Thursday, May 10, 2018

iZombie, Season 4, Episode 10: Yipee Ki Brain, Motherscratcher!




Major continues to enjoy rising attention in Fillmore Graves as he gets more and more important and even Chase who is 5 steps from breakdown cheers him on and joins in the gay jokes. Because of course

His rising star means he thinks he’ll be able to get in better with Russ and his brain selling racket as he becomes closer to the fascist-in-chief.

Team Liv is also moving forwards. Isobel is still onside for testing of a vaccine and Ravi is working on that. Ravi even speaks to Isobel’s mother who supports her choice and 16 year old Isobel is very mature and trusted because of this. Of course Ravi also feels he has to look after her at the urging of her mother.

The testing doesn’t actually get anywhere but they keep trying as we see them all having fun together, with Levon and Liv getting more couply, watching their zombie high DVDs (which previously were referenced in season 2)

But Isobel isn’t completely ignoring her mental illness. While she’s not dwelling on it every moment she is still feeling all the things she’ll never have chance to experience (especially with Liv and Levon as well as Peyton and Ravi being very sexual). So Liv sets her up with one of the actors from that show, with Ravi swooping around playing protector and parental figure. They’re definitely building a family dynamic.

The whole zombie smuggling ring is also really taking off growing and growing and growing and why is no-one questioning this?! Why why why does absolutely no-one questioning what this will do to the brain supply? Why why why is no-one here worrying about how all these extra zombies are going to be fed? It’s ridiculous that we see an apparently exponential growth of zombies isn’t considered questionable or worrisome at all?

One of their coyotes, Curtis, a 21 year old with a new baby and a wedding coming up, is caught by Fillmoregraves and faces Chase and the French detective (does this guy actually have a name?). He tries to distract them claiming he works for Brother Love claiming that Angus wants a lot more zombies so all the starving zombies will then see that humans are designed to be eaten.

Wow, someone actually noticing that a lot of zombies equals starving zombies equals problems BUT STILL NOT STOPPING THIS

Chase doesn’t exactly believe this but it does buy them enough time for Liv to launch a rescue - by planting a tracker on Major. She can’t rescue Curtis because of the bars on his room… but she can scratch him so his brains can’t be eaten for visions. This means Curtis, about to get married to a human woman and mother of his child, is giving up a lot.


But Fillmore Graves has got more attention for Angus’s church. And Angus has decided to hold up Blaine as his zombie Jesus which is somewhat disturbing and weird. He even almost, almost, owns his abuse of Blaine. Though he does this by dragging out his housekeeper Frau Bader - a woman who helped raise Blaine as a child. And was extremely abusive towards him

Angus offers the old woman up to his congregation to kill as a gesture to Blaine to get him on side… I think it is rather scapegoating the old woman where Blaine clearly sees Angus as his abuser. He has spent far more time hating on daddy dearest than he has on Frau Bader… I don’t think this will work that well for Angus

I also think the French Detective may be becoming a convert which will add to Chase’s endless worries

Dale has eaten the Mayor’s brain, though she’s really not a fan, and is trying to prove Blaine murdered him. Which he did. But he covered his tracks very very very well

Oh, and Points to this episode for being so very self aware. Yes they’re fourth wall breaking but they’re awesome

Like when watching a TV series, Ravi mentions how he loves the villain because he’s so good at chewing the scenary and even though he does despicable things you can’t help but root for him

And then cuts to Blaine. And doesn’t that just sum up Blaine, the magnificent bastard, so well?

Or when Ravi complains about how shows have bad episodes when they run out of money and all the action happens off-screen - which has Clive recounting all the amazing action scenes off camera (especially since Liv and her irrelevant brain get banned from field duty - finally some consequences for these brain behaviours as Dale angrily makes it clear they’re not an excuse). I do like some subtle 4th wall breaking.

After the rescue of Curtis there’s some more fallout - Major discovers Liv is renegade. He’s furious she risked his life with the Tracker and I don’t remotely care because Major is a tool of fascism now and think someone should beat him repeatedly other than in his pretty pretty face. Levon tries to get him to leave, Major who is so much bigger, easily rams him against a wall and Liv kicks him out.

Maybe their relationship is now irreparably shattered