Pushing Daisies/Recap/S1 E5 Girth

The Past
Young Ned never receives any mail at school, though he is still mired in grief and desperate for a connection to his father. Then, the day before Halloween, he finally gets something: a pre-printed postcard, announcing that his father has moved.

The next day, Ned sneaks off to see his father, wearing a Bedsheet Ghost costume to avoid detection. At his father's new address, he finds that his father--remarried and with two new sons--has forged a life that doesn't include him.

The Present
Chuck, fondly recalling happy Halloweens spent with Ned in Coeur d'Coeurs, decorates the Pie Hole for Halloween, ignoring Olive's warnings that the Ned she knows hates Halloween. When Ned's dismay at the sight of the decorations proves Olive right, Chuck tries to find out what happened to Ned to make him hate Halloween, but he won't answer.

Olive is delighted at her victory over Chuck, but catches sight of a news broadcast that terrifies her: someone is methodically killing all the jockeys who were involved in a certain race, seven years ago, where fellow jockey John Joseph Jacobs was killed. Since this group includes Olive herself, she hires Emerson to find the killer.

The first dead jockey--trampled to death by a horse--claims to have been killed by the John Joseph Jacobs' ghost. Ned thinks this is ridiculous, but brushes off the only other lead by saying he has something to do. Chuck and Digby go instead, and find another dead jockey.

Meanwhile, Emerson and Olive pay a visit to Mama Jacobs, still bitter seven years after her son's untimely death.

Tropes

 * Ashes to Crashes
 * Bedsheet Ghost
 * Braces of Orthodontic Overkill: Chuck mentions having had a full-on orthodontic rig as a teenager, not because she had bad teeth but because her aunts saw it as a birth-control measure.
 * Coincidental Broadcast
 * Discriminate and Switch
 * Halloween Episode
 * Momma's Boy
 * Scooby-Doo Hoax
 * Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids: Chuck asks Ned what happened to make him hate Halloween, but his only answer is "I grew up."
 * Smooch of Victory: Olive and Ned.
 * Yet Another Baby Panda: At the end of the Coincidental Broadcast.