When you think of "gangsta," Pushing Daisies is probably about the last TV show you would associate with it.

Pushing Daisies is adorable and sweet and charming, but it's not what you'd call, uh, hard. So, yeah, the fact that Chi McBride and Lee Pace were tossing the word "gangsta" around in Wednesday's episode was pretty silly. But it never felt forced either, which is further testament to how light on its feet this show is.

(Spoil-a-russell-a-poos coming right up.)

Though the underlying premise was typically light, tonight's mystery was as tightly constructed as any the show has done so far. The facts are these: The breeder of the world's most perfect dog (Soup man Joel McHale) is killed, falling on a pointy-ended dog brush after being poisoned by cyanide in his coffee. His wife did it, the reanimated breeder says, to which Emerson says, "Thank the lord for simple things, like 'My wife did it.'"

As it's not a 15-minute show, there were complications. Seems our breeder had four wives, not one (and the local law seems not at all concerned about that), and they might all have motive for murder, since the decedent had sold his perfect dog, Bubblegum, to the evil face of Big Pet, Ramsfeld Snuppy, CEO of dog-mill Snuppy's Puppies. He has plans to clone and sell Bubblegum to every family in America, for only six easy payments of $1,200.

After several red herrings and a couple of twists and turns, we discover that wife No. 1 is the culprit in both deaths, having framed wife No. 4 for the murder of their husband because she was angry at the plan to clone Bubblegum and then offed Snuppy because she wasn't aware wife No. 3 had faked Bubblegum's death and therefore Snuppy didn't have the necessary DNA to clone the dog. Got it?

Running underneath the case of the week was a lot of great relationship stuff, with Ned freaking out a little over a dirty, post-kiss dream he had about Olive and deciding not to tell Chuck about it. ("That girl dropped a bomb in your subconscious with her saliva," Emerson observes, in what has to be the first recorded utterance of that sentence, ever, anywhere.)

Chuck, too, is wondering if she'll always be enough for Ned, with the no-touching rule in effect for the rest of their natural (or unnatural, in Chuck's case) lives. She's a little hurt when Olive reveals her kiss with Ned before he does, but she's also sort of curious about the idea of a person having more than one one and only.

This makes Ned even jumpier, but it eventually brings him to an incredibly shmoopy and sweet moment, as he tells Chuck that she's the only one for him. "I know you feel that way now ...," Chuck protests, and Ned talks about having mile-long lists of things he wants -- "but just because we want them doesn't mean we need them to be happy."

"What do you need to be happy?" she asks.

"You."

Everyone, on three: Awwwwwwwww.

The star of the episode, though, was Chi McBride, who demonstrated some sharp, subtle physical acting as wife No. 3 subconsciously trained him to come around to her side of the table: She dognapped Bubblegum and faked the canine's death to keep her out of Snuppy's hands. The little snap of his head and deadening of his eyes each time he heard her clicker -- brilliant stuff. And the man spit out a chew toy that was being used as a ball gag. Oh my.

More good stuff from Wednesday's episode:

• The visual elements got a jolt tonight, with Young Ned's melancholy claymation and the dream sequences for Ned and Emerson. I especially liked the latter, which had a Vertigo-ish element to it.
• Exchange of the night: "Some people like chocolate, some people like vanilla, and some people like their neapolitan," Emerson says. Ned: "I like neapolitan." Emerson: "Then you'd do well as a polygamist." I didn't get all of Ned's stammering, stumbling defense of his poor polygamous bona fides, but it was fantastic.
• Exchange of the night No. 2: Chuck: "You're taking money from blind children?" Emerson: "I suppose I could pay my bills with blind kids' smiles, but their money is a lot easier."
• I'm also enjoying the developing friendship, or at least mutual understanding, between Chuck and Olive. Their discussion of how Chuck and Ned don't ever touch, and Olive's description of Ned's lips, was really kind of sweet. I don't know if Olive will ever quite get to the truth of Chuck's story, but the fact that the two aren't complete antagonists makes things a little more interesting.

How'd you enjoy this week's Pushing Daisies? And how awesome is Chi McBride?

Comments

So about halfway through the new season, Pushing Daisies is still my favorite new show. I, too am liking Olive and Chuck's friendship and Olive's friendship with Chuck's aunts (by the way, where are they?) I also loved how Olive used "Pimento" as her fake name. Also, did anyone else notice that Bubblegum's tombstone was in the shape of a gum ball machine. What other show could do all that and still not seem ridiculous?

Aaron | Nov 14, 2007 8:24:33 PM | #

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Did anyone think they (especially Emerson) were speaking faster than usual tonight? I was actually having trouble following.

AC | Nov 14, 2007 9:05:04 PM | #

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I loved Ned and Emerson's exchange about Ned's dream. They have a very strange, but genuine friendship. Chuck and Olive are the same way; sort of.

Each characters questioning of the wives was so funny in different ways. It featured each character perfectly. I loved Olive's alias for Wife #1. Emerson was very different with Wife #3 then we have seen him so far. Poor nervous Ned with Wife #2. I think Chuck and Wife #4 were cute. This had some of Digby's best scenes so far.

Next week looks great too. I hope the writer's strike doesn't change the intended storyline too much.

Penny | Nov 14, 2007 9:18:17 PM | #

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Funny, I was going to comment about the speed of the dialog. too Maybe it was because I was eating dinner at the same time, but I was having a hard time catching everything they were saying.

I even turned on closed captions for a while, but then I couldn't read them fast enough to keep up either!

They have to be a little careful about this. All the dialog is wonderful stuff, but I'm sure some people are going to get turned off if they can't follow everything that's being said.

tacitus | Nov 14, 2007 10:08:05 PM | #

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By the way, I wish you wouldn't post email addresses on these blogs. I know the email address is optional, but so many other blogs require them (but don't publish them) that I'm sure I'm not the only one who ends up posting an email address here by mistake.

Is there any way one of you Zap2it guys can remove mine from the comment above? I get enough spam as it is.

tacitus | Nov 14, 2007 10:11:10 PM | #

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i also thought they were talking faster than usual. i'm one of those people who watches shows with closed captions anyway...but unfortunately my tv doesn't have that option. also my roommate was talking nonstop during the show so i hard a harder time listening!

so i'll be rewatching it online later. nonetheless it was another great episode. the opening scene was superb and having joel mchale on the show made it ten times more fun. WATCH THE SOUP!

john t. | Nov 15, 2007 4:25:18 AM | #

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"Why do I always have to be around for this stuff?"
*click!* (cue freaky dream) *spit* *squeaky!*
Now that's gangster love. Add that to the blind children quote? And Emerson is the man.

"I'd be a horrible polygamist!"
Ned is a perfect balance of dorky and cute.

"They used dogs to breed their polygamist cult?"
Olive is amazing when's she's playing along.

"I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for him?" "...literaly?"
Chuck. Awwww-esome.

The quartet were well matched with the four wives. And Ned at the psychiatrist -- even the manipulation of Digby was spot on.

The fact are these: The narration is chock'full of details yet streamlined and smooth.

pakopako | Nov 15, 2007 6:25:37 AM | #

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I really like this new show. It's funny and quirky, certainly different from all of the other shows that are on. There is a wonderful dynamic between the characters on this show. And yes, Chi Mcbride is awesome, especially when you compare his character on Boston Public and Pushing Daisies, they are the complete opposite.

mazza94 | Nov 15, 2007 6:54:09 AM | #

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I absolutely adore everything about this show!!

Ashleigh | Nov 15, 2007 7:29:22 AM | #

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I absolutely agree that the characters speak a little too quickly and some of the amusement is missed by the time the dialogue is processed in my head. I find myself laughing at dialogue a few seconds after it was uttered which cuts into the dialogue being spoken at that exact time.
That being said, I completely and utterly am in love with this show and all of the major characters! Chi McBride is hilarious!

Reepete | Nov 15, 2007 8:29:17 AM | #

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Emerson Is The Best On the show, his delivery is perfect....He is Totally The Best. I can literally say if for some reason he leaves the show or something, then it would no loingebe worth watching, This is one character on TV that I can say was way too perfectly casted, him and Gregory House, I can't imagine a replacement.

Taraji | Nov 15, 2007 9:02:07 AM | #

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I've always liked Chi McBride, but he's taken his talent to a whole new level with Emerson Cod. He's an absolute hoot!
I really don't want to like this stupid show, but every actor/character is so charming and perfectly cast that I can't help myself. And whomever actually writes the show must be a hypnotist as they can make the most silly/stupid premise into a charming fairy tale.
Did I mention I love the cast? Chuck has the most beautiful eyes and Olive has the most...uh, other attributes. Even, or especially, the dog is wonderful.
BTW, the dialogue was especially quick in this ep.

wmeador | Nov 15, 2007 10:12:58 AM | #

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I love Digby! I want him to be my dog. His trainer/owner is doing a wonderful job. I feel like he is another actor on the show, like he understands every word being said. Especially when they were in the phychiatrist wife's office. It was absolutely briliant they way they played off each other. Oh and yes Emerson is the life of the show. The funniest moment of the show to me was Joel McHale's death scene and the narrator's description as he kept falling on the brush.

Coco | Nov 15, 2007 10:29:12 AM | #

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Absolute best moment of the night was at the beginning of the ep, when Chuck and Ned get naked, then "Chuck" undresses even more (right out of her skin) to reveal Olive! I snorted my tea!

Big Joe | Nov 15, 2007 10:36:31 AM | #

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PD was my favorite new show of the season until Tuesday's Reaper, I have to say that's my favorite new show now but PD is a close second...

newguy | Nov 15, 2007 11:30:14 AM | #

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With respects, Chi McBride was the *second* best thing about this ep.

Digby was the best thing. By far.

(And, for me, the quotes of the night were the exchange in the doggie therapist/Wife No. 2's office:

Ned: "Ned’s been having strange dreams lately. His paws twitch and he whimpers. It’d be cute if it weren’t so sad. He may be experiencing stress-related anxiety due to, uh, mating issues."

Heather (doggie psychiatrist): "You’re deflecting. You're avoiding a deeper discussion of Ned's mating issues.”

Ned (hangdog expression, if you will): “Can’t you see this is making Ned uncomfortable?”

Heather: “Mr. Digby, Ned's merely wrestling with the natural anxieties of an inexperienced stud."

Ned: "He's had experience! Some."

Digby (after stealing the whole scene in the cutaway shots): Whimper.

mediahack | Nov 15, 2007 12:04:49 PM | #

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Aside from Olive, who has seemed to be a quick talker since the start of the season and who is not in on the re-animation schemes, I'm wondering if the other characters have begun to talk so quickly as a result of their one-minute window to interview the dead. Just a thought.

Goph | Nov 15, 2007 12:59:41 PM | #

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the casting of Chi McBride was/is genius...as the voice of what passes as reason on this show. And of course hats off to Digby, but let face it he has fewer lines to remember.

coop | Nov 15, 2007 1:33:34 PM | #

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Two things right off the bat...if I ever have to say the name of the "world's most perfect dog" in real life, I likely would have to have my tongue surgically untangled. Major hurrahs to the actors for not fumbling it (although I imagine the blooper reel for shows like this are rather long). Second, yes, the dialogue was faster in this episode, kind of like an English translation of a Japanese movie (watch the animated film "Spirited Away," and you'll get a great example of this, since the Japanese might only be two or three words long, while the English is four times the length). I enjoyed the various references to other shows and movies in the dream sequences, particularly "Vertigo" (which was mentioned). As for Digby, the author Dean Koontz must just love this show, as this is one of the few shows were goldies are given such exposure (Koontz is a huge fan of golden retrievers and their various off-breeds). The dog just rules. I had missed the Olive/Pimento pun the first time around (the dialogue really did speed by this time around the planet), so thanks for pointing it out. I enjoyed the mystery, as it reminded me somewhat of the old Enyclopedia Brown books I read as a kid (especially the red herrings). In some ways, this was almost a ninety-minute episode that was truncated into the usual hour-long format. Perhaps that's why the lines seemed so rushed. Anyway, great episode, although I do hope that Ned and Chuck aren't going to reaffirm their relationship every episode, as that will get tiresome after awhile. Kinda like when a women keeps asking her boyfriend/whatever, "What are you thinking?" Hate that.

Dark Disciple | Nov 15, 2007 2:27:00 PM | #

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I don't normally watch this show, and after I watched Joel's stupid death scene, I realized why (or maybe it was because I don't think Joel McHale is a good actor). You just know this cheesy clip will obviously be featured on this week's Soup. D-U-M-B! Did the writer watch Final Destination too many times?

D | Nov 15, 2007 11:04:27 PM | #

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Obviously, no-one hear was a fan of Gilmore Girls - I had no trouble with the dialogue at all having been properly weaned on Lorelai and Rory's fast speech!
This episode was fab - it was more surreal than ever before but excellet. The opening dream sequence was hilarious - loved the twist at the end when Olive appeared under Chuck's skin - metaphore there!
The colours in this episode were especially bright and shiny.
Digby is so brilliant. He was different but exactly right with all his "owners" a great actor.
I like that despite himself Emerson is becoming a father/big brother to Ned. Despite "there's no way for this conversation to be anything but awkward for me" - he still gives spot on advice - gangsta love, although I had to admit I was thinking of gangster (mafia)love. I'm so unhip! In fact everyone around him is helping Ned open up a bit more each work.
In this situation - Chuck and Ned should totally consider polygamy to fulfill their 'needs'.

Sirius | Nov 16, 2007 10:17:06 AM | #

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Sirius, I'm an avid Gilmore Girls fan and I still had trouble following the dialogue. No matter though. I caught most of it and laughed like crazy through most of the episode.

I love how they took on the old joke about someone stabbing himself by falling on the weapon over and over.

Digby totally brought his A game in this episode. In fact, everyone did. I love this show. It gets better with each episode.

Maura | Nov 17, 2007 8:14:27 AM | #

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WHY IS NO ONE PRAISING KRISTIN CHENOWETH?!?!?!?!

From her "I wanna play...Can I play?" moment last week to the oh so overused but completely brilliant "Don't make me cut a bitch," Kristin delivers in a way no other comedienne has since Megan Mullalllallyally. It is what made her a star on Broadway and it is nice to see her get another shot on TV (insert tragic "Kristin" clip here- except for her "No, no,no, no...no" delivery)And yes, Chi is brillz! The entire show is brillz! I hope ANC keeps it around, and maybe this strike has given the writers time to continue what is surely the most innovative Tv in years!

Melba Z. Toast | Nov 29, 2007 10:39:10 PM | #

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one question. What kind of hat is chuck wearing in the last episode when she i kneeling by her dad's tombstone?

R | Dec 13, 2007 1:05:46 PM | #

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