S04.E07: Don't Hate the Player, Hate the Brain

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

After consuming the brain of a bachelor playboy, Liv heads to a club to meet up with Clive and Ravi. Meanwhile, Major is assigned an enormous task. Lastly, Clive is still struggling with the arrangement he’s made with Bozzio.

Promo:

[dubbel zout]

What's with Liv's hair now? She had that long blonde hair during last night's episode, and it looks like it's the new normal.

[Ray Adverb]

18 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

What's with Liv's hair now? She had that long blonde hair during last night's episode, and it looks like it's the new normal.

It could just be her personality of the week puts a lot of effort into personal appearance.

[Paloma]

On 4/10/2018 at 12:06 PM, dubbel zout said:

What's with Liv's hair now? She had that long blonde hair during last night's episode, and it looks like it's the new normal.

She said something about finally getting with the program (tanning and dyeing). But she went back to her usual zombie hair when she and Levon went to the zombie church.

[CCTC]

It really did not make sense for Liv to be the only zombie that did not look normal, although I suspect part of it is that Rose would rather not have to wear a wig and extra make-up every week (which I would not blame her).

It is getting a little creepy how often Liv's brain personality is mainly about sex.

Wasn't Clive's girlfriend the one who wanted the open relationship and was clearly dating and was wary about committing in general.  She never said anything about no sex, and there was no reason for Clive to assume that, so her reaction, while human, did not really seem justified.   You can't make the rules and then get upset when someone plays by the rules, esp. since you let that much time go by before saying - hey maybe this was a mistake.

I know they want drama and conflict, but Major's character now seems like a plot device rather than how the character would actually act.

I will admit, I have not watched as closely as I used to this year, so I might have missed things where my Clive and Major observations are off.

[possibilities]

I agree with you. I think Major was out of character and Bozzio was obnoxious to go for the guilt trip instead of just having an honest conversation with Clive. I also think they've gone way too far with Liv's personality of the week. Even though it's a different brain, it's often the same general idea. Gone are the days when she would become an artist for a week, or something else interesting.

[thuganomics85]

Hey, that was Bar Paly a.k.a. Helen of Troy from Legends of Tomorrow as the woman the pick up artist just slept with, before he died.  Fun seeing her in a different role!

It never even occurred to me that Liv and Angus never actually met before, until they were introduced in this episode.

I feel like I've seen way too many variations of this kind of brain, so I wasn't interested in any of Liv's antics.  Well, I did get a chuckle over her apparently sexting Detective Cavanaugh, and causing him to get booted to the couch.

So, Bozzio apparently never actually slept with anyone else yet, and is now upset that Clive has (granted, it ended up being with a prostitute, but still.)  Yeah, this just feels like an excuse to cause more romantic drama.  Either break them up show, or go ahead and find some way for them to move past this (again, I suspect it will be one of those syringes Blaine has.)

I love you, Ravi, but next time, maybe wait and make sure the ladies at the bar are actually single, before ordering the top shelf booze.  Points for at least attempting to be a good wingman, at least.

Um, Liv?  If you're going to start running your own illegal enterprise, maybe make sure and not commit those acts in your apartment, if you have a roommate.  Or if you do, maybe don't wear headphones while doing so.  Or close your freaking door.  You are the worst human smuggler queen pin in the world.

[GaT]

Monday night used to be awesome TV because of this show & Lucifer. Now, Monday night TV sucks because of this show & Lucifer.

[AnimeMania]

What was the dish that Liv made with the brains?

It would probably be impossible to poison the inside of the condom to kill the man without also poisoning the outside of the condom which would poison the woman. Unless you worked at a condom making factory.

[Ray Adverb]

1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:

What was the dish that Liv made with the brains?

It would probably be impossible to poison the inside of the condom to kill the man without also poisoning the outside of the condom which would poison the woman. Unless you worked at a condom making factory.

I was thinking the same thing.  Aren't condoms in sealed, individually wrapped, tamper evident packaging?

 

It was nice that the authorities puppet government of Seattle were at least making an attempt to pretend that rule of law applied.  I want to say that the newspaper will probably go underground and start disseminating anti-Filmore Graves sentiment, but if this season has taught me anything it's that the humans are remarkably stupid and never follow up on anything.  Having the ruling zombie terrorists face consequences for anything is not what this show is about.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved that Levon hated doucheLiv's fedora and Clive hated doucheLiv's giant hat.

I remember one VH1 gave that one douchey pick up artist his own show and I was like dude, why are you giving this jackass publicity and airtime?

I totally cracked up when Liv clapped her hands at the victim's apartment and the lights dimmed, Barry White came on, and then Liv and Ravi said they might as well have sex.

Don E. telling the guy who dug up Angust hat he was going to send his head to Gwyneth Paltrow also totally cracked me up.

I thought that Angus had met or seen Liv because of Blaine at some point during S1 so I thought they would recognize each other when they inevitably crossed paths this season, but apparently I assumed incorrectly. Weirdly, Angus seemed proud of Blaine when he described him to Liv. Maybe if he said things like that in front of Blaine, he wouldn't have spent all that time in a well. I can't wait until Liv barges into Blaine's restaurant to confront him about Angus and his weird church.

I totally don't buy Major turning to the dark side. It wasn't just his behavior at the newspaper office either. It was the look on his face, that he enjoyed wielding power because he had a gun and the newspaper people didn't. Major has often acted as the moral compass of the show so it makes no sense that suddenly he's one of the FG dude bros who will lie to justify and cover up what FG is doing, especially since he was the one questioning Chase as to whether shutting down the newspaper was even legal beforehand.

Liv, on the other hand, has been pushing the grey area from the beginning so I'm not surprised that she has moved the line of rationalized behavior to taking over for Mama Leone and stealing an ID card maker. When she started down this path (as early as when she was smuggling that kid), I saw the conflict that it would cause for her with everyone else in her world: Major the FG guy, Clive the police officer, Peyton the DA, etc. aka people who obey the letter of the law and have an obligation to report that she's breaking the law. I think the only person who would fully support everything she's doing (besides the other coyote people like Levon) is Blaine, and that would just be on general "fuck the rules" principle.

One more small but funny moment - when Liv and Clive were leaving the FG office and Chase said something along the lines of "looking good" to Liv and she scoffed, "You wish!" and he just kind of chuckled to himself as she walked out.

[Ray Adverb]

I find Major's moral corruption to be very believable.  Last season, Fillmore Graves became basically the only place he belonged.  His reputation as the Chaos Killer ruined him in Seattle.  He couldn't find work anywhere else.  Then he found a woman he was in love with, just to see her killed by an anti-zombie extremist (along with several of his closest friends).  He has been through a lot in the past few years and FG is giving him this sense of purpose and belonging that so many people yearn for.  It makes a lot of sense that his loyalty to Chase and FG would run this deep.

 

So it turns out a decapitated zombie will continue to live.  Now the head smashotine makes more sense.

 

I can't understand how Liv, who lives with the mayor's right-hand woman, could be so utterly incompetent at her chosen smuggling operation.  She didn't bother to pay any attention to her surroundings or even close the damn door.  She's worse at this than a masturbating teenager trying to keep his parents from walking in on him.  She could have at least closed the door, turned off the music, and placed some sort of obstruction to give her a little warning.

 

I really want to see someone stand up for the humans.  Bioterrorists took over Seattle and the U.S. government appears to have completely abandoned them.  The elected Seattle governmental apparatus appears to be little more than a puppet to the private Fillmore Graves junta.

[snowwhyte]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

What was the dish that Liv made with the brains?

I think Liv was making the English steamed pudding, spotted dick.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I wish the  writers spent the same level of attention to the rest of the show that they did in picking Liv's recipes.

Re: Major, I'd like to think that part of what is going on is he is trying to get in good with Russ Roche, the FG guy who has been putting brain tubes on the black market. So when he shouts fake news and starts firing, Major follows suit.

Technically, shouldn't Don-E mail Dino to Brad Pitt? He was the one who asks, "What's in the box?" in Seven.

Re: Liv on sex brains, how many iterations have we had of this now? Amorous painter, nympho CDC woman, this episode, and probably some I'm forgetting. Shouldn't she be wanting to pick up women and not men? Also, shouldn't she actually have picked up some people? It's not hard for an attractive woman to pick up a guy for anonymous sex.

Re: Clive and Bozzio, I can buy that they made the relationship open while neither of them apparently wanted it. But it seems like they should have had a conversation or two about Bozzio not in fact sleeping with others, and Clive not really wanting to sleep with others either. 

[Affogato]

1 hour ago, snowwhyte said:

I think Liv was making the English steamed pudding, spotted dick.

Thanks. I recognized it was a steamed pudding but the name escaped me. I don't think I've ever seen 'spotted dick' before. Is the sauce always virulent orange?

[Affogato]

It is interesting that there are so many elements in the show that also were in Veronica Mars. Not just actors but things like the bus crash and bugging rooms and so on. It is like they made a list.

How does shutting down the paper matter if there is an internet?

 

48 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I wish the  writers spent the same level of attention to the rest of the show that they did in picking Liv's recipes.

Re: Major, I'd like to think that part of what is going on is he is trying to get in good with Russ Roche, the FG guy who has been putting brain tubes on the black market. So when he shouts fake news and starts firing, Major follows suit.

Technically, shouldn't Don-E mail Dino to Brad Pitt? He was the one who asks, "What's in the box?" in Seven.

Re: Liv on sex brains, how many iterations have we had of this now? Amorous painter, nympho CDC woman, this episode, and probably some I'm forgetting. Shouldn't she be wanting to pick up women and not men? Also, shouldn't she actually have picked up some people? It's not hard for an attractive woman to pick up a guy for anonymous sex.

Re: Clive and Bozzio, I can buy that they made the relationship open while neither of them apparently wanted it. But it seems like they should have had a conversation or two about Bozzio not in fact sleeping with others, and Clive not really wanting to sleep with others either. 

I think you may be correct about Major. I wish that Major and Chase would share half a brain between them, metaphorically. Major, as a former social worker, could temper some of Chase's decisions. Also Chase really thinks that kidnapping that girl was a win. I'm betting it bites him in the ass.  Maybe he is just in over his head and there isn't really a story there.

We did see Liv pick up Chase, maybe she learned her lesson. She did try to pick up her partner in smuggling. Who, by getting her to choose the people, is being pretty manipulative.

2 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

I find Major's moral corruption to be very believable.  Last season, Fillmore Graves became basically the only place he belonged.  His reputation as the Chaos Killer ruined him in Seattle.  He couldn't find work anywhere else.  Then he found a woman he was in love with, just to see her killed by an anti-zombie extremist (along with several of his closest friends).  He has been through a lot in the past few years and FG is giving him this sense of purpose and belonging that so many people yearn for.  It makes a lot of sense that his loyalty to Chase and FG would run this deep.

 

So it turns out a decapitated zombie will continue to live.  Now the head smashotine makes more sense.

 

I can't understand how Liv, who lives with the mayor's right-hand woman, could be so utterly incompetent at her chosen smuggling operation.  She didn't bother to pay any attention to her surroundings or even close the damn door.  She's worse at this than a masturbating teenager trying to keep his parents from walking in on him.  She could have at least closed the door, turned off the music, and placed some sort of obstruction to give her a little warning.

 

I really want to see someone stand up for the humans.  Bioterrorists took over Seattle and the U.S. government appears to have completely abandoned them.  The elected Seattle governmental apparatus appears to be little more than a puppet to the private Fillmore Graves junta.

It isn't clear to me, at this point, that they still couldn't make Fillmore Graves the good guys, although they may need another leader. The smashotine and kidnapping are crimes that went over the line.

I wonder if Major is up to it?

[Ray Adverb]

4 minutes ago, Affogato said:

We did see Liv pick up Chase, maybe she learned her lesson. She did try to pick up her partner in smuggling. Who, by getting her to choose the people, is being pretty manipulative.

But from everything we have seen this whole season, Liv is completely unable to control herself at all when she is on a brain.

[snowwhyte]

26 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Thanks. I recognized it was a steamed pudding but the name escaped me. I don't think I've ever seen 'spotted dick' before. Is the sauce always virulent orange?

i think that was meant to be the custard. If you make it from scratch the shade can vary depending on the richness of the egg yolks.

[cambridgeguy]

So if Ravi and Peyton are intimate again is she not at all concerned about picking up the zombie virus?  Since he turns every month he has to be a carrier of some form of the zombie virus which stays dormant most of the time but periodically activates.  It's already been established that no form of protection can stop it from being transferred during sex, so that means Peyton should also have this floating around in her bloodstream.  You'd think a scientist would be a bit more careful before taking the risk of infecting someone.

[Paloma]

Mr. Paloma and I are having a hard time caring about the main plotlines and most of the characters anymore (sad to say, since I loved this show so much), so we end up obsessing about the little inconsistencies. The one we focused on this week was Dino (is that his name?)--specifically, how was he alive (before he was decapitated in this episode) and still working as muscle in the bar? We both thought that Angus killed him after Dino got Angus out of the well, and we also thought that as far as Blaine and Don-E were concerned, Dino had been missing for a while (and they were angry about that). Did Angus just knock Dino out rather than kill him? And if so, where has Dino been until he showed up in the bar in this episode, and why was he apparently working like nothing had happened? 

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

But from everything we have seen this whole season, Liv is completely unable to control herself at all when she is on a brain.

I don't think that's entirely true. For example, she was able to break through Rom-Com Brain and stop idolizing Tim Timmerson when he turned out to be a zombie supremacist. And even on Pick-Up Artist Brain this episode, she didn't go full-on pickup artist. She didn't actually sleep with anyone, even though she presumably could have.

 

Just now, Paloma said:

Mr. Paloma and I are having a hard time caring about the main plotlines and most of the characters anymore (sad to say, since I loved this show so much), so we end up obsessing about the little inconsistencies. The one we focused on this week was Dino (is that his name?)--specifically, how was he alive (before he was decapitated in this episode) and still working as muscle in the bar? We both thought that Angus killed him after Dino got Angus out of the well, and we also thought that as far as Blaine and Don-E were concerned, Dino had been missing for a while (and they were angry about that). Did Angus just knock Dino out rather than kill him? And if so, where has Dino been until he showed up in the bar in this episode, and why was he apparently working like nothing had happened? 

We saw Dino get hit by Angus in the head. Apparently it was not a fatal blow. And also apparently, whenever he recovered, Dino didn't have the smarts to come up with some sort of cover story as to how Angus got out of the well that made him look more innocent, or run away or whatever. So at some point, he goes back to work and doesn't say anything. I think we saw Dino undead and well in the previous episode with no real explanation of where he had been. At that point, Blaine had been reacquainted with his father, and knew that Dino must have been involved because that was the only person who had knowledge of where Angus was besides Blaine. 

[Clanstarling]

20 hours ago, Paloma said:

She said something about finally getting with the program (tanning and dyeing). But she went back to her usual zombie hair when she and Levon went to the zombie church.

Which made sense, as she said, as Papa Preacher would appreciate the full on zombie look.

16 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Um, Liv?  If you're going to start running your own illegal enterprise, maybe make sure and not commit those acts in your apartment, if you have a roommate.  Or if you do, maybe don't wear headphones while doing so.  Or close your freaking door.  You are the worst human smuggler queen pin in the world.

Not that I do anything criminal but I always - always - set up my computer so that I'm facing the door. But yeah, the level of caution was at nil. Which is kind of unbelievable.

 

12 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I totally cracked up when Liv clapped her hands at the victim's apartment and the lights dimmed, Barry White came on, and then Liv and Ravi said they might as well have sex.

Me too, and they carried it on for a while. There did seem to be more humor in this episode than there has been, overall, this season.

10 hours ago, snowwhyte said:

I think Liv was making the English steamed pudding, spotted dick.

Of course it is. That works on so many (juvenile) levels!

[Chicago Redshirt]

8 hours ago, Affogato said:

How does shutting down the paper matter if there is an internet?

Chase seems to think just 1 step at a time, if that. Threat, response, threat, response, threat, response. 

Shutting down the 206 Weekly doesn't shut down the Seattle Times, the various TV stations, or the Internet, as you said. There is no way in anything approaching the real world that news of shutting down a newspaper doesn't spread and completely blow up in FG's faces. Not only does that fully legitimize the original story (i.e. by convincing people that there must be something to it if FG would take the drastic step of squashing the 1st Amendment and firing guns at or near journalists), but it would undoubtedly inspire anti-FG and anti-zombie sentiment. The first thing each of those journalists would do is give a 1st person account of what just happened on a blog or through e-mails. The second thing they would do is contact their journalist friends at the Times and basically every other news outlet and tell them what happened. 

[Zanne]

15 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

I really want to see someone stand up for the humans.  Bioterrorists took over Seattle and the U.S. government appears to have completely abandoned them.  The elected Seattle governmental apparatus appears to be little more than a puppet to the private Fillmore Graves junta.

The one thing I can't get over is how no one seems to think that making even more zombies, especially when there is already a low food supply, is a really, really, really bad idea. No one has talked about this except for the "bad" guys at Fillmore Graves. Right now, they seem to be making more sense than Liv.

[AllyB]

19 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Amorous painter, nympho CDC woman, this episode, and probably some I'm forgetting.

Horny librarian, dominatrix and stripper (when for some reason she felt the need to perform for Peyton). And in fact horny librarian brain also saw her start a relationship with recurring but ultimately disposable zombie boyfriend Drake. So even though the beats were different (as Drake didn't mind that she'd roofied him with horny brain) both stories involved her being hot for the new guy because of the brain and him telling her that he has been attracted to her for a while. It was such a retread. I'm very close to out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

21 hours ago, Affogato said:

It is interesting that there are so many elements in the show that also were in Veronica Mars. Not just actors but things like the bus crash and bugging rooms and so on. It is like they made a list.

Even though we didn't see Blaine in this episode, the short scene with Angus reminded me that Blaine is the Logan of the show (poor little rich boy with daddy issues). I'm just glad that they have decided to keep Blaine and Liv from hooking up. One of the things I like is that Liv only trusts him as far as she can throw him.

[Ray Adverb]

13 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Chase seems to think just 1 step at a time, if that. Threat, response, threat, response, threat, response. 

Shutting down the 206 Weekly doesn't shut down the Seattle Times, the various TV stations, or the Internet, as you said. There is no way in anything approaching the real world that news of shutting down a newspaper doesn't spread and completely blow up in FG's faces. Not only does that fully legitimize the original story (i.e. by convincing people that there must be something to it if FG would take the drastic step of squashing the 1st Amendment and firing guns at or near journalists), but it would undoubtedly inspire anti-FG and anti-zombie sentiment. The first thing each of those journalists would do is give a 1st person account of what just happened on a blog or through e-mails. The second thing they would do is contact their journalist friends at the Times and basically every other news outlet and tell them what happened. 

Everything you said makes perfect sense, which is why none of it will happen that way.  Every human in iZombie is a complete moron.  Remember the anti-zombie guys who got a great video of a zombie attacking and infecting one of their own?  They made exactly zero copies of it and didn't upload it anywhere.  Remember the brilliant medical examiner who discovered a cure then promptly gave up on his chance to be the next Jonas Salk?  My feeling is that we will never hear of the 206 Weekly ever again.  None of them will write blog posts or contact journalists at other papers or do anything at all.

[tennisgurl]

I think my personal highlight was Clive's incredibly sad Tinder game. "Hates sunny weather and This is Us" "Its emotionally manipulative!" Peyton and Ravi both just looked so sad, it was hilarious. Oh, and his mockery of Livs silly Cool Guy hats. 

Normally I like Bozzio, but her getting all angry about the open relationship that was her idea in the first place was just ridiculous. When you decide on an open relationship, you have to be aware that its not just you thats involved. If they decided to do this, they should have ironed out the rules, and had a real conversation about this. Neither of them seem to really want this, and they need to just be honest. Its a sucky situation, but you would think theres a better way. 

As much as the Fillmore Graves people act like villains (freedom of the press is for losers!) they arent wrong to be worried about the multiple new zombies running around. They're about to have a mass of unfed zombies running around, which is very much a bad thing. Of course, all this is happening because they infected a crap ton of new zombies and walled up a zombie city, so this whole mess is pretty much their fault anyway. 

Really, those journalists should be emailing and calling all their friends outside New Seattle at various news sources and getting this story out, but I doubt there will be much follow up. And I can only hope that Major is being all dark side now to get in with that one asshole guy. I can buy Major working for Fillmore Graves, out as a desire to help people, as he sees them as a lesser evil, but not cheerfully shooting at innocent people to shut down the free press. 

"What can kind perverse Frosty the Snowman do they show in England?" 

Edited April 18, 2018 by tennisgurl

[Ray Adverb]

20 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Really, those journalists should be emailing and calling all their friends outside New Seattle at various news sources and getting this story out, but I doubt there will be much follow up. And I can only hope that Major is being all dark side now to get in with that one asshole guy. I can buy Major working for Fillmore Graves, out as a desire to help people, as he sees them as a lesser evil, but not cheerfully shooting at innocent people to shut down the free press.

He shot up that bar a few weeks ago, and he wasn't trying to get undercover with anyone then.  I believe fully that Major is completely sincere and is just undergoing a personality change after all the events in his life.

[Chicago Redshirt]

29 minutes ago, RayAdverb said:

He shot up that bar a few weeks ago, and he wasn't trying to get undercover with anyone then.  I believe fully that Major is completely sincere and is just undergoing a personality change after all the events in his life.

I think that was a different situation. The Dead Enders in the bar were a potential threat to Major/Jordan/Capt. Seattle. It was just the three of them, vs. a bar full of people with a noted anti-zombie agenda, and some of whom were likely to be armed and use force. Indeed, at least some of the people there were involved in the incident that was videotaped, in which a guy took off Jordan's helmet and threatened her. The Dead Enders in general were known for lighting zombies on fire and so forth. So a show of force there could be more easily rationalized. And indeed, Major just shot up some liquor bottles, not close to anyone.

In this episode, Major shot a disk drive out of a reporter's hand. And no one was threatening any violence toward the FG folks, and there was no reason to think that these reporters would. I don't think Major would ever say "That's my name. Don't wear it out." when called the Chaos Killer before, and that he was mainly doing it to impress his idiot friend Roche.

[Clanstarling]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I think my personal highlight was Clive's incredibly sad Tinder game. "Hates sunny weather and This is Us" "Its emotionally manipulative!" Peyton and Ravi both just looked so sad, it was hilarious. Oh, and his mockery of Livs silly Cool Guy hats. 

Normally I like Bozzio, but her getting all angry about the open relationship that was her idea in the first place was just ridiculous. When you decide on an open relationship, you have to be aware that its not just you thats involved. If they decided to do this, they should have ironed out the rules, and had a real conversation about this. Neither of them seem to really want this, and they need to just be honest. Its a sucky situation, but you would think theres a better way.

 

Yes, Clive's Tinder was really funny (the picture as well).

Was Bozzio angry, or hurt? I ask because I know that when I'm hurt I seem angry, and that's how she came off to me. As to clearly defining rules, that's great in theory, but I suspect most people, when entering into something new to them (like an open relationship) often don't really know what details to iron out, and sometimes don't know the details exist until they get smacked in the face with them.

Nevertheless, she's entitled to her feelings, imo - of course, this is coming from someone who kicked her first husband to the curb for lots of good reasons, and then was butt hurt (as in This is Us emotional) when he found someone new. Go figure.

Edited April 18, 2018 by Clanstarling

[Chicago Redshirt]

Personal story: my first actual girlfriend was in college and then identified as bisexual. We agreed to have an open relationship. I was much more like Clive in that I was more interested in trying to keep her happy than dating around.  I learned, though, that it was pretty clear that even beyond the difference in desire to date other people there was an imbalance in the ability. At least in my experience, most women are not exactly psyched to date a guy who is open about his open relationship, which, like Clive, I tried to be. Whereas, it wasn't much of an issue for the men and women my girlfriend dated.

Anyhoo, my point is I am very sympathetic to Clive on this issue. Yes, of course, Bozzio is entitled to her emotions, and it sucks to come to the conclusion that Clive couldn't keep it in his pants and that it might have had actual meaning for him (despite what he said).

I hope he and Bozzio either have an honest talk where they figure out a way to resolve their issues or break up. 

[mjc570]

Gee, this used to be one of my favorite shows, mainly because of the smart, funny writing and great acting.  Now I FF past Liv on yet another sex/dude brain that goes on way too long and is just painful to watch. Now,the only part I really enjoy is Clive (and Ravi to some extent, since he has become such a peripheral character).

I do think Major's character is the only one that has changed throughout the show - I remember to what lengths he went to make sure the dog (sorry, can't remember the name) was all right. I don't think he's really recovered from being identified as the Chaos Killer.

[Chicago Redshirt]

^Minor, of course :)

[Ray Adverb]

On 4/17/2018 at 9:11 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Shouldn't she be wanting to pick up women and not men?

The sexual orientation of a zombie matches that of the person they ate.  As in "gay/straight/bisexual" not the sex the person is attracted to.  In season 1, Liv dated that zombie who was temporarily gay and not sexually attracted to women because he ate a gay man's brain.  Liv would only be attracted to women if she ate a gay man or woman's brain.

 

I started to fast forward through scenes featuring Liv and one other character, or interrogation scenes.  These always seem to be the worst, the ones where Rose McIver is trying her hardest to be wacky.

[Blakeston]

On 4/19/2018 at 8:27 AM, RayAdverb said:

The sexual orientation of a zombie matches that of the person they ate.  As in "gay/straight/bisexual" not the sex the person is attracted to.  In season 1, Liv dated that zombie who was temporarily gay and not sexually attracted to women because he ate a gay man's brain.  Liv would only be attracted to women if she ate a gay man or woman's brain.

I've always found that aspect of the show ridiculous. If Liv ate the brain of a man who's attracted to men, they want us to believe that would give her an attraction to women? I get the "gay brain makes you gay" rationale, but that makes even less sense to me than most things on this show - which is saying a lot. I wish they had just established that you maintain your sexual orientation even when you're on someone else's brain.

I'm also not buying Major's personality shift - unless he has some secret agenda, like he's waiting until the right moment to sabotage Fillmore Graves.

Major has reason to be grateful to FG, and I could see him looking the other way at some of their more dubious activities. But they're basically forcing him to act like a stormtrooper. For him to have no problem at all with the suppression of free speech and the smashotine, that would require a complete 180 on his part, personality-wise.

[Affogato]

4 hours ago, Blakeston said:

I've always found that aspect of the show ridiculous. If Liv ate the brain of a man who's attracted to men, they want us to believe that would give her an attraction to women? I get the "gay brain makes you gay" rationale, but that makes even less sense to me than most things on this show - which is saying a lot. I wish they had just established that you maintain your sexual orientation even when you're on someone else's brain.

I'm also not buying Major's personality shift - unless he has some secret agenda, like he's waiting until the right moment to sabotage Fillmore Graves.

Major has reason to be grateful to FG, and I could see him looking the other way at some of their more dubious activities. But they're basically forcing him to act like a stormtrooper. For him to have no problem at all with the suppression of free speech and the smashotine, that would require a complete 180 on his part, personality-wise.

Yes, eating brains can't actually restructure your brain temporarily. Can it? Although the addict brain was pretty weird, because that should be a physiological need (so Ravi should have been able to deal with it a lot easier for a few days). I'd assume the eater of brains would be attracted to whoever the brain was attracted to, since you are apparently interested in the brains interests otherwise, such as basketball or physics or stamp collecting. So if you munch on the brain of a heterosexual male your interest would be women.

I think there is something more complex going on surrounding the newspaper that may even have something to do with Chase's belief his office is being bugged, but yeah the execution of Renegade was pretty horrible since she was clearly well meaning even if you believed her criminally misguided (and there was the popsicle option). I wonder what has happened to the remnants of Carey's faction?

Or maybe I'm thinking about this too much.

[ketose]

On 4/16/2018 at 10:38 PM, CCTC said:

It really did not make sense for Liv to be the only zombie that did not look normal, although I suspect part of it is that Rose would rather not have to wear a wig and extra make-up every week (which I would not blame her).

It is getting a little creepy how often Liv's brain personality is mainly about sex.

Wasn't Clive's girlfriend the one who wanted the open relationship and was clearly dating and was wary about committing in general.  She never said anything about no sex, and there was no reason for Clive to assume that, so her reaction, while human, did not really seem justified.   You can't make the rules and then get upset when someone plays by the rules, esp. since you let that much time go by before saying - hey maybe this was a mistake.

I know they want drama and conflict, but Major's character now seems like a plot device rather than how the character would actually act.

I will admit, I have not watched as closely as I used to this year, so I might have missed things where my Clive and Major observations are off.

That whole thing with Bozzio was passive-aggressive. She thinks they need an open relationship. Then she goes around making out with guys, but not sleeping with them. On top of that, she's apparently following Clive around so she can get a clear hall pass.

Major isn't always on the right side of morality, but he is also trying to deal with a desperate situation. If FG runs out of brains, zombies start eating everyone and the US nukes the city. Also, it appears Major is trying to look dirty to the FG guy who is helping to sell brains on the black market. Roughing up a free newspaper adds to his credibility as a corrupt law enforcer.

 

On 4/17/2018 at 5:49 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I loved that Levon hated doucheLiv's fedora and Clive hated doucheLiv's giant hat.

I remember one VH1 gave that one douchey pick up artist his own show and I was like dude, why are you giving this jackass publicity and airtime?

Yes, that douche was Mystery, the star of the book "The Game." A true pick-up artist does not drink, however. Running game is easier when you're sober and the woman is drinking.

[jhlipton]

On 4/17/2018 at 6:11 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Technically, shouldn't Don-E mail Dino to Brad Pitt? He was the one who asks, "What's in the box?" in Seven.

Gwyneth deserves  box of her own.  I cracked up at that line.

[Clanstarling]

8 hours ago, jhlipton said:

On 4/17/2018 at 6:11 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Technically, shouldn't Don-E mail Dino to Brad Pitt? He was the one who asks, "What's in the box?" in Seven.

Gwyneth deserves  box of her own.  I cracked up at that line.

I absolutely hated Seven - but this line was the payoff for me. Loved the line!

[jhlipton]

Also if Don-E had said "Mail this to Brad Pitt", the reference wouldn't be as obvious.  Gwyneth + head in a box = comedy gold.

Edited April 22, 2018 by jhlipton

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Two days after this episode aired, I went to the opening night of Head Over Heels, the new Go-Go's musical. Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the producers so she showed up on the red carpet. The theater has box seats, but Gwyneth (and the Go-Go's) sat in the orchestra section with the rest of us regular people. I was laughing at the thought of someone bringing her a box with Dino's head at intermission.

[Pindrop]

For some reason Liv is able to switch her brain on and off as the plot requires it this episode. As usual, the core cast are fun, they bounce well off each other and the script can be sharp. 

I fear that I will be saying it every episode from here on in, but the moment we enter a zombie militia/ wall scene, all levity drains from the show as well as my ability to suspend disbelief and it just feels like a slog.   

Essentially Clive and Ravi keep me returning; the only two characters I really enjoy this season and even Liv's brain-of-the-week antics are bearable when played against these two characters. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by Pindrop

[twoods]

I agree that Clive and Ravi are the reasons I keep coming back. Liv and Ravi pretending to want to have sex with Clive when the mood music turned on was hilarious. How many more horny brains does Liv have to eat? 

Angus...yuck. This storyline is terrible. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

11 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Two days after this episode aired, I went to the opening night of Head Over Heels, the new Go-Go's musical. Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the producers so she showed up on the red carpet. The theater has box seats

What's in the box...seats? :)

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode

 

Clip:

[AudienceofOne]

On 11/04/2018 at 2:06 AM, dubbel zout said:

What's with Liv's hair now? She had that long blonde hair during last night's episode, and it looks like it's the new normal.

She decided in the last episode to dye and tan because she's taken over Mama Leonie's work. She reverted back because she thought being 100% zombie would help at the church.

On 24/04/2018 at 12:00 AM, Pindrop said:

For some reason Liv is able to switch her brain on and off as the plot requires it this episode.

I always got the impression that Liv chooses to a certain extent to go with the brain and then shuts it down if she needs to. That's why she's gotten so much crazier on each brain since season 1 because she's using the personalities as a kind of emotional escape. 

I could write an essay on negging and how it only works in the US but it's already been done before.

[Dobian]

So are we supposed to like Major or hate him?  This show never seems to make up its mind.