IZombie: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Brain

“You’re printing fake news...”

Another good episode, this, reminiscent of earlier seasons in its humour and fun, but also showing us how very, very wrong things are in New Seattle under Chase Graves’ tyranny. And tyranny it is; that's made clear by his shutting down, with violence, of a local newspaper for criticising his "judicial" murder of the good Mama. So far, so appalling but expected, and we duly hope for justice and for Graves to get his comeuppance.

However, what's truly disturbing is just how complicit Major is becoming; he seems to enjoy his violent exercising of authority and ends the episode as Graves' right hand man. This is how tyranny happens,of course- a genuine problem, in this case a shortage of brains exacerbated by the black market, leads to universal rights and liberties seeming inconvenient to those in power. Suddenly they are no longer universal, and therefore no longer exist. But it's doubly shocking to see a character we know and like dipping his hands in the blood. It it bitterness, his break-up with Liv, having to put up with all those accusations of being the Chaos Killer, as the dialogue implies? Either way, he seems to be an analogue, for this liberal American  show, of those friends and families of the crew and viewers who have voted for Trump and for the apparent normalisation of behaviour that used to be shocking so very recently.

In other, less tangential plot threads, Liv is throwing herself into her role as the new Mama with gusto and acquiring a new, more ethical boyfriend into the bargain. Clive is having difficulty adjusting to an open relationship, unable to hide his situation from any prospective date. Eventually he resorts to visiting an escort (illegal use of a prostitute in America, I believe; Clive is potentially open to kompromat). Only after this do we get the cruel twist that Dale has never gone as far as sleeping with anyone and it is he who has fully made the relationship an open one. Ouch, but clever writing. At least Ravi and Peyton continue to be a sweet couple.

Anyway, the plot; this week's murder victim is one of those loathsome pick-up artists, Rose McIver is brilliant as ever as Liv with douchebag brain, and a poisoned condom is an inspired murder weapon. All this combines to make an episode sufficiently fine that it could even have graced an earlier season. Finally!