S05.E10: Night and the Zombie City

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Liv consumes private eye Mick Chisel's brain in hopes of breaking down how his gruesome murder took place.

Promo:

Original air date: 7/11/19

[Ray Adverb]

I hate holidays and the way they deal with them at the networks.  I guess they figured too many people would be enjoying July 4th activities to watch TV.

[Affogato]

12 hours ago, Ray Adverb said:

I hate holidays and the way they deal with them at the networks.  I guess they figured too many people would be enjoying July 4th activities to watch TV.

Or will watch specials made for a more general audience. 

[MisterGlass]

Good for Candy.  I've wanted her to get one over on Blaine.  Or, you know, shoot him.

I thought the private eye subplot was a bit meh.  I wish they had desaturated only the scenes that Liv was in.  Doing it everywhere made the show look dull, and it wasn't amusing.

I'm glad they didn't drag out the reveal about Bob to Liv.  Ravi should have known better to show his cure cards to Bob.

Edited July 12, 2019 by MisterGlass
Spelling

[ketose]

2 hours ago, MisterGlass said:

Good for Candy.  I've wanted her to get one over on Blaine.  Or, you know, shoot him.

I thought the private eye subplot was a bit meh.  I wish they had desaturated only the scenes that Liv was in.  Doing it everywhere made the show look dull, and it wasn't amusing.

I'm glad they didn't drag out the reveal about Bob to Liv.  Ravi should have known better to show his cure cards to Bob.

Unfortunately, people on iZombie have always been as smart (or dumb) as the plot demands. Ravi and Liv didn't know about the zombie army, but they knew that Martin lied about becoming a zombie from the fake vaccine.

I guess his plan is to turn zombies all over the country / world so they can't just bomb them out of existence. But he also seems to think that zombies are the next step in human evolution. The small flaw there is that a zombie needs about 12 humans worth of brains every year (going by Blaine's monthly extortion plan). Even if they could force humanity to donate every corpse brain to zombie kind, if they became more than 0.001% of the population, they'd run out of their food source.

Candy got screwed (literally) into becoming a zombie. Then she had to be a zombie hooker. Plus, she's missing part of her hands, I think. Yeah, it was about time for her luck to turn around. It's kind of funny. Who took the zombie cure who didn't become a zombie again or die? I can think of Candy and the girlfriend of the prankster kid in "Death Moves Pretty Fast."

Three episodes left. I'm guessing zombie cure gets created again next week.

Edited July 12, 2019 by ketose
Lack of proofreading

[AnimeMania]

I thought Liv's cadence sounded nothing like the way detectives talked in the old movies. Ravi was a little better.

[GaT]

How are they going to wrap this all up in 3 episodes? Plus, I'm sure they'll still have a murder of the week. 

[thuganomics85]

Ah, private eye detectives on television (or pop culture in general.)  They're either a) these monologuing, crusty, noir-like oldsters that talk like they're from an era long gone or b) Jessica Jones.

Glad that Candy got a happy ending and one-upped Blaine.  Granted, after everything he did to her, he really deserved an even worst punishment, but I suspect his downfall is going to come at the hands of one of the regulars.

I liked that they didn't try any kind of "Liv doubts Ravi about her father's true identity" moments, because it really wouldn't have fit her character or the trust Liv and Ravi have with each other.

So, that silly zombie show apparently prevented Seattle getting wiped off the map.  Go figure.  Of course, it's possible that wouldn't even matter.

Don E. is so destined to have his heartbroken, right?

I can safely say that this is the most relatable Peyton's been in a while.  Margaritas and drunken karaoke after getting the pink slip?  Sign me up! 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

I can safely say that this is the most relatable Peyton's been in a while.  Margaritas and drunken karaoke after getting the pink slip?  Sign me up! 

Stupid for a human to get into a fight at a Zombie bar.

Hilarious, when Liv hit Blaine in the face with the sap.

How was Candy supposed to leave Seattle?

[rwlevin]

47 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

How was Candy supposed to leave Seattle?

She was with one of Blaine’s smugglers.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm glad that Candy got the cure and is getting the hell out of Seattle. Not only did she get turned into a zombie but then she was one of Blaine's unappreciated employees so life has not been great for her.

I mean, yes, it would have been great if Ravi had the cure but I'm fine with Candy having it.

Oh, Ravi. When he kindly told Liv it wasn't her fault for trusting her dad the junkie because believing in people isn't a character flaw, I thought awww. But when he then made the same mistake that Liv did (trusting her father), I just sighed.

Don E. isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but I really feel for him. He let himself fall in love with someone who he knows is going to die sooner rather than later, and it's going to break his little heart. If he was this distraught over Darcy not returning his phone calls, he's going to lose it when she dies.

[dubbel zout]

5 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I liked that they didn't try any kind of "Liv doubts Ravi about her father's true identity" moments, because it really wouldn't have fit her character or the trust Liv and Ravi have with each other.

Same here. Why would Ravi lie about that? He has no skin in that game.

I'm a sucker for noir, so I enjoyed all of that, even if it did drag a bit.

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I mean, yes, it would have been great if Ravi had the cure but I'm fine with Candy having it.

Same here. Screwing over Blaine was something she deserved to do, considering what he did to her. The scales still aren't even, but she got a HEA, which is more that what Blaine will likely get.

[marcee]

Sadly, I was so bored. I hate when shows I love go out with a whimper instead of a bang. I would have much rather focused on the overarching story than all these dumb theme-of-the-weeks for the last few episodes. //sad trombone//

[possibilities]

19 hours ago, ketose said:

Even if they could force humanity to donate every corpse brain to zombie kind, if they became more than 0.001% of the population, they'd run out of their food source.

I'm sure he plans to keep humans in a factory farm type set up and breed a steady supply. You don't become a world domination evil plotter without being truly evil and truly plotting.

[Cthulhudrew]

Silly me. I thought Darcy was dumping Don E. because she saw just how callously he regards almost all other people. But no, it was just because she was worried he'd only be that way in regards to her when she died. I am not at all impressed with her character. At least Don E. is enjoyably consistent in his immoral cynicism.

Having Liv act the way she was "because of the brain" is such a transparently over the top attempt at humor in this episode more than many; I find it really hard to believe that Chisel acted that way in real life. 

(Then again, I always thought it would be kind of funny to have a "narrative noir" day where I'd talk about myself in first person all day just for giggles.)

The call out to Mickey Spillane ("Spill Lane") was kind of cute.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

I loved the noir Liv, guess I'm just a fan of that time and genre. Loved it when Liv smacked the hell out of Blaine in the interrogation room,lol.

[AngelKitty]

9 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

I find it really hard to believe that Chisel acted that way in real life. 

Exactly! I got confused for a moment wondering just who's brain she ate, a private eye's or a mystery writer's.

Edited July 13, 2019 by AngelKitty
It was funny, though.

[MisterGlass]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

I'm sure he plans to keep humans in a factory farm type set up and breed a steady supply. You don't become a world domination evil plotter without being truly evil and truly plotting.

Bob really enjoyed The Strain.

[jhlipton]

On 7/12/2019 at 5:06 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Don E. isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but I really feel for him. He let himself fall in love with someone who he knows is going to die sooner rather than later, and it's going to break his little heart. If he was this distraught over Darcy not returning his phone calls, he's going to lose it when she dies.

What I can't figure out is why neither if them have figured out the obvious answer: turn her into a zombie.  Not only would she not die, but it has the benefit of screwing over Blaine, who I hope dies slowly and painfully in the finale (and it still won't be enough),

[AnimeMania]

37 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

On 7/12/2019 at 8:06 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Don E. isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but I really feel for him. He let himself fall in love with someone who he knows is going to die sooner rather than later, and it's going to break his little heart. If he was this distraught over Darcy not returning his phone calls, he's going to lose it when she dies.

What I can't figure out is why neither if them have figured out the obvious answer: turn her into a zombie.  Not only would she not die, but it has the benefit of screwing over Blaine, who I hope dies slowly and painfully in the finale (and it still won't be enough),

She can't become a Zombie, her disease prevents it.

[LoneHaranguer]

On 7/12/2019 at 8:38 PM, possibilities said:

I'm sure he plans to keep humans in a factory farm type set up and breed a steady supply.

Or, he's the only one on this show to have bothered figuring out what zombies get from human brains and what could be used as a substitute eventually.

On 7/13/2019 at 6:50 AM, AngelKitty said:

Exactly! I got confused for a moment wondering just who's brain she ate, a private eye's or a mystery writer's.

I presumed the writers were inspired by the Mike Hammer TV series, although I don't remember much about it.

[possibilities]

1 hour ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Or, he's the only one on this show to have bothered figuring out what zombies get from human brains and what could be used as a substitute eventually.

But then he wouldn't be EEEEEVIL!

I do wonder if the show is going for a happy ending, and if they think that means redeeming everyone, or if they will do it via vanquishing the unredeemed.

Keeping a "full zombie" supply in the basement to me suggests his intention is less than innocent, but I suppose he might be using them to prove a cure rather than saving them to unleash as terrorists. He seems to be allied with bad guys, though. And he flat out lied to Liv about whether he had records of his utopium experiments. If he was really trying to cure, he would be working with them, and he would have come forward to help a long time ago, I think.

[jhlipton]

On 7/14/2019 at 10:32 AM, AnimeMania said:

She can't become a Zombie, her disease prevents it.

Well, that sucks!  (I had forgotten that plot-point.)

[Affogato]

On 7/15/2019 at 1:23 PM, possibilities said:

But then he wouldn't be EEEEEVIL!

I do wonder if the show is going for a happy ending, and if they think that means redeeming everyone, or if they will do it via vanquishing the unredeemed.

Keeping a "full zombie" supply in the basement to me suggests his intention is less than innocent, but I suppose he might be using them to prove a cure rather than saving them to unleash as terrorists. He seems to be allied with bad guys, though. And he flat out lied to Liv about whether he had records of his utopium experiments. If he was really trying to cure, he would be working with them, and he would have come forward to help a long time ago, I think.

No he is selling them as controllable zombi soldiers. For what is a good question since they could easily spread the disease in a combat setting.  The FG mercenaries know the danger and can use gloves. 

What is the utopium tainted with? 

I don’t think they have time for a complex wrap up.  ravi finds the cure, beanpole is locked up, maybe peyton is rehired to lead the rehabilitation of seattle. 

We’ve forgotten Liv’s foster kids again. I did. Literally. 

[ketose]

31 minutes ago, Affogato said:

No he is selling them as controllable zombi soldiers. For what is a good question since they could easily spread the disease in a combat setting.  The FG mercenaries know the danger and can use gloves. 

What is the utopium tainted with? 

I don’t think they have time for a complex wrap up.  ravi finds the cure, beanpole is locked up, maybe peyton is rehired to lead the rehabilitation of seattle. 

We’ve forgotten Liv’s foster kids again. I did. Literally. 

Ravi called it "tainted" Utopium because it was a different chemical than the Utopium that ended up on the street. He assumed that Scott E. cut it with some foreign substance before the boat party. Instead, it seems that Beanpole Bob tested it out and Blaine got his hands on that batch.

It's not actually tainted. It's a variant of Utopium that Ravi could not replicate without a pure sample. I would think that the zombie vaccine might be as important as the cure, since re-infection is extremely easy and very problematic.

[aradia22]

How is Clive the Acting Lieutenant if he is still investigating cases with Liv? Who is in charge of the department every time he goes out? It's been business as usual. 

Zombie foot soldiers, huh? I don't hate this new guy as a villain. He's better than Blaine's dad/Brother Love and Stacey Boss and so much of the nonsense we've been going through. He reminds me of Blaine in the beginning when he evaded capture by intelligence and not just plot armor. But it's too late. This is not a guy who shows up out of nowhere in the last season. The way he's operating, he should have been more like Vaughn du Clark. We should have known about him earlier. 

The whole noir thing just made the episode ugly and harder to watch.

So much drama on karaoke night!

I mean, good for Candy, I guess? But she was such an undeveloped character. I feel like we knew more about that woman who bonded with Major in his Chaos Killer days. 

Given their terrible spy skills why would Ravi and Liv break into her dad's house without back up??? I know they're pretty safe as main characters on the show but still. 

WHERE IN THE HELL IS THIS PLOT GOING?

[aradia22]

Quote

But he also seems to think that zombies are the next step in human evolution. The small flaw there is that a zombie needs about 12 humans worth of brains every year (going by Blaine's monthly extortion plan). Even if they could force humanity to donate every corpse brain to zombie kind, if they became more than 0.001% of the population, they'd run out of their food source.

Yeah, I feel like they really want to do an X-Men but the Magneto argument really doesn't work here.

Quote

I'm sure he plans to keep humans in a factory farm type set up and breed a steady supply. You don't become a world domination evil plotter without being truly evil and truly plotting.

Taking this seriously, since humans develop much more slowly than farmed animals, that would pretty much mean sticking to brain tubes, right? Because it would make more sense to harvest child brains. Again, so much of this is poorly thought out. I miss Vivian and her Zombie Island. They should have cashed out that idea instead of killing her. 

Quote

Or, he's the only one on this show to have bothered figuring out what zombies get from human brains and what could be used as a substitute eventually.

This is an interesting angle. It makes me think of True Blood. Everyone really just accepts that a fictional concept is now reality and there's no way to make a synthetic version of the food source? Why? There were so many other ways they could have gone besides Fillmore Graves and the coyotes. To me, Vivian dying in the helicopter was when things really started going off the rails. 

I know they can control the Romero zombies now but have they still not been fed? I can see them turning on Martin/Beanpole.

[AudienceofOne]

I hate noir.

[LoneHaranguer]

6 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Taking this seriously, since humans develop much more slowly than farmed animals, that would pretty much mean sticking to brain tubes, right? Because it would make more sense to harvest child brains.

I think growing disembodied brains would be more efficient and go over better politically.

[Affogato]

6 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Yeah, I feel like they really want to do an X-Men but the Magneto argument really doesn't work here.

Taking this seriously, since humans develop much more slowly than farmed animals, that would pretty much mean sticking to brain tubes, right? Because it would make more sense to harvest child brains. Again, so much of this is poorly thought out. I miss Vivian and her Zombie Island. They should have cashed out that idea instead of killing her. 

This is an interesting angle. It makes me think of True Blood. Everyone really just accepts that a fictional concept is now reality and there's no way to make a synthetic version of the food source? Why? There were so many other ways they could have gone besides Fillmore Graves and the coyotes. To me, Vivian dying in the helicopter was when things really started going off the rails. 

I know they can control the Romero zombies now but have they still not been fed? I can see them turning on Martin/Beanpole.

There is no way they could farm enough brains. Even baby brains.  I remember somewhere in the way back of this forum discussing the movie Daybreakers, which is about vampires but deals with similar issues, including that vampirism cured some debilitating or fatal diseases. Running out of humans, synthetics don’t work and eventually there is a solution. I recommend it  

maybe 3d printing to make artificial brains  fg should have been funding all of these things, should have used Rager’s research.  

[AnimeMania]

38 minutes ago, Affogato said:

There is no way they could farm enough brains. Even baby brains.

Does it have to be human brains, even a mixture of human and other animal brains might cut it, call it "Human Brain Helper". Most animal brains are not used for anything as far as I know.

[AudienceofOne]

This goes back to the issue I've long had with Ravi's experiments. He's never bothered to find out what it is in brains that zombies need. If he had, they could have at least tried to synthesise a brain alternative.

[LoneHaranguer]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Does it have to be human brains, even a mixture of human and other animal brains might cut it, call it "Human Brain Helper". Most animal brains are not used for anything as far as I know.

You'd probably be more successful with grabbing part of people's "second brain", the one in the gut that deals with digestion. It's the same kind of cells as the one in your head, but more expendable. It's also a lot smaller, but Ravi has never bothered to figure out how much a zombie really needs.

[Paloma]

4 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Does it have to be human brains, even a mixture of human and other animal brains might cut it, call it "Human Brain Helper". Most animal brains are not used for anything as far as I know.

You can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (human version of "Mad Cow Disease") from eating cattle brains, and that would be as bad or worse as dying as a zombie.

[AudienceofOne]

You can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob from eating human brains too. I'm not sure this is relevant. 

[ketose]

5 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Does it have to be human brains, even a mixture of human and other animal brains might cut it, call it "Human Brain Helper". Most animal brains are not used for anything as far as I know.

There is a difference between species. I remember that Ravi was bitten by a zombie rat once. He discovered that the zombie rat could only infect other rats.

[Paloma]

2 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

You can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob from eating human brains too. I'm not sure this is relevant. 

Yes, but presumably zombies don't get C-J from eating human brains. We don't know whether they could get it from eating animal brains. Anyway, I was just responding humorously to the idea of eating animal brains or mixing them with human brains.

[Affogato]

8 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

Does it have to be human brains, even a mixture of human and other animal brains might cut it, call it "Human Brain Helper". Most animal brains are not used for anything as far as I know.

Yeah but cow flashbacks.....

[MisterGlass]

4 hours ago, AudienceofOne said:

You can get Creutzfeldt-Jakob from eating human brains too. I'm not sure this is relevant. 

<weird thought>  If a human cannibal lived in Seattle, would he or she take this opportunity to pretend to be a zombie and eat brains? </weird thought>

[possibilities]

20 hours ago, aradia22 said:

Vivian dying in the helicopter was when things really started going off the rails. 

I agree.

-----Maybe Beanpole Bob is planning to have everyone go Romero, so no one needs to be fed anymore. Maybe being full zombie is actually a lot of fun, like being high. 

[jhlipton]

19 hours ago, Affogato said:

Yeah but cow flashbacks.....

"What are those guy doing here while I'm trying to sleep?  Hey, stay back!  Why are you putting your hands on me????  Stop pushing!!!! Nooooooooo!" [THUD]