Shop teacher by day, costumed vigilante by night, Chris Allred (amalgamation of iZombie comic creators Chris Roberson and Mike Allred) is killed while attempting to stop a mugging. Although she scoffs at Allred’s choice to take on crime as the Fog, Liv is so desperate to rid her system of stalker brains that she doesn’t care what his dominant personality traits are. After making a meal of him, Liv becomes a paladin for justice and Ravi, who we find out has (of course) mentally assembled his own utility belt, couldn’t be more psyched. Among the names he bandies about for her new persona: Superdead, Snow Woman and Mighty Whitey, who Liv points out would be the Ku Klux Klan’s favorite superhero. While she spends the episode spouting hilarious platitudes like, “I make time for justice” and it is awesome to see her quite literally suit up to take on Mr. Boss, Allred’s influence puts her in the line of fire like never before.
Liv failed to see how the Fog could have possibly had any impact on Seattle, completely ignoring the parallels between the two of them. He may be a normal guy putting on a costume to beat up thugs, but she’s a zombie that eats brains to solve murders. As usual, the mystery of the week doesn’t disappoint as we learn that the mugging Allred tried to stop wasn’t at all what it seemed. Apparent victim, Mary, had just robbed Mr. Boss’s men and was on the run from them when the Fog witnessed the scene. She was the one that killed him after he took care of the men chasing her.
Liv can’t stop herself from attempting to bust Mr. Boss for his warehouse full of guns, so against Clive’s orders, she heads there herself. After kicking some serious ass, she discovers a tied up Mary. Thinking Mary a damsel in distress, she makes the same mistake as Allred and frees the killer from her restraints. In another brilliant twist, Liv is saved from the gun subsequently pointed at her head, by none other than Mr. Boss.
Meanwhile, Major still hasn’t gotten honest with Liv about the pile of zombies building up in his freezer. This episode sees him stalking his first female victim and the plot takes a very unexpected turn. Instead of sedating her as planned, he stops her from blowing her brains out. Of course, Major being the guy that he is, this leads to a strange heart to heart with a woman, who honestly, is a bit too understanding. After learning the circumstances that took her from high class call girl to zombie hooker getting paid in brains, Major winds up gaining an entirely new perspective on Liv’s personality swings.
This season of iZombie has really been exploring the minimal amount of control Liv has over the effects of whatever brain she eats. Last episode, Regina’s gray matter nearly destroyed her relationship with Major and in “Cape Town,” the flavor of the week costs Liv her job. After her stunt at the warehouse, Clive rightfully fires her. Working with him gave her a purpose: it gave her a way to make something new out of a life that she thought was over. If she can’t help people with the brains that she is forced to eat, then she sees herself as little more than a monster.
Coming to terms with her undead status has been a process for Liv Moore. She has had to grieve the death of her expectations. If Season One dealt with denial, anger and depression, Season Two delves into bargaining and with this episode, acceptance. Liv and Major have been on borrowed time and they both know it. A relationship can’t work based on who you want someone to become, as opposed to who they actually are and they’ve spent too long with their hopes for the future hinging on a cure that doesn’t exist. As much as Major’s chat with his would-be victim fills him with optimism and understanding, her firing has robbed Liv of hers.
This is perhaps not the best time for her to assess their chances, but she shreds their hopes with a single sentence: “You love the woman I was before. You tolerate the woman I am now.” Because Liv breaking up with Major to the dulcet tones of “White Christmas” wasn’t enough of a gut punch for the mid-season finale, iZombie dropped its biggest bomb yet. A New Hope (Ravi’s cured zombie rat) reverted back to her zombie form, meaning the cure isn’t permanent and that neither Major or Blaine are long for this mortal coil.