iZombie is on a roll, you guys! Following last week’s trend, the case of the week was actually fairly interesting! And this one didn’t even have a personal connection to Liv. While most of the episode was mostly focused on the murder of Simon Cutler (aka the SIM Reaper), the main season arc progressed just enough to raise the stakes significantly for Liv and her friends & family.
My only complaints about iZombie are that the cases of the week aren’t that interesting and Major is a useless character. Both of those seemed to be fixed this week! Let’s start with Major. Apparently, he’s a bit of a fan favorite (which, okay) so having his death fake-out on the morgue table in the opening shot was pretty cruel on the writers’ part. It clearly achieved whatever reaction . It’s nice to see Major being more involved in the Blaine plot. I’ve got to say, I’m really surprised that they allowed Major, Liv and Ravi to discover that Blaine was the Candyman less than halfway through the season, but I’m glad it happened! Will Liv let Major in on her secret zombie identity? I doubt it will happen soon, but it will have to happen eventually if they really want him to help take down Blaine.
We got to see more of Blaine than we did last week, which is always a good thing since David Anders is so fun to watch in the role. Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be seeing any more of Jackie since she made the rather stupid mistake of eating Blaine’s delivery boy. Blaine found out after Clive came to question him (more character interaction!) so he showed up at her apartment and killed her with a drill. It’s a surprising move that Jackie was killed off so early, as it seemed like she was going to be a major player in Blaine’s plan, but c’est la vie.
Liv’s mom Eva also made an appearance this week (still no Peyton, though). At first it seemed like her first (useless) scene would be the only one of the episode, until the tag at the end completely threw me for a loop. She walks into the Meat Cute and meets Blaine! And to top it off, it seems like she is going to get Evan to be his new delivery boy! This certainly raises the stakes (and brings underused characters into the main arc), so it will be exciting to see where this leads in the future.
As for the murder of Simon Cutler (an agoraphobic gamer who was murdered with peanut dust in a confetti explosion birthday card…yup), it proved to be one of the better cases for three reasons. 1) He was an unsympathetic victim. 2) The killer was sympathetic and showed no remorse. 3) The “abilities” that his brain gave Liv were integrated into her scenes outside of the crime-solving scenes. It may be too soon to tell, but I think iZombie has almost figured itself out (if it hasn’t already).
I have to say that Liv’s scenes with Lowell were well done tonight. They have a chemistry that she is sorely missing with Major. The bit where Liv realized she didn’t need to make up an excuse as to why she couldn’t leave the house was highly amusing, but the fact that he still came by to help her out and talk to her was even better.
There was a lot going on in this episode of iZombie, but it never felt over-crowded. It all flowed seamlessly and every scene seemed necessary. While the majority of the episode was spent on the case of the week, it was used to help with the forward momentum of the main story. That made for one of iZombie’s best episodes yet, but based on the final scene, I think we’re in for even better episodes in the future.
Random Notes
- This week’s Chapter Titles: Major Head Wound, Stairway to Heaven, Breakfast of Champions, About a Boy, Just Desserts, Hack To The Future.
- Zombie Power of the Week: Agoraphobia! Also, donut cravings!
- I feel so dumb. I didn’t realize Blaine’s shop was called the Meat Cute. It’s so brilliant.
- ‘His skin reminds me of a grape that was left out in the sun to long and split open.” -Ravi, so descriptive.
- “It’s someone’s birthday.” “Well it was a memorable one.”
- “Sonofabitch!” -Liv, upon realizing she has to eat a rotten brain.
- “Seriously, what are the chances an agorophobe in his 20s was not a chronic chicken choker?” -That euphemism for masturbation is just…gross.
- Ravi’s MMOP character is a were-terrier with healing abilities called Arf Vader. Never change, Ravi
- “If you’re sharing prescription drugs with me I should at least buy you a drink.” -Liv has excellent first-
datedrop-in manners. - “A murder victim might have been killed by a donut!” -Seriously, there were so many funny lines in this episode.
- Liv high on pills was funny. More of this please.
- Here’s the promo for next week’s episode, titled “”Maternity Liv”
