“Pushing Daisies” — Girth
Outside of the wholly unnecessary rhyming that kicking off the episode (I can handle the series preciousness, but there is no reason for the show to push its luck), Pushing Daisies continues to be the most thoroughly enjoyable of the season’s new crop. I find myself grinning ear to ear for much of the episodes durations. “Wholly pleasant” isn’t the most glowing pull-quote for a wonderful series, but it might be the most apt. This isn’t life changing, socially significant television, but who the hell cares when the program is this fun? More after the jump…
As good as the show may be, Ned and Chuck’s chaste love can only get us so far, and this cold-hearted critic, while certainly a sucker for a little televised romance, can only take so much cooing before growing restless. To counteract the inherent lovey-doviness built around the story, this week the series amped up Olive’s role, which was a wise decision. While I enjoy both Lee Pace and Anna Friel as the star-crossed lovers, neither is particularly vivid onscreen (well, maybe Friel, but Pace is so straight-man understated the two kind of cancel each other out). Olive, played by Kristin Chenoweth, drips charisma, and along with Chi McBride’s Emerson are what keep the series from spiraling out of control. To say the two ground the action would be incorrect as nothing on this series is particularly grounded, but their mannerisms are certainly the most “typical American” if we’re to believe this story does take place in some nameless but actual Americana.
The episode also had a slew of great visual gags that were incredibly smart though not LOL-funny. Really the whole notion of Olive as a jockey is kind of priceless as Chenoweth stands, maybe on her tip-toes, a five feet flat. This led to a slew of great gags, my favorite being her attempt to pry open the coffin with the shovel despite her feet’s inability to touch the ground. And I would say jockey-based humor is generally appreciated in contemporary society. Take for example the aptly named “Jock-Off 2000″ competition which was the pivotal moment for the episode’s mystery.
When I was talking to my parents last night (because I’m a good son who calls home almost every week) my dad pointed out the headline on a newspaper read by Emerson that said, “New Government Tower Planned” and wondered if it might mean something in a future episode. Obviously, I haven’t the slightest idea (and a likely writer’s strike doesn’t work in its favor), but it is a thoroughly intriguing and vaguely mysterious headline to have placed right there in the middle of the frame. It would be cool if Pushing Daisies could take a page from the Veronica Mars playbook and perhaps start on a multi-episode mystery arc, of course I also don’t want to jinx it with a very temperamental television audience that seems completely incapable of dealing with sudden and unexpected change. Perhaps this could be season two plotline. Either way, two men in the Pecoraro household want to know more about this new government tower — or better yet about the government in general for this not-so-realistic hamlet.
Tags: ABC, Pushing Daisies
November 1st, 2007 at 3:23 pm
brian fuller answered a few questions on Kristen Veitch’s monday chat on Eonline, and someone completely wasted a question by asking why other (besides chuck) characters don’t die when the main character touches them, thinking that his death-touch applies to everyone. if the viewers can’t get a simple set of four or five rules, they’re not going to be able to keep up with a continuing story.