Well that escalated quickly. iZombie came back swinging this week with a much-needed episode that put the mystery-of-the-week on the backburner and the central season arc at the forefront. Unfortunately, there was a casualty in the process. Liv had to watch her boyfriend (who just told her he loved her) die, and it was heartbreaking.
Well, there is a chance he’s not dead, as we did see Julien get shot multiple times and then he apparently got up and walked away, but more on that later. This was a big episode for Liv and Lowell. After last week’s cliffhanger, Liv confronted Lowell about where exactly he acquires his brains from. It was refreshing to see iZombie tackle the issue head-on, as opposed to drag it out for a few episodes. In fact, everything in this arc moved forward at a rapid pace.
Once Lowell learned how Blaine got the brains he delivered, he was distraught. The scene in which he broke down in front of Liv was a powerful one. If this truly is Bradley James’ final episode on iZombie, it was a helluva one to go out on. He knocked it out of the park in every scene, and watching him decide to kill Blaine when Liv couldn’t was fascinating. As soon as I saw him mouth “I love you” to Liv, I knew he was a goner, but that didn’t stop me from gasping once Blaine shot him in the face. RIP Lowell, you will be missed.
Major is getting closer and closer to finding Blaine. At this rate, I’m convinced he’ll have the whole thing solved before Liv does, but who knows? After (rather hilariously) mentioning brains to a gym rat, word makes its way to Julien, who is then tasked by Blaine to kill him. Not one to go down easily, Major managed to “kill” Julien. The decision to have Julien still be alive after all that is a curious one. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Major shot him in the head. If Julien is still alive after that, I find it possible that Lowell may be alive as well (though I kind of hope that’s not the case, as that would mean that iZombie is afraid to go there).
The mystery of the week wasn’t one of the better ones, although it did bring Percy Daggs III into the fold (Wallace!). Creator Rob Thomas has always been good about giving actors in his previous shows work in whatever he’s currently working on so it’s nice to see him continuing the trend here. The reveal that Sean murdered Everett using a flying drone was a clever (and timely) one, though. Everrett’s brain also gave Liv a fun “tough guy” act that paid off in spades when she had to pin Sean to the wall and help arrest him.
“Patriot Brains” was another strong episode of iZombie that pushed forward the main plot and gave us a sucker punch of a (potential) death. If that death sticks, it will prove that iZombie is not messing around. That’s how I like my TV.
Random Notes
- Chapter Titles: 28 Milliseconds Later; Once Bitten, Twice Shy; Cooler Heads; A Sketchy Kid; Plan Z; Whisky Tango Foxtrot. It took me a second to get the WTF reference, but that’s the clear winner this week.
- This Week’s Zombie Power: PTSD! Excellent Marksmanship! Boot Polishing! Stealth Mode!
- Ravi and Liv are getting closer to realizing the cops are compromised. Maybe they’ll face off against Suzuki next week?
- So Ravi’s zombie rat bite last week was just a trick? I find this hard to believe, but alright.
- “You’ll eat human brains to get bigger muscles?” -The way that guy said that was priceless.
- Some random dude wants Blaine to get him the brain of an astronaut, because he wants to experience what it was like to walk on the moon. I feel like this will be important later.
- “Then I guess it’s all aboard the Pain Train! First stop: Hand Francisco!” -At least Julien got in a hilarious one-liner before Major kicked his ass.
- Here’s next week’s promo! Looks like Liv will be in major grieving mode after eating an alcoholic’s brain.
