For being a mid-season finale, this week’s episode of iZombie didn’t have much in the way of stakes. There were plenty of emotional moments, to be sure, but overall it just felt like another standard episode of iZombie. Not that this is a bad thing, since iZombie is awesome, but it does make the episode feel more than a little anticlimactic.
Liv and Major have finally imploded. After using Major’s finger to look at his text messages(!) at the end of last week’s episode, “Cape Town” opens in media res during their fight. We didn’t meet up with them again until later in the episode after Major had had a serious heart-to-heart with a zombie hooker (more on that in a bit), but it was enough to send Liv over the edge and break up with Major.
This has been a long time coming, as it is very clear that Liv and Major were destined for doom, especially in a relationship with no sex. It’s admirable that they tried, but until Liv is either cured (which let’s face it, will never happen) or Major give in and becomes a zombie, there is no future for these two no matter how much all of us may want it. iZombie will eventually have to make a decision on these two, otherwise the series will continue to be plagued by the “will they or won’t they” trope that has proven fatal to so many other shows. We care deeply about Liv and Major, but it’s time to figure things out. Luckily, Liv took a step in the right direction by ending things.
Another relationship that ended tonight was that of the one between Clive and Liv. The mystery of the week was one of the more memorable ones, with Liv eating the brain of a masked superhero vigilante nicknamed “The Fog” who took it upon himself to rescue the wrong person (who, in a nice twist, ended up being the murderer). Said brain caused Liv to go even more vigilante-y than she normally does, and it was refreshing to see Clive finally put his foot down after Liv was nearly murdered when she tried to take down the bad guys. Losing both Major and Clive in the span of one episode will undoubtedly have long-term repercussions for Liv, so it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
Oddly enough, the best (and most emotionally resonant) part of the episode was Major’s entire arc with the female zombie hooker. In what seemed to be just another routine zombie kidnapping by Major, the supposed victim was revealed to be a suicidal zombie hooker.
It was a nice little twist that was made all the better by the heart-to-heart that took place between the two characters. Major was finally able to open up to someone about his secret life. It’s disappointing that it wasn’t with Liv, though at least Major was able to explain that he was opting not to tell Liv in order to protect her. Still, that excuse comes off as sort of a cop-out for the character (and the series). The confessions from the zombie were quite heartbreaking, especially after learning that she was being forced to have sex in order to obtain brains.
The catharsis earned from this scene was easily the highlight of the episode, and seeing Major agree to kill her if a cure was never found was a nice moment between the two characters, but as cathartic as it was, I can’t help but dislike the fact that none of this was happening with Liv. Why bring in a new character to help Major understand what it is Liv is going through on a daily basis?
Finally, we’ve got Blaine and his newly-made zombie Drake, who also just happens to be Mr. Boss’ driver/henchman/assistant. Not much headway was made on this front, and it was mostly used to set up the back half of the season, but it was intriguing nonetheless.
“Cape Town” was sort of a low-key midseason finale, and while there were plenty of emotional repercussions for Liv, there wasn’t much focus on the season-long arc, making it for a middling episode of the series.
Random Notes
- Apologies for the delay in getting this up. Yay internet problems!
- Don’t get me wrong, I want Liv and Major to be together, but they need to get all of their shit out in the open and figure things out.
- The ending tag was a real sucker punch, wasn’t it? Ravi’s cured rat reverted back into a zombie after 162 days, which means this whole cure thing may just be a MacGuffin. Of course, this means Blaine and Major may be turning back into zombies soon, which means Major and Liv can actually be together.
- Chapter Titles of the Week: Violent Night; Major Falling Out; Santa Claus is Running the Town; Hashtag Hashtagged; One Tree Kill; You Better Not Pout; Mary, Mary, Why You Buggin’? Violent Night was my favorite. Call me predictable.
- Brain Recipe of the Week: Brain Submarine Sandwich! It actually looked pretty tasty.
- Ravi has always wanted to design his own utility belt. Of course!
- “So all this Santa delivers to our city…is crime.” -Liv’s superhero-isms on The Fog’s brain were pretty hilarious.
- “I may have buried the lead here. Zombies are a real thing!” -Blaine to the new zombie.
- Hashtag, Ghost Cobra, Grey Area, Megafist, Blue Swallow were some of the various superhero names. I think I may have missed one or two. Their costumes were undeniably hilarious though.
- “Yeah. I literally got screwed into becoming a zombie hooker.”
- “I’m the nightmare before Christmas!” -I think I clapped when Liv said this.
- Remember when Liv had a mother and a brother?
- See you all on January 12th when iZombie returns for its remaining 10 episodes!