Pushing DaisiesDim Sum, Lose Some
The Case
Original Air Date: Oct 29, 2008
Crystal - TwoCents Reviewer
crystal@thetwocentscorp.com
In my mind, nothing will beat the sight of Lee Pace dressed as a gambling cowboy, sitting in a Chinese restaurant next to a straight-out-of-the-seventies Chi McBride. There is nothing funnier, or more amusing. It even makes up for the poor makeup of Chuck and Olive that was supposed to make them look Chinese. I can forgive the confusion and dullness of the case, all because of Ned and Emerson’s undercover work. So why was Lee Pace a cowboy and Chi McBride a seventies man?
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Pushing Daisies
ReplyDeleteDim Sum, Lose Some
The Case
Original Air Date: Oct 29, 2008
Crystal - TwoCents Reviewer
crystal@thetwocentscorp.com
In my mind, nothing will beat the sight of Lee Pace dressed as a gambling cowboy, sitting in a Chinese restaurant next to a straight-out-of-the-seventies Chi McBride. There is nothing funnier, or more amusing. It even makes up for the poor makeup of Chuck and Olive that was supposed to make them look Chinese. I can forgive the confusion and dullness of the case, all because of Ned and Emerson’s undercover work. So why was Lee Pace a cowboy and Chi McBride a seventies man?
It all starts with the death of the chef at the Chinese restaurant located just below Emerson. He has a fond love of that place, and his weekly meal from the Dim Sum contains a special surprise for him. I don’t know about you, but my fortune cookie has never said, “Help me.”
Emerson heads down to the restaurant and ends up meeting up with Lai Di, pronounced “lady.” She tells him of the death of her beloved husband Bao Ting, the chef for the restaurant, who spent his days slaving away trying to create the perfect steamed buns with a pressure cooker. That pressure cooker ultimately led to his death. The wife suspects foul play, as always.
So Ned, Chuck, and Emerson pay a visit to the morgue. Chuck displays her Mandarin skills, and we meet Bao, who has a giant pipe stuck through his head. Think Halloween costume here. Bao tells them that he lost a bet, and because he lost, he was a dead man, and they would kill him. Who are they? We don’t know, because then Bao runs to the door, and in a cringe-worthy moment, the pipe connects with door frame and Bao is down for the count. It makes my head hurt just from watching it.
Suspecting an illegal gambling operation, Emerson heads back to the restaurant, where he meets up with Bao’s daughter Mei and her fiancé Rubbie, the manager of the restaurant. Of course, there is no gambling at the Dim Sum. That’s what they always say. Until the dead man’s oldest friend tells Ned and Chuck at the Pie Hole that gambling is the norm at the Dim Sum. I’m still not sure why he went to the Pie Hole to tell Ned and Chuck, and not Emerson, but these things will happen I guess.
So Ned, Chuck, and Emerson head back to the restaurant together, and “hide” behind some curtains, because no one will ever see a tall man, a round man, and a woman all standing against the wall behind the curtains. They watch the restaurant, on the lookout for suspicious behavior, when they see Simone Hundin (from “Bitches,” season one.) And that’s when they realize the game. Simone and her table are playing a game of poker, but instead of cards and chips, they’re using food.
Emerson meets Simone in his office, and she discusses the convoluted finer points of the game. I’ll just keep it at this: password, buy into the game, meat for face cards, appetizers for numbers. Five card draw, you eat your cards if the cops show up. Emerson asks about the players, if any of them are the type to “push a pipe through your skull.” Almost all of them have records and a history of violence, while one of them is a plumber. Naturally, it could have been any of them.
Emerson goes back to the Dim Sum and takes Ned and Chuck with him, with the investigator keeping his eye on one certain busboy, the one who makes five dollars an hour, and wears a two thousand dollar watch. The busboy has been watching them, also, and nervously runs off to the kitchen. The three follow him until the shabbily repaired pressure cooker is set to high and again loses one of its pipes, this one going straight into the busboy. Ned wakes him, and it turns out he is an insurance investigator, undercover because Bao took out a giant life insurance policy the day before he died. The beneficiary was Mei. Cue the ominous music, put on your sunglasses David Caruso-style, this is playing out more and more like CSI, in that it’s a tried and true formula.
So they go to talk to Mei, but she shoos them away, and Shrimpboy, one of the gamblers, steps in and scares the heroes. They leave her alone and just as they’re leaving, Emerson gets another message in a fortune cookie, this one telling him to meet the sender across the street.
Are we surprised when it’s Mei? Not really. She enlisted his help because she knew her father’s death wasn’t accidental, but she was scared because Shrimpboy was having her watched. She knew about Bao’s gambling, and that he had lost a huge bet to Shrimpboy. Bao had gambled away his entire life savings, and asked for one more hand on credit. Shrimpboy agreed, but only on the terms that if Bao lost, Mei would have to marry Shrimpboy’s cousin Rubbie, the Dim Sum manager. Bao loses, of course, and Mei is forced to become engaged to Rubbie, while Shrimpboy keeps an eye on her to make sure the bet goes through.
So that’s when the glorious scene of Lee Pace the cowboy and old-school Emerson comes in. They go in, get in on the game, and start to pry for details about Bao and Rubbie. Chuck and Olive show up as poorly-disguised waitresses who are in charge of locking Shrimpboy’s security detail in the restroom. Olive keeps them there, and Chuck sits in on the game, gathering the details with Ned and Emerson.
As it turns out Bao’s life-losing bet was with Rubbie. Bao wanted to win Mei’s freedom, so he went to Rubbie. Rubbie agreed on the condition that if he won, Bao’s life insurance policy would go to him, and of course Rubbie couldn’t get that payout as long as Bao was still alive. So he killed Bao for the money.
Very smart, they’re figured it out, just as Rubbie corners them with a gun, and ties Chuck, Ned, Emerson, Olive, and Mei up, his cousin Shrimpboy of course helping him. Until the surprise appearance of Simone and her dog, who hungrily discovers that there is food in Rubbie’s pocket, making him a dirty “cheater cheater cheater cheater (repeat)” according to Chuck. It’s unfortunate for him that Shrimpboy takes bets very seriously. The bet is sacred, and Rubbie was not playing the game right. So Shrimpboy and his guys turn Rubbie over to the police and all is well.
I must say that the hilarious scene with Lee Pace and Chi McBride was the highlight of an episode that had a rather dull, formulaic case. At least the food sounded really good. But what were you thoughts? Were you as hungry as I was? Did you love Ned the cowboy and think that was the best part of the whole episode? What do you think?