Pushing Daisies
At the Pie Hole, Ned asks Chuck if he is her boyfriend and she says yes. He is delighted until she then says that it would have been her father’s 60th birthday if he had been alive. Ned doesn’t know what to say, knowing that he killed her father and skips over the subject. Emerson comes in with an easy case for Ned, but Ned is still distracted by how he is responsible for the death of Chuck’s father. They are both brought to attention when they get word that a new candy store has opened opposite the Pie Hole, thanks to a suspiciously enthusiastic ‘Some Guy’.
Tina Arongino hires Emerson to clear her of the murder of her boyfriend, Tony DiNapoli. Emerson talks to Tony who says that Burly Bruce Carter killed him and used his girlfriend, a plastic doll, to strangle him to death. Apparently Bruce had invited Tony to a double date with his plastic doll, but when Tony got there and pointed out Bruce’s girlfriend wasn’t real, Bruce strangled him with the doll’s hands.
Olive talks to their only customer Alfredo about her relationship with Ned and moving on. He says he would stay no matter what if he was in love with someone. Meanwhile, Ned and the others go to see Bruce, who claims Tina had killed Tony. He also refuses to let them talk to his ‘girlfriend’ Sheila and he breaks down crying at the accusations they are making. Bruce is however arrested, clearly being rather unstable, and Tina is freed.
Olive goes to the new candy store, Balsam’s Bittersweets Emporium. ‘Some Guy’, who came into the Pie Hole earlier, is there and introduces himself as Billy Balsam, the co-owner. Ned and Chuck bring a pie and Billy introduces them to his sister and partner, Dilly Balsam. When her customers take an interest in Ned’s pie, Dilly stutters and accuses them of trying to steal her business, declaring war on the Pie Hole.
Later Ned discovers that their store sign has been damaged to say “The Pie Hoâ€; but Ned refuses to accept the Balsams are responsible. Olive offers to let Chuck talk to her about Ned’s distant attitude but Chuck declines. A health inspector, Andrew Brown, then conducts a surprise inspection, and demands to see Ned’s locked refrigerator. Ned is forced to reveal that it is full of dead fruit and Brown closes them down. Olive vows revenge, but Ned still doesn’t want to take action against Balsam’s Bittersweets. Dilly does however come to visit and says that it’s only going to get worse. Ned refuses to fight back and Dilly warns them that if he does, he’ll only lose.
Ned continues to refuse to take action against the Balsams, so Olive and Chuck sneak over to Bittersweets and release rats into the store. They leave, but are unaware that Billy’s body is floating in the taffy vat. Back at the Pie Hole, Ned is still upset, but doesn’t want to admit to Chuck that he is upset due to the guilt he feels for killing her father. Ned then finds out what Olive and Chuck have done, and goes to clean up the rats before anyone finds them. As he does this he sees a rat in the taffy vat. As he reaches in to get it, he touches the dead Billy and brings him back to life. In a panic, Ned is not sure what he has touched, so quickly touches Billy again. Moments later Dilly and the police arrive at Balsams Bittersweets and arrest Ned for Billy’s murder.
Emerson and a disguised Chuck go to see Ned in jail, before going to check on the bodies; crime solving is a lot harder without Ned. Chuck and the coroner examine the body while Emerson checks out Billy’s background. Olive also visits Ned and bursts into tears at the situation. She then brings out a pie she has brought him with a gun in it. Ned is shocked and tells her to put it away, causing Olive to cry even more.
Chuck meets Emerson back at the Pie Hole and reveals that Billy bit off the killer’s finger, but the evidence is destroyed as his stomach acid erased the fingerprint. Meanwhile in his cell, Ned discovers his cellmate is Bruce. He chats to him and asks him how he met his girlfriend Sheila - the doll. Bruce explains that he had bought a doll to get into the carpool lane, and then fell in love with her - Ned tries to console Bruce, assuring him that he’ll get to be back with Sheila one day.
In search of more evidence, Chuck and Emerson sneak into Bittersweets while Olive distracts Dilly. Chuck finds handprints from Billy’s struggle so Emerson lifts the nine-fingered handprint as further evidence in finding the nine-fingered killer. Dilly spots Emerson inside and shoves Olive in the trunk of her car as a hostage. She then draws a gun and confronts Emerson and Chuck. Dilly is forced to remove her mittens to pull trigger, and when she does, she reveals that she has 10 fingers. They realise it can’t be her, and she finally agrees to let them go so that they can find the real killer.
After checking further tests, Emerson determines that Billy must have died several hours’ before Ned was caught with Billy’s body. He then discovers that Andrew Brown had been blackmailing Billy and Dilly, since they asked him to conduct the surprise inspection at the Pie Hole. Billy was killed in a struggle with Andrew and so the authorities launch a search for killer health inspector Andrew Brown. Ned is freed and returns to the Pie Hole. Olive is delighted and hugs him, while Chuck can’t.
Emerson admits how hard it is to work without Ned and Ned has had time to think after his stint in prison. He realises that Chuck will be happier not knowing that he is responsible for her father's death so has decided not to tell her. Olive is left imagining Alfredo coming into the Pie Hole and embracing her, while Bruce looks out of his cell and thinks of Sheila. Dilly takes her revenge on Andrew Brown and she kills him, before disposing of his corpse. As Chuck and Ned go to sleep, Ned confesses to killing her father.
Cast
Field Cate as Young Ned
Lee Pace as Ned
Anna Friel as Charlotte "Chuck" Charles
Chi McBride as Emerson Cod
Kristin Chenoweth as Olive Snook
Swoosie Kurtz as Lily Charles
Ellen Greene as Vivian Charles
Molly Shannon as Dilly Balsam
Michael White as Billy Balsam
At the Pie Hole, Ned asks Chuck if he is her boyfriend and she says yes. He is delighted until she then says that it would have been her father’s 60th birthday if he had been alive. Ned doesn’t know what to say, knowing that he killed her father and skips over the subject. Emerson comes in with an easy case for Ned, but Ned is still distracted by how he is responsible for the death of Chuck’s father. They are both brought to attention when they get word that a new candy store has opened opposite the Pie Hole, thanks to a suspiciously enthusiastic ‘Some Guy’.
Tina Arongino hires Emerson to clear her of the murder of her boyfriend, Tony DiNapoli. Emerson talks to Tony who says that Burly Bruce Carter killed him and used his girlfriend, a plastic doll, to strangle him to death. Apparently Bruce had invited Tony to a double date with his plastic doll, but when Tony got there and pointed out Bruce’s girlfriend wasn’t real, Bruce strangled him with the doll’s hands.
Olive talks to their only customer Alfredo about her relationship with Ned and moving on. He says he would stay no matter what if he was in love with someone. Meanwhile, Ned and the others go to see Bruce, who claims Tina had killed Tony. He also refuses to let them talk to his ‘girlfriend’ Sheila and he breaks down crying at the accusations they are making. Bruce is however arrested, clearly being rather unstable, and Tina is freed.
Olive goes to the new candy store, Balsam’s Bittersweets Emporium. ‘Some Guy’, who came into the Pie Hole earlier, is there and introduces himself as Billy Balsam, the co-owner. Ned and Chuck bring a pie and Billy introduces them to his sister and partner, Dilly Balsam. When her customers take an interest in Ned’s pie, Dilly stutters and accuses them of trying to steal her business, declaring war on the Pie Hole.
Later Ned discovers that their store sign has been damaged to say “The Pie Hoâ€; but Ned refuses to accept the Balsams are responsible. Olive offers to let Chuck talk to her about Ned’s distant attitude but Chuck declines. A health inspector, Andrew Brown, then conducts a surprise inspection, and demands to see Ned’s locked refrigerator. Ned is forced to reveal that it is full of dead fruit and Brown closes them down. Olive vows revenge, but Ned still doesn’t want to take action against Balsam’s Bittersweets. Dilly does however come to visit and says that it’s only going to get worse. Ned refuses to fight back and Dilly warns them that if he does, he’ll only lose.
Ned continues to refuse to take action against the Balsams, so Olive and Chuck sneak over to Bittersweets and release rats into the store. They leave, but are unaware that Billy’s body is floating in the taffy vat. Back at the Pie Hole, Ned is still upset, but doesn’t want to admit to Chuck that he is upset due to the guilt he feels for killing her father. Ned then finds out what Olive and Chuck have done, and goes to clean up the rats before anyone finds them. As he does this he sees a rat in the taffy vat. As he reaches in to get it, he touches the dead Billy and brings him back to life. In a panic, Ned is not sure what he has touched, so quickly touches Billy again. Moments later Dilly and the police arrive at Balsams Bittersweets and arrest Ned for Billy’s murder.
Emerson and a disguised Chuck go to see Ned in jail, before going to check on the bodies; crime solving is a lot harder without Ned. Chuck and the coroner examine the body while Emerson checks out Billy’s background. Olive also visits Ned and bursts into tears at the situation. She then brings out a pie she has brought him with a gun in it. Ned is shocked and tells her to put it away, causing Olive to cry even more.
Chuck meets Emerson back at the Pie Hole and reveals that Billy bit off the killer’s finger, but the evidence is destroyed as his stomach acid erased the fingerprint. Meanwhile in his cell, Ned discovers his cellmate is Bruce. He chats to him and asks him how he met his girlfriend Sheila - the doll. Bruce explains that he had bought a doll to get into the carpool lane, and then fell in love with her - Ned tries to console Bruce, assuring him that he’ll get to be back with Sheila one day.
In search of more evidence, Chuck and Emerson sneak into Bittersweets while Olive distracts Dilly. Chuck finds handprints from Billy’s struggle so Emerson lifts the nine-fingered handprint as further evidence in finding the nine-fingered killer. Dilly spots Emerson inside and shoves Olive in the trunk of her car as a hostage. She then draws a gun and confronts Emerson and Chuck. Dilly is forced to remove her mittens to pull trigger, and when she does, she reveals that she has 10 fingers. They realise it can’t be her, and she finally agrees to let them go so that they can find the real killer.