If Liv’s relationship with Ravi is iZombie’s heart, then her relationship with Clive is the blood running through its veins. Week after week, they work together solving cases that act as the show’s lifeline, providing momentum through its major arcs. Over the course of two seasons, the detective and supposed psychic have grown quite close. More than mere colleagues, they have truly become friends. Since the series premiered, though, there has been one question looming over their unexpected rapport: when will Clive discover that Liv is a zombie? Honestly, I was pretty sure that he would eventually deduce this information on his own. Clive is a detective, right? He has been gathering pieces of this puzzle for quite some time. Although, I suppose zombies are outside the realm of typical conclusions one would draw.
iZombie remains the most character-driven procedural show on television. However, while the rest of our core cast evolved, Clive has remained stagnant. Sure, they threw a relationship at him, which gave him added depth and a bit more to do, and Jessica Harmon has made Dale an excellent addition to the gang. Really, though, it’s long past time for Clive to be initiated into Team Z. Unencumbered by its typical case of the week, iZombie’s brilliantly plotted, two-part season finale, pays off this long-percolating story by directly linking it with that of another: Major’s inevitable arrest.
Major is taken in as the Chaos Killer and just when it seems his circumstances can get no worse, a witness who can put him away for the Meat Cute murders comes forward. Despite an assist from sleazy lawyer Brent Stone (played by my favorite V Mars alum yet, Ken Marino), Major is well and truly fucked. With him poised to begin the apocalypse when hunger makes him go full-on Romero on everyone in the slammer, Liv plays her one remaining card. She comes clean to Clive. Although she has to stab herself to do it, Liv convinces him to let Major out.
This decimates not only his case, but also his relationship with Dale. Why he can’t just tell her the truth, I’m not entirely certain. It would seem that the cat is slinking right on out of the bag anyway. Actually, by the end of the second hour, I would say it takes a flying leap out, but we’ll come back to that.
Due to a time jump, the aftermath of Liv and Major’s breakup was never properly dealt with. This was one of the only complaints I have ever raised against the show. Major and Liv had this soul-crushing end, but then some time went by (that we can’t account for) and everything was cool. Liv moved on to Drake rather quickly and because he was likable enough, we all went along for the ride. However, Liv’s reaction to the revelation that Major is the Chaos Killer (kidnapper) is largely indicative of her feelings for him. Perhaps she realizes that they’ve lied to each other in equal measure at this point or maybe the situation is so dire that Liv just pushes past it, but the most likely culprit here is love.
Speaking of people still sweet on each other, Ravi and Peyton have decided to give it another go. However, their buzz is totally killed by the (possibly) amnesiac Blaine, who is on the run from Mr. Boss’s goons. When said goons go looking for the source of the Lucky U still flooding the streets, the traitorous Don E tells them that Blaine is alive. He also tells them that Blaine had a relationship with Peyton, who is then kidnapped in an effort to smoke him out. Ravi and Blaine team up to rescue her and Blaine impressively manages the whole operation on his own with Ravi still in the car.
I do love that Ravi asserts that being his Call of Duty squad leader has given him the necessary experience needed for this rescue mission. By the time Ravi rushes in, though, Peyton is already safe, crying in Blaine’s arms. Putting the monster he once was aside, Blaine’s supposed memory loss sort of gives him a clean slate, meaning his presence could cause complications for Peyton and Ravi next season.
DuClark wants a clean slate as well. Selling his company to the hilariously named Fillmore Graves Enterprises, a private military contractor, he decides to tie up loose ends. A botched murder attempt by Jenko (way to go Ravi) does leave our Scoobie gang with some integral info, thanks to the brain of his right-hand murderer. Once she chows down on Jenko, Liv’s first vision is of all Major’s victims: thawed, alive and in the basement at Max Rager. Of course, Liv’s visions never show her the full picture and DuClark would never be keeping all those zombies alive for no reason. He’s using them as guinea pigs to find a cure for his daughter, who now is counted among the living dead because he couldn’t hold the elevator door for a few seconds. Thus far, the prisoners they’ve been using as test subjects go full-on zombie and never come back. To save his fellow cellmates, Drake volunteers to be the next lab rat.
Joined by Clive, Liv and Major launch a rescue mission, crashing DuClark’s buy-out party. Our heroes arrive just in time to hear Rob Thomas singing, “This is How a Heart Breaks.” Not the Rob Thomas responsible for creating iZombie, but the one responsible for a string of Matchbox 20 hits I’d love to forget. He’s interrupted by the massacre taking place on account of that potent mixture of Super Max and Lucky U which, oh yeah, turns everyone partaking into zombies (and not the cuddly kind). One of my favorite moments of the finale is Liv standing over the body of a dead Rob Thomas saying, “This is how a skull breaks.”
By the time Liv rushes in to save Drake, she winds up having to kill him. It’s sad because I really did like Drake, but he was never going to be Liv’s endgame. Missing from the victims is Natalie, the zombie hooker with a heart of gold, who Major promised would not wake up a zombie. Also ranking among the actual dead as of this season’s end are DuClark and Rita. Fittingly, DuClark’s death comes at the hands of his daughter, who snacks on his brains before being killed by Major.
While I will miss the villainous duo, their arc had run its course. Guess it’s time for a regime change. Turns out, Vivian Stoll (Andrea Savage), head of Fillmore Graves is also a zombie! So is her entire team! Just like that, iZombie shifts its entire paradigm, moving into completely new and unexpected territory. “You ready for the new world order Olivia Moore?” Vivian asks her as they all share the meal that was once Rob Thomas’s brain. We all nod in unison.