imagination. On this lonely night, he tried to recreate his past life … [the clay models of Ned and Chuck come alive and approach; just as they reach one another, the clay models of Chuck and himself collapse and fall apart, struggling to touch one another. Ned’s face falls as reality sets back in]

Narrator: … But he’d lost his ability to dream and found even his imagination failed him. [Digby whines and goes back inside the trunk. Ned turns away and looks sadly out the window at the full moon] Still, he wore hope on his head. What young Ned didn’t know was at that very moment, the girl he called Chuck was wearing hope on hers. [CHARLES’ HOME: Young Chuck is staring wistfully at the same moon wearing her dinosaur outfit] They were together even if they were far apart.

(more…)

[ACADEMY HALLWAY: Young Ned stands at the end of a long line that leads to the mail room; all the boys receive letters and packages]Narrator: The season was autumn, his first year away
Young Ned is at boarding school, the times are not gay
Tucked away in her lair, dark, dank and cool
Stood the Postmistress of the Longborough School.

Every week, young Ned would hope for a letter
Some contact from home to make it all better
But from his father, there was never a word
His grieving young mother they said, Ned had concurred. [Ned pokes out his head; the Postmistress shakes her head no and he sadly turns away]

Then one day before All Hallows’ Eve [on Halloween, young Ned pokes out his head; this time the Postmistress nods, and with a smile, Ned goes up to her]
She gave him the nod, it was hard to believe
He was stunned to be summoned
Guessed what he’d been given:

Candy corn treats or masks of dead risen? [she hands him a postcard and he reads it:]
But the thing was more frightening than a demon
Winged or hoofed
A pre-printed card from his father: “We’ve Moved!!” [NED’S FATHER’S HOUSE: Halloween Night. Ned and Digby are dressed in matching bedsheets; he holds up the postcard to check the address]

(more…)

[ACADEMY PLAYING FIELD: Boys are playing kickball together while Ned is off to the distance, bouncing an orange ball off a tree]

Narrator: At this very moment, at town of Northrush, young Ned was lonely. Unable to make friends at the Longborough School for Boys, he often found himself playing alone, with nothing but memories of happier times to keep his company. What young Ned did not realize was that beyond the meadow under the same orange sky, someone he loved was remembering him. [Ned misses the tree and it bounces away deeper into a field. NED’S OLD HOME: There is a "For Sale" sign out front and the house appears abandoned … except for Digby lying patiently on the front porch]

Narrator: His dog, Digby. In fact, three days prior, Digby had made a decision: wearied by his own loneliness back in Coeur d’Coeurs and sensing his master’s sorrow, Digby set out on a mission. [Digby perks up, runs off the porch and down the street] Uncertain as to his exact destination, he ventured into the great unknown and guided only by the compass of his heart. [Digby trots through the town when he looks up and sees an apartment on fire. He goes to a fire box and pulls the lever down; a fire truck soon arrives and he continues his journey] Despite numerous distractions, Digby was determined to find young Ned – the boy who had given him a second chance at life. And who was his best friend. [ACADEMY FIELD: Ned looks around for his orange ball and sees Digby running toward him, holding the ball in his mouth; Ned grins and runs toward him] Upon doing so, Digby proved that love can overcome any obstacle. The reunion was bittersweet, however, as they instantly remembered the restrictions of their friendship: they could not touch or Digby would die. [both stop and stare happily at one another; Digby drops the ball in for his master. Ned picks up a stick and pets Digby with it, then throws the ball in the air] Still, it was enough. That day, Digby vowed he would never allow himself to separated from his master. [THE PIE HOLE: Digby catches an orange ball in his mouth, while his master looks off into the kitchen and smiles upon seeing Chuck]

(more…)

[NIGHT OUTSIDE ACADEMY: Ned is watching fireflies hover around an electric bug zapper. A firefly gets zapped and falls dead on a bench; he touches it and it flies off. However, a nearby spider crawling expectantly toward a firefly suddenly dies and falls off its web]Narrator: At this very moment, young Ned was 9 years, 34 weeks, 12 hours and 54 minutes old. He was a gifted boy – not academically, nor athletically – he was gifted in a way no other boy was gifted. Young Ned could touch dead things and bring them back to life. But if he touched the dead thing twice, it died again forever. The consequence of touching a dead thing twice was as cruel as any consequence, and that was something else had to die. Young Ned rationalized this consequence was beyond his control: he was not to blame. But to remain blameless, he had to understand. [SCIENCE LAB: Ned places seven dead fireflies on a platter and covers it with a clear glass cover, then starts a stopwatch; on another platter, he touches seven more dead fireflies and touches each one before covering it]

Narrator: He realized to give life, he had to take it. Death, however, had a grace period. What young Ned did not know was how long that grace period was: one minute. Fearing the consequences of his actions, Ned vowed to never, ever again bring the dead back to life for more than a minute. Until he did it again. [the 2nd jar of fireflies die while the 1st jar comes to life; he releases them and watches them fly off. DISSOLVE TO: THE PIE HOLE KITCHEN. Ned tosses over a moldy peach with a ungloved hand: it becomes fresh again and he catches it with the other gloved hand, then passes it to Chuck, who washes them off] The expression “Pie in the Sky” entered popular culture in 1911: it refers to a dessert so sweet that it can only be found in Heaven. If you’re craving something before you die, I recommend where The Pie Maker makes his pies. But if you’re like Chuck, you may enjoy the pie even after you die. Her sixty seconds came and went, she stayed alive; and instead, someone else had to die. [the marigolds in the plant box withers and dies; Ned’s face falls and Digby whines, but Chuck doesn’t notice] He kept Chuck blissfully unaware of this fact: she was alive again – that was that.

Chuck: Which birthday do I celebrate? I’ve got two of them now. First day I was alive and first day I was alive again.

Ned: The one that requires less explanation.

Chuck: You remember my eighth birthday? Right before my dad died? You remember what you got me?

Ned: [remembers; then, sheepishly] A T-shirt.

Chuck: [innocently] With a beaver on it! He had little lipstick kisses on his cheek and was holding a sign saying “Be Kind to Animals: Kiss a Beaver.” I suppose I should be celebrating every minute, shouldn’t I?

Ned: Uh-huh.

Chuck: I can be anybody now, anybody I want. I like that idea: I’m going to give that some thought.

Narrator: The Pie Maker liked that idea as well. As long as her thoughts didn’t fall on:

Chuck: Why is it only a minute?

Ned: Hmm?

Chuck: A minute seems awfully arbitrary.

Ned: A minute’s a long time: a lot can happen in a minute. Besides, the longer someone’s around that’s not supposed to be around the more likely that something will happen. Not necessarily directly or by any fault of theirs, but y’know, butterfly wings and such.

Chuck: What about them?

Ned: They cause hurricanes.

Chuck: Oh, right. Am I a hurricane?

Ned: A little bit, but I like the weather – [Chuck suddenly approaches Ned with a sheet of plastic wrap, places it between their faces, and gives him a long kiss]

Ned: You really shouldn’t do that. [then they keep doing that]

(more…)

[In a green field, Young Ned is standing alone under a tree wearing a school uniform, looking quite desolate]Narrator: At this very moment, at the town of Northrush, young Ned was 9 years, 33 weeks, 6 days, 20 hours and 34 minutes old. He stood on the exact spot where 4 weeks and 2 days previously, his father had deposited him at the Longborough School for Boys. [several trunks appear next to Ned; a young classmate runs up behind Ned and bumps into him, then his father appears and bends to speak to him] As young Ned’s mother had died recently, there was reassuring physical contact and parting words: “I’ll be back.” [his father pats him on the head and disappears] He lied. The sadness and dread which the boy felt were not so much a product of the Longborough School: young Ned’s acute discomfort came from the knowledge that when he touched a dead thing, it came back to life.

[SCIENCE LAB: a schoolmate behind Ned throws a wad of paper at his head and the other boys laugh]

Narrator: The other boys assumed his introverted nature was a product of weakness and coddling. Thinking of revenge and also not thinking at all, young Ned volunteered to assist with that day’s science project. [The science teacher writes "Frog Dissection" on the chalkboard; Ned raises his hand, a knowing smile forming. On a rolling cart, Ned touches the formaldehyde frogs before placing a tray on each table] Young Ned’s gift was governed by three simple rules: touch a dead thing once, alive … [as a boy picks up a scalpel, the frog comes back to life and jumps away; chaos ensues as the boys scream and run away from the reanimated frogs; Ned is crawling away in the opposite direction and picks up a frog] … Touch a dead thing again, dead forever … [the frog dies in his hand and turns brown again] … Keep a dead thing alive for more than a minute, and something else has to die. [Outside, Ned is perched in a tree, far away from his classmates; as three frogs below hop away, three birds from the tree fall dead] His gift had once again brought him great distress in place of great joy. He vowed to keep the strange details of his strange life secret from the world forever.

(more…)

Narrator: At this very moment in the town of Coeur d’Coeurs, young Ned was 9 years, 27 weeks, 6 days and 3 minutes old. His dog, Digby, was 3 years, 2 weeks, 6 days, 5 hours and 9 minutes old. And not a minute older. [Digby runs straight into the highway and is struck by a semi. Ned drops to his knees in front of his dead dog and gingerly touches his face: Digby instantly gets up and runs back into the field, while Ned looks after him in surprise]

Narrator: This was the moment that young Ned discovered that he wasn’t like the other children: nor was he like anyone else, for that matter. Young Ned could touch dead things and bring them back to life. [Ned follows after Digby; unbeknownst to him, after one minute, a squirrel falls from a tree, dead. Cut to NED’S KITCHEN: a fly lands on the window sill and Ned’s mother swats it dead. As she goes about preparing a pie, Ned touches the dead fly: it stirs and flies away. Ned’s mother starts a timer as she puts the pie in the oven]

(more…)

I’ve got very few other TV shows to watch over the weekend, so with my viewing schedule cleared up, I went through some episodes of Pushing Daisies. I would like to say that I “played detective” because playing detective sounds very exciting. But in truth, we all know what that means — I tried to nitpick some of the episodes. Fortunately, my nitpicking wasn’t in vain. For I found a couple of things that I had not noticed before, and maybe it’s the same for some of you. These do not post any doubts to the story nor will it have any effect on whatever happens in succeeding episodes. But finding it is fun and I was most satisfied.

Goof #1 - Typos

In Smell of Success, the book LeNez wrote hadn’t been edited properly. The third line says: Take 10 minutes daily to concentrate on being healthy and belief it.

Goof #2 - Touch

Did Chuck ever touch Ned? That would seem to be the case in in the episode, Dummy. In the cemetery scene, the two sat so very close to each other and perhaps the camera angle or depth also created the illusion, that it seemed like Chuck did touch Ned’s arm. I brightened the image up to illustrate. Look at Chuck’s hand at the bottom of the photo:

Anyway, even if they did accidentally touch each other there, this has already been addressed by Bryan Fuller in one Q & A on E!

Goof #3 - Witness

Somebody else saw Ned kill the undead, did you know? In the pilot episode, when Emerson saw what Ned could do with that criminal he was chasing after, Emerson wasn’t the only person who witnessed Ned’s powers. There were actually two other people there. Try and recall this scene and notice those two in the background:

Have you found any goofs, mistakes or inaccuracies about the series that we should know about? Send us a tip!

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies goofs, Pushing Daisies mistakes

…or things that one can find only on Pushing Daisies. In random order:

Dandy Lion SX. It looks more like a toy than a real transportation, with it’s lime green color and odd design structure. What’s more odd about it? The car of the future is powered by Dandy Lion extracts, prompting Chuck to exclaim, “That’s so neat!” I think so, too.

Dandy Lion promo girls. While I find their get-up bizarrely cute, I was more impressed with their routine, you know, that dancing and shaking bit they have to do. It was entertaining to watch.

Alfredo Aldarisio, the traveling salesman. “You’re not wrong about the oxygen leaving the room, the planet is losing atmosphere it’s affecting gravity. Volumes aren’t what they use to be.” Someone that paranoid is an oddity.

The Unorthodox Urban Honey Pioneers. Beekeeping within city limits is highly illegal, as Chuck tells Ned but the rooftop is Chuck’s special place which Ned has offered to her. It’s an odd present to give someone, but it’s a thoughtful gesture that Chuck embraces.

Pidge, the pigeon with fake embellished wings. In the real world I would wonder how they are able to make the injured bird fly again. But Pushing Daisies is a different world on its own. I shouldn’t be surprised if I see a fish talking.

Bubblegum. The perfect dog breed, a super-powered cloned dog, a mixture of different kinds of breeds: Border Collie, Labrador Retriever, Jack Russel Terrier and Poodle — smart loyal, athletic and hypoallergenic.

Scratch & Sniff Book. The self-help guide book that encourages people to become more attuned to the power of smell. It’s got a special brand of smell if you scratch a surface.

The burnt corpse of Anita. She wasn’t reduce to ashes even if her corpse was burnt ! It’s the weirdest dead body I’ve seen on TV.

Olive’s 4th of July costume. It’s a cute costume, but oh so tempestuously sexy! An odd mix. But I know some guys really loved it. Haha.

Sheila, Burly Bruce’s wooden girlfriend. Life-size and plastic, Bruce is delusional, believing his girlfriend is human. It’s odd how someone is able to carry through life with that idea.

An oddity bonus, something I just read on IMDb. Those wondering why Digby remains the same after Ned is all grown up can now stop wondering. Digby is allegedly immortal and so is Chuck:

The people Ned has brought back from the dead are immortal. We see this in Digby, who, 20 years following being hit by a truck, is still as youthful as he was when he was 3, the age he was when he got hit. Bryan Fuller has further confirmed this to be the case in interviews. Therefore, Chuck won’t age or die of natural causes. Whether or not she (and Digby) can be killed by violent means (i.e., hit again by a truck) has yet to be clarified, but we do know they can be injured - Chuck twisted her ankle running from Mamma Jacobs in “Girth”, which may imply that they can be killed, they just won’t die on their own.

Pushing Daisies, Oddities in Pushing Daisies, Dandy Lion SX, Bubblegum of Pushing Daisies, Pidge of Pushing Daisies

Where do I begin recapping tonight’s episode? There sure left us viewers with too much of everything and something to miss during the hiatus. Bryan Fuller made a couple of adjustments to this story with a cliffhanger that left my 10-year old’s mouth wide open.

But before that, I’ll get to the murder of the week first. The case tonight involved the murders of insurance agents from Uber-Life Life Insurance, who were all found frozen like popsicles (hence the title corpsicle). Ned and Emerson learns that a very bitter, but very sick teenager was denied a heart transplant by these insurance agents insurance adjusters (as one of them would like to be called), and so they make a few visits to his house. There they meet a lady from the Wish-a-Wish Foundation who was trying her hardest to make the teenager happy. She does all she can to grant his wishes, including the fact that he wished all those who have denied him the transplant he needs be dead. Desperate to grant that wish, Ned and Emerson caught Wish-a-Wish Lady just in the nick of time. She was about to kill another insurance adjuster, but ended up getting dead herself. The pet monkey she brought along with her to provide the teenager some entertainment, accidentally ran over her. In the end, it was her heart that the teenager received in the transplant.

And on to the bigger story….

(more…)

I’ll start this entry with a personal note by saying that there’s a lot of craziness going on here, so even if I try and write a proper recap or review of last night’s Pushing Daisies, I think it may end up less cohesive. My mind is somewhere else… peace is disrupted where I reside and I pray things will simmer down soon. For the curious, this is what I’m talking about.

Anyway, I’ll do my best by posting a brief recap in bullet points:

• The murderer of the week  had some similarities with that movie, Lars and The Real Girl… had Lars been an actual killer.
• Solution to this case was pretty fast and not inventive. The whole case took 15 minutes to be resolved.
• Of course, this was necessary since the main story of Bitter Sweets was supposed to center on Dilly Balsam (guest star Molly Shannon), her taffy store and the rivalry with Ned’s Pie Hole.

Briefly…

When Ned and crew warmly welcomed Dilly to the area, Dilly didn’t immediately warm up to them. She is a tough businesswoman and it was evident that competition drives her. As a welcome gift, Chuck brings for her pie inside Dilly’s store, and the aroma of it didn’t escape her customers so they decide to change places and be in the Pie Hole. Dilly thought that this was Ned’s tactic or that he meant to drive away her customers. So in retaliation, Dilly bribes a health inspector to conduct a surprise inspection of the Pie Hole, leading to its temporary closure. The girls, Chuck and Olive, didn’t like how Dilly played.  They cooked up plans of their own in order to fight back at Dilly. But Ned, forever the peacemaker, wasn’t about to retaliate…it just wasn’t his style.

In a surprise twist, there was a second murder in this episode….it was that of Dilly’s brother, Billy, whose body Ned discovers while cleaning up the mess Chuck and Olive left at the taffy store. And by some unfortunate fate, the police caught Ned red-handed, holding Billy’s dead body. He was brought to jail.

• Emerson and Chuck try to find the real killer of Dilly’s brother and ends up face to face with Dilly, whom they suspected to be the one who did it.
• But the real killer is in fact the Health Inspector who also bribed Dilly and Billy Balsam, so that he won’t squeal on what the Balsam’s made him to the Pie Hole.

Also, in this story: Chuck tells Ned the happy news at the beginning of the episode — that day was her father’s 60th birthday and it all brought forth the guilt Ned was feeling over the loss. When Ned could not contain it any longer, despite telling Emerson he need not let Chuck know, he told her that it was he killed her father.

Other things to note:

• Digby crying with Olive while visiting Ned in jail was, as usual, adorable.
• Chuck confirms to Ned that yes, she is his girlfriend.
• I love the dynamics of Chuck and Olive’s relationship.
• Double hugs from Olive — cute!
• Dilly’s store reminds me of the candy store in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Pushing Daisies, Pushing Daisies episode guide, Pushing Daisies recap, Pushing Daisies Bitter Sweets, Pushing Daisies Molly Shannon

Pushing Daisies’ Halloween offering, Girth, was a chock full of  goodies with several story angles. It tackled Ned’s sad childhood, Olive’s past employment, a Sleepy Hollow-esque murder story, Emerson’s fondness for shovels and money and Chuck’s secrets.

Two minutes into Pushing Daisies fifth episode, I found myself weeping for Ned as the show opens with the story of how he came to discover his father has abandoned him. It happened on a Halloween and the occasion would forever traumatize him. Dressed as a ghost all covered in blankets (Digby included), Ned, about nine or ten years old, drops by his father’s house only to find that he is happily settled with a new wife and two kids.

Now all grown-up, Ned intends to mark this day and confront his ghost. He spends a night in his old house (which apparently wasn’t prime real estate as it never was bought by anyone else!) and stays in his old room. Ned and lies on the floor where his bed used to be, perhaps reminiscing what he lost. Hearing something from outside, Ned peeks at his neighbor and finds Aunts Lily and Vivian dealing with kids going on a Trick or Treat.

We later see him in the Charles’ living room, asking the aunts about what they remember of his father. And they both tell him how his dad was a jackass, but they also tell him how proud they were he has grown up to be a very fine young man. While there, they served him the pies Chuck secretly sends to her aunts. Realizing that this was the case, Ned began to understand and feel for what Chuck is going through. Later, in the dead of the night, he brings Chuck to her aunts’ house to go trick or treating in a similar costume that Ned wore when he visited his dad’s house once upon a time.

  (more…)

Something was quite off with Pushing Daisies’ episode this week. There were some story lines that took awhile to tie together so it fails to make sense to me. And while the background looks absolutely colorful and stunning, it is easy to tell that a lot of these were done through a green screen. I think this could be the weakest episode to date. But I am willing to overlook it because despite the muddle, Pushing Daisies is still the best new show on TV today.

Pigeon opens with another scene from Ned’s childhood….

After several months of staying in boarding school with nary a friend, Ned is reunited with his dog, Digby. (Ain’t Digby just the most adorable dog?) And while both were very glad to have found each other again, Ned and Digby knew they had to exercise restrain and avoid touching each other. Digby was the very reason Ned came to discover his unique gift, when a truck ran over him and died. And if Ned should touch his hairy best friend again, he would have lost him forever.

Fast forward to the present, and we find Chuck baking yet another batch of homeopathic pies for her aunts. In comes Ned who had a few bee sting marks on his face and Chuck wonders where he got it from. Ned brings her to the roof and there she saw the bee hives Ned set-up. Chuck was once was a bee-keeper and this special gesture from Ned made her extremely happy.

Downstairs….while Olive contemplated on how to expose her Chuck, who she thought actually faked her own death, a pigeon suddenly slams into The Pie Hole’s window and dies. Everyone rushes outside and, as Olive clutches the pigeon on her hand, Ned accidentally touches it and it is revived. Olive thinks it’s a miracle and Ned couldn’t find the timing to touch it again and it was almost one minute. In this scene, Digby is seen watching them from the window and I almost died when I saw that! I was holding my breath thinking death will come for Digby. But in place of the pigeon (which was allowed to live) another bird drops from the sky and dies. A small plane also immediately drops from the sky, seconds after this. It crashes onto an apartment building.

Ned, Chuck and Emerson decided to check the scene of the accident, thinking there might be something they could investigate. They arrive at Conrad Fitch’s apartment and saw that the pilot was dead. They also found debris all over the place, causing Chuck to miss a step and slip. Ned deliberately avoided catching her and Chuck lands on Conrad Fitch’s arm. Chuck seems smitten by him.

Emerson and Ned follow a lead to this case as soon as they learned of the pilot’s identity. Chuck, meanwhile, chose to remain with Conrad, in case he needed help in his apartment. This made Ned feel very, very uncomfortable and jealous.

(more…)

Ooh, so much goodness! I can’t even begin to say what I liked best about last night’s episode. Pushing Daisies just keeps getting better, isn’t it?

This week, Ned is faced with the one thing he’s afraid Chuck would learn — that in order for Chuck to remain alive, someone else has to die and take her place. Inevitably though, as Chuck continues to seek answers, Ned has to own it up and tell her the truth. And this revelation was to take place in the funeral home where Chuck’s body was laid, right before Ned and Emerson found her.

The timing could have never been more wrong. Just as Chuck and Ned’s relationship begins to develop into something so close (that they would actually need a saran sheet for that!), Emerson arrives at The Pie Hole and propositions Ned with a new business. But it isn’t the type of murder investigation that would appease Ned. For the mystery surrounding the dead he is supposed to revive is something directly related to him.

Lawrence Schatz was someone Ned “accidentally and involuntarily” killed when he revived Chuck. His mysterious death was identified as a heart attack and only Ned and Emerson know what the real deal is. Now, Lawrence’s twin brother Lewis wants to know if the death was, in fact, murder, for fear that the killer may also be after him. Why is this so? Well, the brothers own a funeral home in Coeur de Coeur, and as it turns out, Lawrence was robbing the dead of whatever valuables they were wearing at the time. When the town folks got wind of this, the mails from bereaved relatives started pouring in and Lewis was at the receiving end of it, dealing with all their angry clients.

Seeing Lawrence inside the coffin made Ned very agitated that he refuses to wake him up. It was at this point that Chuck learned the truth of the circumstances surrounding her rebirth:

“I didn’t actively kill. I’m not an active killer. I’m not a killer. ”
“It wasn’t my fault. It’s a random proximity thing. There was no choice or decision making whatsoever. It just happened…I was incapacitated with not being able to think.”

(more…)