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Pushing Daisies 2.2: "Circus Circus" |
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Saturday, 11 October 2008 |
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By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
| There were a few theories in various comments to the previous review on the season premiere as to why that episode didn’t quite help the season hit the ground running. One very good theory was the massive amount of exposition, designed to bring new viewers up to speed in a minimum amount of time. Good in concept, rough in execution. (And sadly, the premiere doesn’t look like it managed to bring back all the old viewers, never mind new ones.)
This is unfortunate, because this episode managed to explain some of the same material in a more elegant manner. In fact, with so many of the new plot threads established in the premiere, the story was allowed to evolve more organically. The result was a better episode overall, especially in terms of the quirky humor and syrupy relationship drama. In other words, it was a great example of what makes “Pushing Daisies” unique.
I’m still not sold on all the subplots, at least not so much that I’m compelling to comment on them at length. This might be a problem if I found them all dreary, but they’re all worth the time given to them. Perhaps that’s because of the humor that is evenly distributed, giving every situation a satirical edge. It’s a very nice touch.
That said, it looks like the show is struggling in the ratings, along with most of the shows that were forced to close out last season in the fall, thank to the writers’ strike (or, I should say, thanks to the production companies who forced the strike). “Pushing Daisies” is a hard enough sell as it is; it doesn’t need to be fighting an uphill battle as well. There’s enough material in the can to justify keeping the show around for a little while longer, but if the ratings continue to fall, how long can the network remain patient? |
