iZombie Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Patriot Brains
Lindsay MacDonald
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I have never been more nervous for a beloved villain in all my life than when Liv nearly sniped Blaine right off that rooftop.
Thank goodness for her moral sensibilities, or we would be one zombie short after iZombie Season 1 Episode 9. Well... we still technically might be. We'll have to dig deeper into zombie mythology to know for sure!
First, can we all breathe a sigh of relief that Ravi is not infected? It didn't seem likely, but still, it's nice to know that our zombie cast is not going to start outnumbering the humans.
Jumping right ahead to the end, let's talk about that confrontation between Lowell, Liv, and Blaine.
After resolving herself to assassinate Blaine, it seemed like a done deal that Liv would pull the trigger. She sure had the experience to do so, with Everett's sharp shooter brains coursing through her system.
Blaine has to die. I'm going to kill him.
Liv
Thankfully, Blaine was spared a bullet to the brain when Liv's conscience acted up. I loved that they tied Liv's Hippocratic Oath into this dilemma. iZombie has developed a great habit of really fleshing out its characters (no pun intended), building on everything we know of them to create the decisions we see them make on screen. Major kudos.
Unfortunately for Lowell, Liv's conscience wasn't the only one acting up.
After a rowdy fight, a tearful apology, and an admission of love, Lowell was winning the hearts of audiences everywhere. Which naturally led to his swift and tragic death.
What's the consensus on head shots in this zombie mythology? I know most zombies in mainstream media can be permanently killed by a shot to the head, but has this technique been proven on the show yet? Definitely something for the iZombie Round Table to discuss this week, as we ponder Lowell's final fate!
Speaking of zombie takedowns, Major had one of his own.
All of his research leads Major to the very inaccurate conclusion that human brains can be used as sports steroids.
So, slight silver lining, he's not thinking 'zombie.'
Ravi
His investigation lands him right back in the ring with Julien, who is not messing around anymore. Poor Major, his face hasn't even healed properly, and he's already in another fight!
Major's developments lately have been some of the best of the season though. Rather than finding out about Liv's zombie secrets through emotionally fraught interactions with her, as is typical of the pop-teen-supernatural genre, Major has taken on a fact-finding mission of his own, completely independent of Liv. If he ever does get to the bottom of it, it will be fairly easy to connect the dots, but this is not your typical supernatural romance subplot.
Finally, we get to the procedural element of the episode.
Starring in the breakout role of "that step-dad whose name no one will remember" is everyone's favorite Veronica Mars alum, Percy Daggs! You might know him better as Wallace Fennel. It's truly amazing to see all of Rob Thomas' old partners in crime turn up to support his new project.
iZombie seems to be pulling back on the crime-fighting a bit this week. The episode nearly split right down the middle when you measure how much time was allotted to the murder of the week as compared to everything else. A very different ratio than we typically see. To be frank, it's not a ratio that works very well either.
The crime of the week getting less time and attention only served to make it seem more pointless and underdeveloped. Sorry guys, I'm not a fan.
Could our favorite zombie-dramedy be pulling back on the procedural?
Probably not, since it's the basis for the comic book as well as the show, but one can hope. On the other hand, what would we fill our time with if we didn't have crimes to solve?
Is Lowell really dead? What will Liv do about Blaine now? Sounds off in comments below with your thoughts!
If you missed this nail-biter of an episode, be sure to watch iZombie online via TV Fanatic!
