Pushing Daisies

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

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