11.21.08
Episode 2.6: “Oh, Oh, Oh, It’s Magic”
Written by Katherine Lingenfelter
Directed by Adam Kane
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to review “Pushing Daisies”, thanks to some scheduling conflicts, but this was a good time to resume. Ned’s encounter with his younger brothers’ father figure, the Great Hermann, was a delight, between the inspired performance of Fred Willard and the endless array of sarcastic comments from Ned and Emerson.
The writers have managed to introduce more of Ned’s unexpected extended family without missing much of a beat, and one would expect their collective father to show up sooner rather than later. Parental issues are all the rage this season, what with Chuck’s attempts to get validation from her mother, Ned’s ongoing struggle to come to grips with his father’s choices, and Emerson’s yearning to find his daughter. With so many layers to the dysfunctional family cake, I’m a bit concerned that there will be little time or chance for resolution before the end of the season.
Sadly, the series is not doing as well as it did in the first season, and most blessed with the skill of television divination predict the series will be lucky to get a 13-episode second season, never mind the back nine or a third season renewal. There’s talk of continuing and finishing the story in comic book form, but I think I speak for all the fans of “Pushing Daisies” when I say it would be a pale reflection of the television series, and poor consolation. Much of the charm of the show is the near-perfect comic timing of the narration and dialogue, after all, and I just don’t see how that would translate very well.
For now, though, this episode was a magical episode that was less about magic and more about personal emotional issues. Leave it to Bryan Fuller and his minions to make it work as well as it did.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 2/4
Final Rating: 8/10
