by Catherine Wignall
Looks like the cat’s finally out of the bag (or, is that brains out of the bag?). Either way, Liv’s finally discovered what Blaine’s up to. As our hero, she was always going to step in and do something about it, and after Blaine’s actions in this episode, that’s a call to action if ever there was one.
Looks like the cat’s finally out of the bag (or, is that brains out of the bag?). Either way, Liv’s finally discovered what Blaine’s up to. As our hero, she was always going to step in and do something about it, and after Blaine’s actions in this episode, that’s a call to action if ever there was one.
Bradley James’ performance as Lowell excelled this week as he confronted the actuality that Liv and Blaine eat people. The entire episode worked as a goodbye to a wonderful guest actor, and it’s a shame to see him take a bow so soon. His confession of love to Liv tipped us off to his fate, but it didn’t make it any less devastating. He went to face Blaine knowing he probably wouldn’t survive and yet he did it anyway as a form of atonement. If Liv had pulled the trigger first Lowell would still be alive and kicking (or, as alive as a zombie can be) but Liv’s failure to do so pushes her into a nice moral quandary that will hopefully develop during the final few episodes. What’s clear is that Lowell’s death is the shove she needed to face Blaine head to head.
Liv’s previous paramour, Major, continues to grow ever closer to discovering her true state. It seems to have taken a while for him to work it out, and yet it also seems too soon for him to know. Shooting a man only to return and find no blood and no body is a pretty heavy indication that something fishy’s going on, but it doesn’t lead him straight to Liv. Yet. Either way, he needs to learn to be less obvious in his investigations. And come up with some better theories. Brains as a sport enhancement drug? Surely nobody’s that gross.
Liv’s previous paramour, Major, continues to grow ever closer to discovering her true state. It seems to have taken a while for him to work it out, and yet it also seems too soon for him to know. Shooting a man only to return and find no blood and no body is a pretty heavy indication that something fishy’s going on, but it doesn’t lead him straight to Liv. Yet. Either way, he needs to learn to be less obvious in his investigations. And come up with some better theories. Brains as a sport enhancement drug? Surely nobody’s that gross.
Speaking of gross, Liv’s brain du jour blessed her with military stratagem and cursed her with PTSD. The case of the week – and therefore the brain – took a bit of a backseat this week as the episode focused on character development and Blaine’s brains business, but it did allow for a paintball scene. These days paintball scenes need to reach the greatness of Community’s Modern Warfare and A Fistful of Paintballs to really hit their mark, and sadly iZombie failed in this respect. (Perhaps it’s unfair to compare it to Modern Warfare and A Fistful of Paintballs. Those episodes really were stellar.)
The case aspect of iZombie is still the bum note each week but it’s too soon to say if they’ll keep this element for Season Two. It’s likely they will (what would happen to Babineaux if they didn’t??) but the writers urgently need to look at a way to make them more engaging. Right now they’re the necessary trudge you have to get through to enjoy everything else.
Overall this was a heartbreaking, necessary, wonderful episode. Losing Lowell was tragic but it has readied Liv for the battle to come, and signals a real step forward for this shiny new show.
The case aspect of iZombie is still the bum note each week but it’s too soon to say if they’ll keep this element for Season Two. It’s likely they will (what would happen to Babineaux if they didn’t??) but the writers urgently need to look at a way to make them more engaging. Right now they’re the necessary trudge you have to get through to enjoy everything else.
Overall this was a heartbreaking, necessary, wonderful episode. Losing Lowell was tragic but it has readied Liv for the battle to come, and signals a real step forward for this shiny new show.
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