By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
Despite my enduring enthusiasm for this series and its unusual visual palette, I still believe that the promise of the first two episodes has yet to be matched. Certainly this episode doesn’t quite measure up to the pilot, which was a tour de force of dark comedy. In this case, much like the previous episode, I thought the presentation was strong, but the writing felt lacking.
I noted the subjectivity of humor in the review for “Girth”, and to a certain extent, I believe the same principle carries forward into this installment. Some of the interchanges meant to be amusing were, in my opinion, a bit pedestrian and forced. On the positive side, I found the parallels between the four dog breeds and the four wives to be clever, revealing, if nothing else, the intentions of the writers. The death scene at the beginning of the episode was, quite possibly, one of the most unexpectedly funny moments in recent memory.
I think another factor might be the length. The hour-long format may be a bit too long for this kind of show. After watching this episode, I was reminded of “The Office”. Recently the network was airing hour-long installments of the show, as opposed to the usual half-hour versions, and the results were mixed. The shorter format allows the best material to rise to the top, and concepts seldom wear out their welcome. It’s probably too late for the series to make such a fundamental change, but I wonder if it would have been better in the long run.
These things come to mind because “Pushing Daisies” is the kind of show that I really love. It breaks out of the conventional storytelling mode and gives the audience something new to ponder, a modern day fairy tale with a dark and absurd chewy center. Even episodes I find disappointing are, at worst, average. I’m just left wondering if there’s some way to bring it back to its early heights and maintain that level of energy and creativity. |
