The delightfully weird and macabre Pushing Daisies has become a fan favorite despite its short episode list. The series follows a private investigator (Chi McBride) who meets a pie maker (Lee Pace) who happens to have a supernatural gift of bringing anything dead he touches back to life, which comes in handy for solving murders.
Many hope it will be revived by creator Bryan Fuller in television, movie or comic form. But, for the time being, let's revisit the top-rated episodes from this quirky series!
"Corpsicle" S1 E9 (8.6)
This season 1 episode sees Ned (Lee Pace) reveal a secret to Chuck (Anna Friel) that makes her run away. Ned desperately tries to find her, but in the meantime, there's a case Emerson (Chi McBride) needs his help solving. The aptly named title refers to the case they're investigating where insurance agents are continually being found dead and frozen encased in snowmen.
As another side plot, we see Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) visit Chuck's aunts when she delivers their pie that Chuck had been preparing and delivering in secret. The episode begins to see secrets revealed that have been building up throughout the beginning of the first season and is an exciting watch.
"Dim Sum Lose Some" S2 E5 (8.6)
This episode follows Emerson as he has to investigate a murder at his favorite restaurant, located below his private investigator's office. The episode delves into the emotional backstory of Emerson and Ned and continues to build their characters. Emerson sees a woman return into his life he hasn't thought about in a while and he goes through a whole slew of emotions. Chuck and Olive figure out that Ned has two half brothers, which brings up Ned's past anger against his father for walking out on him as a child. The episode is as fun and quirky as ever with some interesting character building.
"Water and Power" S2 E12 (8.6)
This episode mainly follows Emerson as he investigates a man's death who ran the local dam system. The episode sees Emerson's ex return into his life again.
This time the storyline goes further into his backstory as specifics about his daughter are revealed. The episode, similar to the previous entry, again goes into the private character's backstory and is an interesting watch.
"Window Dressed to Kill" S2 E11 (8.7)
This episode sees Chuck work with Emerson on a case that involves a murdered window designer. Ned refuses to work with them and instead has his own adventure with Olive. The audience is treated to some backstory on Olive as we see that she had been kidnapped and held for ransom as a child. Her neglectful parents barely even noticed that she was gone and her kidnappers felt sympathetic toward her and instead they developed a bond. Now that her "captors" are out of prison they want to see Olive all grown up. Like most of the episodes of this series, the set design is fun and quirky, especially with the window displays.
"Pie-lette" S1 E1 (8.8)
This hilariously titled episode is the pilot of this series. It sets up the weird plot of the series well as we see Ned grow up with his supernatural abilities to "undead" the dead. It also quickly portrays the mood and tone of the series as quirky and macabre.
The first episode introduces the audience to the main characters and gives backstory behind each of them in a way that doesn't feel like boring exposition but gives the audience a good idea of who each character is. It's a thoroughly enjoyable pilot that successfully introduces the audience to the world of Pushing Daisies.
"Oh Oh Oh...It's Magic" S2 E6 (8.8)
Ned begrudgingly agrees to work a case involving his two half-brothers at the request of the rest of the gang. The twin brothers are concerned that their mentor, a magician who took them under his wings when their father left them at one of his shows, has disappeared and worry for his safety. They hire Emerson and he forces Ned to work the case. Olive and Chuck work on making Ned accept his half-brothers, who were also left by the same father who left Ned when he was young. The episode is a fun one that sees a lot of flamboyant magicians and tricks throughout.
"Bad Habits" S2 E3 (8.8)
At the beginning of season 2, Olive chooses to go to a nunnery so she does not reveal any secrets to any of the gang. The pressure gets to her after the real identity of Chuck's mother is revealed and she chooses to hide away instead of feeling the stress of constantly being around Chuck and not being able to tell her. But the gang is called to Olive's nunnery to solve a murder and she has to interact with them all again. The episode, as usual, is a fun and quirky look into these characters' lives and an engaging amount of costume design with the looks of each nun living with Olive.
"The Norwegians" S2 E10 (8.8)
This season 2 episode follows Ned and Chuck as they desperately search for Chuck's newly revived father. Meanwhile, Chuck's Aunt Vivian (Ellen Greene) hires a team of Norwegian private investigators to track down her beau Dwight Dixon. Little does she know, both her niece Chuck and Ned were involved in his disappearance so Olive goes undercover to keep them off their trail. It's a fun and engaging episode that sees another group of private investigators and how they compare to Emerson's methods.
"Comfort Food" S2 E8 (8.9)
This episode is delightful as we see Ned and Olive go to a bake-off competition with pies in tow. There are other competitors with stunning and fun costumes including a woman who specializes in muffins and a group whose focus is in fried chicken. It's fun to see more people in the food industry of the Pushing Daisies world who are just as ionate about food and costumery as Ned and Olive at The Pie Hole. The episode sees Chuck trying to hide a few secrets about her father and the disappearance of Dwight Dixon as Ned and Olive have to help investigate a death at the bake-off.
"Kerplunk" S2 E13 (9.0)
The finale of the entire series focuses on Chuck's two previously agoraphobic aunts, Vivian and Lily (Swoosie Kurtz) as they are poised to relive their Darling Mermaid Darlings days as water performers. They go to see their old rivals perform and shockingly they are attacked by a shark. The gang investigates the attack as the audience is treated to Vivian and Lily's old water routine. The episode ends with an epilogue that attempts to tie up loose ends as best they can with the sudden cancellation of the show. Overall the episode is a successful end to an all too short series that hopefully isn't all the way gone!