Quick Take review – iZombie 1×08: ‘Dead Air’

Liv (Rose McIver) turns into a sex/relationship therapist for an episode that advances nearly every single subplot.

Let’s bitch it out…

First off: NOOOOOOOO! That is literally what my notes look like after Ravi (Rahul Kohli) successfully calls up Peyton (Aly Michalka) for a date…and then immediately gets bitten by the zombie rat he’s drawing blood from. Ah cruel fate! My hope is that this will prove to be a weird exception where a rat strain of the disease won’t have any impact on a human and Ravi will be perfectly fine (either that or iZombie could be introducing one of its source material’s story lines).

Let’s take a step back, shall we?

So this week’s case about an electrocuted radio personality is fun, albeit a little bit obvious. It’s fairly clear from the get-go that it’s either the producer or the assistant, so when both end up under scrutiny, it’s no big surprise. What’s more enjoyable is the extreme pleasure that Liv gets in listening to the salacious gossip of Good.Morning.Sex., and the general bitchiness that overcomes her when she ingests the brains of the egotistical morning show hostess. Like the AV TV Club, I would have preferred it if Liv had used her temporary “shrinking” powers to greater effect in her relationships with Lowell (Bradley James) and Major (Robert Buckley), however. The former is barely even explored before they’re falling back into bed and the conversation with Major is disrupted the moment that Liv sees his mangled post-jail face.

Complaints of the missed opportunities of the brain of the week aside, the Major stuff is moving in exciting and promising directions. It’s alarming how quickly he’s fallen down the zombie rabbit hole: a few episodes ago he was basically a dreamboat love interest; now he’s an unkempt fanatic who is lying to his friends. The moment that he asks Liv to believe him – that she’s the one he wants to let in – is heartbreaking because Liv thinks she’s protecting him with her refusal, when in truth it simply isolates him further and puts him in even more danger as he investigates Blaine (David Anders) by himself.

Throughout eight episodes, the Blaine storyline has been on the back burner, slowly coming to a boil amidst the relationship drama and brains of the week cases. With the revelation that Lowell is one of Blaine’s customers, that the Candyman Julien had a human brain in his car and the cliffhanger ending teasing Liv’s highly anticipated run-in with Blaine in the elevator (after being out of contact for nearly six episodes), things are coming to a head. Throw in the C-plot that Liv’s brother will inevitably end up working at Blaine’s shop and Liv’s declaration in the preview that she must kill Blaine promises all kinds of exciting developments.

Other Observations:

• Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) – cool as always – handles himself fairly well under Liv’s shrinking. Ravi is a different story. Last week I declared Ravi the most underutilized character on the show, so it’s a treat that this episode deepens his relationship with Liv by introducing some conflict. Not only do we get a better sense of what makes him tick, but he’s given more to do than simply provide a witty line or act as back-up in a case.
• Turns out that one of the main reasons that Blaine’s high body count has gone unnoticed is because Lieutenant Suzuki (Hiro Kanagawa) has been covering up for him by disposing of the corpses (ex: last week’s case)
  • Side Bar: My husband – ever the trouble maker – wants to know how Suzuki colours the grey into his hair (since we have to presume Suzuki colours it like all of the other incognito zombies on the series)
• Hey remember Corinne (Elise Gatien), Major’s girlfriend? Yeah, me neither. But apparently they were still together this whole time. Now they’re not, because Major’s gone off the deep end. Admittedly if you smell bad, get arrested and fixate on researching brains on the internet, your significant other would probably leave you…not that I would know anything about that <sob>
• Finally, the sexy opening is a lovely rift on our expectations. Given the framing of the camera and Liv’s oral cues, we’re lead to believe something dirty is happening. Instead it’s just a foot rub – the good stuff, Liv reassures us via voice over – has already happened. Very sneaky, iZombie

Best Lines:

• Booking officer (when Ravi asks if she knows when Major will be released): “Yeah, but I’m keeping it to myself because I really like these chats we keep having every fifteen minutes. Maybe don’t be friends with criminals”
• Major (when Peyton asks who he was fighting with): “Sons of Anarchy, I think?”
• Ravi (after learning the electrocuted vic is also the mistress threatened on the air): “Shocking <pause> Too soon?”
• Liv (surveying the dead rats): “The Lannisters send their regards”
• Ravi (after Clive mentions a picture of a blow-up sex doll): “Oh, I want to see”
• Liv (calling rival radio host Chuck out on his mommy issues): “All I’m saying is the inexplicable crying while chuffing the carrot…”
• Major (when Liv asks what happened to his face): “I can’t talk about Fight Club. Crap”
• Sam (when his girlfriend, radio assistant Kaylee, gets arrested): “Not cool, babe”

Your turn: are you worried about Ravi? Do you think we’re nearing the point of confrontation between Liv and Blaine? What did he mean when he told Suzuki that she’s part of his plan? Are you disappointed that Lowell is a customer of Blaine? Is Major doomed to die? Sound off below.

iZombie airs Tuesdays at 9pm EST on The CW. I’ll try to post a brief Talk Back on next week’s episode, but it may be touch and go. In the meantime, here’s your preview: