It's a shame that Pushing Daisies has died in the vase because week to week the cast and crew continue to produce a top-notch series that's unlike anything on television.This week's episode ("Robbing Hood"), written by Jim D. Gray, offered up yet another delicious repast in the form of a murder mystery involving a millionaire (guest star Shelley Berman), his gold-digging widow (Jennifer Elise Cox), his lovelorn lawyer (Ethan Phillips) and a modern-day Robin Hood named Rob Wright (Danny Comden) who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
It also served up another installment in the ongoing storyline of Dwight Dixon (guest star Stephen Root) who is on the hunt for an old pocket watch owned by Chuck's father Charles Charles. Just what Dwight needs this watch for (in addition to those originally owned by himself and Ned's father) remains to be seen, but it is clearly connected to something that happened when the three men were comperes together as UN peacekeepers.
Unfortunately, in his quest to uncover the missing watch--and his blossoming relationship with Aunt Vivian--Dwight has stumbled onto another mystery: why do Lily and Vivian think that they buried their niece (lonely tourist Charlotte Charles) when there's no body in her grave... and he's clearly seen Chuck alive and working at the Pie Hole? Faster than you can say "touch of life," Dwight leaves a message at the Pie Hole for our girl Chuck: he knows what you did last summer.
What I did love about this week's episode? Let's see. Young Ned resurrecting Akbar's poor bunny and python duo after their marble accident, Emerson's explanation to Ned that a key part is "kind of a raffle, of the porno variety" and Ned still not understanding it (much to Chuck's delight), the roar of the bear as Ned is forced to bring it back to life in order to locate Gustav's second will (ouch!), Olive's performance as obnoxiously OTT Mrs. Carville, the way that Ned and Emerson furtively turned off all of the lights in Lily and Vivian's house to make it appear deserted, Olive stress eating no less than six pies at the Pie Hole, the adorable (and emotionally restrained) scene between Dwight and Vivian in the autumn-colored park, and the fact that Chuck would fall for Rob Wright's story AND share a cheese plate with him while the others await the inevitable robbery. That's our fromage-loving Chuck.
Meanwhile, it was only a matter of time before someone learned that Chuck was alive and not dead after all this time. She's had a number of close encounters with her aunts over the past season, both at her aunt's house (where she returned last night to her childhood bedroom--now turned into a cheese locker--in search of clues) and at the Pie Hole. And Dwight seems to be a Keeper of Secrets. After all, he knows that Lily is actually Chuck's mother and had an affair with Vivian's fiancé (and their half-brother) Charles. And now he knows that Chuck is alive and well. In a word: not good.
I can only imagine what Lily and Vivian's reaction will be to this news, after all of their grieving and guilt over Chuck's death. Elation, yes, but also anger at being kept in the dark all this time. Meanwhile, the noose is tightening around Chuck. There's only so long the dead can walk among the living without people getting suspicious and she's gotten too complacent in her new life to continue her charade at being someone else.
With Dwight having stolen Charles' watch from right out underneath their noses, Chuck convinces a reluctant Ned to resurrect her father so they can get some answers. (Hell, I predicted nearly a year ago that this would happen.) And they do get as far as digging up the coffin when this week's episode was over. Will they go through with their plan? Will Ned stand by and watch Chuck watch her father die a second time? Or, more likely, will they be shocked to discover that Charles Charles' body isn't in that coffin? After all, wouldn't Dwight have beaten them to the grave long before in search of that very watch? Hmmm...
Next week on Pushing Daisies ("Comfort Food"), it's time for the much discussed Pushing Daisies/Wonderfalls crossover in which Chuck turns to Emerson for help after learning that Dwight Dixon knows that she is alive (again) while Ned and Olive compete at a comfort food competition that includes murder on the menu when one of the participants is found deep-fried and dead.
Comments
Many shows that we had thought safe inserted such content, where in the past they had not.