"iZombie" Season Four Talkback (Spoilers)

[hobbyfan]

Just finished watching online.

No one here, apparently, watches Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, am I right? Its creator-star, Rachel Bloom, was this week's victim du jour, and it's clear her character was poisoned. Didn't see any follow-up, so maybe it continues next week?

I honestly think Rose McIver needs to return the favor and be on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend next season. If that doesn't get her the Emmy nomination she deserves, what will?

Ravi on junkie brain. Scary good. There were some funny scenes in this episode, but we are building drama toward the season's end. Something tells me Liv will be betrayed.

The father-son feud involving Blaine's not over yet. That much we can see. The sooner he loses that idiot Donnie, the better, though.

 

[hobbyfan]

Hmmm. Seems Liv's got problems with her own roomie. So busted. We think.

How can they have a character named Brother Love and not use Neil Diamond music on this show?

When are they going to get around to a zombie cookbook, based on Liv's recipes?

 

[Otaku-sempai]

When are they going to get around to a zombie cookbook, based on Liv's recipes?

Sure, why not? There's already been a Hannibal cookbook. Just put more emphasis on brains and comfort food.

 

[Fone Bone]

iZombie "Don't Hate The Player, Hate The Brain"

Do you know why Chase is such a weak villain? Because he takes the easiest, worst way out every time. If his goals were as righteous as he claimed, he could have rebutted that article point by point. Instead he shuts the newspaper down and terrorizes the staff. I get the show is trying to draw parallels with real-world autocrats like Trump, but Trump sucks. That doesn't make Chase a good villain. It makes Chase suck.

Comic books have been bending over backwards to do Trump allegories. I see the value in that. But if they aren't careful, they'll ruin the appeal of the franchise. What good came from turning Captain America into a Nazi? How did that serve Marvel Comics history? Yes, it makes a progressive point about the dangers of fascism. But you shouldn't have to destroy one of your flagship characters to do that. There are other ways to say Trump sucks. He should not get to wreck superhero and genre television and comics the way he has wrecked real life. He only has the power to ruin genre franchises if the writers let him.

The good news is that the fact that Chase sucks is probably partly the point. I would rather Liv go up against a worthy villain, but he'll be even more fun to see her take down than Steven Weber's smarmy character in the first two seasons. I cannot stand Jason Dohring at all, and never could. I do NOT know what rock Veronica Mars / Logan Echolls shippers crawled out from under in the first place. Every role Dohring plays is unsavory and unlikable. And Veronica Mars, a show about an empowered, feminist teen detective, thought he'd make a good romantic lead. What was Rob Thomas thinking? Part of me thinks Chase is Thomas doing penance for him allowing Logan to break out the way he did. Yeah, the fans REALLY responded to how horribly he treated Veronica and how bad he always felt later. But that was NOT a direction Thomas needed to listen to them about. Logan Echolls is hardly Felicity Smoak. I think Chase is Thomas finally playing Logan as dirtbaggy as he should be played. He is unworthy of every single female lead on every single show he's been on, and the fact that Chase sucks so much may be Thomas acknowledging that, and letting Dohring play a role that suits his actual strengths. He's great at playing the jerk. He sucks at making the tearful apologies. Chase is what Logan Echolls would have been if Thomas were thinking rationally about the subject.

I like the notion that he considers Major "Vice-President in charge of getting stuff done". There is no paperwork involved in that promotion, and he tells every soldier Major outranks them because he says so. I have been especially critical of Major this year. The fact that he's the kind of guy who would embrace the label of "Chaos Killer" shows why.

I saw nothing but regret in Clive's face upon learning Bosio had been chaste on her dates. That is something he should have been allowed to know beforehand. He definitely did not want to have sex that night, and was intensely pressured on all sides. It angers me that he lost the moral high ground, when he never wanted to do this in the first place. Thanks for nothing, Player Brain. What's Ravi's excuse for being a terrible friend on the subject?

That zombie guy's not negging Liv, he just genuinely hates the hat. Funny joke as was Donnie's idea to mail the severed zombie head to Gwyneth Paltrow. Did we learn zombies can survive beheading before this week? I guess that makes sense, but the idea that he can still talk does not. A dude needs lungs to speak.

Speaking of learning new things, it amazes me to realize this is not only the first time Liv has met Blaine's father, but that she learned who he was. And this is season four. This show tends to compartmentalize the good guys and the bad guys completely, and nothing says that more than Liv's surprise that Blaine is Brother Love's kid.

For some reason, I found the moment where Liv says "Let's all have sex!" funny. What's wrong with me?

Free tip, Liv. That activity you are engaging in at the end is not something you should be doing with headphones on alone, particularly if you are roommates with an important City Official like Peyton. I hope the Player brain simply made her stupid. I suspect that was merely bad writing instead. Like they picked a random idea out of the hat as to how Peyton catches her and said "Good enough," about the headphones. It's not. It's dumb and makes Liv look dumb.

Pretty good episode. But it's also an episode you can nitpick to death if given enough mind to. I have a mostly positive impression now. I cannot imagine I will feel the same when I see it a few times on DVD. ***1/2.

 

[hobbyfan]

All I know is that this ain't gonna end well.

 

[Road to Gotham]

Bar Paley who played the woman in the red dress and had sex with the victim before he died was
"Helen of Troy" on LEGENDS.

 

[Fone Bone]

iZombie "Chivalry Is Dead"

Ugh. This show. This is a worse episode than it needed to be. Honestly, guys who larp don't talk like that outside of the game. It's just a freaking game. It doesn't take over their entire brain and make them talk in Olde English at every waking moment. They choose to do that to have fun. And crap like that is why I don't take the show or its premise seriously, and think Rose McIver is not as talented as her fans rave she is. All she does is act goofy. She has never been asked to stretch, which is the actually mark of a great actress. All this Emmy talk should probably go towards an actor or actress who actually deserves one.

Still, I like that she ate the brain on a spit. I've recently started to notice that they have been doing themed dishes for the cooking and eating of each brain. I also laughed at Ravi complaining that it's actually called a lunch "hour". Because Liv must spend an inordinate amount of time cooking the brains into gourmet dishes, and Ravi saying that suddenly made that notion acceptable to me. It's been remarked upon as being unusual. So that means I'm now okay with it.

I am actually angered Liv never broke character. Because it was established in season three, the brain doesn't actually control the zombie. They are still responsible for the own decisions. So Liv is the one who chose to goof off during the seriousness of her Renegade missions. Which is another reason I don't take the show seriously. At least not as seriously as that tragic, unexplained ending tells me I should.

What IS up with that ending? Even if that girl dies, is she the key to a better zombie vaccine? Is there light at the end of the tunnel for Clive and Bosio? Or is it something more far-reaching like an actual cure? It's a bummer that girl is going to die. But that fact that she is could save thousands of lives after the fact.

Is she the only person immune to zombies? I can't imagine she is. There have never been people trying to get deliberately infected before. There was literally no way to test for this question. Now I'm think they should have been.

Clive had an interesting notion that larping sounds better than D&D because people who play D&D just sit around. And he's right. D&D is super boring, and almost depressing to play. I've never larped, but it actually sounds like fun. I like Ravi being annoyed and offended by Clive confusing it for a sex thing.

It's weird that Liv is surprised Peyton wants to help. Of course she does. She is just as appalled by the situation as she is, and can actually do something. She's in.

Speaking of which, Mr. Boss picked the absolute worst time to come back. I fear what Blaine on that brain will tell him.

Does Brother Love really need to teach his flock how to eat? Are they actually that broken? Eating a busful of people says they are.

Yeah, a crowd of zombies on the brains of convicted murderers. What could go wrong?

I love the murderer at the end refusing to confess, because they had no evidence, and he rightly knew a jury would believe him. It was like the perfect crime, and the only thing that makes him a murderer is hurt feelings. On paper, it was an accident. Which is something irresistible about the Season Four premise. We are going to see a lot of homicides on this show now that we've never had to wonder about in real life. Basically the episode posited the idea that if you misidentify someone as a zombie, actually driving a sword through their heart would make their death accidental. I'm fascinated with the idea that the show could possibly explore the uncharted legal waters the people of New Seattle are now in. Why should the original Renegade have gotten a death sentence when the people she was infecting were people whose lives she had saved? It seems to me that the old rulebook has been thrown out. Brother Love's flock eating a bus full of live prisoners is another thing that says the city and what happens in it are far out of Chase Graves' control.

For the record, Major CHOSE not to blow his cover when he should have, and chose to engage in every illegal act he did instead. He is not off the hook for his evil actions just because he lied about the coin toss.

Donnie thinks there is a good way to be a sociopath. Donnie has been hanging around Blaine too much.

Interesting that Blaine has dined with his father so infrequently over the course of his life that he can actually account for this being the seventh time they've shared a meal. Says everything.

I thought the case of the week was terrible, just because the brain was stupid. But everything else was okay. At least the moments where Liv wasn't speaking in that ridiculous voice were. ***.

 

[hobbyfan]

Donnie is and always has been a moron, Fone Bone. Hanging around Blaine has nothing to do with it.

Stacey Boss returning was unexpected. SO didn't see it coming. If I'm Blaine, I'd certainly worry.

So Peyton wants to help? What's next? Asking Liv to turn her into a zombie?

Fone Bone, you may think this season has been jump-the-shark season, but I'm not yet convinced, though the mass slaughter of convicts and guards, most of it off-camera, was a little excessive.

I was discussing with my brother and his roomie the other day that if they decide to somehow reboot General Hospital, David Anders would make a terrific choice as a younger Luke Spencer. He's got the facials almost exactly the same as Anthony Geary. Just sayin'.

 

[Fone Bone]

Donnie is and always has been a moron, Fone Bone. Hanging around Blaine has nothing to do with it.
.

I was referring to the fact that Blaine is a sociopath. There is no such thing as a good sociopath.

I haven't seen any sign of the show unjumping last season's finale jump. Hopefully I'm wrong. But I don't think I am.

 

[Fone Bone]

iZombie "Mac-Liv-Moore"

I think the worst thing about Blaine is that he's been wasting the cures. He's already blown 2 for no good reason. I hate this dude.

I am glad Liv got Major on the record that he think Mama Leone's death was just. Because not only did it tell her he thought her life was worth crap, but he went and did the thing she was executed for on Chase's direction. Major sucks.

This being said, I now know how the season ends. Liv is caught in the last couple of episodes, and when she is led up to the stage, Major reveals Chase is actually guilty of the same crime. Major doesn't save Liv through brute force, but legalese. He will somehow have proof that he scratched the zombie killer before he died on Chase's direction.

Is there is specific reason Liv HAD to eat a white rapper? Other than making her lame? I kind of would have liked to have seen the show doing what they do with Ravi, and have Clive be amused by and enjoy the brain of the week, instead of always giving those appalled and bewildered reactions. And that might have happened if it was a black rapper. You know what? It might not have, considering the writers are not very good at this, and seem to be trying to erase a great deal of Clive's black identity just based upon the roleplaying thing. Maybe he's the kind of fictional black guy who prefers Bob Dylan, that white writers love to pretend are common. But it should have happened, and probably would have if the writers were smarter about stuff like that.

Love the little dying girl. She is my queen.

Plenty of good and interesting things happened in the episode. But not enough for me to love it. ***.

 

[hobbyfan]

I thought Liv on rapper brain was pretty funny. Was that her rapping in narration at the end of the show? The girl's got some skillz, kidz.

So Blaine commits another murder, but Dumb Donald is in the wrong place when it happens. Should've been off to the side behind the victim, dimwit.

Our Donnie makes Bill Cosby's Dumb Donald character look like a Rhodes scholar by comparison. Maybe the inspiration came instead from Match Game (Dumb Donald is SOOOOOOOO dumb.....)?

 

[Road to Gotham]

The dying teen girl who I am invested in her outcome,
Either I hope she somehow survives or is the reason for a cure.

Izabela Vidovic also played "Young Kara Danvers" on 2 episodes of SUPERGIRL this season.

 

[Fone Bone]

The dying teen girl who I am invested in her outcome,
Either I hope she somehow survives or is the reason for a cure.

Izabela Vidovic also played "Young Kara Danvers" on 2 episodes of SUPERGIRL this season.

I love that kid. She is a warrior Goddess.

 

[hobbyfan]

This week, Liv eats the brain of a rogue cop. Lethal Weapon send-up, anyone?

The scene near the end of the show where she scratches Curtis made me think that for cases like this, she should've kept the riot squad mask she had when she went undercover at the end of season 2.

Chase attends a Brother Love sermon. Why Neil Diamond is not on the soundtrack, I'll never know......! Speaking of singing, Blaine's into "Amazing Grace", and then we go to commercial. Man, that sucks.

 

[Fone Bone]

iZombie "Yipee Ki Brain, Motherscratcher"

Major is a piece of work. He blames Liv for putting him in danger? By working for Chase, Major is putting EVERYONE in danger.

And he says she became Renegade because her life had no meaning? Can you believe Liv was going to marry this jag-off? She dodged an abusive husband bullet on every level.

I kind of feel like Liv and friends should not have been making jokes over that detective's body. They actually knew him, after all. It was inappropriate.

This episode did a ton of meta jokes, but what I love about them is that they push onto the fourth wall a bit, but they are VERY careful not to break it. The guy stubbing his toe when he did was funny for a specific reason to the audience. But you could plausibly chalk that up to a coincidence in the story itself. The show is poking fun of itself, while making sure its own characters, who geek out over a zombie drama for the precise reasons people geek over this show, keep their own reality.

One of the better meta jokes was describing how the lame Zombie High episode involved them running out of budget, and being forced to relay the action scenes via dialogue after the fact... Followed by Clive telling a similarly "exciting" story while the camera does fancy shots around his fake karate. And again, the characters are not aware they are fictional, and they don't break the fourth wall. But the writers know that, and let us know they know that with that moment.

I find Ravi being so concerned over the girl's sex life a bit creepy, but if I'm being honest, I think that entire plotline is creepy, so I cannot actually blame him for handling it poorly. Really bad idea for the writers to go there.

Doesn't that kid have the most amazing mom ever? I think so.

I wondered why Enrico Colantoni got such prominent billing in the main credits. They even stopped running the credits for a bit until Colantoni showed up on-screen so as not to spoil his appearance, and then he's instantly killed off. What gives?

Colantoni actually directed the episode, so that was him milking his death scene, and final on-screen appearance. I don't blame him. He'll be missed. Is this the first time a director of the show has played the murder victim of the week? Does Rob Thomas count?

I love Blaine's first impression about his father thinking him the Zombie Jesus. First he's amused. And then he's frightened. Because his father is serious. But he can later look as disturbed over his evil nanny's death all he wants, he's still playing the organ at the end of the episode anyways.

I question why Fraulein went to the zombie Church. Granted, she's elderly, helpless, and in a wheelchair, so Brother Love can wheel her anywhere he pleases. But why did she not actually sense she was in any danger until it was far too late? I would never go into a zombie Church for any reason. Because I'd know the human sacrifice was coming, and I was the dinner.

I love that computer hacker describing the guy who made the video as a computer Mozart-style genius and then we cut to Donnie doing the humping gag with his shirt. They don't make geniuses and artists like they used to.

Interesting episode for me. ***1/2.

 

[hobbyfan]

IIRC, the Rob Thomas that was killed off in season 2 was the singer (Matchbox 20), not the show's co-creator, principal writer-producer.

 

[Fone Bone]

IIRC, the Rob Thomas that was killed off in season 2 was the singer (Matchbox 20), not the show's co-creator, principal writer-producer.

I thought they were the same person. Guess I was wrong.

 

[Road to Gotham]

I agree with HOBBYFAN, was bummed that we didn't get to hear more of Blaine singing "AMAZING GRACE".
Just as bad, there was no food montage this episode. Just Liv eating raw brain.

Enrico Colantoni who played "Detective Bendetto" for 3 episodes also played VERONICA MARS father.

 

[hobbyfan]

I agree with HOBBYFAN, was bummed that we didn't get to hear more of Blaine singing "AMAZING GRACE".
Just as bad, there was no food montage this episode. Just Liv eating raw brain.

Enrico Colantoni who played "Detective Bendetto" for 3 episodes also played VERONICA MARS father.

Yeah, like, where was the recipe of the week? Get that cookbook out yesterday!

 

[Fone Bone]

iZombie "Insane In The Germ Brain"

That was an amazing episode. Those have been few and far between this season, but I'll acknowledge it when it happens.

There is a lot to unpack here, so I might be a bit more rambling than usual.

I think my favorite scene is Ravi meeting Peyton's parents. I don't think much of Ravi, but when he tells her father that he's digging at him to upset his daughter and he wants it to stop, I thought that awesome. That was probably the awesomest thing he ever did. And then I realized why the writers had him do that. So that when he agrees with the parents that Peyton shouldn't come back, Peyton knows immediately Ravi isn't sucking up to the parents for approval, and is sincerely looking out for her best interest. That was a genius storytelling move.

I was as upset as Ravi and Liv over Isabelle's Harold and Maude death fake-outs, and I suspected she was going to die for real by the end of the episode. But the scene was not horrible. Ravi telling her to wake up is denial on his end, but it is not as bad as if he had discovered her body and realized slowly that she wasn't joking. He doesn't really believe it, but he's hoping against hope that he's wrong. And the scene was powerful because of that, as was Isabelle's goodbye on the video.

I love that Isabella instantly got up in the middle of the episode when she heard her mother's voice. I love that notion.

The lie detector brain shows this show is always finding new and creative uses for the brains. Major gaining the upper hand after that, despite being tied up would in most weeks be considered a Crowning Moment Of Awesome. But in a week that was an unambiguous win, Chase sours everything because of his temper. Everybody was celebrating and having a good time, and he killed a kid because he upset, not because the kid deserved it. Maybe shooting zombies as a punishment is as bad an idea in practice as it seems on paper. What really gets me about that moment is the looks the rest of the squad gave him. He might have just turned Major against him. Which is no big deal to me. Major should have turned against him ages ago. But the rank and file who just witnessed him murder a kid? They looked outright appalled. This is why people who work at Chase Graves are not allowed to have nice things. Chase will find a way to ruin them.

Here's an opinion. Clive and Bosio tried to make that work far longer than they needed to. They should have broken up a week after she was infected. Honestly, I feel less about Bosio for lying to Clive about meeting somebody else. Clive is not the bad guy in this situation. She shouldn't be deliberately trying to make him feel bad. She isn't making it easier for him by giving him someone to blame. She's making him feel betrayed and worse. I don't understand people like Bosio at all.

This was the best episode so far this season. *****.