PUSHING DAISIES Recap: Bitter Sweets

Once again, PUSHING DAISIES proves it’s unlike any other show you’ll find on TV today.  Unapologetic in its quirkiness, Pushing Daisies can take creative risks that in the end serve to be a feast for the ears and eyes for the viewers who have comes to love the pie maker Ned and his friends.  Whether it’s the stunning visuals of the set design and costumes, the intricate sing-song dialogue, or the meshing of dark themes into a bright world, there’s something so special about this show – one who eight episodes in still has me just as enthralled and excited as I was upon seeing the ‘Pie-lette’ for the very first time back in the spring.  Sadly, we only have one more original episode of Pushing Daisies until after the writers strike so I’m going to enjoy it while I can with a self indulgent recap of last night’s episode, “Bitter Sweets”.

Last night’s episode was yet another gem. Guest star Molly Shannon was fantastic as the sugary sweet turned sour candy shop owner, and once again Lee Pace & Anna Friel’s chemistry showed why Ned & Chuck will be remembered as one of the great TV couples of all time. Every line was once again quotable and ever scene delicious as one of Ned’s pies.

Ned and his Pie Ho’s were under attack by new, local candy store owners Dilly and Billy Balsam of Balsam’s Bittersweets Taffy and Sweet Emporium.  Being competitive confectionery connoisseurs (and not very nice neighbors), Dilly and Billy showed that they weren’t afraid to play dirty by messing with the pie maker’s storefront sign, turning The Pie Hole into The Pie Ho. I mean who wants to eat at The Pie Ho, right?  But when that wasn’t enough, the Balsam’s took drastic measure to shut Ned’s Pie Hole.  All it took was a surprise inspection that included a tour of The Pie Hole’s secret back room where Ned stored his dead, rotting fruit (that would come back to life with just his touch) and The Pie Hole was shut down.

Having learned at the Longwood School for Boys that instinctual retaliation can only lead to getting beat up by the school bullies, Ned decides not to fight back against the Balsam’s, but rather concentrate on getting The Pie Hole up and baking again.  Too bad Chuck and Olive didn’t share in Ned’s passive behavior.  Clad in skin tight black jumpsuits, ones that make men and lesbians take special notice, Olive and Chuck break into Balsam’s Bittersweets Taffy and Sweet Emporium and let loose rats in the candy shop. Nasty.

Upon finding out about their antics, Ned is disappointed in Olive and Chuck and decides that he too will break into Balsam’s Bittersweets Taffy and Sweet Emporium and try to capture the rats to make this right.  After seeing a dead rat descend into a vat of taffy, Ned reaches into the sticky liquid only to hear that all too familiar zap letting him know that there was more than a dead rat in the taffy.  Emerging from the hot, gooey mess was a formally dead Billy Balsam. His body covered with liquid taffy, Billy is unable to speak and Ned gets not information about his killer before he’s forced to zap him once more ans he hears people entering the candy shop.  Unfortunately for Ned, the commotion was caused by Dilly Balsam and a few police officers who catch Ned pink handed holding Billy’s taffified body.  Uh Oh.

With Ned off in prison, Emerson must rely on his old school PI skills in order to free his friend, because as Emerson pointed out “An attractive man who makes pies for a living shouldn’t even spend a short amount of time in prison”.  His old PI ways are a little dusty but he’s helped by Chuck who is eager to free her boyfriend from prison.  An autopsy revealed that Billy had bit off (an ingested…ew) the killer’s finger in what was probably his struggle to stay alive. So Chuck and Emerson were off to find the nine fingered taffy drowner.

Meanwhile, back in prison, Ned’s new cellmate just happened to be a murder that Ned helped to put behind bars. Burly Bruce killed his friend Tony in a crime of passion.  Well technically Bruce didn’t kill Tony, Bruce’s girlfriend Sheila did, but Bruce was taking the rap because, well, his beloved Sheila is a doll – no not a sweetheart, I mean literally she’s a doll. Having once judged Bruce for loving an object that could never love him back, Ned starts to realize that maybe he and Bruce aren’t all that different.  And just as Bruce doesn’t want to hear the truth that Sheila is a doll, Ned realizes that sometimes not knowing the truth is better for everyone.  Especially is the truth not told includes the fact that when you were a little boy you inadvertently killed the father of your then best friend, the same best friend who is currently your girlfriend.  On what would have been Chuck’s father’s 60th birthday, Ned decides that he never needs to tell Chuck the truth about what really happened to her dad.

Back in the world of sugar and pies, Olive distracts Dilly while Chuck and Emerson look for clues in the candy story.  They were able to lift prints using just confectionery sugar and a fruit roll up – take that Grissom!!

Using the fingerprints, police were able to identify the killer as the health inspector that shut down The Pie Hole. Having been sent to the pie maker’s work by the Balsam’s, the health inspector was now blackmailing them – pay up or he spills the truth to Ned.  Billy refused, a struggled ensued, Billy bit off the finger of the health inspector (again, ew) before falling backwards into the vat of taffy. The killer is sought out but will never be found as we see his nine fingered dead body descending to the bottom of a swampy marsh courtesy of none other than Dilly Balsam.

Now free from prison, Ned returns to The Pie Ho to be greeted with open arms by Olive and well Olive.  In yet another bittersweet (no pun intended) moment, Chuck rushes to her boyfriend but has to stop short when she once again remembers that her embrace will mean her death.  Ain’t life a bitch.

Back at home, in their separate beds, Ned realizes just how in love he is with Chuck.  And just when we all think he’s about to confess his true feelings, he blurts out that he killed her father.  Oh Ned!!  The camera zooms in on Chuck’s stunned face, and…scene!

Oh Ned, you and your honesty! Why do you have to be so perfect?  Just be a guy for once and lie, lie, lie!!!

While we wait the fate of Ned and Chuck, here are a few of my favorite moments from last night.

• How about the swoonworthy scene when Ned was asking Chuck if he were her boyfriend.  The way the boy rambles to mask his insecurities is just the most adorable thing ever!

• Olive – “….from the pie hole across the street as in ’shut your’ but one sweet whiff and people usually wanna ‘open their’.”

• I love that Olive is open and honest about the fact that she still has feelings for Ned – even to his girlfriend.  But I love it even more that despite it all, Olive and Chuck are becoming best girlfriends and they aren’t willing to let Ned come between them.

• How incredible was the scene when young Ned and his new friend jumped into a pile of dead leaves only for them to be brought back to life with Ned’s touch?  And seeing his new friend run off…so sad.

• I’m Team Olive & Alfredo all the way. With the little daydream at the end, I wonder if Olive is ready to start moving on from the pie maker.  Loved Alfredo’s speech: “If I loved you … then I would love you in any way I could. And if we could not touch, then I would draw strength from your beauty, and if I went blind then I would fill my soul with the sound of your voice and the contents of your thoughts until the last spark of my love for you lit the shabby darkness of my dying mind.”

• THE PIE HOs – and yes the t-shirt is already underway

So much more, but I’ve only seen the episode once, and once just isn’t enough.  Feel free to share your favorite moment of last night’s show. And quote away people…quote away.

If you’re a fan of Pushing Daisies then check out ThePieMaker.com, the ultimate Pushing Daisies fansite!!