S04.E09: Mac-Liv-Moore

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

There’s a zombie serial killer on the loose and new Seattle is on lockdown. Liv is trapped in the morgue on white rapper brain and Clive and Ravi are playing Dungeons & Dragons. Meanwhile, Blaine concocts his most sinister plan to date. Lastly, Major is on the hunt for the killer.

Promo:

[Guest]

That's it.  I'm out.

They were doing English subtitles of English with a bad French accent for that guy I'd hoped was on a Frenchmen's brain.

Then Liv entered interview on rapper brain.  Just the first few exchanges between her and the suspect were enough. 

I can't watch this crap live anymore.  I need a FF button.  I may not watch it at all.

Edited May 1, 2018 by ParadoxLost

[MisterGlass]

Yeah, I've taken to doing other stuff while watching this show.

Our heroes frustrated me here.  How was studying the single zombie immune person not immediately obvious to Liv, a doctor?  I'm also disappointed the French caricature wasn't from a brain.

The villains were much more consistent with what I expect from them.  Blaine was embracing his Lex Luthor in pursuing real estate.  For a while, I wondered if the famous zombie he meant to kill would be Don E, given his past on camera rage mode performances.  And now he knows that Ravi is something other, which cannot bode well.

I actually liked Chase when he was pulling pellets out of his knees and quipped that if he gets them all he wins a prize.

[ketose]

I was waiting for the big reveal of the season, and I think we got it in this episode.

Blaine is going to sell off most of his zombie cure for hundreds of millions of dollars. Then, he's going to unleash Zombiegeddon on the world so he doesn't have to be holed up in New Seattle anymore. With the coyotes and all, that won't be very hard.

Obviously, zombie cure is old and busted and zombie vaccine is the new hotness. Isobel is potentially the source of a zombie vaccine, which will stop people from being infected, which is more important since the zombie "cure" is useless against re-infection. It probably won't be a cure because a cure means Liv takes it and there's no more show.

[Twilight Man]

35 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

For a while, I wondered if the famous zombie he meant to kill would be Don E, given his past on camera rage mode performances.

I thought it was going to be Johnny Frost, Seattle's now #1 news reporter (because the others left town).

1 hour ago, ParadoxLost said:

That's it.  I'm out.

They were doing English subtitles of English with a bad French accent for that guy I'd hoped was on a Frenchmen's brain.

 

38 minutes ago, MisterGlass said:

I'm also disappointed the French caricature wasn't from a brain.

Put me down for "don't understand why the "Gendarme"" either, other than "we think it's funny".

[mjc570]

Wow, what happened to one of my favorite shows, which I used to  like because of the humor, smart writing and great acting?  I can barely sit through this, it is stupid and cliched.  I didn't even remember anything about the guy who threatened Chase (beside that he obviously was some serial killer they were looking for) so didn't care.  I also don't care about two of Major's squad having relationship trouble.  Regardless of what brain she's om, Liv has become so stupid as to be unbelievable.  Oh, and how many times do we have to hear that Isobel is suffering from a fatal disease.  Guess what, I DON'T CARE.  At this part, the only watchable part is Blaine and Don E, which really isn't enough to keep me watching.

[Ms Lark]

Glad I'm not alone in not engaging with this show this season. It used to be wonderful, but notsomuch anymore. Best part is the weekly brain recipe getting cooked up!

Edited May 1, 2018 by Ms Lark
grammar!

[Pindrop]

Nothing makes sense; I don’t understand most of the character motivations, in fact I don’t even know who half of these characters are anymore, and not just Liv on her brain of the week.

The parts of this show that work are the parts that worked in Season 1, particularly Ravi, Clive and Blaine, and potentially Liv, Major and Peyton if the writers would allow them to occupy one consistent character for more than five minutes.

The parts of this show that don’t work are everything they’ve added to it, Liv becoming subsumed by the brain of the week, the wall, the zombie militia, the smuggling. All of these elements are so confused that the writers are forced to have characters act out-of-character just to move the plot forward; for example, the various sides the characters have chosen make little sense from a character perspective, rather they are plot driven to artificially create conflict between the main characters as the series progresses, but it feels manipulative and unreal. It has become a nonsensical cluster fuck of random occurrences and confused motivations, which is not helped by the fact it is now two very different shows fighting each other.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Pindrop

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Inside the episode:

 

Clip:

[Ray Adverb]

Although I deleted the series recording from my DVR, I still watched this, on a slight delay so I could fast forward.  I found it less terrible than I expected.  That could be because there was less "Wacky Liv".  I don't count the interrogation scene because I fast forwarded through the whole thing.

 

I am surprised that they actually followed up on something (Isobel being immune to the zombie virus).  I hate that she was this major medical breakthrough and every doctor was trying as hard as possible to convince her to throw it away.  Much kudos to Isobel for seeing the bigger picture and the potential for her fatal disease to be a hope for humanity.

 

What is Blaine thinking with his idiotic real estate plan?  If the zombie contagion spreads, that will mean fewer human brains.  Unlike a human, a zombie doesn't die when it starves.  It becomes stronger and more dangerous.  So if the zombie contagion spreads, it will cause a breakdown in society and all his money will be worthless.  I do think Blaine doesn't plan to sell the real cure though.  Did you notice that the mayor exclaimed "I'm human again!" after snorting the little capsule?  The actual cure, through the injection, was done off camera.

 

Speaking of the mayor... exactly when did he turned into a drug addicted wreck?

[Chicago Redshirt]

The show tries to juggle too much and just ends up dropping balls all over the place, either by forgetting to put emphasis on big deals or putting way more emphasis than is due to little deals. And then it introduces new issues to juggle.

Big deal No. 1 that was underplayed: a horde of zombies attacked! That has got to be every normal human's worst nightmare. That should have triggered more "Nuke Seattle" talk, some action from the Dead Enders, some fear of blowback from FG. The notion that there are 30+ (say) zombies who have eaten the brains of the worst of the worst criminals should have Seattle PD and FG scared crapless and deploying martial law for that, putting all hands on deck to solve the situation. And one would think that Brother Love would be questioned about this as the only one who has organized a bunch of zombies beyond Filmore Graves. But the show barely scratched the surface of the importance of this, mostly to make jokes about the different victims and to introduce a serial zombie killer.

Big deal No. 2 that was underplayed: the once and future zombie cures. It's been a while since Ravi's cure was stolen, and it seems like he and the gang never put any real effort into trying to figure out what happened. We the audience know Blaine was behind it. It shouldn't have been hard for the characters to trace the theft to Blaine since there were very few that knew that Ravi had or was working on a cure, and basically Blaine and Don-E were the only ones with knowledge and criminal mindset. When word of the zombie cure auction on the dark web surfaced, someone should have been - hey, maybe that's what happened to Ravi's original cures. Maybe we should track down what happened with them. Also, like others have said, the notion of a human naturally being immune to being turned should have been a huge deal. Liv on her own should have been like, "This could lead to a cure or a vaccine, which would change human/zombie relations!" The notion that Liv was mostly, "Yeah, it sucks because Isobel is going to die" and on top of that was trying to talk a willing guinea pig out of helping this cause was maddening. Side note: Isobel as a character is unnecessarily obnoxious. Like, more obnoxious than Supergirl's Ruby, and I didn't think that was possible. 

Big deal No. 3: Boss's missing money. This money was a meaningful enoughthing that they were willing to sic a horde of zombies on the bus folks and Blaine was willing to reach a truce with his dad. We the audience know that Peyton took the money. But Boss and Blaine don't. It seems like they should be turning over every stone to find it. But this thread was seemingly abandoned, with no mention of the money or Boss. And Angus didn't come up either to collect on his part of the deal. 

Little deal No. 1: The Captain Seattle/Jordan disconnect about whether they are a couple or just hooking up. How can they expect us to care about the romantic life of third-string characters?

Little deal No. 2: Enzo apparently is a stereotypical French/French Canadian guy, and not just a wacky brain of the week. 

Onto the characters:

Liv: I came into this expecting to cringe a lot more than I did. The show doesn't really do race well and Liv on white-rapper brain could have induced a lot of bad moments. It was more or less OK. Liv's performance as a white rapper itself was relatively weak. Maybe that's a function of Rose Mc not getting rap culture or not being able to adopt the character/caricature for once. Maybe it's a function of Purple Reign not being that good at rapping. For those of you who watch Survivor, I wanted Wendell to deliver the same takedown to Liv that he did to Chris about her rapping skills. A white wrap with lots of mayonnaise was a cute food choice. Apparently there is a Seattle-based rapper named Macklemore, so that is what the Maclivmoore title must be a play on. 

Chase: I like Jason Dohring as an actor, but I wish they would make their mind up about Chase. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for his doing all the tyrannical things he does because poor li'l Chasey doesn't get enough brains imported and has people in his command lying to him? I dislike that a new mystery has gotten introduced (who scrubbed a mention of the Triple Cross Church from Major's report and why?), especially since it's going to likely have an arbitrary solution. Why is Chase so stupid as to pull Major away from his men and ask for an update about Roche in what has to be earshot of Major's team? 

Peyton: I would have wanted more emotion from her about her boss's murder. The ham-fisted speech to Major and Liv about how they love each other didn't work for me.

Blaine: I really need our heroes to fracking end him, already. He has gotten away with scores of murders and no real suspicion directed his way. Mayor Baracus gets killed where he was last seen at the Scratching Post. Killing a mayor would bring major heat, and again, might escalate the "Nuke Seattle" talk. But again, no ramifications. 

Clive: I do have to say that I enjoyed the D&D session and that Michelle was willing to jump in. I would have liked to see and hear more from sketch artist guy and Vampire Steve about their takes on life in New Seattle. I don't particularly care for the Clive/Michelle/Bozzio triangle, but will keep my fingers crossed that they eventually handle things like consenting adults.

[steelyis]

I don't think the iZombie is flat out terrible, yet.

There was even a lot to like about tonight's flawed episode: Blaine and Don E setting up their short-sighted get rich quick scheme, the zombie serial killer infiltrating FG, and Major navigating working for Chase and dealing with his recruits. Just those three plots could have been woven together and made an excellent episode, instead two or three other plots are happening that should have their own episodes. Cramming it all together makes everything feel sloppy and disjointed, which has been this season's biggest problem from the start.

I love the characters and their relationships and the world they live in, but I think this need to be the final season if the writing and plotting doesn't tighten up and get focused.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Blaine kissing Don E. on the top of his head was adorable and hilarious.

When Chase said, "A word?" I was really hoping that Major's response would be "Anthropomorphic. All yours, big guy."

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

When Chase said, "A word?" I was really hoping that Major's response would be "Anthropomorphic. All yours, big guy."

Same here! That would have been a great Easter egg for VM fans. 

I don't know why it took me this long to ask myself the question, but last night's brain dish made me wonder if the show has a food stylist who works on all of those.

[Free]

4 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

The show tries to juggle too much and just ends up dropping balls all over the place, either by forgetting to put emphasis on big deals or putting way more emphasis than is due to little deals. And then it introduces new issues to juggle.

And that's probably the biggest issue, especially since the latter seasons have had more to juggle with compared to before when it was just Liv and a few zombies out there.

[Paloma]

After seeing the previews with Liv as a white rapper, and in light of the mess this show has become, I was prepared to skip this episode and watch the 3% instead. (Highly recommended, BTW, if you want a depressing dystopian tale.) But when I suggested this to my husband, to my surprise he said he wanted to watch it. So we did, and it was a little better than the last few episodes--at least Liv's brain-of-the-week was reasonably under control, and some of the previous plot lines were beginning to be explored. But I don't know if it's enough to right the ship. And speaking of ships, I used to root for Liv/Major to overcome the obstacles and end up together, but Peyton's "You love each other" line seemed out of nowhere at this point. 

We are going on a 2-week trip soon, and usually when we travel I worry about missing my favorite shows and avoiding spoilers until we get back and watch them. I don't think I will worry about this with iZombie on this trip.

[ketose]

13 hours ago, Ms Lark said:

Glad I'm not alone in not engaging with this show this season. It used to be wonderful, but notsomuch anymore. Best part is the weekly brain recipe getting cooked up!

What was that? White brain wrap with American cheese and mayo? That's about the most Caucasian food possible.

I had to look up "shmoney" on the Urban Dictionary. By the way, it's illegal money (shhhh. money).

Blaine's plans only involve making money off brains. Remember, he just buys Third World brains or other dubious sources. I suspect he thinks he can recreate Old Seattle, where there are not that many zombies and he controls the food supply. I guess he figures the US won't care about the quarantine once zombies are everywhere.

Since this show like to make big moves every season, the logical next step is a zombie vaccine. It's just too easy to defeat a "cure" by just re-infecting. I know that's not how it works in real life, but it's what the show does.

[MisterGlass]

12 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

What is Blaine thinking with his idiotic real estate plan?  If the zombie contagion spreads, that will mean fewer human brains.  Unlike a human, a zombie doesn't die when it starves.  It becomes stronger and more dangerous.  So if the zombie contagion spreads, it will cause a breakdown in society and all his money will be worthless.

I think there are a couple possible scenarios.  First is that Blaine buys a Filmore Graves type organization in addition to his private island, and kills any zombies that wash ashore.  He then emerges as king of the post-apocalyptic world.  Second is that eventually the humans will gang up on and execute all the zombies, and one day life and property values will return to normalcy.  I'm certain that Blaine keeps one cure for himself.  A third option is the one proposed by ketose, in which Blaine tries to be the brain supplier to a new horde of zombies outside the wall.

12 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Blaine: I really need our heroes to fracking end him, already. He has gotten away with scores of murders and no real suspicion directed his way. Mayor Baracus gets killed where he was last seen at the Scratching Post. Killing a mayor would bring major heat, and again, might escalate the "Nuke Seattle" talk. But again, no ramifications.

I don't understand how no one has yet said to Chase, "Hey, you know how your brother-in-law was scratched and blackmailed by a zombie?  The zombie who was Patient Zero and intentionally caused a lot of this?"

I think (or hope) they'll follow up on the death of the Mayor.  It was revealed fairly late in this episode.

8 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I don't know why it took me this long to ask myself the question, but last night's brain dish made me wonder if the show has a food stylist who works on all of those.

I bet there it, but I'm not finding the person.  The only food stylist I know is Janice Poon and she doesn't mention the show on her blog.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

17 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Same here! That would have been a great Easter egg for VM fans. 

I don't know why it took me this long to ask myself the question, but last night's brain dish made me wonder if the show has a food stylist who works on all of those.

 

8 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

I bet there it, but I'm not finding the person.  The only food stylist I know is Janice Poon and she doesn't mention the show on her blog.

Ha, the first thing I thought was well, it's definitely not Janice Poon because she would have been posting pictures of all these dishes along with behind the scenes stories!

[Ray Adverb]

So... still no reaction to Fillmore Graves attacking a newspaper?

 

Or, less recently, two zombies escaping quarantine?

[Affogato]

I finally watched this. Not dragging my feet just needed to secure a time to watch. I was still pretty tired when I watched it  not fully engaged BUT it could have been my need for sleep.

So I loved Clive’s reaction to Liv’s interrogation outfit. Resignation. Then, Where did you get it? Like the reaction when your dog finds a dead animal to roll in *again*. I wonder if he told lost and found not to let her at the props.

 I wasn’t bothered by this brain of the week and thought it didn’t intrude much as most previous this year, as always enjoyed the food and Liv’s small smile of pleasure as she swallows. 

I also didn’t find Isobel annoying. She’s dying, she wants her life to have meaning. if possible. This is all the life she has and she intends to have fun. If possible. I get it. 

A bit annoyed that Liv is a doctor and never seems to use any of her training unless secondhand through brain. Also does she wver seem to learn and remember any brain learned stuff? Why not?

Chase’s locker room tantrum was a bit much. Yes he was probably in earshot if others, although he thinks he’s being snooped on so his office may also not be private. But it is meant to mean a lot about Chase, how much he is losing it. I believe we need to have found out some personal information about him, not just military hardass who likes sex and small dogs. Motivation. Why did he come back? What Are his goals and where do his weaknesses come from in his life? So this stuff means something. In fact where are the zombie kids and schools? The motivation? 

Honestly I think this isn’t quite working as a whole because not enough episodes. The progression of the plot is complex and we need to know the players. Chase is the one we don’t really have a handle on. Then we also need to see a little more of what is going on  before this one something on the reactions to bus disaster. Maybe.

Suddenly a flash of development for Candie! Yay she’s a person.

love Blaine and glad he’s beyond being redeemed whew (he is, right?) but what is his endgame? He really isn’t that smart, so I suspect his goal is back to what he had in Meat cute. 

dod we have any idea that Baracus  was that sort of person? Because if we did I missed it. Speaking of not having a handle  which means there is a lot we could have seen from Pryton that we didn’t  also what is she doing supporting the coyote movement.

go Clive....because we don’t know Bozzio well enough, either. Why wouldn’t they turn off the tape? 

we need more episodes because I think everything is there but it is hung on an underdeveloped scaffolding and so it tends to droop. I mean between the current ones.

We may not get a renewal..

[possibilities]

When Chase was shot, and he curled up in pain, I expected it to turn out he is not a zombie after all. I really need him to be more than an angsty tyrant.

[Affogato]

17 minutes ago, possibilities said:

When Chase was shot, and he curled up in pain, I expected it to turn out he is not a zombie after all. I really need him to be more than an angsty tyrant.

Him not being a zombie would be great. His job kept him away from the picnic..good reason for someone to be spying on him. 

Except he had sex with Liv.

Edited May 2, 2018 by Affogato
Duh

[Chicago Redshirt]

18 minutes ago, Affogato said:

A bit annoyed that Liv is a doctor and never seems to use any of her training unless secondhand through brain. Also does she wver seem to learn and remember any brain learned stuff? Why not?

...

dod we have any idea that Baracus  was that sort of person? Because if we did I missed it. Speaking of not having a handle  which means there is a lot we could have seen from Pryton that we didn’t  also what is she doing supporting the coyote movement.

go Clive....because we don’t know Bozzio well enough, either. Why wouldn’t they turn off the tape? 

...

We may not get a renewal..

S.1 established that any brain-based skills eventually disappear. I think specifically there was an episode where Liv was on painter brain and would do these great paintings, and then it wore off and she couldn't.

Baracus was one of the people who was videotaped being punished  by the mistress so at a minimum we knew he liked his occasional walk on the wild side. I think that we were shown that he used drugs previously, although I could just be mixing things up. It also makes sense to me that the stress of trying to run Seattle amid all the issues might have someone who previously was more straight-laced turn to drugs. 

I can understand Peyton wanting to support the coyote movement because Liv is chief coyote, or as a F-U to FG. But she has to be aware that more zombies, not enough brains is a bad mix.

Why would they play in one of the interrogation rooms when a police station must have a bunch more comfortable locations? 

I am half-hoping that the show doesn't get renewed, as long as they get enough forewarning to do the best they can to wrap things up as best they can.

1 hour ago, RayAdverb said:

So... still no reaction to Fillmore Graves attacking a newspaper?

 

Or, less recently, two zombies escaping quarantine?

They name-dropped the 206 Weekly in the episode. But I guess all we are going to get in terms of a reaction was the tepid criticism from the late mayor. Also, when Chase freaked out about not finding out about a zombie church, I was like, "Well, maybe if you didn't shut down the newspaper, you might have read about it."

[Ray Adverb]

41 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Baracus was one of the people who was videotaped being punished  by the mistress so at a minimum we knew he liked his occasional walk on the wild side. I think that we were shown that he used drugs previously, although I could just be mixing things up. It also makes sense to me that the stress of trying to run Seattle amid all the issues might have someone who previously was more straight-laced turn to drugs.

Is he actually running Seattle?  He seems more like a puppet of the Fillmore Graves junta.

[Affogato]

5 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

S.1 established that any brain-based skills eventually disappear. I think specifically there was an episode where Liv was on painter brain and would do these great paintings, and then it wore off and she couldn't.

Baracus was one of the people who was videotaped being punished  by the mistress so at a minimum we knew he liked his occasional walk on the wild side. I think that we were shown that he used drugs previously, although I could just be mixing things up. It also makes sense to me that the stress of trying to run Seattle amid all the issues might have someone who previously was more straight-laced turn to drugs. 

I can understand Peyton wanting to support the coyote movement because Liv is chief coyote, or as a F-U to FG. But she has to be aware that more zombies, not enough brains is a bad mix.

Why would they play in one of the interrogation rooms when a police station must have a bunch more comfortable locations? 

I am half-hoping that the show doesn't get renewed, as long as they get enough forewarning to do the best they can to wrap things up as best they can.

They name-dropped the 206 Weekly in the episode. But I guess all we are going to get in terms of a reaction was the tepid criticism from the late mayor. Also, when Chase freaked out about not finding out about a zombie church, I was like, "Well, maybe if you didn't shut down the newspaper, you might have read about it."

I would have liked Peyton coming home and complaining about her boss. Or complain about doing all his work.  A little foreshadowing. It also would have been good to show Baracus working with FG. Filmore graves supported him in order to have a zombie in government so this is a blow to Chase Graves  

I get Peyton is Liv’s friend but she also doesn’t have to beg to support the coyote effort. 

I think the short season shows have the episodes in the can before they start showing them. they can’t respond to viewer fatigue with brain of the week on the fly, hence the occasional final season so a show can finish up. In this case I’d prefer they had a longer season and a science or science fiction consultant. Wasn’t Seanan  McGuire a VM fan?

[Blakeston]

I wasn't bothered by Isobel until the very end, when she insisted on outing Liv as a participant in the smuggling ring. Even though Liv was making it very obvious that she didn't want Ravi to know.

Isobel has to know that it's a major crime to smuggle people into/out of Seattle, and turn them. Liv mentioned the smashotine earlier in the episode, when Isobel was standing right there. And yet she still outed Liv to a guy she barely knew. Way to show your appreciation for the huge risks taken on your behalf.

It amazes me that the a lot of the same people responsible for the brilliance of season one are now making such awful writing decisions. They really thought Angus's cult, that somehow went unnoticed until now, would make for compelling TV? They really thought it would be a good idea to blow up the show's premise and give us this dystopian police state misery instead?

[Chicago Redshirt]

5 hours ago, RayAdverb said:

Is he actually running Seattle?  He seems more like a puppet of the Fillmore Graves junta.

Emphasis on the "trying" in trying to run in the previous post. From what we've seen, Seattle city government has to take a back seat to whatever FG wants. If FG wants to take a criminal case, it gets to. If FG wants to set up its own private prison for zombies, it gets to. If FG wants to do public executions, it gets to. If FG wants to curtail freedom of the press by shutting down and shooting up a newspaper, it gets to.

Being caught in the middle of things, as the mayor must be, where he doesn't have the resources or authority to make any changes but gets blame when things aren't going right, seems stressful.

3 hours ago, Affogato said:

I would have liked Peyton coming home and complaining about her boss. Or complain about doing all his work.  A little foreshadowing. It also would have been good to show Baracus working with FG. Filmore graves supported him in order to have a zombie in government so this is a blow to Chase Graves  

We have had a couple scenes with the mayor and/or Peyton and FG this season, I believe. The mayor and Peyton attempted to confront FG about the closing/shooting at the 206 Weekly, which Chase responded by saying freedom of the press may not apply when you're sitting on a powder keg. There was a scene where Chase wanted to know what happened in the bus crash where the driver was a zombie, and Peyton filled him in. 

[thuganomics85]

I do like that Ravi and Clive have apparently formed a Dungeons & Dragons group now, with the other "eccentrics" at the police station.  And, hey, wouldn't you know, Michelle is into D&D too, and she and Clive totally have legit feelings for one another.  Clive and Bozzio are so doomed.

Surprisingly, it felt like Liv actually had more control of this week's brain, compared to past ones this season.  I wonder if it was because they figured out who the killer was earlier on, and the majority of the episode was her focusing on Isobel instead.  Maybe being more personally invested made the brain be less effective.  Of course, they still found ways to work in her rapping.  Love you, Rose McIver, but definitely don't give up acting to pursue a career in the hip hop game!

So, Blaine uses a cure on Mayor Baracus and then kills him, in order to show proof that it works.  He is now auctioning of the cures to the highest bidder.  He also wants to find a way to get a zombie or the virus outside of the city, in order to infect the entire country.  Oh, Blaine!  You're such a bastard!  Also, I notice that they're calling Peyton acting mayor now, so I guess that's the direction her character will go for the rest of this season.

Nothing against Jason Dohring, but I was actually hoping Chase would die, because that would have been an interesting development.  Who would assume the role of the Filmore Graves leader, if he was taken out of the picture? 

[LoneHaranguer]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

Love you, Rose McIver, but definitely don't give up acting to pursue a career in the hip hop game!

What makes you think she was supposed to be any good? At least she looked good in her lost-and-found outfit.

[CletusMusashi]

When did Baracus turn into a bigger idiot than Johny Frost?

[MisterGlass]

13 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I can understand Peyton wanting to support the coyote movement because Liv is chief coyote, or as a F-U to FG. But she has to be aware that more zombies, not enough brains is a bad mix.

I would think so.  And she's now more responsible to the humans of New Seattle than ever.  I wonder if her stance will change.

It seems like the mayor was in charge of all the every day, human stuff in New Seattle, and FG was in charge of all the zombie related stuff.  However, FG is the deciding partner.

[tennisgurl]

Honestly, I dont think Rose was that bad at rapping. I mean, she shouldn't quit her day job or anything, but I've certainly heard worse from blond Australian girls. And I at least appreciated that Liz seemed a bit less brain overdone this week. She at least still acted like Liv. 

I am just going to focus on how delightful it is that Ravi and Clive have created a DnD campaign with the other station reoccurring oddballs and are having a blast. I dont really think thats a secret that Ravi needs to keep from Peyton though. In the many secrets kept on this show, that one seems pretty low on the scale of secrets. 

I originally thought the idea of zombies becoming known to the public with Seattle as a zombie city would be interesting, and it has its moments, but its turned out to be mostly pretty lame. I miss the old plot set ups. 

Seriously, what is with the French guy? I assumed he was on French brain and was acting out a stereotype, but this is how actually is? Who acts like that?! Who thinks people act like that? Its just bizarre. Its like a whole character based on that British theme party one of Ravis girlfriends did for him.

[LoneHaranguer]

8 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Seriously, what is with the French guy? I assumed he was on French brain and was acting out a stereotype, but this is how actually is? Who acts like that?! Who thinks people act like that? Its just bizarre. Its like a whole character based on that British theme party one of Ravis girlfriends did for him.

This show is supposed to be humor and parody against a serious backdrop, like the movie Airplane, which had the jive-talking dudes (with subtitles), a singing nun, and a host of other tropes to poke fun of against the scenario of a disaster film. The backdrop here has gotten too serious and is detracting from the humor of another variation of Inspector Clouseau. Maybe they should have left the coyote operation and deathly-ill people off-screen.

[Token]

Wow, I must really have zoned out during this episode.  So many questions!  Why were they on lockdown?  And did they actually solve the murder of the rapper?  Because I completely missed it if they did.  Not a good sign that I zone out so much during the show these days.

Also, I kept missing the name of the terminal disease they said the girl has.  Did anyone happen to catch it?

[Anela]

I watched this the other day, and can't remember everything, but I also liked seeing Clive playing D&D again. I liked the female officer playing it, too, but I was disappointed to see them kissing. I hoped they would stay platonic. 

Blaine has to go. He's a greedy, cold-blooded murderer. If he truly wanted to be a better person when he was with Peyton, that would have stuck. Don't use a woman's rejection as an excuse to murder someone, and hold onto a cure that could help everyone. 

[Blakeston]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:31 PM, Token said:

Wow, I must really have zoned out during this episode.  So many questions!  Why were they on lockdown?  And did they actually solve the murder of the rapper?  Because I completely missed it if they did.  Not a good sign that I zone out so much during the show these days.

One of the inmates on the bus in the previous episode escaped. He was a notorious zombie killer. After escaping, he killed the rapper's girlfriend because she was a zombie. And then he killed the rapper because he was a zombie-lover.

Liv's first vision was of the moments before they got killed, so she solved the case very early. (She recognized the guy from her vision, because they had pictures of all the presumed bus crash victims on the wall.) When Filmore Graves realized that the zombie killer was loose, they put the city on lockdown.

That vision was shot strangely, IMO. We saw the killer threaten the couple, and put his finger to the girlfriend's head. I thought it was going to turn out that he didn't actually kill them, because he didn't really seem all that menacing.

Other issues I'm having - the whole Baracus storyline. There were a few signs that Baracus had some prurient interests, but it was still very weird and jarring to see him suddenly acting like an 18-year-old frat boy. And Sloane becoming acting mayor (?!) is the kind of plot development that makes me tempted to stop watching the show.

[possibilities]

I wish they were doing more to solicit brain donations. Commercials/PSAs talking about organ donation as a patriotic/civic duty could be very funny, and would make total sense within the show universe.

Likewise, they should be feverishly looking for a cure and showing us similar "news items" and "interest pieces" about the research.

They could also be doing "know your zombie neighbor" special interest stories, about "good zombies" where they tell the stories of various "victims of the zombie plague" to drum up sympathy.

There are so many funny things they could be doing to add flavor to the show.

The zombie LARPers were a fun idea, but they leave so many opportunities unmined when they don't show us any of it and just make a passing reference while revisiting Blaine's daddy issues, FG's martial law abuses, Liv's excessive reaction to the brain of the week, absurd parodies of French Detective, the stagnant state of sexual frustration of Clive and Bozzio, and Liv and Major bickering. C'mon, show! You have a rich premise and are not putting it to any use.

[AudienceofOne]

On 01/05/2018 at 11:23 PM, steelyis said:

I don't think the iZombie is flat out terrible, yet.

I still enjoy it. Quite a lot. It's not that I disagree with anybody's criticisms, it's just that I still find it quirky. I still laugh out loud (Clive playing D&D, anything Ravi). I still appreciate the issues they're trying to deal with. I watch a lot of shows where I spend later seasons groaning and fast forwarding (you should see me not-watch Arrow) but this is not one of them. 

I admit that things like the weird random French Gendarme guy just confuse me (who thought of it, what are they trying to say?) but they don't ruin the show for me.

On 04/05/2018 at 1:04 AM, LoneHaranguer said:

This show is supposed to be humor and parody against a serious backdrop, like the movie Airplane, which had the jive-talking dudes (with subtitles), a singing nun, and a host of other tropes to poke fun of against the scenario of a disaster film. The backdrop here has gotten too serious and is detracting from the humor of another variation of Inspector Clouseau. Maybe they should have left the coyote operation and deathly-ill people off-screen.

I like this idea. That this is the show saying "we're ridiculous!". But, as you say, the issues they're dealing with at the moment are not ridiculous at all so this is just jarring.

[ketose]

Isn't this the episode where they made fun of the scenery chewing villain in their fictional teen zombie drama? That's some meta commentary.

[AudienceofOne]

40 minutes ago, ketose said:

Isn't this the episode where they made fun of the scenery chewing villain in their fictional teen zombie drama? That's some meta commentary.

I think that was the one after this where they basically say something about a "scenery chewing villain with his shirt off for no reason" and then cut to Blaine chewing scenery with his shirt off.

[dcalley]

On 5/3/2018 at 2:31 PM, Token said:

Also, I kept missing the name of the terminal disease they said the girl has.  Did anyone happen to catch it?

Freylich Syndrome (not real).

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, dcalley said:

Freylich Syndrome (not real).

Unless they meant Froelich.

[dcalley]

16 minutes ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Unless they meant Froelich.

The symptoms don't match up.

[LoneHaranguer]

17 hours ago, dcalley said:

The symptoms don't match up.

Writers don't always care about that. Anybody named Freylich associated with the show? That's often how they pick a fake name for something.