"Pushing Daisies": Annnd They’re Off!

Published: November 2, 2007 at 08:11 PM GMT
Last Updated: November 2, 2007 at 08:11 PM GMT

By Lisa LaValle

In accordance with my statement last week, I didn't take any notes while watching this week's episode of Pushing Daisies.

Okay, that's a lie. I only wrote five things though; I swear. And they were, in order, Pushing Daisies on the top of the sheet of paper, followed by Lucas Shoemaker, John Joseph Jacobs, Pinky, and Gordon. See? I only wrote down names I would have to remember - no plot points. I totally kept my promise.

And it was definitely worth it. I had no idea how much I was missing when I'd turn my eyes down toward my notebook and away from the screen, if only for a few seconds at a time. I had been too concerned with whether a plot point was noteworthy or if it would get twisted around after the commercial break that I was missing out on some pretty important stuff. Like, for example, Ned and Chuck.

This week was the first time I actually felt the chemistry between these two. I got the whole childhood sweetheart thing, and no, I didn't miss the steamy Saran wrap kiss a couple weeks ago, but to me they seemed more like best buddies than true loves. This week, Lee Pace was killing me with those half-smiles he kept giving Chuck; I was definitely feeling some butterflies. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention before, but this week I really felt the pull between them and how devastating it must be to want to touch someone so badly.

I also enjoyed the added depth to Ned's character this week. In past episodes, the flashbacks to young Ned hadn't really related to the rest of the episode, but this week there was a definite connection (and it rhymed!). On Halloween, Young Ned had discovered that his father had remarried, had more children, and basically forgotten about him, so Ned pretty much hates anything that has to do with the holiday. He chooses to keep this a secret from Chuck, though I'm not sure why, and is lying on the floor in his childhood house for a good chunk of the episode. He also visits Aunts Lily and Vivian and finds out his father was "a jackass" so he can move on. It was a little strange to have him missing during the investigation of the jockey-killing ghost-horse, but it was great to see another layer to his character. Of course it's interesting that he has this power, but there's more to him than reviving the dead.

After the pilot episode, I wasn't quite sure about Olive Snook. She seemed periphery and tacked on as an afterthought to provide a rival for Chuck. I was way off. I'm now looking forward to any scene with Kristin Chenoweth, and after this week, she can be in as many scenes with Chi McBride as she wants. Even though Olive is a little catty and scheming, I still root for her because I just want the gal to be happy. Now that she and Chuck are friends and have escaped death together, things should get much more complicated in the romantic triangle department.

My non-note-taking strategy definitely helped me to better see the bigger picture, but the little things didn't get away from me either. Olive's former jockey career, the camera work in the bar with the jockeys and with John Joseph Jacob and his horse legs, John Joseph's mother's wonderfully passive-aggressive comments, and my favorite line, "Different like purple and mauve." The mystery this week was just convoluted enough without being confusing - you knew it was the mother from the minute you saw her, but it was still fun to see it play out. Only five episodes in, Pushing Daisies is definitely hitting its stride.

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