History Recap / PushingDaisiesS2E2CircusCircus

* NarrativeProfanityFilter: As Ned tells Emerson what the manager's assistant said about Nikki, flames from the circus act make a lot of noise. After that's done, we get this exchange:
-->'''Emerson''': I've never heard you use ''those'' words.\\
'''Ned''': I'm just repeating what she told me.

* SoundEffectBleep

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Some viewers disliked this episode at first, but there is no episode more crucial to setting up the arcs and themes of the second season: the corrosive effect of secrets; something new beginning as necessarily implying something else ending; stasis as the opposite of life/death/rebirth; the impossibility of simply picking up a relationship where it was left off; one's persona or public self versus one's True Self; a parent's inability to recognize his or her child.

* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: The kindergardeners, in a subtle use of this trope.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hayley [=McFarland=] as Nikki Heaps, who would go on to become [[LieToMe Emily Lightman]].

* [[Main/{{ptitlexc2j6p5n}} I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You]]: Chuck slyly gets more information from Nikki's best friend than the friend had planned on revealing.

->'''Chuck:''' Je peux parler avec Nikki une minute? (Can I speak to Nikki for a minute?)
->'''Acrobat:''' ''Une'' minute! (''One'' minute!)

->'''Chuck:''' Je peux parler a Nikki une minute? (Can I speak to Nikki for a minute?)

* BilingualDialogue: {{Omniglot}} Chuck speaks a line of French to the acrobat. (She asks him if she can speak to Nikki for a moment.)

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: Some viewers disliked this episode at first, but there is no episode more crucial to setting up the arcs and themes of the second season.

* MidnightOnTheFiringLine: Most of the fandom disliked this episode at first, but there is no episode more crucial to setting up the arcs and themes of the second season.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hayley [[-McFarland-]] as Nikki Heaps, who would go on to become [[LieToMe Emily Lightman]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hayley [-McFarland-] as Nikki Heaps, who would go on to become [[LieToMe Emily Lightman]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hayley {{McFarland}} as Nikki Heaps, who would go on to become [[LieToMe Emily Lightman]].

* RetroactiveRecognition: Hayley McFarland as Nikki Heaps, who would go on to become [[LieToMe Emily Lightman]].

* EnemyMime: Averted; Chuck likes mimes.

* ThereAreTwoTypesOfPeopleInTheWorld

* SoundEffectBleep

Ned and Chuck now live in separate but adjoining apartments. Chuck revels in her newfound independence--it's the first time she's lived alone--but Ned is still hurt by her apparent rejection.

At the circus, the trio meets a snooty FrenchJerk acrobat and interrogates the manager, who says he doesn't remember Nikki but who is clearly lying. And it's not just Nikki who's missing--so are all the clowns.

The clown car (with clowns) turns up in a nearby lake.
They eventually discover that Nikki and the manager were in cahoots to scuttle the clowns' attempts to unionize.

* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Arguably, the kindergardeners.

* ButterflyOfLifeAndDeath: Arguably, the kindergardeners.

* ImprobableAimingSkills

'''Emerson:''' Have you ''seen'' the special lockup they keep for cocky young acrobats? Because ''I'' haven't.

* BindleStick: used by runaway Ned

* TheRunaway: Ned as a child, Nikki Heaps

At the circus, the trio meets a snooty FrenchJerk clown and interrogates the manager, who says he doesn't remember Nikki but who is clearly lying.

*Main/AppealToObscurity
*Main/BoardingSchool
*Main/BindleStick - used by runaway Ned
*Main/TheRunaway - Nikki Heaps
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