Pushing Daisies Review:
"The Legend of Merle McQuoddy" (Episode 209) and "The Norwegians" (Episode 210)

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Holy plot developments, Batman! If you recall, Ned's father made a mysterious and all-too brief appearance in the first episode of the second season. In "The Norwegians," he reappeared, having pulled Olive and Ned to safety from that tree branch. (Where, incidentally, Olive provided the biggest laugh of the episode: "Thank god for my naturally clingy nature!" Makes me laugh just thinking about it.)

Turns out Charles Charles wasn't the only father lurking around. Good thing, too, since Ned's father's efforts to cover up the Dwight Dixon murder saved the gang's tails from suspicion from the Norwegians, the ominous and heavily-accented trio of private investigators hired by Vivian to hunt down Dwight's whereabouts. So, now we have Ned's father back in the mix. Where has he been? How long has he been lurking in the background? And, most importantly, does he know his son is a baker and waker of the dead? If so, does he have the same power? So many questions, but oh so few episodes left. (Just three, to be exact, all rumored to be burned off sometime in January. Sigh.)

"The Norwegians" saw each character wrestle with their own version of the truth, and the lengths they're willing to go to lie to the people they love in order to protect them. More specifically: Chuck, Ned, Emerson and Lily were doing the lying, and Vivian and Olive were being protected. Vivian came to learn the awful truth about Dwight (that he, was, well a bad man and a grave robber to boot), but not before she confronted her sister for trying to sabotage her happiness. It's a fair accusation, too, considering Lily's long-lost affair with Charles Charles. Will Vivian ever catch wise to that particular nugget of information (and therefore learn Lily is the mother of Chuck)? Maybe, maybe not, but it's one of many questions to pay attention to in the series final hours.

Olive, meanwhile, disaffected to the Norwegian camp briefly after her frustration of being left out of the looped boiled over. But, true to her precious little heart, she was merely going undercover to protect Ned from harm. She loves him, after all. While dangling from that tree branch (after destroying the Norwegian's high-tech lab on wheels), Ned admitted he had looked at Olive "the same way he had looked at Chuck" in the past. Upon hearing this information, Olive's heart (and our hearts, too) melted a bit.

Ned's resolve to never bring anything back from the dead anymore obviously disappointed Chuck. There's an adventurous side to the "Lonely Tourist" after all, a side no doubt encouraged by the countless stories and tall tales she read during her sheltered upbringing. Helping Emerson solve crimes fulfilled that adventurous void for her, but Ned's decision is valid. His secret has never been so close to being exposed. That could throw a wrench in Emerson's business, but as he and Olive proved in the last episode, they do not necessarily have to rely on Ned's gift to solve a crime.

One last thought: what oh what is up with those pocket watches? It's maddening! Dwight's motives have yet to be fully revealed. What, exactly, was he after? Given that his story (and that of Ned's father to boot) was woven into this story so seamlessly (and ingeniously), I expect an answer to be forthcoming. Pay attention to those local listings to see if we'll find the answers to at least a few of the series longstanding questions in the show's final episodes.