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S02.E13: The Whopper

ElectricBoogaloo

By ElectricBoogaloo
in iZombie [V]

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Actionmage

Actionmage

Wow! Just when I was starting to accept that no one was going to have anything resembling a pertinent conversation with another party, outside of Liv/Ravi, Blaine goes and insists on making Major A some Qs for him. Unfortunately, the fuzzy Fed picture will keep Clive on the suspicious track, but I can't blame Clive for that. I did enjoy Major giving him the "everyone said I was nuts, including you, but I'm all better now" speech.

 

While Major was at Shady Plots, I was very concerned for him. We got a glimpse into why Blaine has turned out the way he has, but everything he did tonight was born out of a need for payback.  Daddy left everything to the abusive housekeeper- Grab up Major and threaten undeath. Also, get extravagantly made-up and try to mind-trip your undead father.

 

All the stuff with Drake and Liv and the Drake/Mr. Boss stuff seems to be happening too fast, which is weird as this season has felt kind of dragged out.  I am not liking Liv not being honest with Major about Drake. I get that Liv is unsure, so secrecy, but? She keeps telling Major there is no way for them to be serious  or to work out a way to be together, then there is something else that proves her wrong.  Then she gets sadface for a bit and still doesn't talk with Major, who she still obviously loves a ton. That part is boring, the cycle of feeling bad and not talking to those she reasonably should. Liv sure as hell should not have tried to cover Drake  by saying it was Evan. Major might decide to check that out.

 

I cannot love Ravi more, but his line to Clive- " When you marry her, will you use her first name?"- was so very great! It was truth-snarking Ravi at his best and nosiest.

 

The scene at the end? The one with "Bring Him Home" ( unless I am mistaken, which is possible)? Got the dust  swirling in my house.  The good guys got an effing break! I know it won't last long, but damn, it felt good. And the three of them so joyous was nice. I hope it lasts a bit longer than the one scene.

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thuganomics85

thuganomics85

(edited)

Can't think of many shows on The CW; or really, any network show; that would end their episode on "One Day More" from Les Mis.  Although, was that the movie version?  Kind of surprised Blaine doesn't have one of the soundtracks from the plays.  He doesn't strike me as someone who would be down with Russell Crowe's version of "singing."

 

Man, who has Major pissed off in a past life, to keep having this shit piled on him?  It's bad enough that he is forced to do Vaughn Du Clarke's bidding, but now Blaine is making him do favors, and he just got his picture taken by the FBI Party Van, so now Clive is getting suspicious of him again.  Maybe this is some major karmic payback for abandoning Minor on that bus.

 

Wait, was Blaine's former nanny basically saying she killed his dog when he was a child?  Yikes!  I know Blaine is evil and everything, but I'm all for him offing her, once he forces Daddy to change the will. 

 

Liv on Pathological Liar Brains, wasn't my favorite.  A few chuckles (Jamaican Me Crazy), but it just didn't work for me too much.  Not sure what she is going to do now that she knows more about the stuff Drake has done.  She still doesn't know he's working for Boss though, right?

 

Rest in peace, A New Hope.  I guess Attack of the Clones is next?  Or will Ravi try to reboot thinks and name the next rat The Force Awakens?

Edited by thuganomics85
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norask

norask

(edited)

So Clive has figured out a long time ago that being psychic affects Liz's personality, he just goes along with it to get the job done. Sure it's probably a retcon but I appreciate it nonetheless.

 

Drake isn't a good guy. He's either working for Blaine or Mr.Boss - not a good thing either way. Yes, Liv doesn't have a large dating pool but she needs to move on. And enough of lies to Major and vice versa. They obviously love each other but more importantly, they are friends going through some serious stuff here. A whole lot of their problems will be solved if they talked to each other.

 

Blaine is a psychopath but he probably wasn't born that way. Between his father and that dog-killing housekeeper, he didn't have much of a chance. But he still is a monster and sometime soon he needs to bite it. He now has figured out what Major has been up and that can't end well.

 

Poor major. He continues to be the show's butt monkey. Being blackmailed by Max Razor jerk and now Blaine followed by Feds and Clive on his ass. Poor guy can't catch a break.

 

But at least our troubled trio got a win. Finally. It probably won't lead to a permanent cure, since the show won't exist with one but it was so nice to see them so joyous.

 

"if she bears your children, you'd start using her first name, right?" Hee. Ravi's jab was the lightest moment in this otherwise heavy episode. It was probably his revenge for Clive's snide comment about mountain-climbing. Or the writers making fun of tv-feds continuing to call each other by their last names even after falling for each other. Mulder-Scully.

Edited by norask
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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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I laughed SO HARD when Blaine put on "One Day More" before taking his dad out of the freezer, which was already hilarious but then I saw that he was trying to fool him into thinking that he had missed the zombie apocalypse, the rapture, and the ginger rapture. Blaine is still a bad guy but you can't deny that he has a sense of humor (which is also why I loved when he asked if someone was going to make an obligatory popsicle joke). The only bad thing about Blaine's scene with his dad is that I was straining to listen to the actual song because I wanted to know if he used the London cast recording, the Broadway cast recording, the complete symphonic recording, the tenth anniversary recording, etc. Imagine my musical theater disappointment when I realized that he was playing the version from the movie when Russell Crowe's moaning foghorn voice was obvious in the digging scene. Boooooooooo. I thought Blaine and his grandfather had better taste than that. Plus I'm 99% sure that the movie cast album was never released on vinyl.

 

I'm glad that that Clive has noticed Liv's personality changes. And yay for finally finding the utopium - loved their well deserved celebration. And now Ravi and Major can finally stop digging.

 

Jamaican Me Crazy

Minor correction: it was actually Jamaican Me Thirsty. Poor Clive - his face when Liv said she invented the orgasm. But how does Clive not know what geocaching is?

 

When Liv told Drake that Blaine was selling utopium out of the funeral home and that he's taking on Mr. Boss, Drake said it was the pathological liar's brain talking but does he know if any of that is true? Is he lying to Liv? She knows that he's doing errands for Blaine, but she still doesn't know that he works for Mr. Boss. How can he be working for Boss and Blaine at the same time? He must be stealthier than I thought.

 

Did he lie to Liv about knowing Vic? Liv said Drake was Vic's high school buddy but his mom had no idea who he was. If Drake had said they became friends after Vic came back from Fallujah, then I would have believed Vic's mom not knowing Drake. But if they were high school friends, you'd think his mom would at least recognize Drake's name. I know his mom said that she felt like he had a secret life, but still.

 

Liv's voiceover about how everyone lies totally reminded me of Veronica Mars.

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maxineofarc

maxineofarc

I loved "One Day More," but the downside is that I now have it stuck in my head. I didn't see the movie, but if upthread poster is correct that that's the version they were using, I'm kind of glad I didn't. That is some crazy Javert bellowing happening there.

I don't think Drake had a reason to lie about having known Vic- I think his mother not knowing Drake's name was just to highlight Vic's shady secret life.

Blaine's a psychopath but he's still the most interesting character. (Not the one I'd want to hang out with. That would be Ravi. Always.) As much as he revels in his awfulness, he also clearly knows exactly where he gets it from and rages about it enough to want revenge. I missed Peyton this episode, though there was so much going on I don't know where they could have fit her in. Hope she's feeling a little better.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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(edited)

I loved "One Day More," but the downside is that I now have it stuck in my head. I didn't see the movie, but if upthread poster is correct that that's the version they were using, I'm kind of glad I didn't. That is some crazy Javert bellowing happening there.

Sadly, it is DEFINITELY the movie version. I went back and cranked up the volume on the scene with Blaine and his dad to listen to the singers. If you choose to torture yourself this way, you can tell it's Amanda Seyfried on "worlds away" and Sam Barks on "one more day all on my own." And you can hear the violins in the intro which is from the movie soundtrack (not the stage versions). [/obsessive musical theater nerd]

And yes, you should be glad you missed Russell Crowe sucking so hard as Javert. He was just awful.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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mjc570

mjc570

I just love this show.  Unusually for me, I like everything about it - the writing, the acting, the casting and especially the puns.  I always enjoy watching it, especially for the little things (eye-rolls, etc).  I can't believe it hasn't been canceled yet.

 

While this wasn't one of my favorite episodes, that was mainly because of the "whopper" concept - there's so much weird stuff that is actually happening, that telling outrageous lies isn't really obvious.  I liked the way BLaine's present came with a big bow, and there can never be too much Robert Knepper.

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Julia

Julia

Blaine's a psychopath but he's still the most interesting character. (Not the one I'd want to hang out with. That would be Ravi. Always.) As much as he revels in his awfulness, he also clearly knows exactly where he gets it from and rages about it enough to want revenge.

 

Except Blaine's father didn't like his daddy either, and he never murdered homeless children to feed to people.

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MisterGlass

MisterGlass

I was excited to see so much join together in this episode!  And the little comment from Clive acknowledging Liz's nutty mood swings made me feel better.  He is the kind of character who would roll with it, but I'm glad to know he is putting up with this stuff deliberately, retcon or not.

 

Sad to see the passing of New Hope.  I was quite fond of her.

 

Major really doesn't have grounds to question Liv on knowing about Blaine and not telling him given the number of secrets he is now keeping.  Just how many people have been eating pathological liar brains?  Drake isn't exactly being forthright.

 

Blaine is horrible, but in his father they managed to find someone utterly unsympathetic.  Blaine giving him the Rip Van Winkle treatment was bizarre but believable.  And Dr. Zaius?  Nice.

 

 

Rob Thomas joked on Twitter that it cost half the episode's budget to get the rights. I wonder if they researched the cost of the rights for all the versions and went with the cheapest.

 

I bet that's exactly what happened.  At least they had a record to represent the stage version.

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vibeology

vibeology

The other thing about Les Mis is that they edited it to repeat a section to make it long enough to cover all the scenes at the end. It cuts from Marius "My place is here/ I fight with you" to a jump back to "Do I stay or do I dare?/Will you take your place with me?" I was singing along and the jump back totally caught me off guard. Still, even as the movie version, it suited Blaine to play something that dramatic to confront his dad so I loved it.

 

Even though Blaine is superevil, I loved that he and Major actually talked about what is going on. I feel like if we could just get a few of these people in a room all at once, so much movement forward could happen. That's pretty crappy conflict. Why isn't Major being honest with Liv? What is his thinking there? Why does Liv keep things like Blaine is here, keep away from Major? Does she really not trust him to stay away? Once Peyton came back, why didn't Liv get her up to speed on the dangers out there? I think the real conflict of Max Rager, zombie cure and Blaine and Boss are enough that the extra secrets are more frustrating than engaging. I feel like Liv, Major, Ravi, Clive and Blaine (plus a lackey or two) could take care of the Max Rager problem. It still leaves other issues, but it would be real progress for the first time all year.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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Even though Blaine is superevil, I loved that he and Major actually talked about what is going on.

ITA - I assumed that Blaine and Major would tell each other as little as possible so I liked that they had a conversation and shared some information. I also liked that even though Blaine doesn't like Major, he pulled him away from the window to keep the FBI from seeing him. I'm sure that was partly selfish on Blaine's part (he doesn't want Major to be associated with him) but I am willing to give him a tiny bit of credit for that.

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aradia22

aradia22

Even though I know it's to keep the procedural machine churning, I like that Blaine is willing to work with Major and tell him which zombies to take out. I think that's part of the reason it's easy to like him even while knowing he's a bad guy. Unlike Mr. Boss or Vaughn du Clark, Blaine keeps the gears turning. I'm going to like a character who seems to be functioning to deliver the show I like to me every week. Also, he's got a great voice and great little microexpressions. He totally has that charm of a good villain that again, the other two don't quite master.

 

Yes! We finally get acknowledgment that Clive understands Liv is taking on the personality traits of each victim.

 

Lowell. Drake. I really like when Liv has a zombie boyfriend. I don't know. It adds this level of normalcy and she doesn't have to constantly be lying (though she still ends up lying quite a bit but at least not about zombie stuff). I guess it's stabilizing because you get the sense they could be together for a while vs. with Major where you were always waiting for them to break up again. That said, I don't think Liv is going to get over the whole cold-blooded killer thing when she was mad at Lowell for just eating the brains from Blaine... like every other zombie in the city.

 

I wish they would kill the voiceover. I hate voiceover so much. The one in this episode reminded me of something very specific but I can't place it. The Carrie Diaries? Being Erica? I'm not sure.

 

This episode was still more dramatic. I did like her making a burger for the "whopper" but they didn't get a lot out of this brain. I did think the balance of humor was a little better than in the last episode.

 

That was a decent old age makeup on Blaine. I wish he'd had more of a long con with that get up. I did enjoy the Les Mis reference. But did they use the movie soundtrack? It sounded HORRIBLE.

 

Oh, and what was Blaine talking about? When did Angus cut off Candy's fingers?

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tennisgurl

tennisgurl

Cannot stop laughing at the Les Mis ending. It was so unexpected, as well as hilarious and genuinely triumphant. Just great. 

 

Blaine is awful, but so is his former Nannie. I really hope she gets hers at some point. 

 

Of course Ravi listens to podcasts where fans debate about Kylo Ren while he digs up dead bodies. 

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Cranberry

Cranberry

I don't feel that Clive's reaction was a retcon. We've seen him do almost a double take and then kind of shake it off before when Liv did weird stuff (that time she was racist comes to mind, especially -- I don't think Clive would normally put up with that). 

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jhlipton

jhlipton

So Clive has figured out a long time ago that being psychic affects Liz's personality, he just goes along with it to get the job done. Sure it's probably a retcon but I appreciate it nonetheless.

 

He's known that being psychic affects her personality, but this is the first time he's mentioned that the personality is based on the victim.

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fastiller

fastiller

Holy crow there are so many theater nerds 'round these parts!

 

So Clive has figured out a long time ago that being psychic affects Liz's personality, he just goes along with it to get the job done. Sure it's probably a retcon but I appreciate it nonetheless.

 

Drake isn't a good guy. He's either working for Blaine or Mr.Boss - not a good thing either way. Yes, Liv doesn't have a large dating pool but she needs to move on. And enough of lies to Major and vice versa. They obviously love each other but more importantly, they are friends going through some serious stuff here. A whole lot of their problems will be solved if they talked to each other.

 

I wonder if Clive's been twigging to this over the past several months, as opposed to having figured it out a long time ago.  I really hope they key him in to the zombie thing going on in his town.

 

No Drake is not a good guy.  He may not be 100% bad (we have yet to see what he did to/with Terrell (I think that's the guy's name)), but he's certainly not nearly 100% good either.  However, he is very nice on the eyes, so if they can keep him around and not always doing bad-henchman things, I'm okay with that.

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Grandma Saracen

Grandma Saracen

Also very into the Les MiZombie ending, even though it was the movie recording :) 

 

This was a great episode for David Anders. Some of his line readings were almost Julian Sark-like, and that made me happy. Also, I'm pro-Ginger Revolution. 

I'm glad Clive is (finally) stating facts about Liv's personality changes.

 

 

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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What I like is that Clive has definitely noticed but he's beyond that point and he's now opening the discussion with Ravi about it. Clive doesn't seem like the kind of person who would do that on a whim so he's probably been thinking about it for a while now, and he logically brought it up with Ravi, the other person who would notice this kind of behavior in Liv but who Clive knows also likes her enough that he's not going to cause trouble for Liv.

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AudienceofOne

AudienceofOne

(edited)

I loved "One Day More," but the downside is that I now have it stuck in my head. I didn't see the movie, but if upthread poster is correct that that's the version they were using, I'm kind of glad I didn't. That is some crazy Javert bellowing happening there.

 

 

That would be Russell Crowe and the world's most egregious Javier. Between him and the "new songs" I hate that movie. Which is a shame because a lot of the performances are good.

 

This was a great episode for David Anders.

 

David Anders is amazing. I'm quite tired of Blaine and I hate villains in TV shows that just keep on villaining. But David Anders routinely gives extraordinary performances.

Edited by AudienceofOne
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swimmyfish

swimmyfish

I wonder where they're going with Blaine. He is, as Liv pointed out to Peyton just 1 episode ago, an extremely bad dude. I feel like the effort is to make him seem more sympathetic, via his horrible upbringing with an abusive nanny who literally murdered his dog*, and his uncaring father, but I don't like it. It is unfortunately common for people not to inherent millions from their abusive parents, yet the vast majority don't murder runaways to sell the brains to other people they have also effectively murdered. I get that David Anders is talented and the show wants to keep him around, but from a storytelling perspective, I just don't know how much longer his presence is sustainable. By which I guess I mean I don't know how much longer I can sustain an interest in him.

 

*I also totally do not understand why the Nanny is only just now making it clear that she murdered his childhood dog. Was she for some reason trying to protect him from knowing that as a child? That seems remarkably out of character for someone as cruel as we were immediately informed she is.

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Julia

Julia

*I also totally do not understand why the Nanny is only just now making it clear that she murdered his childhood dog. Was she for some reason trying to protect him from knowing that as a child? That seems remarkably out of character for someone as cruel as we were immediately informed she is.

 

Because they have to shoehorn plot points into the storyline to keep us too busy to wonder why the main characters don't have the obvious conversations and shut the whole thing down. So they got a little puckish and put in Frau Blucher from Young Frankenstein.

 

Which was, JMO, not a great idea, because Frau Blucher, while she was cartoonishly evil, was also deliciously silly, so I don't think they're creating the flood of tears we're supposed to wash Blane into salvation with.

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