S04.E01: Are You Ready for Some Zombies?

[sacrebleu]

Quote

I do not see how they can maintain an entire city of zombies for too long, though.

I seem to recall, although like others-- there were sooo many plotlines last year-- I might need to rewatch the last 1 or 2 from season three to refresh my memory--  When Kilmore Graves announced that the vaccine was actually infecting people with zombie-ism-- they asked the nation to send the brains of dead people to Seattle to avoid the new zombie population from getting out of control.

As Blaine already had set up a supply stream from outside Seattle (I seem to recall complaints about officials from India not getting on board) his boutique brain service was allowed to continue-- as long as he kept Chase Graves appraised of criminal goings on ( hence, Blaine's complaints about being an informant).

and JMO-- but shady military guys running black market brain tube operation are a really poor substitute for a big bad compared to the delightful Steven Weber as Vaughan DuClarke.  

[Affogato]

18 minutes ago, sacrebleu said:

I seem to recall, although like others-- there were sooo many plotlines last year-- I might need to rewatch the last 1 or 2 from season three to refresh my memory--  When Kilmore Graves announced that the vaccine was actually infecting people with zombie-ism-- they asked the nation to send the brains of dead people to Seattle to avoid the new zombie population from getting out of control.

As Blaine already had set up a supply stream from outside Seattle (I seem to recall complaints about officials from India not getting on board) his boutique brain service was allowed to continue-- as long as he kept Chase Graves appraised of criminal goings on ( hence, Blaine's complaints about being an informant).

and JMO-- but shady military guys running black market brain tube operation are a really poor substitute for a big bad compared to the delightful Steven Weber as Vaughan DuClarke.  

I don’t need a mustache twirling villain but you are right! Weber twirled a mean mustache. 

Yeah the boutique brain business also raises morale. I don’t know if Chase understands that. 

[Cthulhudrew]

I tend to agree with both sides on the matter of Dohring. IMO, he has demonstrated a much greater range and capacity in his past projects than he has shown in the entire (admittedly still short) turn as Chase Graves. I don't know if it's character choice that he feels Chase needs to be almost entirely buttoned up due to his military background, or if the writing just isn't there for the character (yet?) or some combination of the above. I do think that he is thus far a pretty wasted character and a waste of Dohring's talent and charisma. I think they would have been better off keeping Vivian Stoll, as she had much more going on.

[Thrifty]

I have a feeling things are going to get really bad over the season.  It's established already that there are homeless zombies who have trouble finding brains to eat (but not spray tanner and hair dye).  We all know what happens when a zombie goes hungry.  Chase Graves said something about how they might have supply troubles.  And you just know that guillotine is going to be used.

 

But seriously, why the fuck is the entire apparatus of searching for a cure limited to a single Seattle based pathologist?  It seems like if he could somehow figure out a cure, the apparatus of the entire United States government, and probably the World Health Organization to boot, would be able to figure something out pretty quickly.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Thrifty

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, Cthulhudrew said:

I tend to agree with both sides on the matter of Dohring. IMO, he has demonstrated a much greater range and capacity in his past projects than he has shown in the entire (admittedly still short) turn as Chase Graves. I don't know if it's character choice that he feels Chase needs to be almost entirely buttoned up due to his military background, or if the writing just isn't there for the character (yet?) or some combination of the above. I do think that he is thus far a pretty wasted character and a waste of Dohring's talent and charisma. I think they would have been better off keeping Vivian Stoll, as she had much more going on.

I wa thinking when chase was talking to blaine that Blaine got the ‘logan’ lines. 

Edited February 28, 2018 by Affogato

[AllyB]

40 minutes ago, Thrifty said:

But seriously, why the fuck is the entire apparatus of searching for a cure limited to a single Seattle based pathologist?  It seems like if he could somehow figure out a cure, the apparatus of the entire United States government, and probably the World Health Organization to boot, would be able to figure something out pretty quickly.

Yup. Ravi working alone in a mortuary came up with an apparently side effect free cure in under two years. That's while also doing his job as chief medical examiner, occasionally helping out with murder cases in ways unrelated to his role, covering for Liv while she worked with Clive/was a zombie brain basket case and pursuing a full personal life (which unfortunately also included emotionally torturing himself and trying to guilt Peyton about a decision she made that was none of his business). Then in days(?) he came up with a very good first go of a vaccine.

Not to disregard the fact that Ravi is obviously one of the best doctor/scientists in his field (he did work at the CDC and was the first and only of his peers to notice that zombies were real) but the zombie disease appears to be one of the more curable diseases ever in history. If he was collaborating with the rest of the world's best pathologists, who have access to much better equipment and ingredients. And if he was reinstated as a pathologist and no longer had to spend time on all of Seattle's suspicious deaths. He could focus on replicating the tainted Utopium and end the zombie crises by Christmas.

[tennisgurl]

So, this seems like it could be an interesting season. With zombies out in the open, Liv and company have whole new problems to deal with, as well as their usual, crime solving stuff. I think this could be a good thing for the show, and seeing how New Seattle works as a zombie sanctuary could be really interesting, but, despite what the Fillmore Graves people think, I dont see this going well long term. Especially with people like the poor zombie teens who were turned because of this whole Zombie Power thing that the powerful Fillmore Graves guys started, and now they arent given enough food or resources. 

Can humans not leave Seattle? I thought last season that they could, or was everyone quarantined? Was guy from San Francisco just visiting, and got stuck there? In that case, that guy actually has a WAY better reason to be bitter than the victim guy.

Hopefully the CDC is all over this, plus probably every other medical researcher on the planet, and not just Ravi. Ravi is a great scientist and all, but its a ton of work for one guy, especially when he is using himself as a test subject. 

[Thrifty]

56 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Can humans not leave Seattle? I thought last season that they could, or was everyone quarantined? Was guy from San Francisco just visiting, and got stuck there? In that case, that guy actually has a WAY better reason to be bitter than the victim guy.

Some of them got out before the quarantine went up.  It seems like they could have some apparatus for screening to keep zombies in and let humans out.  I mean, checking for blood pressure is one of the most elementary medical tests you can do.

[Affogato]

I hate to be a killjoy but my impression is that Ravi is considered a bit of a flake by the cdc, who fired him, he is not working as a pathologist currently, maybe because of his failure with the cdc.

 

I dont remember any any indication that he has told anyone except Liv and group about his research. 

[AllyB]

1 hour ago, Affogato said:

I hate to be a killjoy but my impression is that Ravi is considered a bit of a flake by the cdc, who fired him, he is not working as a pathologist currently, maybe because of his failure with the cdc.

 

I dont remember any any indication that he has told anyone except Liv and group about his research. 

The CDC fired him because he had found out about zombies, tried to convince his colleagues that the infection existed and he was fired for being a nut. Now he has been proven to be not only entirely sane, but the only one of his peers to recognise that this extremely serious infection from the beginning. To top that off, he managed in the face of poor resources and significant adversity, to develop a side-effect free cure in a very short space of time. Ravi would be front and centre of humanity's scientific efforts to end zombie-ism.

Up until now the show explained why such a talented scientist would be working alone. He was a scientific Cassandra. But that explanation just doesn't work now that the whole world knows about the infection. Curing it would be the number one priority of nearly every government on earth. Ravi would be in big demand.

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, AllyB said:

The CDC fired him because he had found out about zombies, tried to convince his colleagues that the infection existed and he was fired for being a nut. Now he has been proven to be not only entirely sane, but the only one of his peers to recognise that this extremely serious infection from the beginning. To top that off, he managed in the face of poor resources and significant adversity, to develop a side-effect free cure in a very short space of time. Ravi would be front and centre of humanity's scientific efforts to end zombie-ism.

Up until now the show explained why such a talented scientist would be working alone. He was a scientific Cassandra. But that explanation just doesn't work now that the whole world knows about the infection. Curing it would be the number one priority of nearly every government on earth. Ravi would be in big demand.

And yet he isn’t in big demand  

Actually he was fired because of the aleutian flu. I think.

I’m not sure he is exhibiting scientific brilliance and not just because he is testing his one dose on himself. His methods are questionable and he has been pretty lucky, in some cases to be alive. Tv science at its sloppiest. 

And again I’m not sure anyone significant knows about his efforts. Except whoever stole the cure and they seem to be nefarious types. Who has he told? 

I like Ravi, too. 

I think he wants to find a cure and spring it on the world an act of single, lone brilliance. 

Edited March 1, 2018 by Affogato

[mrsbagnet]

22 hours ago, GaT said:

 

Here's a question, what about Liv's family? The last time we saw her mother & brother, the brother needed blood & Liv said no & couldn't tell them why & that was the last we saw of them. Are they ever coming back? She can explain it now, so it seems like they should be.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully, they can reunite.

 

On 2/27/2018 at 12:06 PM, Thrifty said:

Does tanner exist for black people?  They don't tan.

Darker skinned people tan more easily because we have more melanin. I'm brown-skinned, and if I'm outside in the sun for 10 mins, I get visible tan lines.

I could really, really do without Angus as a mad prophet. I'm sure Robert Knepper will shine in the role, but the storyline just seems so over the top and unnecessary. 

[Cthulhudrew]

10 hours ago, Thrifty said:

I have a feeling things are going to get really bad over the season.  It's established already that there are homeless zombies who have trouble finding brains to eat (but not spray tanner and hair dye).  We all know what happens when a zombie goes hungry.  Chase Graves said something about how they might have supply troubles.  And you just know that guillotine is going to be used.

I would definitely hate to be one of the living in Seattle right now, that's for sure. If things have gotten so bad after only 4 months with watered down brains, it is really only a matter of time before they start feeding on the living. (Like with Angus and Co. at the end.)

I am also kind of curious why they needed to bother with a "modified" guillotine. Seems to me that a regular head chopping off guillotine would have worked just fine?

[Affogato]

5 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

I would definitely hate to be one of the living in Seattle right now, that's for sure. If things have gotten so bad after only 4 months with watered down brains, it is really only a matter of time before they start feeding on the living. (Like with Angus and Co. at the end.)

I am also kind of curious why they needed to bother with a "modified" guillotine. Seems to me that a regular head chopping off guillotine would have worked just fine?

chases answer is more army and more crackdown. Someone needs to talk to him. 

I think the smashotine kills a zombie dead. Otherwise there would be the possibility of sewing the head on, maybe even healing. At least living as a head, shades of Mike Baron and Steve Rude’s Old comic “Nexus”. The zombies are durable. 

[kieyra]

18 hours ago, Paloma said:

Maybe the extreme bodybuilding (and/or steroids?) affected his ability to act? But I may just be biased because I prefer the body type he had in VM.

No, he literally looks like he has someone else's arms attached to his torso.

[Clanstarling]

On 2/26/2018 at 11:38 PM, AnimeMania said:

Was wondering if the murder victim was ground up in a vat of brains, how Liv had a entire brain to cut up and eat. I liked the show better when there were only a few undiscovered zombies, the cast is huge now.

As someone above said, maybe he was dropped in feet first, and the machine jammed before it got to his skull. The mixer was designed for soft foods, after all. ;)

[AnimeMania]

On 2/27/2018 at 2:38 AM, AnimeMania said:

Was wondering if the murder victim was ground up in a vat of brains, how Liv had a entire brain to cut up and eat. I liked the show better when there were only a few undiscovered zombies, the cast is huge now.

I was wondering how the murderer gained access to a super secure military guarded facility, did they work there?

[MisterGlass]

On 2/28/2018 at 9:22 AM, jhlipton said:

The Undiscovered Zombie is my favorite Star Trek movie

I haven't read it, but there's a book called Night of the Living Trekkies.

On 2/28/2018 at 7:07 PM, AllyB said:

The CDC fired him because he had found out about zombies,

I believe he was fired for his crackpot theory that zombies could happen, and for insisting too loudly that it be researched.  This was in the pre-Z days.  Since his former boss died last season, there may not be that many people left who remember his theory.

[possibilities]

On 2/28/2018 at 3:32 PM, AllyB said:

Yup. Ravi working alone in a mortuary came up with an apparently side effect free cure in under two years. That's while also doing his job as chief medical examiner, occasionally helping out with murder cases in ways unrelated to his role, covering for Liv while she worked with Clive/was a zombie brain basket case and pursuing a full personal life (which unfortunately also included emotionally torturing himself and trying to guilt Peyton about a decision she made that was none of his business). Then in days(?) he came up with a very good first go of a vaccine.

Not to disregard the fact that Ravi is obviously one of the best doctor/scientists in his field (he did work at the CDC and was the first and only of his peers to notice that zombies were real) but the zombie disease appears to be one of the more curable diseases ever in history. If he was collaborating with the rest of the world's best pathologists, who have access to much better equipment and ingredients. And if he was reinstated as a pathologist and no longer had to spend time on all of Seattle's suspicious deaths. He could focus on replicating the tainted Utopium and end the zombie crises by Christmas.

And then the zombie virus would mutate every season, like the flu, causing new crops of zombies to display slightly different effects each season.

[biakbiak]

As a lifelong Seahawk fan from a family of them, I am not sure Liv's character was out there enough!

Edited March 2, 2018 by biakbiak

[ElectricBoogaloo]

15 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I was wondering how the murderer gained access to a super secure military guarded facility, did they work there?

They never explained how she got into the facility (or where she got the extra brain tubes to plant in the 49ers fan's car to frame him) but based on Clive's interview with her, she didn't work there. She always referred to it as her husband's workplace (as opposed to "our workplace'). They also didn't have her explain how she got her husband up to the top of the grinder so she could push him in.

[Thrifty]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

They also didn't have her explain how she got her husband up to the top of the grinder so she could push him in.

She could have killed him elsewhere and thrown the body in.  Still raises the question of how she got there in the first place.  If she killed him off site, then lugging a dead body in would have made it even harder to sneak in.

[Affogato]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

They never explained how she got into the facility (or where she got the extra brain tubes to plant in the 49ers fan's car to frame him) but based on Clive's interview with her, she didn't work there. She always referred to it as her husband's workplace (as opposed to "our workplace'). They also didn't have her explain how she got her husband up to the top of the grinder so she could push him in.

Used her husbands access code? Clearly ‘sanfran’ thought he could go back and replace tubes, so oddly no video surveillance on actual entry points. Or she doesn’t work there but in another part of the facility. Fake timecard punch  then hides  and waits until a day husband is cleaning the bowl. Then acts  

I assume her hubby was in the bowl cleaning and she turned it on briefly. Head whole, he’s standing, but he never sees who turned on unit. That they have to climb into the bowl to clean is what makes it a nasty job. 

 

Her husband dead and security guard not alerted. 

Edited March 2, 2018 by Affogato
Odd phone artifact

[chaifan]

Can someone explain the zombie cure Ravi has come up with?  Is it a cure or a vaccination?  It seems to turn a non-zombie (I don't like the zombie/human distinction, as they're all humans) into a zombie for a limited time, then you go back to normal.  Is that right?  I'm just confused as to what Ravi is doing & going through.  I know his earlier experiments were hindered by a lack of the Max Rager, but didn't they find the original formula that started the whole zombie outbreak? 

I agree with others that aren't crazy about the direction of the show.  I'm not a fan of the New Seattle/walled in city concept.  And there's no explanation as to how/why no pre-wall zombies left the city.  But still enjoying the show overall.  I'm glad it's back.

[possibilities]

It's a quarantine. I imagine that residents were prevented from leaving, to prevent spreading the zombie "plague."

[biakbiak]

5 minutes ago, possibilities said:

It's a quarantine. I imagine that residents were prevented from leaving, to prevent spreading the zombie "plague."

Right but they said a lot of people left before it wss fully in place, it seems doubtful that no zombies left.

[Thrifty]

8 hours ago, chaifan said:

Can someone explain the zombie cure Ravi has come up with?  Is it a cure or a vaccination?  It seems to turn a non-zombie (I don't like the zombie/human distinction, as they're all humans) into a zombie for a limited time, then you go back to normal.  Is that right?  I'm just confused as to what Ravi is doing & going through.  I know his earlier experiments were hindered by a lack of the Max Rager, but didn't they find the original formula that started the whole zombie outbreak?

He came up with 2 cures and a vaccine.  Right now he's working with a vaccine.  I think he found the formula, but he can't find Utopium that's tainted the right way.

[Affogato]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Right but they said a lot of people left before it wss fully in place, it seems doubtful that no zombies left.

I’m sure fill more graves has seeded the world with covert agents. A lot were in place as a part of Chase’s black water ops before the reveal. 

Edited March 3, 2018 by Affogato

[xqueenfrostine]

On 2/27/2018 at 4:52 PM, mochamajesty said:

I would imagine that zombies are pale due to lack of blood flow, as they are dead.  There is no blood flowing through their bodies. 

Yes, there is.  We saw Ravi get a blood sample from Liv in the pilot, and we've seen zombies bleed when they get shot.  That said, it has been established that they have slower pulses/lower blood pressure than humans so I can accept poor circulation as the reason for some (though likely not all, as their hair losing color at the same time implies something else is going on) of their skin color loss.

Edited March 6, 2018 by xqueenfrostine

[Thrifty]

10 hours ago, xqueenfrostine said:

Yes, there is.  We saw Ravi get a blood sample from Liv in the pilot, and we've seen zombies bleed when they get shot.  That said, it has been established that they have slower pulses/lower blood pressure than humans so I can accept poor circulation as the reason for some (though likely not all, as their hair losing color at the same time implies something else is going on) of their skin color loss.

Is the presence of blood the same as blood flow?  Blood sitting still would still come out, like poking a hole through a corpse.

 

Of course, more telling is the aforementioned ability of zombie men to get erections.

[xqueenfrostine]

4 hours ago, Thrifty said:

Is the presence of blood the same as blood flow?  Blood sitting still would still come out, like poking a hole through a corpse.

It's not the same as blood flow, but if there wasn't blood flow zombies would develop livor mortis, which is a condition in corpses where the blood starts pooling in particular areas of the body because it's stopped circulating.  Livor mortis basically looks like huge bruises along the side of the body that is facing down.  Plus, it's been established that zombies have both a pulse and blood pressure, which also prove blood flow.  I think Ravi said Liv's pulse was 10 beats per minute in the pilot, and then last season Harley Johns told Fillmore Graves that his brother (who had worked for Max Rager) told him that zombies had a specific blood pressure range though I can't remember the number just now.  Another way we know that zombies have blood flow is that it was established in the first season that "full zombie mode" is triggered by adrenaline.  Adrenaline couldn't flow through the body without blood circulation.  

Also, while traditional zombies are considered dead, I think it's pretty clear that iZombie zombies are not.  Since the very beginning the show has treated zombism as a potentially curable disease.  Death can't be cured or driven into remission, but it appears that zombism can.

Edited March 6, 2018 by xqueenfrostine

[The Companion]

On 2/27/2018 at 3:18 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I hope this "can you help the homeless zombie teenagers/who would you want in a foxhole with you?" thing finally made Major realize that he can never take Chase Graves at his word or really trust him. I loved how Major got to dive back into his old job and got the kids talking and joking (not being ravenous always helps) so I was as disappointed as he was when it turned out that Chase just wanted to know which ones to recruit. That "until you usurp me" line will come back to bite Chase in the ass, right? I predict the girl will be the one who turns on Chase or tries to organize a rebellion against FG. She will think she can find a better way to feed and protect the new zombies and get fed up with the party line.

I loved Major getting to be Major again. You could see his complete joy when he got to work with kids again. Of course, Major can't catch a break, so it didn't last long. I wish they would have drawn it out a little longer. It was fun to see him enjoy himself again and it was a great way to provide us with a window into the new world.

 

On 2/27/2018 at 10:55 AM, possibilities said:

They've said that most of the zombies are dying hair and using tanner to pass as non-zombies. I'm sure it's a budget thing at this point, to save the show money on actor zombification make up.

I thought Filmore Graves was supplying it with the other supplies. Maybe I made that up. We do see someone not necessarily associated with the company spouting the company line. There is also a distinct disadvantage if people can easily tell the difference between zombies and non-zombies, so I could imagine those items being provided to the zombie population to reduce panic. 

On 2/27/2018 at 12:43 PM, Lunula said:

I still preferred it in the earlier seasons when Liv didn't go full-on into the personality of the brain she'd eaten that week - I liked it better when we just saw flashes of that person, rather than her entire personality changing for the duration of the brain.  

I agree. They have started to make her so controlled by the brain of the week that you lose her character. 

 

On 2/27/2018 at 6:18 PM, Thrifty said:

I know football fans can be pretty crazy, but I've never heard of one dressing up in a weird costume to watch a game at home.

As a crazy football fan, it isn't unheard of. You have to keep your lucky stuff on or your team won't win. Now, is it extreme to watch the combine? Maybe. 

 

On 2/28/2018 at 4:20 PM, Thrifty said:

Some of them got out before the quarantine went up.  It seems like they could have some apparatus for screening to keep zombies in and let humans out.  I mean, checking for blood pressure is one of the most elementary medical tests you can do.

I think there is a good non-publicized but referenced reason not to do this. If you remove the humans and leave the zombies, you get one targeted area with no casualties other than the zombies. That would be a tempting target for some. 

On 3/2/2018 at 3:25 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

They never explained how she got into the facility (or where she got the extra brain tubes to plant in the 49ers fan's car to frame him) but based on Clive's interview with her, she didn't work there. She always referred to it as her husband's workplace (as opposed to "our workplace'). They also didn't have her explain how she got her husband up to the top of the grinder so she could push him in.

Maybe I misheard her. I thought she said she worked for the same company and left before him because he was working the swing shift in her initial interview. How did she get him up to the top of the grinder? That I don't have an answer for. 

[Clanstarling]

5 hours ago, The Companion said:

I agree. They have started to make her so controlled by the brain of the week that you lose her character.

Maybe I misheard her. I thought she said she worked for the same company and left before him because he was working the swing shift in her initial interview. How did she get him up to the top of the grinder? That I don't have an answer for. 

I thought that I was imagining that Liv on Brain was more intense than it used to be. I don't like her being overwhelmed by it - since she's on brain more often than not.

I thought the wife worked for the same company too. I figured he was cleaning out the grinder, so he got up there under his own steam.

[Bruinsfan]

On 2/27/2018 at 12:43 PM, Lunula said:

I still preferred it in the earlier seasons when Liv didn't go full-on into the personality of the brain she'd eaten that week - I liked it better when we just saw flashes of that person, rather than her entire personality changing for the duration of the brain.  

Is it possible that Liv being subsumed so much by the brains she eats is an intentional narrative point about the progression of the zombie "disease" rather than just Flanderization? It's been really, REALLY pronounced this season, to the point that it seems like she's possessed by the murder victims whole cloth rather than simply influenced by some of their personality traits.

[Thrifty]

28 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

Is it possible that Liv being subsumed so much by the brains she eats is an intentional narrative point about the progression of the zombie "disease" rather than just Flanderization? It's been really, REALLY pronounced this season, to the point that it seems like she's possessed by the murder victims whole cloth rather than simply influenced by some of their personality traits.

I could go along with that IF they stated it in the show.  I'm not willing to make that assumption just to make the writers look good.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 3/2/2018 at 8:26 PM, chaifan said:

Can someone explain the zombie cure Ravi has come up with?  Is it a cure or a vaccination?  It seems to turn a non-zombie (I don't like the zombie/human distinction, as they're all humans) into a zombie for a limited time, then you go back to normal.  Is that right?  I'm just confused as to what Ravi is doing & going through.  I know his earlier experiments were hindered by a lack of the Max Rager, but didn't they find the original formula that started the whole zombie outbreak? 

As I recall, Ravi came up with at least two cures previously and now a vaccination. 

Cure 1.0 was used to turn Blaine back into a human at the end of S1. It involved tainted Utopium from the boat party. Major took Cure 1.0 as well, I believe. Somewhere along the way, it seemed like Cure 1.0 was failing. Our heroes discovered more tainted Utopium and began work on Cure 2.0.

Cure 2.0 got administered to Blaine, and it worked but had a side effect of memory loss. (Blaine made that memory loss seem worse than it was.) Ravi whipped up a memory enhancing drug to be given alongside 2.0. (Which Blaine adapted to create the blue brain juice to make zombie visions longer and more intense.)

Major took Cure 2.0 and the memory enhancing drug. He lost his memory for like a day or two, but got it back. Major gave a syringe with Cure 2.0 and gave it to Natalie, a zombie call girl he befriended. Someone found out about Cure 2.0 and stole the rest of it. (An unresolved plot thread from last season). As far as I know, they ran through all the tainted Utopium on hand to make those batches of Cure 2.0.

I don't think the ingredients of the vaccine have been specified. But as we saw, Ravi has been mostly protected from being a zombie, only undergoing brain cravings every few weeks.

[MisterGlass]

On 3/7/2018 at 4:36 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Major took Cure 1.0 as well, I believe. Somewhere along the way, it seemed like Cure 1.0 was failing.

Good summary of the cure research.  Major was injected by Liv with Cure 1.0 after she scratched him to keep him alive after the Meat Cute massacre.  Original Cure 1.0 recipients were the late lamented lab rats, Hope and New Hope.

[Affogato]

On 3/7/2018 at 1:02 PM, Bruinsfan said:

Is it possible that Liv being subsumed so much by the brains she eats is an intentional narrative point about the progression of the zombie "disease" rather than just Flanderization? It's been really, REALLY pronounced this season, to the point that it seems like she's possessed by the murder victims whole cloth rather than simply influenced by some of their personality traits.

I hope so!

[possibilities]

Didn't one of the cures have side effects besides the memory loss? They were really afraid about Major maybe dying or something?

The long time between seasons is making it hard for me to keep track.

[JamieLynn832002]

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

Didn't one of the cures have side effects besides the memory loss? They were really afraid about Major maybe dying or something?

The long time between seasons is making it hard for me to keep track.

With the first cure, the rat died not long after reverting to zombie form and Blaine and especially Major were both showing signs of illness/death when they took the second cure. I don't remember there being any known possible side effects beyond the memory loss for the second cure. 

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, JamieLynn832002 said:

With the first cure, the rat died not long after reverting to zombie form and Blaine and especially Major were both showing signs of illness/death when they took the second cure. I don't remember there being any known possible side effects beyond the memory loss for the second cure. 

I seem to remember that the memory loss a hoax by Blaine, so he could reinvent himself. Or maybe he just pretended he still had it after he got it back, suffering a little memory loss of my own here.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Clanstarling

[Affogato]

44 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I seem to remember that the memory loss a hoax by Blaine, so he could reinvent himself. Or maybe he just pretended he still had it after he got it back, suffering a little memory loss of my own here.

No I remember Major having some memory loss but regaining it. Something about him visiting his mother then getting lost on the way back? Sadly my memory isn’t that detailed either. 

[Clanstarling]

12 minutes ago, Affogato said:

No I remember Major having some memory loss but regaining it. Something about him visiting his mother then getting lost on the way back? Sadly my memory isn’t that detailed either. 

That rings a dim bell.

[jewel21]

If memory serves, Blaine did lose his memories, but only for a day or two. He then chose to lie and pretend that he still had amnesia.

[Pindrop]

The episodic procedural has always worked for me, and the main cast (since season 1) are as fun as ever, but I think the overall story arc of zombies getting exposed was a mistake, and it feels like a weight around the neck of this show, dragging it down. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

[AudienceofOne]

First impression is that this season is a bit darker than the previous one so the quirky humour I enjoyed in it isn't working for me. But I'm just so glad to have Show back! Hello, show!

On 27/02/2018 at 2:57 PM, HunterHunted said:

I would have much rather had the show concentrate on how Seattle is or isn't working now that zombies have been revealed. Homeless zombies turning tricks for brains is the last thing they need. Besides Major's teen group, Fillmore Graves should be running shelters and job placement services. Regular homelessness is bad, but a homeless population that turns into rage filled killing machines when they're hungry is not something they can afford to have happen.

There is a reason why the military shouldn't be doing policing and this is a textbook example of it. Want to know the real reason we should be scared of the militarisation of the police force? The military suck at it. They created a zombie city that they don't know how to run because, hey, they're soldiers! 

On 27/02/2018 at 6:48 PM, GaT said:

I don't like the direction the show has taken. I don't like this whole militia/walled in city thing, I don't like the fact that there are so many zombies, I don't like that Ravi is a part time zombie, I don't like that Blaine's father is back, I just don't like it.

I also don't like any of these things but take my TV marriage vows seriously.

On 28/02/2018 at 11:33 AM, AllyB said:

Hearing about how the teens were kicked out by their families made me think about Liv's family. Now that everyone knows about zombie they would have obviously put two and two together. They'd know why she went weird after the boat fire, understand her new look, her estrangement from Major, her career change and most importantly why she refused to give blood to her brother. Either one of them would have gotten in touch by now or Liv would have reached out, if for no other reason than to make sure they were ok in New Seattle.

I'd like to see Liv's family issues resolved as well but I think they introduced the estrangement plotline so the actors could move on. Hopefully they won't forget it completely but I'm not holding my breath.

On 03/03/2018 at 1:26 PM, chaifan said:

Can someone explain the zombie cure Ravi has come up with?  Is it a cure or a vaccination?  It seems to turn a non-zombie (I don't like the zombie/human distinction, as they're all humans) into a zombie for a limited time, then you go back to normal.  Is that right?  I'm just confused as to what Ravi is doing & going through.  I know his earlier experiments were hindered by a lack of the Max Rager, but didn't they find the original formula that started the whole zombie outbreak? 

This show's science has always been awful. I try not to think about it because I love so much else that if I get caught up on the science I wouldn't have made it through episode 1.

Ignoring for a moment that they keep calling this a "virus" when its creation had nothing to do with viruses, I think what's happening is that Ravi took a vaccine and the immune response provided is keeping the zombie virus at check rather than overcoming it completely. Every now and then, his immune system is overwhelmed but then re-asserts itself. I have no idea why he'd be so sanguine about this. It's highly unlikely the virus and his immune system would stay at equilibrium like this long-term. All it would take is a bad bout of flu and the zombie virus would overwhelm the immune response. 

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

I also don't like any of these things but take my TV marriage vows seriously.

I used to. But as I got older, I started divorcing the ones that queued up on my DVR. If I'm not excited to see them, they're not worth my time. IZombie is rapidly moving in that direction.

[Blakeston]

Is it public information that Fillmore Graves intentionally infected thousands of people (including children) with the zombie virus, under the guise that it was a flu vaccine? It certainly seems that way.

And if that's the case, it's completely absurd that the government would respond by granting them military control over the city of Seattle.

Yeah, yeah, they have the ability to provide people with brains, and they have lots of useful weapons and whatnot. The government would seize all of that and handle it themselves, and treat Fillmore Graves as enemy combatants. I don't expect a ton of realism from this show, but that's going way too far for me.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Blakeston

[KaleyFirefly]

I'm glad this show is back, but it was more fun in previous seasons. Still, I will give it a chance because I love this show, and the characters (Ravi and Blaine are usually quite funny, Clive kills it every episode, and I have a bit of a crush on Major).