Pushing Daisies/Recap/S1/E01 Pie-lette

The Past
Nine-year-old Ned discovers his power to raise the dead when he resurrects his dog, Digby, who was hit by a truck. Later that afternoon, after a play date with his best friend and next door neighbor, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles, Ned's mother dies of a brain aneurysm. Ned brings her back; one minute later, Chuck's father drops dead. That evening, Ned's mother kisses him goodnight; the touch kills her instantly. This is the first hint that Ned has of any rules attached to his power: first touch, life; a minute's grace period before another person dies to balance the scales; second touch, dead again--forever.

The Present
Nearly twenty years later, Ned--now a lonely, touch-averse man--owns a pie shop and moonlights as a private investigator with Emerson Cod, who uses the baker's unique talent in order to question murder victims. But one murder investigation proves to be of Charlotte Charles, dead at twenty-eight under suspicious circumstances. Ned revives Chuck... and cannot bear to touch her again.

He smuggles her back to his apartment above the Pie Hole, not really planning ahead; certainly not planning for Chuck to bring color and vitality and love back into his life...

In the meantime, there's still the trifling matter of Chuck's murder to be solved. Chuck herself doesn't know who killed her, but points Ned and a resentful Emerson to Boutique Travel Travel Boutique, the travel agency she used. There they discover that Chuck's killer was after a package Chuck had with her... a package that, along with the rest of her belongings, has since been returned to her aunts, Lily and Vivian.

The race is on to get the package before Chuck's killer does--preferably before he kills again.

Tropes

 * Almost Kiss
 * Always Save the Girl
 * Blatant Lies
 * Blown Across the Room: The Shiny Shoes Killer.
 * Failed a Spot Check: Aunt Lily.
 * First Episode Resurrection
 * Girl in A Box
 * Separated By the Wall
 * What the Hell Hero: Since Ned's power randomly picks a nearby person to kill if he leaves a corpse alive for more than a minute, Emerson is understandably pissed off about Ned leaving Chuck alive--it could've easily been Emerson who died and not the funeral director, after all.
 * Who Dunnit to Me