iZombie: Salivation Army

"This is Seattle, not Sleepy Hollow!"

Where to begin? This is a truly epic finale that changes everything, introduces a new baddie and seems to fire the starting gun on the zombie apocalypse. If it wasn't for the fact that it features the lead singer of the awful Matchbox Twenty as himself it would be truly awesome, but we can't have perfection. It seems Du Clark likes fake grunge crap, which is truly evil. At least Blaine likes the real thing.

The whole episode consists of Liv, Major and Clive in a mission to Max Rager to infiltrate a party while everything goes wrong and wild zombies- I love the way they're referred to as "Romeros"- are let loose. I suspect next season will be very different. 

At last Clive now knows everything and can play a full part in this big episode, full of big things happening. Don E is shot as Me Boss takes over. Drake becomes a Romero, which sucks for Liv but probably bodes well for her and Major. Blaine helps Ravi to save Peyton- his character is clearly being majorly revamped.

We end with Du Clark, after much twirling of his moustache, getting his comeuppance at the hands of a bunch of hungry Romeros as Major lets him doe. And it seems we have a new big bad, with a zombie now in charge of Max Rager...

An awesome episode of an awesome season of an awesome series. iZombie deserves to be much more ubiquitous.

iZombie: Reflections of the Way Liv Used to Be

"Like me for my antidotes, love me for my anecdotes."

A swotty student is murdered and it's all linked to study drugs and a corrupt undercover cop within vice. It's a nice whodunit, if inevitably a bit perfunctory at this late stage of the season, but we get to see Liv on swot brain, and it's really underlined how unusual Clive is for not being at all corrupt.

Meanwhile, amnesiac Blaine's employees are taking advantage and claiming to be in charge. Ravi tells Liv that Major is a) the Chaos Killer, except without the killing part, and b) a zombie. And Vaughn fails to win a "father of the year" award for his treatment of his zombified daughter Rita. There's a lot going on. We even meet the most annoying of the frat boys from Zombie Bro again.

It's all about the ending, though: Dale and get FBI mates arrest Major for being the Chais Killer. Two episodes to go. This season is amazing.

iZombie: The Whopper

"I invented the orgasm, Clive."

It had to happen: Liv eats the brain (via the usual brilliant food montage) of a congenital liar. What also had to happen was Clive noticing Liv adopting personality traits of the victims for her visions. It would have stretched credibility for him not to have noticed something by now; how soon until he discovers the whole truth?

Meanwhile it's all happy families as Blaine's apparently dead zombie dad leaves him sod all in his will while leaving everything to his abusive old nanny- nice bit of character background there for our poor little rich kid. 

Things don't end there, of course; Blaine soon kidnaps Major, discovers the truth, gets his dad back to be tortured into another will, and insists on deciding which targets on his list Major gets rid of yet. Meanwhile, there are still signs that Drake is something of a dodgy choice of boyfriend for Liv, and the death of the zombie rat indicates that neither Blaine nor Major will live long after reverting to zombiedom. Ouch. That's a bit of a bombshell. 

For the second episode in a row there isn't really a murder mystery as opposed to the arc plot, but it's a bloody good episode, climaxing with our heroes finally discovering the tainted utopium..

iZombie: Grumpy Old Liv

"Are you eating that or impregnating it?"

Time to start a new (and slightly longer) season of iZombie, and Liv is estranged from her family who, for obvious reasons, do not and cannot know why she refused to give blood for her gravely injured brother Evan. It's deeply unfair, potentially very upsetting viewing and thus not dwelt upon. We shall have to wait and see if there's a good narrative reason for it happening.

In the meantime, though, Liv is doing what she does, eating brains, having visions and solving crimes. This week's cerebellum-based meal is a bitter, gimpy and vaguely racist old man. The racist side is, again wisely, not dwelt upon. 

Meanwhile, Major is still aimlessly unemployed and Peyton is still AWOL. Liv has a new roommate who is described as being boring because she works for her country's tax authority. Ahem. Still, at least she's made interesting at the end by virtue of being an undercover spy for Max Rager. The killer (spoilers) has a t-shirt emblazoned with "T-shirts are passé" which made my wife and I laugh. He also has his alibi of watching Arsenal vs Chelsea in a pub, and correctly refers to the sport as "football", yet he's an American in America. Wow. We may have buggered up our relations with all our neighbours a few years ago, but it seems the relentless march of British sports continues apace, even into the USA. 

Oh, and Blaine is now a funeral director, using the brains of the deceased to feed his zombie clients. Lovely. But, if he doesn't help Liv find the story behind the tainted utopium, the side effects of the cure may kill him. It seems he isn't quite in control. Even worse, we end with Max Rager blackmailing Major into embarking on a zombie killing spree. It's a superb start to what promises to be another brilliant season.

iZombie: Blaine's World

"Nice ball sac..."

So, to the finale. Blaine has Major at his mercy as the Max Rager conspiracy finally gets exposed. Oh, and Peyton finds out that Liv is a zombie under viokent circumstances and runs away, appalled. It was bound to happen. Will she back and, if so, as friend or foe?

It's a firmly awesome finale, setting up new threats as du Clark seeks to use zombies to produce "Supermax", which will mean consumers no longer need to sleep. And Liv gives up her apparently last chance for a cure to use on Blaine, a suitable Guinea pig for a solution that killed a rat. Suzuki dies heroically in the end, covering up his corruption. It's all very neat.

But the ending is heartbreaking as Liv's brother is caught in the explosion and she's asked to donate her blood. But she can't...

This has been an unexpectedly addictive,entertaining and intelligent series. A season of True Blood next and then I'll be blogging Season Two...

iZombie: Astroburger

""Careful! Don't open yourself up to the classic reverse Sicilian gambit. That's a chess thing, right?"

"Sounds more like something a call girl would make you pay extra for..."

We know iZombie by now; yes, Majoy may be in a mental hospital because Liv thought he'd be safe there, but he isn't: his chess-playing mate gets murdered. Liv duly acquires said delusional brain, complete with chess skills, voices in her head and (we discover) an imaginary friend. Meanwhile Ravi and Peyton start dating, and it seems to be going well.

Major, after this, discharges himself and returns to his obsession, made so much worse by his not knowing the truth. There is ascent in which Liv reveals all to him but this is, rather predictably, a delusion.

Also, Blaine has stick zombie client who wants the brain if someone who has walked on the Moon(!) and Ravi's successful cure for the zombie rat seems to hold out hope.

Another good episode, then, if predictable in places. And it reminds me that a) weed is legal in Washington State and b) I must watch Vertigo again, and blog it.

iZombie: The Exterminator

"Devoid of compassion. Full of factoids."

This episode is interesting as it shows us a traditional, mindless zombie; this is the fate that awaits Liv if her supply of brains dries up. Nice. Meanwhile, Liv experiences the brain of a sociopathic hit man. Not that there's any other kind.

Again, this is a good murder mystery and, it must be said, the third brilliant episode in a row. Liv is fortunate to be devoid of empathy as she witnesses the fate of her friend Marcie, forever a mindless zombie, and has to kill her. It's a brutal reality check for her and for Ravi, tirelessly seeking a cure.

Meanwhile, homeless kids are going missing; it seems that. Rather than weaving a light set of season arcs through stories of the week, the series is rather more heavily arc-based. Good.