Pushing Daisies: “Oh Oh Oh…It’s Magic”
19 November 2008
by R.A. Porter
There have been quite a few very well suited guest stars on Pushing Daisies – Molly Shannon, Patrick Fabian, the brilliant Paul Reubens – but none fit quite so well as Fred Willard. Now, I’m a sucker for Willard, always have been. He’s got a real warmth to go with the absurd-oblivious air he affects, and it never fails to make me like his characters. That’s true again here, as he plays Herman Gunt – The Great Herrmann – as a softie who can’t help but take Maurice and Ralston under his wing when their father bails on them during a Sunday matinee.
Ned’s half brothers got their love of magic from dear old dad, just as Ned got his acid reflux at the thought of magic from the Great Abandoner. Every time he sees, or even thinks about magic, those juices start roiling, remembering the magic his father performed until his final, heartless disappearing act. Not that the brothers escaped the psychological scarring that easily: for years Ralston would wet himself when performing a disappearing act.
All that’s to say, magic runs deep in the DNA of the boys, the twins through misdirection and deception; Ned through *something* else.1 It’s little surprise that the twins would latch on to Herrmann and spend as much time learning from him as possible. And it’s because of his sweetness of character that he lets them…leading to his own demise.
Because, while the twins appreciate the surrogate father, The Geek feels deprived. Now, I’m sure you know one or two people who like to chew glass and regurgitate kittens. I knew several back in college, myself. They’re all clingy, needy sorts, but I don’t know if any of them would have been homicidal. But I guess that’s just another example of how Pushing Daisies operates in a heightened realm, more fanciful than realistic. Taking a perfectly normal Geek and making him a killer!2
The twists and turn of the mystery are rarely that exciting. The show isn’t about the MoW, after all. The show is about the relationships between these people and the complexity of living with Ned’s power and the consequences of it. Nonetheless, kudos to the writers for dropping the magnets early on and calling back out to them later. That was a bit smoother than they usually are.
But, smoothness in the long-running mystery they do well. So when Dwight Dixon shows up at the Aunts’ house looking for Charles Charles’ pocketwatch, engraved with “CC” (just like his, engraved “DD”,) things start picking up. He, Chuck’s father, and Ned’s father were all UN Peacekeepers together. In addition to wearing jaunty blue berets and riding dromedaries, they most clearly know about some treasure somewhere. Why else would Dwight be looking to collect all the pocketwatches? Together they must, I don’t know, tell him how to read the hidden information on the back of the Articles of Confederation that’ll tell him where to find The Greatest Treasure of All Time! Or something.
Lily sends him packing, but not before Vivian slips him a note for a secret rendevous at the Pie Hole. Because she’s feeling randy? Or maybe nostalgic. Regardless, she tells Dwight that the watch was buried with Chuck. Which would have been true, had it not been picked from her corpse and had her corpse not been de-corpsified by Ned.3
Seven more episodes are in the can, probably the final seven episodes of this fine, quirky little show. I believe Bryan Fuller will give us some answers, even if he asks more questions, but at the rate ABC is showing the episodes, that might take a long time. Let’s hope not too long.
I’ve left the best – the most emotional – for last. Chuck, playing Cyrano to Olive’s Christian, gets to talk to her mother for the first time, even though she’d talked with Lily many, many times. My allergies must be acting up again, because I got a bit watery-eyed during that scene, watching Chuck’s glee tempered with longing.
Some favorite bits:
- “I saw them once when I was nine and they were just those little bastards my father was cheating on me with.”
- “What they’re pulling out of their magic hats isn’t a rabbit, it’s my childhood trauma.”
- Chuck and her fake accents, particularly her very phony British one.4
- “Please, call me ‘Great’.”
- WonderTwin powers!
What did everyone else think?
- I have a theory that Dad is more than, or completely not, human. Hence, the very real magic. [↩]
- I probably *did* know someone like that in college, but not intentionally. [↩]
- Shortly after which, the picked watch was de-picked. [↩]
- Anna Friel being British and having a very un-phony British accent in real life. [↩]
Tags: abc
posted by R.A. Porter in → Reviews
November 20th, 2008 at 3:00 am
You're likely right about the questions about "Chuck's Dad, Ned's Dad and Dwight Dixon in National Treasure: Pushing Daisies Edition," but I'll contend that the Mysteries of the Week have actually been a bit better this season (which kind of made this one stand out a bit more). While there are still episodes where the mystery is a shallow effort to create the interpersonal relationships the show does best (This one, the Friend Buying episode), the Circus and Monastery-driven episodes were actually really clever in terms of the mystery, and I thought their twists and turns felt more fun and engaging than before.
While I'd definitely tend to argue that Chuck (the show, not the character) won the battle of revamping the procedural elements in order to better integrate with character relationships, Fuller is doing a similarly strong job with it here, and the season is still without an outright dud on all levels.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:04 am
I guess I'd agree, especially as I also though "Dim Sum Lose Sum" was a pretty good MoW. Overall, I think Fuller and his team are better at the character beats and long arcs, but yeah, they're getting better with the weekly procedurals, too.
November 20th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Nice recap! Fred Willard can make anything better — even that canned "Back to You" last year. He's a gem.
My problem with PD, though (going back to the beginning), is that I'm never interested in the MoW — I only care about the few long-term revelations wrapped inside them. The MoW always feels like something to be borne, like the commercials. But then I've never been a mystery gal, so I guess kudos to Fuller, et al. for drawing me in with the characters and their fine little corner of the world.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:03 am
The MOW is spotty at best. I enjoyed Willard and Kerry Kenney (from Reno 911 and the State), but didn't actually care who the killer was. And I can't remember most of the mysteries. But I love the characters and the setting.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Yeah, I watched a little of that execrable show just to enjoy Fred a little bit. But even he has limits.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:56 am
If ABC decides to stop airing Pushing Daisies, I don't see why TPTB can’t move it over to ABC Family and pair it with Javier Grillo-Marxuach’s clever little series “The Middleman,” even if it's only for the usual 13- or 16-episode summer runs. The two shows would be a perfect fit together, with The Middleman at 8pm and Pushing Daisies at 9pm.
Plus, a shorter season for Pushing Daisies would allow Fuller to construct a unique season-long mystery in addition to the MoW and character-centric episodes.
If Monk can run on USA for eight seasons with Tony Shalhoub essentially phoning in his performance and the writers recycling their plots over and over, surely Pushing Daisies can find a long-term summer home at ABC Family.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Doug, that's a fantastic idea. I'd never considered the pairing of The Middleman with PD before, but it's obvious now that you mention it. Both shows are positive, with little of the darkness so many programmers think is essential for success (not that I dislike dark shows; I just think there's room for multiple viewpoints.)
I did reviews for The Middleman for Pop Critics last summer; you don't have to sell me on Grillo-Marxuach's clever show. Anything to give it chance for a second season of milk-drinking, curse-avoiding awesomeness (plus: Sensei Ping!!!) is good in my book.
Of course, the money and stability aren't that great, so I think there's a higher likelihood both Fuller and J G-M are going to be in contention for Tim Kring's job once TPTB realize what a dipshit *he* is.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Better yet, imagine what a partnership of Fuller and Grillo-Marxuach would bring to ANY show, new or existing. They are both brilliant. If they pooled their talent and resources, they could rule the world.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:28 am
And it would be a delicious world, filled with pie and milk!
November 21st, 2008 at 1:12 am
While I totally concur with the genius of this particular strategy, ABC not owning the show would serve as a potential speed bump.
But, let's ignore that and focus on how awesome this two-hour block would be.
November 26th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Oh, Doug! You 're breaking my heart by even mentioning Middleman… I loved that show, though I knew it was too good to last… The same can be said of PD, so a worthy pairing.