iZombie: "The Hurt Stalker" Review

iZombie: "The Hurt Stalker" Review

iZombie / 1 Dec 2015

By Amy Ratcliffe

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

Liv's ingested some bizarre brains since iZombie premiered, but the intense stalker brains she ate tonight might be the scariest of them all. Regina's skewed version of relationships heightened Liv's insecurities about her relationship with Major in sad but compelling ways. A large percentage of the way she acted in regards to Major was driven by her meals, sure, but it was rooted in reality. Her and Major can't be intimate. She was probably already worried he didn't truly feel the same way about her as he did when she was living, and since they can't have sex, it's not a huge leap to guess she'd be worried about him turning elsewhere.

Major hasn't done anything to deserve those suspicions, but he is lying to Liv about his side gig with Max Rager. Liv's probably sensing he's keeping secrets, and it's leading her into dangerous territory. They've planted threads in "The Hurt Stalker" that have to be picked up once the effects of Regina's brain wear off. Liv and Major have hurdles to overcome -- and Major being a zombie almost-killer might be an insurmountable one -- but man, those two have a connection. Their scenes tonight were all incredibly emotional. Rose McIver's facial expressions as she texted with Gilda were heartbreaking.

With Liv learning about Gilda, they're setting the board up for Liv to learn about Major's extracurricular activities. Using a case of the week to bring those two plot points together was smart. iZombie is quite excellent at finding creative ways to mesh various storylines together.

Rose McIver in iZombie

It seems like it's only a matter of time before the Max Rager skeletons come shambling out of the closet. Super Max is packaged, and as Vaughn Du Clark demonstrated, it's effective. Dangerously effective. I can't quite pin down what Vaughn's motivations for making Super Max are other than making money though. His master plan doesn't need to be crystal clear yet, but more hints would make the character more interesting.

Another intriguing concept I'd like to see explored more often: Liv in situations where she doesn't get access to brains. It's easy to forget Liv is a relatively spoiled zombie. She never had to turn to Blaine to get a meal; she took a job at a morgue -- it was a resourceful move. The idea of her being stuck somewhere with no sustenance isn't one that had occurred to me, and it was gripping. I was completely invested in those scenes. Liv on the edge was definitely the strongest point of the episode.

The case of the week was the weak point. It came with some subplots that gave us more information about Clive and hinted at the moral flexibility of the chief, but it didn't make an impression. The story was bland. The murder heavily involved Clive, so it should have made me more invested. However, it never really looked like Clive was seriously threatened by the murder. The stakes weren't there. And while it was cool to learn about Clive's enthusiasm for Game of Thrones, we learned it through someone reading a Clive fact sheet (more or less). We've seen Clive's passion for sports unfold in the context of the story in recent episodes, and that felt like we were actually getting to know him. This was like being fed a Clive bio, if that makes sense.

This week's iZombie again blended the serialized elements nicely with the bigger picture, but for an episode sort of focusing on Clive, we didn't get much Clive. The story would have been more meaty if the facts about Clive had been presented by him or come up in conversation instead of from other people. Hopefully, the events will inspire Ravi and Liv to try to get to know Clive better -- the key word being try.

This week's iZombie brought a blast from Clive's past, as Liv was put in a dangerous situation. The threat of Liv in prisonLiv's insecurities with MajorNot enough Clive in episodeMajor lying to Liv

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