Major and Liv are back on! The end of last episode saw Major finally getting his shit together. He flushed the drugs down the toilet, cleaned himself up and professed his unwavering love for Liv. “It won’t always be this nauseating, right?” Ravi asks, when he and Peyton witness their morning-after glow. “Suffer bitch,” Major replies. Of course, it’s not a glow of the post-sex variety. Major and Liv still have no idea if getting it on will zombify him.
Luckily, Ravi has volunteered to run the least fun condom test ever to ascertain whether or not the prophylactics will sufficiently stop the spread of the virus. For now though, they’ll have to keep things strictly G-Rated, which leads to an adorable game of Skype strip poker later in the episode. As exciting as their reunion is, Major is still keeping secrets from Liv. She is completely ignorant about what he’s actually doing for DuClark, although it turns out, so were we, but more on that later.
The happy couple winds up on the most awkward double date ever when they run into Clive and Agent Bozzio. Clive isn’t overjoyed that Liv has reunited with the man he’s still sure is responsible for the Meat Cute Massacre, but he does his best to be friendly. However, the tension during the introductions could be cut with a fucking hacksaw. As they go their separate ways, Liv reveals to Major the reason that Bozzio’s there. She’s looking for the person behind the disappearances of all those wealthy men. In other words, the FBI is now on Major’s trail and he knows it.
This week’s murder victim is actually last week’s murderer, Harry Cole, which is cool, because the guy was a real douche. He was also a compulsive gambler, so once Liv makes a delectable Clams Casino of his brain, she’s off to the races (pun intended). She’ll bet on everything from which doughnut is next out of the box to whether or not Clive can make the shot when attempting to throw his garbage into the trash can. Although Harry’s murder seems so connected to last week’s “fixer” that it may as well be wrapped up with a bow on top, of course it’s not that simple. Rick Fox guest stars as a pro basketball player and while watching Clive geek out about sports is fun, there isn’t that much to say about the actual case, because it wasn’t all that compelling.
Although the last few cases haven’t been quite as stellar as those of previous episodes, there is so much going on in the larger story arc that it is barely noticeable. iZombie has been cleverly using it’s procedural format to slowly build its world and by this point, that world has become completely realized. The characters are fully formed, three-dimensional people, which makes it impossible to not become invested in their fates and the mythology is ever growing.
Not only are the show’s villains extremely well developed, but they keep subverting our expectations as well. Remember when Blaine was the big bad? The entrance of DuClark made him seem so much smaller though. Well, this episode finally introduces us to Stacey Boss and he absolutely dwarfs the Max Rager magnate. Played by an unassuming, yet terrifying Eddie Jemison, he shows up when Liv and Clive are questioning a murder suspect, though his identity is unknown to them. He later appears at Peyton’s office to casually threaten her about her ongoing investigation of him. Her big board does not compromise him, but instead, tells him exactly who her source is.
Speaking of her source, this episode was very Blaine heavy, which is awesome, because David Anders has made him truly engaging. He may be a heel, but he’s become a pretty lovable one. We get a glimpse into his machinations during an incredibly interesting conversation he has with Liv, while quite drunk, in which we discover how much he misses being a zombie. Apparently, it gave him a purpose. Now that purpose is gone and he’s losing his grip. Not only has his malicious father, Angus (Robert Knepper), learned that Blaine no longer ranks among the living dead, but he’s exploiting that fact to take over his business. If Blaine wants to remain human, he’s got to follow Angus’s orders and bring him the brain of his archrival.
Instead though, he inexplicably smothers his infirm grandfather (who he actually loves) and takes his brain instead. I’m not sure exactly why he does this and while it’s true that gramps wasn’t living much of a life and Blaine is obviously remorseful, it’s still a monstrous act. The only thing I can think of is that he wants Angus to ingest the brain and know what his father’s final moments were like. Unfortunately, it was all for naught, because now daddy is missing, abducted by Major.
While we’re on the subject of Major, it turns out that he hasn’t been killing zombies after all! He’s been tranquing them and tossing them in a freezer. The “bodies” he shot and threw off the bridge were mannequins. I’m not sure if reviving a frozen zombie is a viable plan, nor have I discerned what exactly his endgame is, but whew, it’s a relief to know he hasn’t been killing people! Still, Liv has no idea what’s going on and when Major’s secrets are inevitably revealed, she’s not going to care that his only concern was her safety. Aside from this clear indicator of trouble ahead for them, Ravi’s tests all had the same incontrovertible results: if Liv and Major have sex, even protected sex, Major will wind up a zombie.