PUSHING DAISIES 1.7 – "Smell Of Success"

Writer: Scott Numerfro
Director: Lawrence Trilling

Cast: Anna Friel (Chuck), Lee Pace (Ned), Chi McBride (Emerson), Kristin Chenoweth (Olive), Swoosie Kurtz (Lily), Ellen Greene (Vivian), Jim Dale (Narrator), Paul Reubens (Oscar Vibenius), Field Cate (Young Ned), Victor Z. Isaac (Delivery Boy), Tina Gloss (Ned's Mother), Terry Anzur (Anchorwoman), Sarah Jayne Jensen (Anita Gray), Tim Conlon (Chas Spielman) & Christopher Sieber (Napoleon Lenee)

The team investigate a scratch-and-sniff book author whose life is being threatened...

Ned: Do you really think people can change

their lives by smelling the right smell?

Emerson: If so, I’m getting me some cash pot pourri.

You have to commend the imagination in Pushing Daisies. A whole episode based around the attempted murder of an author who's written a scratch-and-sniff book? You just don’t get that on any other detective shows. While it's true the series is childlike in its handling of everything (even death is something of a lark), I appreciate its eagerness to entertain and the (so far) impressive way it dreams up peculiar ideas...

Smell Of Success' crime story begins with the death of Anita Gray (Sarah Jayne Jensen) while reading an advanced copy of her employer Napoleon Lenee's (Christopher Sieber) scratch-and-sniff book "The Smell Of Success". It appears that someone tainted Lenee's book with chemicals that caused an explosion when scratched, although the booby-trapped book was clearly intended for Lenee himself, not his unfortunate assistant...

Emerson (Chi McBride), Ned (Lee Pace) and Chuck (Anna Friel) investigate probable suspects, targeting people who stood to gain from Lenee's death – like authors in direct competition with his book's release. Eventually, the team unearth the fact that Lenee used to have a similarly smell-obsessed lab partner called Oscar Vibenius (Paul Reubens) – but they fell out because Vibenius thought bad smells were necessary to appreciate good smells. Vibenius vanished years ago and has taken to lurking in the sewers. Could he be responsible for the attempts on his old friend's life, driven by jealousy over Lenee's success?

In a subplot, Olive (Kristin Chenoweth) is given a mermaid fin by Lily (Swoosie Kurtz) and Vivian (Ellen Greene), which pleased her enormously as she was such a big fan of their old act, "The Darling Mermaid Darlings". Lily and Vivian are becoming more depressed over the death of Chuck and pining for their glory days as entertainers, so Chuck decides to bake them a pie infused with the smell of chlorine – which seems to do the trick, inspiring her aunts to synchronize swim once again.

This was a very well constructed episode, brilliantly using the central theme of smell to tie all the plots together. Even the flashback to Young Ned (Field Cate) revealed that he used to sneak out of bed and secretly bake a pie, just so he could get to sleep by smelling its aroma. Seriously, this guy Ned is obsessed with pies! It's actually a bit worrying.

As Lenee, Christopher Sieber gave a good performance and was a suitably bizarre character – having installed a decontamination chamber to his apartment, to protect his delicate nose from contaminants. It was also interesting to see him pick up on Chuck's deathly smell, which Vibenius also noticed. Speaking of which, Paul Reubens is perfect casting for a show like Pushing Daisies, as his character PeeWee Herman used to inhabit an equally zany universe. I'm glad to see Vibenius will be returning, now that he knows something's amiss about Chuck. The show could do with a fresh narrative strand like this, as it can't survive on the depressed aunts and Ned and Chuck's cursed love forever.

Very slick, very entertaining and nicely written. It even had tiny Kristen Chenoweth in a mermaid costume, replete with jiggling bosoms. And I love the amusing throwaway oddities like Emerson's strange love of knitting, and now pop-up books – proving he's just as unusual as everyone else beneath his sarcasm. By now, you're either into Pushing Daisies' groove, or you're choking on its primary-coloured, screwy sensibility. I'm still unsure how long the Ned/Chuck relationship can go, or how relevant the flashbacks to Young Chuck can remain, but I have to give the show top marks for originality of its weekly premises. The mysteries aren't particularly taxing, and sometimes fall apart under scrutiny, but they're still a lot of fun.

Overall, Smell Of Success is one of the best episodes so far; just the right level of forward momentum for the recurring plots, an involving mystery, a sense of cohesion, good guest stars and plenty of amiable wit. I could have done without the "Morning Has Broken" song, though.


17 May 2008
ITV1, 9.00 pm