"Pushing Daisies" Recap & Review - "Pilot"

Pushing Daisies
"Pilot"

Original Air Date: October 3, 2007

Andrew G - TwoCents Staff Writer

Pushing Daisies is the story of Ned, the pie-maker and his special ability to revive the dead. The pilot episode begins with a young Ned first discovering his power when he revives his dog that was hit by a tractor-trailer. With this newfound skill, Ned’s life is changed forever. Unfortunately for him, every power comes with rules. When his mother suddenly drops dead from a blood vessel in her brain exploding, she is brought back to life by her son’s touch. All seems well, but after a minute of her “rebirth”, Ned’s neighbor dies. With that, he has killed his childhood girlfriend’s dad. His young girlfriend, Chuck, will be much more important later on in the episode. To add to this sadness, Ned’s mother is kissing him goodnight when her lips touch his forehead, causing her second demise. With that, Ned decides to write off all sentimental relations with anyone, for fear of his gift ruining the relationship.

Years later, we come upon Ned, now a prosperous pie-maker, who is working with Emerson, a private investigator, to solve the murder mysteries left unsolved. His power allows him to keep all of his pie ingredients fresh, which, in turn, makes for one of the best bakeries around. The two gentlemen are making a decent living with this strange business when they stumble upon an unexpected case: the suffocation of Chuck, Ned’s childhood love. From news reports and with the help of the narrator, we learn that Chuck had been living with her shut-in aunts who are a retired synchronized swimming duo. Until the cruise that she was murdered on, Chuck had not been out much past her hometown.

Ned and Emerson go to Chuck’s funeral to revive her for the reward. Ned revives her and is immediately love struck. Unfortunately, he cannot touch her again until she is ready to die. After the ruling minute passes, someone in the proximity must die and, luckily for all, it is the funeral director who steals jewelry from the deceased that reaches his end. After some antics and an ordeal with Chuck riding in the hearse in a coffin, the three escape to Ned’s apartment.

As they settle in, the realization is made that Chuck never saw her killer. This begins to complicate things with the investigation. The trio goes to the house of Chuck’s shut-in aunts to go through her possessions, the place where the monkey’s she was smuggling would be. The monkey smuggling story is simple: Chuck could go on the cruise for free, as long as she delivered the monkeys. As Emerson and Ned distract the two aunts, Chuck sneaks in to remove the monkeys from their case. Soon, one of the aunts goes upstairs to retrieve the box. As she is coming back down the stairs, Chuck’s killer attacks her with his signature plastic bag to suffocate her. Ned goes upstairs to see what is taking so long and is then attacked by the same man. Lucky for him, Chuck bashes the killer on the head, forcing him to let go of Ned. Then, in a blaze of glory, the aunt that was suffocated aims a shotgun straight at the killer. After the line “I can hold my breath for a LONG time,” she lets loose a bullet into the chest of the killer.

In the end, the crime-fighting duo that was Ned and Emerson is now a trio with the addition of Chuck.

This show lives up to its expectations magnificently. The cast is well done and the visuals are dazzling. At times, I had trouble listening because I was so taken aback by the amazing color and frames. The show is narrated throughout in an almost fairytale sort of way. This only adds to the magical feel that this program emits. I recommend this to all and I look forward to future episodes to come!