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Written by: Katherine Lingenfelter
Directed by: Peter O’Fallon
Rating:
The One Where: We learn that Olive was a jockey before she became a waitress, and she’s now a target for a killer on horseback – could it be the ghost of a rider avenging his death? As Olive confronts her pursuer, Ned tries to come to terms with the family issues he always has at Halloween.
Verdict: A great Halloween episode that sets the tone for the rest of the series: if the psycho horseman turned out to be a ghost, Pushing Daisies would have become a very different show. As it is, Ned’s gift for resurrection remains the series’ sole fantastical element, and it’s all the better for it. Few case-of-the-week shows display so much invention or such sharp interplay between the leads.
Flashback: Ned receives a change-of-address card from his estranged father on Halloween. There he sees his dad with a brand new family, kickstarting a lifelong mistrust of the trick or treat season.
Olive versus Chuck: Having met Chuck’s aunts last episode, Olive reckons her love rival faked her death. After they threaten to dish dirt on each other, mutual peril turns the pair into friends. Then Olive sneaks a kiss with Ned...
Elaborate Death: A horseman crushes victims under hoof, leaving a horseshoe indentation in the face and a mouthful of broken teeth.
Nice Quirk: Olive’s fellow former jockey rival Pinky runs a pub that refuses to serve anyone over 60 inches tall.
Best Line:
Mamma Jacobs: "It's probably just as well you trampled him when you did."
Richard Edwards
