“Pie-lette”

Pushing Daisies is a rare occurance on television.  A show that pushes the boundaries of realism in many different directions.  While ultimately not nearly as wholly original as it wants to be, it does manage to draw from many original sources to create an eclectic, strange but ultimately hodge podge of a universe to draw viewers in with likable characters and vibrant visuals.

We open with a bit of a prolgue as we learn about our protagonist, Ned and when he discovered as a boy his unique and interesting “gift”.  This gift is the main push behind the show.  A man with a power is not unusual in fiction, but it’s the specificness and individuality of this gift which automatically raises it to the next level.

The gift is that Ned can raise the dead.  But only for sixty seconds.  Any longer and someone else in the vicinity dies in order to balance it out.  Then to make it even more strange, if Ned touches the person again the person dies again.  And they can’t be brought back again.

Yeah it’s strange, yet somehow it just works given the scenario and presentation.  Right from the get go the show draws from Lemony Snicket with it’s English narrator and it’s jumpy music sequences.  We learn from the get go that Ned has a connection with a young girl named Charlotte Charles whom he calls Chuck.  While learning of his “gift” he accidentally kills Charlotte’s father when he revives his mother who died of a stroke.

It is at the mutual funerals that the two connect.

From his mother Ned gained an obsession with pies…so much that he becomes a pie maker.

Another story which Daisies seems to draw from is Big Fish.  The visuals are stunning and sharp.  It makes any ultrarealistic portion of the show seem right at home.  We are quickly introduced to two other characters.  Olive Snook works for Ned and has a crush on him, but he won’t let her get that close. She is a character that isn’t too well developed but I have the feeling she will be.

We also quickly learn about another important character named Emerson Cod, played by the very underrated Chi McBride.  Cod is a bounty hunter/investigator who one day is chasing a suspect across the rooftops when the suspect falls down into the alley smacking his head on the dumpster and bouncing back into Ned, who of course brings him back to life.  Quick thinking, he reaches out and touches the bad guy, killing him instantly again.

Cod realizes the potential within Ned and for his business.  A man who can awaken murder victims even for sixty seconds can find out who killed them and why…and they can split the reward…What’s not to like?

Everything goes smoothly until they find out that Chuck was killed.  Like any other case, he goes to awaken her but this time it’s personal.  He wakens Chuck, and shares the same connection he used to have, so he refuses to touch her again,  It kills the funeral director but luckily for Ned’s conscience it turns out he was a real swindler and con man.

He tells Chuck that he can’t touch her ever, and the two could stay together.  Chuck at first though decides to join up with Cod and Ned to figure out her murder because she doesn’t even know who it was as she was strangled from behind.

Her acceptance is a little quick to be honest, but given the superreality of the show it makes complete sense.

All in all it was an ambitious beginning, showcasing that this was not to be just another new television series.  This was going to be a world.  It remained to be seen whether the viewers would come along.

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