Pushing Daisies 1x06 Review: Three-and-a-Half Berry

Three-and-a-Half Berry
 
“Bitches”
Written by Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey
Directed by Allan Kroeker
 
The Story
A prestigious dog-breeder and polygamist has been murdered by one of his wives. The team splits up to interrogate each one, taking turns bringing Digby, and using aliases. Ned goes to the pet psychologist wife. Chuck goes to the wife who trains Labradors as seeing eye dogs for poor blind children. Emerson goes to the obedience school wife, Simone, whom he finds incredibly attractive. Olive goes to the wife who owns a designer pet shop/salon and prefers poodles. It’s a confusing case with lots of false leads. Simone seems the most likely suspect, but Hallie, the Labrador trainer, ends up in prison because hers was the coffee that killed Mr. Hundin. Along with the murder, there’s also a case of a missing hybrid dog that’s supposed to be the best dog ever, because she allegedly unites all the best qualities of four popular breeds. She is presumed dead, and a Big Pet Store guy signed a contract with Mr. Hundin to have her cloned. When the Big Pet Store guy dies too, the gang uses him to get a reaction out of the guilty wife at the husband’s funeral. It’s the one who likes poodles! And Bubblegum, the dog, is still alive, under the care of Simone.
 
This is another episode I’m not especially fond of, but just like last time, there’s still a lot to love here. I like how developed each Mrs. Hundin is as a character. As strange as the setup is, it’s played very straight, and you kind of end up rolling with it the way the main characters do. I also appreciate that Ned and Chuck addressed the issue of not being able to touch, and if that gives them a free pass to get the physical stuff elsewhere. No! It does not! Which is what they decide, together.
 
Things I Liked

• Holy crap, that’s Jeff Winger!
• “A puddle of spilled coffee, an unfortunately positioned designer dog brush with an unfortunately sharp end, and his own tenacity expedited his death.”
• I’m not sure if I like or dislike the polygamy twist. It’s certainly a clever way of making “my wife did it” more interesting. And it’s actually relevant to the character arc du jour. But still. It’s never not going to be weird.
• “Like her Labs, Hallie was loyal, friendly, and competitively obedient.”
• Olive’s alias Pimento
• Emerson’s Vertigo dream
• That Ned and Chuck ultimately decide “someone to have and someone to hold” is not how they want to do things

 
Things I Didn’t

• Well that was an awkward dream!
• Ned and Digby’s aliases, Mr. Digby and Ned
• Simone is uncomfortably flirty and non-mournful for such a new widow. As weird as polygamy is, she presumably married the guy on purpose because she loved him. Is she not upset he’s dead?
• If Bubblegum is supposed to be the best dog ever, why does she look like a nondescript mutt? Also, why did Simone train Jack Russell terriers instead of German shepherds? I’m offended by the lack of German shepherds in this episode.

 
The Characters
Ned continues to attempt to avoid his problems, and Chuck continues not to let him. He’s slowly getting better at processing uncomfortable situations and working through them, which will ultimately improve his friendship with Olive much more than letting her pine away while pretending not to notice would. *cough* Yeah...I’m rather Ned-like in my methods for dealing with unreciprocated crushes. It’s not comfortable, but the thought of spending a minute being extremely uncomfortable while explaining to the guy that I’m not interested in being more than friends is horrifying, so I’m inclined to keep playing dumb and avoiding as long as possible, hoping he’ll just give up and start crushing on someone else. Maybe I should take lessons from Ned as he deals with Olive.
 
Overall Rating
4/5