Pushing Daisies 1x04 Review: Tart Apple with Monastery Gouda

“Pigeon”
Written by Rina Mimoun
Directed by Adam Kane
 
The Story
A messenger pigeon dies outside the Pie Hole. Olive is very concerned, and she inadvertently forces Ned to touch it, which revives it. Also, a crop-duster crashes into a nearby apartment, killing both the pilot and the tenant, but not the passenger. He’s an escaped convict. While Ned, Emerson, and Chuck chase him, Olive, Lily, and Vivian give the pigeon a new wing, which causes it to take off in pursuit of the recipient of its message. They follow (because it left the message at the house), and all parties converge on a retired windmill owned by one Elsita. Her mom and the now-deceased bunkmate of the escape convict (“Lefty” Lem) had been romantic correspondents, and then Elsita and Lefty started writing letters too, and fell in love. Lefty is taken back to jail, but the letters will continue. Emerson succeeds in retrieving the diamonds stolen by the dead bunkmate and gets a nice payout for them. Ned gives Chuck some bees to take care of on the roof of the apartment building, and they dance in beekeeper outfits.
 
Aha! The theme is love conquering obstacles. Now that Ned and Chuck have been together for a while, the problem of not being able to touch is starting to weigh on them (figuratively). But they aren’t the only ones with problems, and that isn’t even their only problem. Ned’s inclination is to find that extremely daunting, but Chuck helps him see that it’s actually reassuring. Also, I really want to bake a pear with gruyère pie and a tart apple with gouda pie now. I’ll let you know if I do and how it turns out.
 
Things I Liked

• Digby’s quest!
• Urban Honey Pioneers
• How Ned’s reluctance to put his hand over Olive’s heart didn’t remotely break Olive’s romantic moment
• The collection of nautical plates did not survive
• The most listless reading of the line “He was a happy man.” I have ever seen. So amazing.
• “You and that white boy got something shifty going on? I don’t know what it is, I just know that you’re shifty.” “Flies land on me, they pay rent.”
• “A bird with gossip. How exciting!”
• “Who wears cologne?” “I wear cologne!”
• Hand-holding by proxy would be super weird in any other show, but this one manages to make it sweet and wistful
• The way Ned presses his face to the window in horror
• Ned’s awesome under-the-table slide.
• Lefty and Jackson getting along well because Jackson liked to stab people with forks, but Lefty had a useful prosthetic hand for stabbing without injury
• Wacky bird surgery with Lily and Vivian
• Narcolepsy lady, and the deliberate callback to the joke about narcolepsy/necrophilia from the pilot
• How much Emerson hates Ned and Chuck having their personal conversations in front of him
• How much Ned doesn’t like that he can’t catch Chuck when she falls
• Lefty awkwardly tying Elsita up with one hand and his mouth. Bahahahahaha.
• “If ‘bunkmate’ is a euphemism for—” “Not in this case, ma’am.”
• Elsita’s diamonds in her leg
• Olive’s change of heart, and the way she and Chuck communicated mostly without words
• The cops putting Lefty’s one hand in cuffs. Hahahahahahaha.
• Beekeeper dancing!

 
Things I Didn’t

• Taxidermy
• I don’t care how romantic that dance is, I would not be happy to get dipped over the edge of a roof

 
The Characters
Ned has spent his whole life hiding inside his shell, but I don’t think he actually enjoys being there. His ability to raise the dead makes him fear discovery, so he keeps people at a distance. His solution to his problems is to avoid them. Acknowledging that there is a problem makes him panic, because he’s come to believe that problems can’t be fixed, they can only be ignored and avoided. Chuck is helping him see that problems can be solved. He doesn't have to keep hiding.
 
Olive gets some excellent development in this one. So far, she’s just been the one with an unrequited crush, but fortunately her characterization doesn’t stop there. She has spent enough time with Lily and Vivian to care about them, and she can see that Chuck cares about them too, so she gives her the benefit of the doubt about why she’s letting her aunts believe she’s dead. This is the episode where I started liking Olive the first time I watched it, and this is why.
 
Overall Rating
5/5