"My name is Ned. I live a simple life. I wake pies and make the dead -- that was creepy. I make pies and wake the dead."
Emerson is a money-motivated PI, and his discovery of Ned's power instantly makes him see dollar signs and the way to a highly successful career as an investigator, because it's easy to solve a murder when the victim tells you who did it. While Emerson is solving murders, Lady Macbeth is causing them. Emerson convinces Ned to work with him by holding the threat of spilling his secret over his head, and Lady Macbeth manipulates Macbeth into helping her by questioning his manliness and honor. The two, Emerson and Lady Macbeth, are both abusing the advantages that Ned and Macbeth have (bringing the dead back to life and more strength and power) by way of shame and fear. Ned fears his secret being let out, because it would result in mass chaos and the endangerment of his life, and later, Chuck's second life. Macbeth fears being seen as weak, and Lady Macbeth knows this, shaming him and calling into question his strength, even going s far as to say that if Macbeth had said
for her to bash her child's head against the rocks, she would. While Emerson never swore that he would kill his own child if Ned had asked him to, he still manages to twist Ned's arm just enough to get him to keep helping with cases. Ned, to his credit, does try to refuse to work with Emerson on some cases, but agrees when Chuck volunteers.
Ned steps in on these cases to protect Chuck because her death was widely broadcasted by the media, and he doesn't want her getting hurt because someone recognized her as "Lonely Tourist Charlotte Charles." Emerson uses Chuck and Ned's fear of losing her again to keep him from quitting, though he does also get help from Ned's employee, Olive Snook, on occassion.
The trio of Emerson, Ned, and Chuck are the show's main focus and therefore, thier relationship is explored in the most detail. Ned is definitely the most likely to do what one of the others asks him to, while Chuck is outspoken and willful and reluctant to back down from something. Emerson is the most hard-headed, and refuses to go along with any plan he deems ridiculous. He and Lady Macbeth share this trait of not listening to the plans of others, because they belive they know best. Ned and Macbeth are parallel in that they both listen to the person who is abusing their ability, though they put up a little bit of resistance. They are also both cautious with their power to begin with, but then use it freely as their story progresses.
Lee Pace stars as Ned the Piemaker in ABC's Pushing Daisies.