“Corpsicle”
Written by Lisa Joy Directed by Brian Dannelly The Story The episode opens with a flashback to the day Chuck’s dad and Ned’s mom died. In the present, Chuck has fled because of Ned’s confession that he caused her father’s death. She’s hiding in Olive’s apartment while she processes this revelation. The mystery of the week is a series of murders of insurance agents. Someone keeps killing them with a baseball bat carved with the word “kindness” and hiding them in snowdrifts or snowmen. Oscar from “Smell of Success” is still determined to figure out why Chuck and Digby smell like death. He’s been analyzing fur clippings from Digby’s butt and wants some of Chuck’s hair. Ned finds Chuck at Olive’s. She feels like she needs to hate him for a while. She’s so upset that she leaves an invitation for Oscar. He arrives and she gives him a lock of hair. It turns out that the murderer of all the insurance adjusters is a lady from the Wish a Wish Foundation, who has gone mad trying and failing to bring joy to the surliest heart transplant waitlister. She tries to kill Emerson and Ned by shoving a potato in their tailpipe. It almost works. Olive brings Lily and Vivian a greatly overdosed pear/gruyère pie, which Lily starts consuming ravenously. Oscar brings the hair back to Chuck because he’d rather her just tell him what she knows. She takes the hair back, having changed her mind about sharing her secret with someone besides Ned. The killer left another insurance adjuster in a snowman after potatoing Ned’s tailpipe. Ned and Emerson realize it’s the Wish a Wish lady and race to beat her to the last insurance adjuster before she can beat him to death. They make it just in time. She threatens them at gunpoint while telling them her story, and then the monkey she got to try cheering heart transplant Abner up inadvertently drives her van right over top of her. Which somehow splits her in half? In death, she is finally able to grant Abner’s wish, because she’s a match for his heart. Chuck wants Ned to bring her dad back for just a minute, but Ned doesn’t think that’s a good idea. Lily eats the entire pie and starts having a very strange ocean-themed hallucinogenic trip, which culminates in her telling Olive (who she thinks is a mermaid) that she’s actually Chuck’s mother. And that’s our season finale cliffhanger! Another excellent episode. The mystery isn’t one of my favorite ones, but the return of Oscar Vibenius is fun. It’s too bad they couldn’t get Paul Reubens back for S2. What makes this episode so good is the compelling emotional arcs. Ned is devastated as he waits for Chuck to decide the fate of their relationship now that she knows the truth, Chuck is devastated and lost because she’s been keeping herself secret for someone who’s been keeping a massive secret from her, Emerson deeply feels the absence of his daughter, and Lily is even more pained by Chuck’s loss than we thought, because she’s actually her mother. It’s great! I’m so glad we got a second season to deal with a lot of this stuff more. Things I Liked
Things I Didn’t
The Characters Poor Ned. I’m so glad he was honest with Chuck, but boy do the first few days of the aftermath suck for him. I think the most poignant scene was when Chuck told him he would only make it worse if he didn’t give her space. He’s completely helpless to make it right; he just has to wait and see. He is plainly crushed both by the guilt of what he inadvertently took from Chuck and by the potential impending loss of her from his life. Not knowing for sure if they can make it through this is the worst part, because he finds immense security in certainties, even if they’re bad ones. Chuck handles the bombshell Ned dropped on her very well. She definitely feels bad for how badly her pain, anger, and confusion are hurting Ned, but that doesn’t make those feelings go away. What I love is that she’s upfront with Ned about needing some time and space to deal, instead of completely icing him out and leaving him without even the slightest hint of how she’s doing. I love that she’s consistent in her forthrightness. She tries to tell Olive the truth (sort of; I think she’d have pushed more if she really wanted Olive to know), and she flirts with the idea of letting Oscar find out her secret with the science of smell, but in the end I think she appreciates that some secrets are important, and Ned was only hiding the truth from her because he was afraid. Emerson gets me right in the feels. We’ve had some surface-level stuff about him and his missing daughter, but this is the first time we get the real impact of how much he loves and misses her. Familial love *always* gets me, but there’s something particularly touching about watching such a gruff, cynical character tear up and get very serious about the bond between father and daughter. Emerson is even more my favorite than he already was. Olive is actually pretty good at lying. I completely forgot that she was harboring Chuck in her apartment, and I was really surprised when Chuck turned out to be hiding inside. I guess this skill of hers is why everyone keeps trusting her with their secrets. She’s only good at keeping them as long as she isn’t confronted about them, though. She lies best when not under pressure. Overall Rating 5/5
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The Watcher's Diary
In this blog, I'll be reviewing, analyzing, and generally fangirling over excellent television. Exhibit A: the Whedonverse. Archives
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