S02.E09: Cape Town

[ElectricBoogaloo]

A high school shop teacher, who becomes a vigilante crime fighter named "The Fog" by night, is murdered. Meanwhile, Major engages in an eye-opening conversation with a new friend; and Blaine forces Liv to do the unthinkable.

 

Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOTl6TydvJU

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sneak peek:

[xqueenfrostine]

A zombie hooker who has to let herself be pimped out to other zombies so she can eat?  Sweet Jesus that's grim!

[Triskan]

Well that was a very strong episode.

 

Perfect balance of hilarious moments (and punchlines !), really dark stuff, plot-moving one the long term, character-driven scenes... the actors were all brilliant (I missed Peyton tough, I wished she was more involved in the story but there might be a schedhuling issue at hand).

 

Anyway, it's gonna be a long wait till the reprisal (well, it's all relative, after all. In the end it's quite a short wait) and they left on a really good note. 

[blugirlami21]

I thought this episode was so dissatisfying on every level.  What was the point of superhero brain?  We didn't learn anything new and now Clive doesn't want to work with Liv anymore.  That totally blindsided me because there was no buildup at all.  Major is still being written as an idiot.  I feel like a broken record but Liv can take care of herself.  You're not actually killing zombies, I seriously doubt that she would find you abducting and not killing zombies reprehensible.  Better you than another person who would actually do the job right.  I was hoping that prostitute zombie would convince you to stop being so stupid but she didn't do that.  I really liked her btw.  Why couldn't she stick around and be a friend to Liv?  And his attitude towards zombie Liv sucks.  She's not going to get better, it's never going to be what it was.  I thought that him pursuing her again meant that he understood that.  That being said Liv was also wrong with her defeatist attitude.  Major isn't going to be used to you being a zombie in a couple of weeks.  Cut him some slack, he's trying his best.  Both of them are just too annoying right now.

 

The only thing that made me happy was Ravi revealing that the cure doesn't work.  Excellent.  I've been hoping that Major would just turn back into a zombie so that they can jump over that particular relationship hurdle.  I does however not make me happy to have Blaine turn back into the homicidal manic that he was when he was a zombie.

[Jack Kerouac]

Not a great episode. The brain was useless except for how happy it made Ravi. Liv was an idiot breaking up with Major. I so want him to revert back to a zombie and when she says 'finally we can be together,' he just tells her to piss off.

[GaT]

I liked that they started the episode with Liv still acting from the stalker brains, but I don't like her not working with Clive anymore. This reminds me of Grimm where everyone kept waiting until they finally told Sergeant Wu what was going on, they need to tell Clive about zombies because him not knowing is getting old.

 

Is Major going to turn back into a zombie?

 

I don't understand the end, why was the new zombie guy with Mr Boss?

[Actionmage]

and now Clive doesn't want to work with Liv anymore.  That totally blindsided me because there was no buildup at all.

 

I respectfully disagree. While Clive may think Liv is fun and actually helps with his clearance rate, there have been plenty of times last season and this, where Clive cautions Liv and she steams on doing what she thinks is helpful. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Like when she got thrown in jail for breaking into the chief/ chief of detective's car.  Stubborn vigilante brains just exacerbated the already thin line Clive felt he could give Liv.  In order to protect his friend and M.E.'s assistant, Clive felt he had to, in essence, break-up with her, for her safety and continued employment.  To me, it felt like it was almost overdue.  Not that I want them to be separated. I love Cagney and Pasty! I was pouty as Clive told Liv no more.

 

I missed the zombie callgirl's name. ITA that that was a very dark tale. I kept expecting Major and her to have sex, though. I don't know what that says about how I feel about Major. I don't hate him, but he seems to think he has to "get" something, as opposed to just understanding or empathizing. Then again, Liv hasn't enjoyed a number of brains this half season, so her being a bit depressed is understandable too. I just wish everyone would talk to everyone. ( Everyone= Liv's team)  I did like that Major was gentlemanly as he helped Lady Photog of the Night into the freezer.

 

I do miss Peyton, but we got a whole lot of Mr. Boss tonight. I love to hate him even more than Blaine's dad! I just wished that Liv had been able to fight the brains enough to not go into interrogation while Boss was there. *sigh*  Blaine and the new guy; the reveal at the end made me go "hmmmm", so that was nice. I was fully expecting him to be Boss Junior, not that he can't be, but from how he acted at the end, I am doubting it.

 

Ravi. I love him to pieces and I felt so horribly for him in that last scene of his. The voice over got me to gasp and I want to sort of count the days since Major and Blaine were "cured". (I am betting faster folks than I already have the numbers, though.)  His delight in The Fog, the excitement over the possibility of a fancy spice rack in his future, his take charge and brook no attitude self after Liv "saved" the New Guy.  Speaking for all friends caught up in friends' drama.  Rahul Kohli is just the best!  A true find and he needs to get some shiny metal, even if he is on a genre CW show.

 

Still processing the implications in everything.  As much as I enjoyed Zombie Callgirl, I kept thinking she was a plant, either by Glida/Rita or Vaughn, to see what Major is actually up to- the actual job or something else. There are sneaky folks doing sneaky things, so sometimes I probably jump to the wrong conclusions. Yet, I don't mind with this show.

 

 

I don't understand the end, why was the new zombie guy with Mr Boss?

 

Blaine's guy was sent to track down tainted Utopium for Ravi's hoped-for cure trials. I trying to track down the supplier, Blaine's guy apparently got trigger-happy and shot Mr. Boss' help, who is now New Zombie Guy.

Edited December 9, 2015 by Actionmage

[Richness]

New zombie guy looks quote sexy while shirtless. Thanks show! His hairstyle/face is quite interesting as well. The one thing that really annoyed me this episode is the overacted hero voice monologing. I know that's what they were intentionally going for, but it was just too much. Ravi remains awesome as always.

[thuganomics85]

"Old Scratchy!"  I would be down with that.  Especially since I'm totally with Liv that Might Whitey really, really sounds bad on a lot of levels.  Poor form there, Ravi.  Maybe you should give The Flash's Cisco a call about naming heroes.  Vigilante Liv was fun.  Loved all the homages/spoofs to the comic book tropes, like overdramatic monologues, stupid one-liners, dramatic music cues, and randomly disappearing when a character turns away from them.  Plus, Rose McIver in a superhero outfit.  Can't go wrong with that!  Interesting though that the brain really didn't help her out in the case in anyway, and it was actually Clive who finally discovered who the killer was.  Although, the brain did help Liv find out about Mr. Boss, but that ended up not mattering.

 

Two break-ups in this one, and it's the nonromantic one that I care about.  I could care less about Liv/Major, and it is obvious that Major just simply can't handle Liv with different brains, which, whatever, I understand it's annoying, but he knows that solving these cases are important to Liv, so I don't know why he thought docile brains would be a solution for her.  Whatever, go back to hiding zombies from her and everyone else, which I'm sure will totally not blowup in your face.  The story with the zombie escort though was surprisingly dark.

 

Now, Clive/Liv ending, makes me sad.  Even though I don't think it will stay that way for long, their relationship is clearly getting fractured, and I don't know what Liv can do, besides tell Clive the truth.  Because from Clive's perspective, she a psychic, but he doesn't now about her badass zombie skills, so why wouldn't he be concerned if she is going to do stuff like break into buildings and almost get killed.

 

Blaine continues to crack me up, mainly due to David Anders' flippant line deliveries.  He is such an asshole, but man, he is fun to watch.

 

These past few episodes have been a dream come true for Ravi, between the magic, finding out about Clive's love for Game of Thrones, and now superheroes.  Of course, Ravi created his own utility belt.  Also, while Clive doesn't seem to be the biggest superhero fan, it seems like he at least knows enough about the Batman franchise to know who Jim Gordon is.  Hopefully, it knowledge comes from more then watching Gotham, where admittedly Jim comes off like a bull-headed dolt a lot of times on that show.

 

Solid way to go out on for the year.  Curious to see where the rest of the season goes in 2016!

[AudienceofOne]

Well that was a very strong episode.

 

Perfect balance of hilarious moments (and punchlines !), really dark stuff, plot-moving one the long term, character-driven scenes... the actors were all brilliant

 

I thought so too. This show is one where you be laughing and then crying (maybe not literally) within the next breath and this episode delivered. And no crazy entitled Gigi or whatever the hell her name is. Can't stand that character.

 

I also thought that Clive booting Liv was overdue. Breaking into that car last episode should have been the last straw so I think he's given her enough chances. I find it interesting that when she gets on a brain she find "fun" she just goes with it and goes overboard. Even last week, she was fighting stalker brain until she thought she needed it for the case.

 

I did like Major's "I get it now!" followed by Liv's "you don't get it".

[rwlevin]

Dude, I went to junior high with zombie hooker! Yeah, six degrees of iZombie:)

 

In other news, Eddie Jemison is awesome as Mr. Boss. I'm so used to him being the nice guy in Waitress or the Ocean's 11 movies, he plays such a good nebbishy evil guy.

 

Plus, for a Christmas episode, this episode was mad depressing.

[marketdoctor]

 

I missed the zombie callgirl's name.

 

I think that was intentional; it was a social commentary on how we see people by their profession (beautiful zombie hooker) rather than who they are (photographer, independent thinker, etc.)    I also liked how they had Liv in a Superheroine costume, but DIDN'T go for "short skirt and showing curves" like they could have; Liv-as-superhero is about getting the job done, not the cape.

 

 

Dude, I went to junior high with zombie hooker!

 

This kind of thing makes me strangely happy--because the actress really did well with complex feelings.  

 

A depressing episode--the breakup was telegraphed from previous weeks, but the "cure doesn't work' wasn't.  Note also that rat metabolism is different, so the number of days before reverting back might be different for humans.  

[ketose]

At least now I understand the "Flowers for Algernon" references the writers made about the zombie cure. One has to wonder if the zombie cure can be reused, kind of like a booster shot.

 

I'm pretty sure Liv wouldn't be down with Major's zombie killing (he's killed a few) or his zombie freezing. Curing everyone doesn't seem possible now, so they'd be on ice forever. If Blaine comes back, we'll have 3 villains: Boss, who's just a conventional bad guy, Blaine, who's the Zombie Patient Zero and Vaughn, who's either saving humanity or committing genocide, but mostly just wants to hide his mistakes.

 

This episode suffered from Winter Break syndrome. We have suicidal zombies, Liv losing her purpose for unliving and a cure that isn't very useful, even if Ravi finds the tainted unobtainium, er , Utopium. There's a whole lot of stuff that has to be resolved.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

As sad as I was to see Clive dissolve his partnership with Liv, I understand why he did it. She does not listen to him when he tells her that they have to do things by the book. That not only jeopardizes her safety but the police department's culpability. If an innocent bystander had been hurt during any of Liv's independent investigations in the last year, the police department would be blamed for letting an assistant medical examiner go off on her own.

 

But beyond that, Liv going off the reservation could endanger the cases that Clive is working on. It's one thing to figure out who committed a crime but it's another to be able to convict them of said crime. Any evidence obtained illegally (like, say, without a warrant) is not admissible which means that Liv's stubborn refusal to follow procedure creates the possibility of a criminal going free.

 

Even though her psychic visions have helped Clive with his cases, not following the rules makes her a liability to Clive and the department. Getting caught in the back of the chief's car last week was a HUGE mistake so I'm surprised that Clive didn't have this talk with her then.

 

I'm not saying that I want Liv banished to the morgue, but I do think that she needs to be more aware of the decisions she's making and the consequences of her actions. If a murderer goes free because she didn't follow the proper protocol, can she live with that guilt? Clive isn't following the rules because he's a no fun stick in the mud nerd. He follows the rules because he needs legally evidence that will convinct these criminals. No one wants a criminal to go free because of a technicality.

 

Does the new zombie have a name yet? The last time I saw him was on Star Crossed (yes, I was one of the five people who watched that show). According to IMDB, he also guest starred on The Flash but I don't specifically remember seeing him. I guess he's doing the rounds on various CW shows.

 

Despite the two big breakups that happened in this episode, there was still some good humor, like Blaine telling the new guy he was a zombie. I also loved Liv's shocked reaction to seeing who she thought was Scott E and his rushed explanation of "Twins!"

 

I missed the zombie callgirl's name.

Her name is Natalie.

Edited December 9, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[NaughtyKitty]

I was really confused.  I kept thinking the Zombie callgirl was Peyton.  They look so similar(beautiful but generic brunette).  I was hoping for more brains action.  Overall, I enjoyed it but not one of my favorite episodes

[Primetimer]

If you're seeking a warm and fuzzy season-of-hope finale, you've come to the wrong morgue.

Read the story

[maxineofarc]

I've never totally understood what kind of protocol Clive was using to bring Liv, a civilian and an employee of a completely different department, along on his cases anyway. Her insight is useful, but psychic visions aren't exactly admissible, and as he finally points out, she's not a cop. And her personality swings have got to be fraying his nerves, too- I hope he hasn't forgotten the time she told him he was "one of the good ones." I don't blame him for cutting her loose, as he thinks her association with him and his cases is putting her in danger, even more so now that Boss is involved.

I've been wondering how the various plotlines were ever going to meet up this season, but at least Blaine's and Boss's have a crossover with Drake. I'm not sure there'd be much to be gained dramatically by having Blaine revert to zombiedom, but it would certainly be a huge blow to Major- if he does turn back I do hope that his and Liv's first thought isn't "yay, now we can Do It!" but I have a feeling it might be.

 

It was cool to see Liv getting her doctor on this episode.

Edited December 9, 2015 by maxineofarc

[dubbel zout]

Of course, Ravi created his own utility belt.

 

My favorite part was when he was going through the Fog's belt and mistook the chloroform for mace. Hee. Rahul Kohli is a treasure.

 

I also loved Liv's shocked reaction to seeing who she thought was Scott E and his rushed explanation of "Twins!"

 

I loved that, too. The way they wheeled the guy in and out was very funny.

 

Dramatically, Clive and Liv had to break up at some point. As has been discussed, Liv isn't a cop and doesn't work for the cops, so eventually her recklessness was going to catch up with her. Telling Clive she's a zombie won't solve the problem, because she's still an assistant medical examiner. Though it will go a long way in explaining her personality changes.

 

I'm really interested to see how they resolve this. I hope it's not in some slapdash way.

Edited December 9, 2015 by dubbel zout

[Bruinsfan]

This kind of thing makes me strangely happy--because the actress really did well with complex feelings.  

Usually when I see a guest actress who looks like her on a network show I roll my eyes and think "guess the casting notice said they were looking for Victoria's Secret models," but she managed to be instantly engaging and sympathetic while smoothly expositing a backstory that made the ones on Hannibal sound cheerful by comparison. I hope the producers realize they struck gold with her and make her character a recurring one at some point.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Not a great episode. The brain was useless except for how happy it made Ravi. Liv was an idiot breaking up with Major. I so want him to revert back to a zombie and when she says 'finally we can be together,' he just tells her to piss off.

 

Liv was doing one of the few unselfish things she has done in this relationship by breaking up with Major. Every word she said about how Major doesn't love her in the current state, only tolerates her, is true. Why would she want to subject someone that she cares about at all to a situation where they can't have sex, can't have biological children and probably it would be supremely unwise to adopt, where he will have to put up with her developing random personality traits every week, where he is potentially an accidental scratch away from becoming a zombie again...there really doesn't seem to be a positive future for the two of them, or for any zombie with any non-zombie.

 

I'm pretty sure Liv wouldn't be down with Major's zombie killing (he's killed a few) or his zombie freezing. 

As far as I can recall, the only actual zombies Major has killed were at the Meat Cute, and Liv is aware of those. I could see her making a distinction between killing the zombies who were actively murdering innocents and who tortured and kidnapped him versus killing zombies who like her were basically trying to live as innocent a life as possible while needing to eat human brains.

 

Does the new zombie have a name yet? The last time I saw him was on Star Crossed (yes, I was one of the five people who watched that show). According to IMDB, he also guest starred on The Flash but I don't specifically remember seeing him. I guess he's doing the rounds on various CW shows.

 

Another one of the five people who watched Star-Crossed. New Zombie (whose name I didn't catch either) was Girder on two episodes of the first season of the Flash. He was a high school tormentor of Barry's who got the ability to transform into a steel form like a cut-rate Colossus. 

 

Other miscellaneous thoughts: 

Natalie had more chemistry with Major than Liv, which is sad. I would have liked Major to say, "Hey, my girlfriend has the morgue hookup. You don't have to have sex for brains ever again."

[maxineofarc]

I want to know what Natalie is doing for her zombie hair dye needs, because her color was FAB.

[AudienceofOne]

The last time I saw him was on Star Crossed (yes, I was one of the five people who watched that show)

 

 

And apparently three of them are on this forum. I thought that show could have been really good. But wasn't. And the final episode made me glad it was cancelled. But it was had so much potential.

[FurryFury]

YES! Major/Liv break up! And even because of the reason I've secretly wanted them to! Of course, it was framed in a very depressing light, which, coupled with the fact I watching the episode together with my husband I've been seriously thinking about breaking up with... Ouch, just ouch. And than that ending.

 

Still, I had fun watching it, especially due to my meta knowledge that it comes after The Flash which is the quintessential superhero show (although I do wish more gags were made and that some of the superhero squad had more story importance).

 

Called it last episode, Det. Cavanaugh is recurring! Wonder if he'll become Liv's next (temporary) partner and maybe a love interest, down the line.

 

I rarely like Major, but his B-plot with zombie hooker was not bad. Also made me dislike Blaine way more than I did. I mean, murder is reprehensible, of course, but there's so much wrong with sexual exploitation. 

[maxineofarc]

Also made me dislike Blaine way more than I did. I mean, murder is reprehensible, of course, but there's so much wrong with sexual exploitation.

I don't think we know that her pimp was Blaine, do we? Seems like it would be too much work for him to bother with.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

It bothers me that when the characters mention other zombies, they don't ask simple follow up questions like "What is this zombie's name?" And "What does this zombie look like?" One of the reasons I liked Liv's relationship with Lowell is that they discussed things like that so she immediately knew that Blaine was the one who zombified him. It would have taken Major all of two seconds to ask Natalie about who turned her into a zombie, who her pimp was, who her clients are, etc. I know Major has his built in zombie detector arm hair but it would still be nice for him to know who some of the zombies are without having to get that close to them or having their names on the Max Rager kill list.

Why did Blaine insist on Liv scratching the new guy into zombieism? He could have had Don E. do that.

[FurryFury]

I don't think we know that her pimp was Blaine, do we? Seems like it would be too much work for him to bother with.

It sure felt like it was Blaine, considering her mention of his "Zombie speech" and him giving an example of one this very episode. Plus, we've already seen him turn one woman into a zombie through sex. I'm like 99% sure it was Blaine.

Edited December 9, 2015 by FurryFury

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Plus Blaine is a zombie entrepreneur- he likes to have a wide range of business services for his clientele.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I don't think we know that her pimp was Blaine, do we? Seems like it would be too much work for him to bother with.

 

We don't know for 100 percent sure, but it seems like it's almost certain. Who else do we know who goes around infecting people to match such skillsets as cook, muscle, police info. etc.? Not too many other people have the "Welcome to Team Z" speech, as he referenced in this very episode.

 

And infecting her is really no work at all. It's sleeping with someone hot and then scratching her.

 

It bothers me that when the characters mention other zombies, they don't ask simple follow up questions like "What is this zombie's name?" And "What does this zombie look like?" One of the reasons I liked Liv's relationship with Lowell is that they discussed things like that so she immediately knew that Blaine was the one who zombified him. It would have taken Major all of two seconds to ask Natalie about who turned her into a zombie, who her pimp was, who her clients are, etc. I know Major has his built in zombie detector arm hair but it would still be nice for him to know who some of the zombies are without having to get that close to them or having their names on the Max Rager kill list.

Why did Blaine insist on Liv scratching the new guy into zombieism? He could have had Don E. do that.

 

You speak the truth on characters not asking basic questions of one another, or not volunteering information.

 

I think Don E. is not himself a zombie. Of course, there are presumably dozens of zombies that Blaine does know that he could try to talk into scratching New Zombie, but then he would reveal that Blaine himself is not a zombie, and he doesn't want to do that. Presumably because if it got out that he wasn't a zombie, it might give real zombies ideas about how they could get those tasty brains for free.

[maxineofarc]

Yeah, you'd think Major would want to move the dude who did all that nasty stuff to that nice girl closer to the top of his zombie removal list- maybe even target him for actual zombie removal. Nice followup, guy.

I'm trying to think of any real advantage to Blaine to have a hooker on the roster- he wanted the chef, makeup artist, etc. to make his own life more comfortable, but I think his brain supply service was all he really needed to keep his clients interested and in line, especially once he started taking special orders. I'm kind of wondering now about Angus- we don't know what he was really doing with his zombiehood, besides annoying Blaine with it. Blaine is very concerned with making things nice for himself, but I don't get a sense that he thinks as big as he thinks he does, and I'm sure he didn't turn all the zombies in Seattle. I don't know why I think Natalie would be out of character for him, but something about it doesn't seem quite right to me.

[tennisgurl]

Wow, for an episode featuring a guy in a costume who calls himself Hashtag, that was a pretty big downer. 

 

Why is it that Major has chemistry with everyone on this show except Liv? I actually do usually like their relationship, but they have very little real spark. Now, Major and Natalie (was that her name)? Chemistry. I was really sad for her. It seemed like she had a life she really loved before she became a zombie. 

 

I loved Ravis glee over Livs superhero persona, and Livs increasing gravitas. I wonder what that guy was like as a shop teacher? Did he do the Dark Knight Batman voice while doing roll call? 

 

Clive and Liv better come back together ASAP.Clive was just starting to open up a little bit! 

[AudienceofOne]

I don't know why I think Natalie would be out of character for him, but something about it doesn't seem quite right to me.

 

 

I'm the same. With that, Blaine has gone to an extra level of evil and one I'm not entirely comfortable with. This could be the hint there's another player in the mix (The evil crime boss guy, maybe?)

 

But I also agree that so far Blaine is the only one we've seen and eveything else fits his MO.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm trying to think of any real advantage to Blaine to have a hooker on the roster- he wanted the chef, makeup artist, etc. to make his own life more comfortable, but I think his brain supply service was all he really needed to keep his clients interested and in line, especially once he started taking special orders.

I think Blaine's reason for having a zombie hooker is twofold: (1) he gets to charge his zombie clients for another service, and based on the prices he charges for providing brains, I'm sure he is charging a premium for his zombie hooker service (2) theoretically this keeps his zombie clients from accidentally creating new zombies during sex with non-zombie hookers. Sure, zombies can create zombies at any time, but Blaine is curating his client list. He only wants rich zombies who can pay for the expensive meal service he provides. If his rich zombies are out there accidentally creating new zombies out of the prostitutes they frequent, he can't be aware of every new zombie (because you know he enjoys giving the "welcome zombie" speech) but more importantly, the average street hooker can't afford his brain service. Sure, he could pimp them out like he did with Natalie but he probably doesn't need an entire stable of zombie hookers (who will be eating valuable brains he could be selling to his rich clients) to service the limited number of zombies who want to use his zombie hooker service. Plus you know that Blaine would want to hand pick his zombie hookers, not just start using any street hooker who got scratched. He found himself a classy looking zombie hooker and he's probably working her day and night. It's more economical for him to have a small number of zombie hookers (less brains being used as payment to them) than 100 who each get one call a week.

 

You guys, I just put thought into zombie hookers.

[Sakura12]

Nightmare would've been a cool name, although that's more a villain name. 

 

This episode was kind of downer. I don't care about Major and Liv so don't care about their break up. I still find Major useless. Where's Peyton? I would've loved to see her reaction to Liv's super hero persona. Can we get more of her and decrease Major's screen time? 

 

I'm upset about the Clive and Liv partnership break up. It is understandable, the brains she's been eating have been getting her into more trouble lately. I just want them to finally tell Clive what's up. 

 

The cure not being permanent is interesting but tainted by the fact that it just means Major will be rezombied and then can be with Liv. Which I do not want. 

 

Ravi is awesome so I guess that's one good thing to come out this episode.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm curious as to whether Ravi is going to tell Major that his Flowers for Algernon fate is inevitable or just wait for it to happen in the hopes that humans take more than 100 days to revert to zombies (kind of like dog years vs human years).

[Anela]

Not a great episode. The brain was useless except for how happy it made Ravi. Liv was an idiot breaking up with Major. I so want him to revert back to a zombie and when she says 'finally we can be together,' he just tells her to piss off.

That's what I'm afraid of. He turns back into a zombie, and gets to be angry with her over that again. I don't want to watch that. I thought they were cute together, except for the fact that she was right: he was only tolerating her new "quirks".

[blugirlami21]

I think he would actually understand her condition better if he really experiences it firsthand. It's easy to be annoyed about something you don't know anything about.

It's obviously going to happen whether we like it or not. I'm looking forward to seeing them as a couple without zombism in the way tbh.

[Anela]

I think he would actually understand her condition better if he really experiences it firsthand. It's easy to be annoyed about something you don't know anything about.

It's obviously going to happen whether we like it or not. I'm looking forward to seeing them as a couple without zombism in the way tbh.

I wonder how long it will take them to get to that point, though. I wouldn't mind if they weren't messed around with, but the writers always seem to try to keep couples apart (on most shows), so the first thing my mind jumped to, was anger on his side - again. The fact that she didn't give him a choice. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by Anela

[Bruinsfan]

I'm curious as to whether Ravi is going to tell Major that his Flowers for Algernon fate is inevitable or just wait for it to happen in the hopes that humans take more than 100 days to revert to zombies (kind of like dog years vs human years).

Extrapolated out from rat lifespan, 160+ days would be on the order of 18 to 19 years for a human being. If the metabolic changes wrought by the cure take place over a proportional amount of time, Major's likely to get himself killed by zombies he hunts or someone at Max Rager before he reverts.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I think he would actually understand her condition better if he really experiences it firsthand. It's easy to be annoyed about something you don't know anything about.

It's obviously going to happen whether we like it or not. I'm looking forward to seeing them as a couple without zombism in the way tbh.

If you are talking about Major, Liv zombified him before he was cured. So he should have at least a first-hand understanding of the craving for brains, and although I don't remember specifically if he was a zombie long enough to have consumed brains or to feel the effects of the brain's memories, I think she fed him something. In any case, that doesn't seem like that tough a concept to get, especially having watched  Liv take on the traits of the brains she has consumed for, let's say, six months while being aware of what was going on and another year prior to that when he didn't know what was prompting her week-to-week personality changes.

 

The show could go in a couple directions rather than bring Major and Liv back together. They could kill off Major. They could just have Major and Liv be mature and just be good friends. They could do a gift of the Magi thing where to be together, Major rezombifies himself while Liv takes cure 2.0.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Chicago Redshirt

[Ruby25]

I liked the episode, but I continue to think Major is the weak link on this show and they're going to have to kill him off. He and Liv have so little chemistry, I just couldn't care less about their breakup. Liv and Clive however? That made me much more sad. I hope we're going to let Clive in on it sooner rather than later.

 

And I have to think Rob Thomas can see that there really isn't anywhere to go with the Major character at this point- even if he becomes a zombie again, would anyone care about seeing him and Liv get back together? And it's not as though Buckley is awful, I just think it stands out like crazy when the rest of the cast is this strong and has such great snappy chemistry, comic timing and line delivery (McIver, Goodwin, Kahuli and Anders are all fantastic with that). With dialogue like this and a unit that strong, you can just see who isn't up to par with it much easier.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Ruby25

[Julia]

I thought Major was kind of likable with zombie hooker. It's just a shame that they can't write him with Liv. He's self-righteous when he doesn't deserve to be, he puts things behind him when he shouldn't, he says he's put things behind him when he hasn't, he says he understands when he doesn't, they constantly lie to each other, and now his entire arc is based on him ignoring the one thing she's told him is a deal-breaker because he's decided that he knows better than she does what she needs. They're an awful couple. They both need someone to save, and they're both determined to be the hero, and they're both practically paralyzed with the need to judge each other. 

 

I saw a spark between him and zombie hooker, and between her and random new zombie guy. That's more in one episode than I've been in two seasons between them.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Julia

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm still disappointed that we didn't get to see any part of the shop teacher influence from the brain of the week. I would have loved seeing her decide to make an armoire or at least whittling a branch.

ETA: I had it stuck in my head that the teacher taught woodshop, but I just saw that the episode description says that he was a shop teacher.

Edited December 10, 2015 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Sakura12]

Liv should whittled a super hero action figure. Ravi would've loved that. He probably would've pained a "Z" on it. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by Sakura12

[LoneHaranguer]

 

And infecting her is really no work at all. It's sleeping with someone hot and then scratching her.

The work would be in being a pimp. But, he could have dropped most of that on someone else, probably a client since I don't see his typical underling being up to the task.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I would think an entrepreneur like Blaine would want to diversify and sex is an obvious need/opportunity.

 

At least some of the zombies would not want to risk having sex with humans in their life for fear of turning them. The easiest solution to that is to have a zombie call girl.

 

Along similar lines, you want to have more carrots available than just brains. Once you know how easy it is to get away with killing homeless kids and whatnot, it might be tempting to eliminate the middleman and get fresh brains yourself. Or give high-performing minions a roll in the hay as a reward.

[blugirlami21]

I don't think he was zombie long enough for him to understand anything.  I think he was zombied the night before, slept through the night and cured when he woke up in the morning.  I think Liv did him a disservice breaking up with him a soon as she knew her condition because he doesn't know zombie Liv.  For him I think he is really only experiencing the bad parts of a personality, like stalker brain or magician brain.  To him she prob just looks like she's only having extreme mood swings.  She's not the same Liv she was before and I think that he hasn't known zombie Liv long enough up close and personal to realize that human Liv died when she became a zombie.  She's never going to be the person she was before.

 

I doubt the show would have him revert back into a zombie in twenty years.  I'm guessing that his zombism will return by the end of this season if not before.  I like that there Ravi's warnings about using the cure willy nilly are coming to fruition.  I agree with others who said that Liv is kind of doing whatever she wants and hoping that it will stick.

Edited December 10, 2015 by blugirlami21

[Crim]

This episode suffered from Winter Break syndrome. We have suicidal zombies, Liv losing her purpose for unliving and a cure that isn't very useful, even if Ravi finds the tainted unobtainium, er , Utopium. There's a whole lot of stuff that has to be resolved.

This was my disappointment with the episode. The events were just piled up at the end. Individually, there was some decent leading to them, but then it played out like "here is her entire life in shambles!" The lack of hope line at the end did not help: it was too obvious, even redundant, after the actual events and the zombie hooker earlier.

 

Despite everything that happened, I'm still most curious about Rita, actually. We have no genuine insight into what she is thinking. What's her angle at this point? IIRC, everyone we've seen know zombies, except her and her boss, already knew the person that had become a zombie. She knew anonymous zombies in their feral, mindless state, then started living with Liv. Does she look at Liv like a person now? Is she aware how the brains are affecting Liv? That's a very different angle from Major and Ravi, and I want the show to go somewhere with that.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Sounds like we have to agree to disagree, blugirlami21, which is fine.

 

From my point of view, the concepts of "Liv needs to eat brains to remain functional," "Liv's eating of brains means that she will adopt personality traits and have the memories of the people whose brains she eats," and "Liv apparently has no control over when, where and how those memories or personality traits will surface" are not that hard to process.

 

None of those concepts require anything so extreme as being a zombie for a protracted period of time to understand. We in this forum all get all this. 

 

Major has had ample opportunity to experience at least the first two concepts. 

 

Now Major may be in denial over things and/or  may doubt at least the notion that Liv has no control over how things surface.