Thursday, April 12, 2018

iZombie, Season 4, Episode 6: My Really Fair Lady





Wait… that’s Rachel Bloom? You have Rachel Bloom and you only have a cameo? Hey that’s ok I love her in everything

Um… except for an adaptation of Rent that decides it’s acceptable to exchange “AIDS” for “Zombie virus”, that can just die in the hottest possible fires for all eternity.

This episode is unique in that it is maybe the first without any murder… which in turn leaves more room to explore other storylines… though I’m not sure it did that really. More, it allowed the B plot (the meta plot) to be the main story it needs to be without the murder getting in the way. But it doesn’t allow room for the minor plots either

Which I think I approve of given the major plot

So, Liv is eating a brain this week because she’s hungry - and ends up with Rachel Bloom’s theatrical brain (and in classic iZombie fashion someone’s profession is presented as some kind of all consuming obsession and foundation of their personality). This includes some of the standard shenanigans with Liv acting in a sexual harassment seminar (run by weatherman Johnny Frost due to his sexual harassment. Which… doesn’t make sense but hey) her main focus is convincing Mama Leone’s group to accept her

Which is a hard sell. They’re not exactly trusting of outsiders, and, besides, half of their network has disappeared after Mama Leone was killed so horribly publicly. She offers to scratch people for them but they have zombies in the group. They don’t need her for this

I actually like how hostile they are to her, if anything it’s not enough. Because she’s not offering to join the group, she’s offering to replace Mama Leone and lead them - this woman who none of them knows. Why should they embrace her? And even if she is well meaning, what does she actually bring to the group? Mama Leone had contacts, a network, knowledge and respect- what does Liv bring?

So she has to prove herself -which she does with theatre. There are some recently smuggled humans about to die in a shipping container because the people meant to get them out have run away with Renegade’s death. Treating it as a play she sets out a perfectly executed plot, involving lots of plots, Rose McIver’s real accent, and a character who better be a lesbian after the lesbian joke.

It works perfectly and Liv willingly scratches the people she rescued -on camera, proving her commitment

Oh yes, hot film-maker guy/Liv’s next love interest is filming all of this highly illegal activity for good PR but mainly so we can have a big dramatic scene where Liv is exposed. That’s my bet. But it does make a good scene proving her commitment.


After this plan succeeds, hot film-maker guy calls Liv Renegade. I am not ready for this even if it is flirting. And he gives her the applications of the hundreds of desperate people wanting to come to New Seattle - and they have capacity for 3.

Plot line b) is romance! Peyton is approached by one of the survivors of the bus crash who wants to know whether her dead ex-husband had a dog. Her child lost their dad and she doesn’t want them to lose their dog… but only the dead man knows where it was

She asks Liv to do some brain eating - but backs off when she realises the dead man was a heroin addict. No-one is expecting Liv to endure that so they back off

But Ravi, clearly hoping to impress Peyton and having one of his zombie relapses, decides to eat the brain himself: and suffers the deeply debilitating, devastating effects of heroin withdrawal. It’s well acted, non demonised and non-romanticised. And just an awful experience which he endures with the help of mainly Peyton - and after he gets the necessary vision and finds the dog she kisses him. The romance is back on again

While Clive’s and Dale’s romance gets more complicated. He arranges a date with Michelle which then goes all awkward when the sexual harassment seminar reveals his relationship with Dale. Michelle is not amused until Clive reveals the open relationship he’s in - though Michelle still rules herself out as she wants a deeper relationship

The nature of Dale and Clive’s relationship is kind of everything successful polyamoury isn’t. Clive definitely doesn’t want another relationship (less is known about Dale) and any other relationships they pursue are, ostensibly, because they’re just that horny. In essence the storyline presents them as forced into multiple partners by their libido not affection, seeking a connection or even a desire for multiple partners

Dale also witnesses this awkwardness and is troubled

Final storyline - after Tucker begs for food and is kicked out of the restaurant by Blaine, he spouts some of the religious words of his new prophet. And later he joins a sit-in with Angus and many of his flock. All occupying tables and demanding to be fed

It seems Blaine, despite regularly visiting the well, hasn’t noticed his father escaped


Angus even offers to forgive Blaine.

Since Blaine was abused as a child by his dad… well.. That statement is NOT well received at all. Only Angus’s flock stops Blaine attacking him.

Outnumbered, Blaine agrees to feed them once a week…. But is no doubt plotting against this

I would have thought just reporting the Prophet to Chase Graves would make some difference - there’s no way Fillmore Graves can be happy about this.




Ok… Liv proved herself… did she? I mean her plan was excellent, but it was done with Rachel Bloom’s brain. If anything this only shows that a zombie eating whole brains is unpredictable as a leader. On top of that for people who near revered Mama Leone, I think I want more than one episode before they replace her with a pushy white person none of them know.

I think people need to poke more at this whole people smuggling save the world thing. Because healing everyone who is terminally ill sounds lovely but there’s a definite food supply issue here which Liv must be aware of. And she does have a network - Major, Peyton, Clive: she’s a connected woman and she’s putting all of those people and their positions at risk doing what she’s doing. Especially since she took Major’s uniform

And I’m still really unsold on filming everything being a good idea. Really really not.

I’m not sure how invested I am in Clive/Dale/Michelle. I wanted Clive to get more storylines but I’m also not entirely convinced this will go anywhere since it’s so low importance compared to the other storylines brewing

I’m also surprised no-one is blinking about Major being involved with Fillmore Graves after the death of Mama Leone