Pushing Daisies 1x08 Review: Georgia Peach

“Bitter Sweets”
Written by Abby Gewanter
Directed by Allan Kroeker
 
The Story
A candy shop called Balsam’s Bittersweets has opened across the street from the Pie Hole, and a man has used his life-sized doll girlfriend to kill his friend who made snide remarks about the fact that he has a life-sized doll for a girlfriend. The case is pretty straight-forward, but the owners of Bittersweets are keen to take the Pie Hole down. They send a health inspector, who has the Pie Hole temporarily closed because of the secret pantry full of rotten fruit. Olive and Chuck are determined to fight back, so they let a bunch of rats loose in Bittersweets. Ned goes to try and undo their shenanigans, only to find Billy Balsam’s corpse in the taffy vat seconds before the police and Dilly Balsam arrive to deal with the rats and vandalism. Because Ned already touched Billy alive and dead again and then got taken to jail, Emerson and Chuck have to solve the case using traditional evidence and forensics. Dilly still believes Ned is the killer while Chuck, Olive, and Emerson suspect Dilly. Eventually, they prove that the health inspector was the real culprit. Ned spent his time in jail as the roommate of the dude with the doll girlfriend, and once released, he decides to follow the guy’s example and use lies to achieve happiness, by not telling Chuck he accidentally caused her father’s death and not worrying about it anymore. Except then he blurts it out to her anyway. Whoops!
 
I really enjoy this episode. Bittersweets is a great set, and even though Burly Bruce is a sad, delusional forever alone weirdo, I like pretty much everything else in the episode, particularly Emerson having to solve the murder like a real detective.
 
Things I Liked

• Chuck’s round green glasses
• “Well, that idea might make a stupid idea feel better about itself.”
• “Some guy”
• Holy crap, Olive, go for Alfredo. He’s amazing.
•  “The truth ain’t like puppies, a bunch of ‘em running around, you pick your favorite! One truth.”
• Ned’s expression when Bruce is talking about his doll girlfriend
• Ned irritably eating one of the candies from Bittersweets while they weren’t looking because they badmouthed his restaurant
• “The Pie Ho”
• “Candy might be sweet, but it’s the traveling carnival blowing through town. Pie is home. People always come home.”
• Ned’s determination to not retaliate against Bittersweets
• Was that a reference to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds?
• Chuck and Ned pressing their hands against the prison glass
• Oh, wow, an actual autopsy
• Distraught Olive and her gun and bullet pie
• “Footloose and finger-free.”
• “The Pie-Maker considered how not telling Chuck about her father was a lot like being locked in a prison. Then he considered how being locked in a prison was, actually, much worse than some silly metaphor about truth.”
• Chuck and Emerson using flour and taffy to take the fingerprints (even though it most likely wouldn’t work, it’s still pretty awesome)
• Olive gleefully double-hugging Ned for Chuck
• Ned told the truth! Even though the seeming lesson of the week was that the truth is bad.

 
Things I Didn’t

• Bruce’s “truth” about Sheila the very much not a real human girlfriend
• Noooo, Olive missed Alfredo!

 
The Characters
Most episodes are about working through Ned’s neuroses, but in this one, Ned is right. Retaliating is not a good way to solve problems (that don’t involve being physically attacked, anyway). It makes sense that someone like Ned would have that approach (and I relate super hard because I’m also an avoider), but I’m not sure it’s for the best reasons. He doesn’t want to retaliate or actively compete with Bittersweets because he’s asocial and will avoid conflict at any cost (like me!). This means he’d rather hide and do nothing than keep his business open, which isn’t good. And he ultimately decides that he can solve his relationship problems the same way: don’t engage, don’t bring up things that could cause problems. He took something good (not wanting to sabotage a candy shop because that’s wrong) and used as another way to justify keeping secrets from Chuck. Luckily, his brain isn’t in control of his tongue, because he says it anyway and now he’s going to have to actually work through his problems instead of avoiding them. Ned is a Ravenclaw, and it matches my working theory that the arc of Ravenclaw protagonists is to discover the value of human connection. Gryffindors do the Hero’s Journey, Slytherins have to learn that they aren’t the center of the universe, and Hufflepuffs...I haven’t actually thought about this until just now, but I think Hufflepuffs have to muster up some grit and learn not to be doormats.
 
Emerson is slowly being forced to become less narcissistic and cynical by being put in situations where he has to appreciate the value of the people in his life. I like it, but I hope it doesn’t get to the point where it robs him of his particular grumpy brand of humor. Emerson is the Slytherin!
 
Chuck is the Gryffindor! She wanted adventure, got killed by it, and now she’s bringing adventure to everyone around her. She speaks her mind and isn’t afraid to push people when she thinks they’re holding themselves back unnecessarily.
 
Olive is the Hufflepuff (yay, we have all four temperaments!), and she is definitely learning not to be a doormat. She wants to help people, but she tends to get shafted and not get what she wants, and her loyalty is so intense that it drives her to do things like unleash rats in rival shops and fail to notice romantic overtures from a great guy because she’s too hung up on the unavailable guy she still likes.
 
Overall Rating
5/5