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Pushing Daisies 1.5: "Girth" |
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Wednesday, 31 October 2007 |
By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
It’s possible that I’m just missing Bryan Fuller’s deft comic hand or Barry Sonnenfeld’s incredibly expensive visual flair, but this episode felt a bit drab and sluggish. Part of the problem could be the Halloween theme. I find that holiday-themed episodes can feel forced, even coming from the best creative minds in the business, so perhaps this is another example of that trend.
My enjoyment of this series would appear to be proportional to the amount and frequency of darkly absurd elements. As mentioned in the previous review, the pilot was a rapid-fire clinic on dark comedy. It set the bar incredibly high, and as each new writer or director steps up to the plate, it’s been a struggle to reach the same heights.
Of course, it’s all relative. Failing to meet the excellence of the pilot is not necessarily a problem. After all, a Hershey’s bar may not be gourmet Swiss chocolate, but it’s still a delicious bar of chocolate. It’s disappointing to think that the show would lose some of that additional luster so soon out of the gate, but it’s still the only show of its kind on the air right now, and therefore represents a breath of fresh air.
This is mostly a commentary on expectation, both our expectation from the creative staff and fans’ expectation from each other and the critics. As the audience, we want the best material possible, and sometimes it’s more of a delicate balance. The show has budgetary issues, and that will continue to affect the visual style. It comes down to acceptance of that reality and allowing for diversions that may not be terribly exciting.
Also, this being a show driven largely by comedic elements from a decidedly unusual point of view, reactions to the material will be more subjective. By comparison, drama is easy; people understand love, betrayal, and redemption on roughly the same terms. Comedy is much harder, since it often relies on experience and appreciation of delivery. A lot of the jokes fell flat for me in this episode. (Although, to be fair, Emerson and The Narrator continue to be consistently fun.)
Which is all my roundabout way of saying that this particular episode ranks as my least favorite to date. Of all the characters, I find Olive the least interesting thus far, so an episode focusing on her travails had little chance of becoming a favorite. I still think this is one of the best new shows of the season, but this time around, I felt like it fell short of earlier excellence. |
