Pushing Daisies (TV Series) Bitter Sweets (2007) User Reviews

Competition

[Tweekums · 9/10 · 20 February 2012]

This episode sees The Pie Hole getting some competition in the form of the 'Balsam's Bittersweets Taffy and Sweet Emporium' whose owner, Dilly Balsam, is going to do whatever it takes to see that her business comes out on top. That includes sending a health inspector round to shut The Pie Hole and sabotaging their sign so it reads 'The Pie Ho. Ned wants to play fair but Chuck and Olive want to fight fire with fire and release several rats in the Balsam's shop. When Ned learns about this he goes round to remove them but while trying to get one out of the taffy vat he touches the murdered body of Dilly's brother. The police arrive just as Ned administers the second touch and arrest him for murder... it looks like Emerson will have to solve this case the old fashioned way.

This episode was another good one; Molly Shannon did a great job as Dilly Balsam; the rival and potential murder suspect. Raúl Esparza was also good as Alfredo Aldarisio, the travelling homoeopathic remedy salesman, the scene between him and Olive was incredibly romantic without being twee. The case was as wacky as ever; in fact there were two wacky cases; the taffy vat killing and one involving a man 'murdered' my a doll! The doll-killing was wrapped up fairly quickly though. Once the mystery is over Ned tells Chuck something that should make the next episode rather interesting... I won't spoil that here though!

Candy vs. Pies: The Final Battle

[aherdofbeautifulwildponies · 8/10 · 11 May 2021]

This time, Pushing Daisies stepped away from the beloved formula of a procedural and finished the episode on a cliffhanger. The cliffhanger had been heavily foreshadowed by the Hero resolving not to reveal the Truth. The Truth, of course, would out.

The absence of Chuck's aunts is retrospectively notable, but Dilly Balsam, the competitive and somewhat evil co-owner of a sweets shop, takes the stage instead. Played by Molly Shannon, she is delightfully petty and very resourceful. The first part of the episode, spent with a man whose girlfriend is an inflatable doll, is quirky in the way the series so often is: mixture of insecurities, love, retro fabrics, and murder. More plot-driven than usual, 'Bitter Sweets' is a strong chapter in this colourful story.

A number of questions remain: what happens once the Truth has been revealed? How many floral shirts does P. I. Emerson Cod have in his wardrobe? Can taffy be bitter-sweet? What is the smallest car model with a boot large enough to contain Olive Snook? Should we expect more Hitchcock references? I hope so.

Bitter Sweets is another enjoyable episode of "Pushing Daises"

[tavm · 9/10 · 1 December 2007]

All right, here is this episode in a nutshell: The murder of a man named Tony is blamed on his girlfriend Tina, Tina gets out of jail when Tony's friend Alfredo is fingered by Tony after Ned revives him for a minute, Alfredo blames it on his girlfriend who is an inflatable doll but takes the rap for her anyway, Billy and Dilly Balsam (Mike White and Molly Shannon, director and star of Year of the Dog from earlier this year) have opened a candy shop called Bitter Sweets across from The Pie Hole (which now reads "The Pie Ho" after the lights of the last two letters fritz out) meaning rivalry between the shops though Ned doesn't believe in competition, Billy later turns up dead in a candy vat that Ned discovers as Dilly catches him thinking he's the culprit and has him arrested, Chuck and Emerson resolve to solve the crime without Ned's help, Ned ends up in jail with Alfredo who's happy knowing his "girlfriend" is waiting for him, and after the case is closed and Ned's free, he finally confesses to Chuck that he killed her father which stuns her as the episode ends...I've skipped through some plot points but if you've already seen "Bitter Sweets" you know what happened between the lines. Another enjoyable episode of "Pushing Daises" and it's nice to see Olive think of someone other than Ned, specifically that salesman who likes her who's now gone to other places. Here's hoping he returns soon. Next week's preview shows that Chuck leaves after knowing Ned's truth about her father. Hope she doesn't go too far away. Knowing that the next episode that comes two weeks from now was the last before the writer's strike, I hope that gets resolved (to the writers' favor) in time for some new ones at least next spring. "Pushing Daises" is just too good a show to just disappear. Fingers crossed! P.S. Loved seeing Molly Shannon again.

Ned gets arrested for murder....

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 25 May 2011]

As the episode begins, a candy shop has opened across the street. In a friendly gesture, the staff of The Pie Hole go over to welcome their new neighbors. However, unexpectedly, the new neighbors turn out to be complete jerks (the sister, Molly Shannon, is the worst of the pair) and instead of appreciating the gesture she becomes nasty and argumentative--announcing that they will destroy The Pie Hole! And, to illustrate this, a health inspector soon shows up and makes their lives difficult. And it only gets worse after that. So, when Shannon's brother is murdered and it looks like Ned did it, this rivalry seems to be the motive--and Ned is imprisoned. So, it's up to Olive, Emerson and Chuck to solve the crime and save poor Chuck. But, when all is right in their world at the end of the show, Ned accidentally blurts out that he killed Chuck's father!

I liked this episode, though at first I was undecided about Shannon's character--she was so awful that I perhaps hated her too much. But, as the episode continued I found the whole thing kooky and enjoyable. But will we ever see this candy store again on the series?