If you are planning on staying in this Halloween, consider baking yourself a pumpkin pie and spending the holiday having a Pushing Daisies marathon. The Pie Hole was a warm and inviting setting, but Ned's gift gave the show ample opportunity to tackle death and murder with a morbid sense of humor (and a heartfelt touch of humanity). From Hitchcock references to Ned literally raising the dead, Pushing Daisies' beautifully stylized supernatural world is the perfect place to visit on a chilly Halloween night.
With 22 episodes to pick for — I know, there should be so many more — you are going to want to narrow the list down for a marathon. I'm here to help. I have picked seven episodes with the most twisted tales, shiver-worthy moments, and bizarre cases. These seven hours are full of Ned and Chuck moments, Emerson being his snarky self, and Olive breaking into song. There won't be any jump-out-of-your-seat scares, but Halloween doesn't always have to involve jump scares. Sometimes the holiday just needs friends, pie, a dash of candy, and a fantastical detective series starring Lee Pace to make the evening pop.
Watch these episodes in any order you like and prepare to fall in love with Pushing Daisies all over again.
1. "Girth"
Pushing Daisies squeezed one Halloween episode into its run and it expertly riffs on Sleepy Hollow. The headless horseman in question is part of a deeper conspiracy in true Pushing Daisies fashion, but the episode pulls off a few scares and introduces Olive's jockey past. Plus, Ned's reaction to Halloween is priceless and so adorably Ned it will make you melt faster than candy corn left in the sun.
2. "Pie-lette"
The first episode is an actual flawless piece of television. The opening is also astonishingly dark. The way Ned discovers his powers is so tragic, there truly is a touch of horror mixed in with the whimsy of it all.
3. "Circus, Circus"
The only thing scarier than a living clown is a dead one — or a bunch of dead ones. Add in a dead mime, and this episode becomes a circus-phobes worst nightmare. For everyone else, it's a chance to watch Ned squirm (he's not a fan of clowns either) and Emerson put on his super sleuthing cap.
4. "The Legend Of Merle McQuoddy"
A lighthouse, stormy weather, and one of the show's most disturbing deaths add up to a richly drawn hour of ghostly fun (minus any real ghosts). The best part is Olive and Emerson teaming up though. The show never had enough of those two together. Magic happens when their opposing personalities combine.
5. "Bad Habits"
Pushing Daisies was full of Hitchcock references, and one of the most intricate ones is found in "Bad Habits." An exact replica of the bell tower in Vertigo is used for a climactic scene toward the end of the episode making the gang's trip to the convent where Olive is staying an especially unsettling one. The Hitchcock overtones make this episode a fun for Halloween viewing, while Olive fans will be touched by how much Ned and company want her to come home.
6. "Oh Oh Oh... It's Magic"
What's more mysterious than a bit of magic? The answer to that question is dead animal assistants, long lost brothers, and a very grump Ned. I love this episode, it's full of character development and whimsy in a way that makes it one of the show's quintessential hours.
7. "Comfort Food"
Let yourself get swept away by Ned and Olive's crime-solving and pie baking skills, and then prepare to get genuine shivers as Emerson and Chuck bury a dead body. Fun and twisted, just like all of the very best Pushing Daisies episodes.
I hope you spend your Halloween at the Pie Hole with Ned. Trust me, you will have so much fun eating pie and watching this perfect supernatural mystery gem than you won't want to leave your couch.
Images: Warner Bros. Television; Giphy; pushingdailydaisies/Tumblr (6)
