A Perfect World.

...is what Pushing Daisies is all about. well, no, who am i kidding. if a series were set in a perfect world, the P and W should only be capitalized to imply on the irony of how imperfect it really is. no one lives in a perfect world. but in the world of Ned the pie-maker, one would think his powers to be perfect. 

Pushing Daisies speak of one Ned--without a last name--who has the abilities to wake the dead. of course, there is a catch. the catch is that when the being he raises from the dead stays alive for more than sixty seconds, another being of the approximate size dies. the SECOND catch : Ned can never touch the being he has un-dead, for if he does, they return to their former state of breathlessness. 

first touch, life; second touch, death.

the main reason why i came to watching this series is not for the quality of the story, the humour, the wit, or the interesting concept of the series. it all comes down to one actor with the sexiest and most attractive brows i have ever set my eyes upon. ladies and gentlemen, i present to you : Lee Pace.

mostly because i had recently watched a brilliant film, The Fall, which also stars the lovely Lee Pace. which is a brilliant movie you should absolutely watch.

anyways, getting back to waking the dead. the series is quite... how should i put it? it's a lot more like a novel or a realistic cartoon with random adult jokes rather than a live-action series. it's comical in a sense that it is very far from real, but you can tell that the writers try to keep the fantasy-like genre to be as close to reality as possible, in a rather surreal way. 

i think what makes the entire series great are really the characters. from the synchronized-swimmers aunts, to the cynical private eye who's in love with knitting then pop-up books, to the anti-social taxidermist who finally wins the waitress' heart. (or does he?) i find myself realizing that i have never seen characters so novel-like like these, be brought to life in a live-action series. it's absolutely like living in a real Dr. Seuss universe.

my favorite character? Ned the pie-maker, of course!

Ned is your typical blunt introvert Clark Kent. except unlike Superman, he's always Clark Kent. he is the most honest fictional character i have ever come across, the sweetest, and often the most conflicted character on the show. you would always find him contemplating over issues as he's easily influenced by others' opinions, and he would be stress-baking, and everything about him is just so nerdy and geeky and so perfect. he is the sort of guy who smiles at the person he loves simply because he recognizes the fact at that very moment that this person is the very person he loves, and he cherishes the fact, and he smiles. he is that person who will focus all his love on that one person and although he forgets about the other people around him sometimes, he apologizes and pours out his true feelings and asks for forgiveness, prepared to be shunned for life. he is not a liar. and i suppose that is what i love most about him.

Ned is someone i wish i could be. i want to be as blunt as he is, but alas, he lives in a world where everything works out perfectly in the end somehow, he lives in a world where everything is scripted according to his existence. 

i really like how none of the minor characters are ignored or shoved aside, and they are all given their fair share of background story. Olive is a great example. she starts out as this waitress whom you would deem as 'the annoying one', and as the story progresses, you realize she is not a flat character at all, and you even find herself loving her more and more. this is what i think was great about the series, even though it seemed like stories were made up along the way. well, at least they're pretty plausible stories!

what i disliked about the series was this : everything ends up okay.

every time you think something big is about to happen, it dies down almost immediately, mostly thanks to Ned's ultimately-forgiving personality. there is no drama in this drama. well, there is, but not the kind that lasts for a few episodes and gets solved finally. because with a guy like Ned around, problems are instantaneously solved. the forgiveness is so overwhelming that is almost infuriates me. you would find yourself sitting at the edge of your chair, screaming at Lee Pace : "NO NO NO NO WHY DID YOU DO THAT SHE DOESN'T DESERVE IT NOOOOOOOOOOO YOU GUYS ARE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT" 

as opposed to the lack of drama in this series, i suppose it is a good time for us to learn to be more forgiving, like Ned. 

conclusion? i'm more glad than disappointed that the series was stopped, because the story was completely spinning out of control. even though i was looking forward to more Ned and perhaps Ned getting kidnapped for his powers, the entire plot was rather weak to me and albeit the cleverly-designed characters' presence, i don't think it's possible for the series to get any better. 

but boohoo, no more Ned. ): 

p/s: this doesn't mean you shouldn't watch the series! watch it all for Lee Pace, good puns humor, and just a good ol' fashioned ridiculous romantic comedy. (:

p/p/s: confession- i really, only, love the show for Ned. because seriously. Ned.