iZombie: "Cape Town" Review

iZombie / 8 Dec 2015

"I'm the nightmare before Christmas." By Amy Ratcliffe

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

How does iZombie keep doing it? This show is so deft at tying together humor -- even borderline cheesy humor -- with emotional breaking points that punch you in the face. It's a formula they've perfected, and the evidence is in the midseason finale. On one hand, Liv went Batman-esque with swagger-filled (swaggerful?) statements about justice, and then elsewhere, you have a zombie hooker pouring her heart out to Major. These snippets sound ridiculous and bizarre, and yet, they work.

The episode loosely inspired by the real life Phoenix Jones put Liv into vigilante mode, and despite Chris Allred's brain (the name is a mash-up of Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, the creators of the iZombie comic) being probably the calmest of her recent meals, it got her into the most trouble. Think about it. Liv's already using her zombie powers to be a hero. She's not just eating brains to survive; she's doing it to help others. Being able to capture murderers has given her purpose as a zombie. It's been the constant her life and those in it swirl around. Liv's work with Clive has kept her centered and focused. But because of The Fog, she's lost it.

iZombie: "Cape Town" Photo Gallery:

The superhero brain amplified Liv's personality, and it's awful that it made her put her life and career in danger. Though I hate how she's likely going to be in a dark place, Clive acted in the only way he could. He's been all about getting results and maybe looking the other way when Liv acted weird, but he said something in "Cape Town" he should have said a long time ago. He has been giving her a lot of leeway and treating her like a cop, and I don't know much about the ins and outs of police departments but it seems weird for her to be so included in interrogations and investiations.

I would have rather seen more time spent on Liv and her relationships than having so much of the episode focused on Boss and his minions. They're building Boss and his influence up and the jokes about Santa Boss "toying" with Clive and Liv were fun but getting into Liv's head more would have made the strong ending of the episode more meaningful.

The scene between Liv and Major hurt, don't get me wrong. Only Major could be sent to take out a zombie and talk her out of suicide. His character is so inherently sweet and noble. However, he should have come out of the talk with the zombie call girl ready to be honest with Liv. She was suffering a terrible sort of hell -- the idea of zombies being forced to have sex in order to get brains is a downright chilling one -- but I'm a little disappointed in Major for gaining sympathy for Liv through someone else. Liv has tried to explain what it's like to have multiple people in her head, but Major finally gets it because of someone else?

Back to the superhero dynamic: the brain gave them more comedy fodder than usual because of The CW being home to shows like The Flash and Arrow. A hint of the very serious Oliver Queen came through Liv's performance, and Ravi got to be a little like The Flash's Cisco. His reaction when Liv first exhibited the traits from The Fog's brain was priceless. And another great if quick character bit for Ravi was how quickly he reacted to Blaine bringing a wounded person to the morgue. He and Liv both jumped into action to save the man first before yelling at Blaine.

Speaking of Blaine, was there anything better than his zombie welcome talk to Drake? No, no there wasn't. David Anders is a gift.

iZombie's midseason finale navigated through layers of plots and had some emotional heft with Liv and Major's break-up and the news about the zombie cure failing. At the same time, there was plenty of humor with Liv's vigilante personality and Blaine's one-liners.

iZombie's midseason finale put Liv in a heroic role, as she's faced with questions about the future. Problem with the cureClive putting his foot down

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