Pushing Daisies/Recap/S2/E09 The Legend of Merle McQuoddy

The Past
Young Chuck has to stay inside and rough out her case of the chicken pox. Playing make-believe with her father makes the time fly, however.

The Present
Charles decides that he'll help Ned keep the secret of Ned's powers, on one condition--Ned and Chuck stop seeing each other.

Lighthouse keeper Nora McQuoddy has been found dead, melted against the giant Fresnel lens of the Papen County lighthouse, and her son Eliot begs Emerson for help. All Nora can do is point the investigators towards the Papen County Historical Society.

Tropes

 * Shout-Out: The lighthouse setting, many of the names, and the song "Candle on the Water" are taken from the 1977 Disney movie Petes Dragon, which had starred Jim "The Narrator" Dale.
 * The McQuoddys are named after the film's setting: Passamaquoddy, Maine.
 * Eliot was the titular dragon.
 * Nora was the friendly lighthouse keeper who befriended and adopted Heartwarming Orphan Pete.
 * In the movie, Nora was waiting for the return of her boyfriend, Paul, who'd been gone ten years but did eventually return.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Charles has some kind of complex over cake being better than pie.