Courtesy of The CW
iZombie goes country as Liv (Rose McIver) embraces her inner Nashville star.
Let’s bitch it out…
Case of the Week: Lacey and Su are star-crossed lovers – she’s a country music star and he’s recently on parole for aggravated assault. When she turns up dead, he’s suspect number one, though the pervy boss (Raphael Sbarge) and his jealous wife are also candidates. The reveal that Lacey was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time is a procedural anti-climax, but ultimately that’s less important than the drama brewing between Liv (Rose McIver) and Major (Robert Buckley).
“Gotta Let You Go”: In the most heartfelt scene of the episode, Liv arrives on Major’s door to tell him – in her twang-infused voice with matching country rhyming – that she will never stop loving him, but she has to let him go. It’s a beautifully written soliloquy, expertly performed by McIver…and it’s immediately undermined when Major calmly and quietly thanks her and shuts the door in her face. Theyend up having it out in the hallway and it seems like it’s finally over for the show’s it couple.
Then everything falls apart for Major as he continues his Utopia spiral (even Rahul Kohli’s Ravi yells at him!). The final scene finds him on Liv’s doorstep like a lost puppy, immediately followed by smooching and implied sexytimes. This had better not be another hallucination, iZombie!
In all honesty, though these scenes were emotionally fraught and McIver and Buckley act the hell out of them, the hallway fight doesn’t entirely make sense. Liv arrives to announce that she’s out, then gets mad at Major when she doesn’t get a satisfactory response. When he reminds her that every time he asks for space she turns up, her response is to challenge why he’s making her question “the one thing I always knew was real”. It’s the kind of response that only works if Liv hasn’t just declared herself “over” him (which she, in fact, just has). The fight makes for good television and it’s nice for the lovers to get their shit out, but Liv’s whiplash reactions don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Best friends bring each other smoothies: With Peyton (Aly Michalka) in town, Liv has her bestie back. Cue the post-workout kale smoothies and girl-talk on the couch about Gilda’s (Leanne Lapp) toned body and liquid dinners. This injection of estrogen provides a much-needed female balance, which is a nice change of pace considering that Liv is usually in “case” mode or mooning over Major. Without Peyton, iZombie tends to be a fairly masculine-dominated (Liv is in every scene, but she’s surrounded by men and Gilda have yet to make a real impact outside of a few scenes an episode).
Plus there’s an ease and comfort between McIver and Michalka that makes it easy to believe they’ve been friends forever. In an otherwise quiet episode, it’s nice to see Liv make up with both Major and Peyton.
Courtesy of The CW
Other Observations:
- Blaine (David Anders) makes some big advances on two fronts: 1) he tracks down Gabriel, the Utopia cook (and turns him) in the hopes of getting Gabriel’s secret recipe. He also 2) feeds Peyton information about Mr. Boss’ empire. Both of these are simmering plot lines, destined to turn up the heat in the coming weeks.
- I love that the stolen dog is named Minor (as in: Major & Minor), though the revelation that Ravi discovers him back in the park where his real master used to take him is a little heartbreaking.
- I fully support Ravi getting pissed at Major (not only because he’s so maudlin and wrapped up in his gaming): Major inviting Peyton – Ravi’s ex – to live with them without permission is a major no-no, especially when Ravi is finally ready to move on with Steph (Debs Howard)! Plus Major lost Minor and didn’t even care. That’s so inexcusable!
- No surprise: Rose McIver can sing (country). I mean, is there anything that she can’t do?!
- It appears that Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) is finally getting a storyline of his own in the form of a potential relationship with Dale Bozzio (Jessica Harmon), a relocated FBI agent. Dale seems like fun when she mocks another detective for lighting scented candles at work, though I’ll admit my initial concern is that she’s some kind of mole or villain. After all, iZombie is filled with characters who are pretending to be someone they aren’t for nefarious purposes!
Best Lines:
- Major (petting Minor): “That’s the smell of sex and self-loathing.”
- Ravi (hearing Liv’s song about Lacey and Su): “Love and murder – it’s a country staple.”
- Blaine (after his silent associate shows him a smiley face text): “I don’t think there’s an emoji that rightfully expresses how it feels to lose 50k a month.”
- Dale (yelling at the cop burning scenting candles): “Who brings their chi to work?”
Your turn: what did you think of country-Liv? Did this episode feel a bit more light-weight to you after the other episodes? Are you down for some Liv/Major action? Glad to have Peyton back? Is she in over her head? Is Blaine? Is Dale evil? Sound off below.
iZombie airs Tuesdays at 9pm EST on The CW. Next week Liv hits the courts: