iZombie

2.03 Real Dead Housewife of Seattle
A little heavier on the death and destruction side, this time.

I'm not comfortable with the whole Major, the zombie killer, thing. The premise that the only good zombie is a dead zombie doesn't fly when Blaine is out there intentionally creating zombies for profit. I know Major is doing it to protect Liv, but that should make him realize that some zombies are just victims who are not rampantly killing humans for brain snacks.

Add the new addiction to Utopium, and Major's story arc is pulling the overall tone of the show down. I hope that gets resolved soon.
 
I think Major going through this is okay.

But, fans complained... so.... much.... last season about Major being annoying that perhaps they are trying to over-adjust. I wish fans would just stop bitching and let some characters breathe a bit before jumping in with the hate.
 
ZombieWife said:
I think Major going through this is okay.

But, fans complained... so.... much.... last season about Major being annoying that perhaps they are trying to over-adjust. I wish fans would just stop bitching and let some characters breathe a bit before jumping in with the hate.
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I can't say that I hate Major.
I am concerned, though, that his zombie-killing missions might put his character beyond redemption.
 
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I agree, REBerg. I think they throw in bits and pieces about him wanting to protect Liv, but when will that not be enough?
 
ZombieWife said:
I agree, REBerg. I think they throw in bits and pieces about him wanting to protect Liv, but when will that not be enough?
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Must be a better way.

Major's decision to protect Liv, regardless of the costs to himself, is noble; but he knows her secret and her superhuman capabilities when she goes "full zombie." She is really better able to protect him.

I hope to see him tell her about Du Clark's evil plans and direct threat to her. Together, they give him his due and save Major's soul in the process.
 
2.07 Abra Cadaver
Top lines of this episode:

"You don't dress like that unless you're a magician, or you hate your parents."
-- Clive

"OK. Let's get it all out in the open, man-things."
-- Peyton

"Help me, Zombie-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope."
-- Blaine
 
I decided to give the pilot of this a go over the weekend. Six episodes later I'm really enjoying it. I can definitely the Buffy influence - wise-cracking female protagonist has to give up her perfect life due to becoming a zombie (a slayer); can't be with love-of-her-life boyfriend due to being a zombie (a slayer); hot bleached blond villain who is also a zombie (vampire).

Thus far it's been funny, scary, pretty disgusting at times and hugely entertaining.
 
Having now heard both Rose McIver and David Anders singing, I'm looking forward to the inevitable musical episode.
 
2.09 Cape Town

Liv on vigilante superhero brain? It could only have been funnier if the deceased had been "The Tick."
 
Ravi was great in this ep - so excited about Liv being a superhero. The fight in the lab between him and Blaine a few episodes back is my favourite scene in this series so far.
 
Idoru said:
I *love* Once More with Feeling! I've got the soundtrack on CD.
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Yeah, I'm one of those anti-season-6 people and it was one of the two bright spots in that season for me (the very next ep, "Tabula Rasa," being the other).

Idoru said:
Ravi was great in this ep - so excited about Liv being a superhero.
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Agreed. He was like a kid on Christmas wondering what Liv he'd gotten. "So no spice rack, then." :D
 
I love Ravi's wit.

And Liv's too for that matter. She has had some great come-backs.
 
I read a really good article about this, saying that however good Rose McIver is (and she really is), it's the supporting cast that make the show. And I do think that's a very good point. Clive's facial expressions whenever Liv does anything out of character because of the brain she's 'on' are excellent. Ravi's humour, and the way he's so confident and full of himself while being totally geeky when they could so easily have made him your usual retiring geek (think early Willow but as a man). Even Major's soul searching. And as for Blaine:

The bit when he finds out that his father has disappeared, and so killing his grandfather (probably the only person who ever loved him and whom he ever loved) was completely unnecessary, that look of horror and regret that lasted for just a few seconds and then he was back to the Blaine we all love to hate, that was so fantastic, so understated, so completely different from his usual total over-the-topped-ness.
 
Whenever action has taken a back seat to personal relationships in a series, my soap opera alarm kicks in and I stop watching. With all the lovelorn problems going on in this series -- Liv and Major, Liv and Drake, Peyton and Ravi, Peyton and Blaine, Clive and Bozzio, Major and Gilda -- that should have happened a long time ago.

It hasn't. Despite all the improbable intertwining of characters, the show remains fresh and entertaining.

I give star Rose McIver most of the credit for that. She is called upon to play a different role within a role each outing, as she dines on the latest murder victim's brain and gains some of their personality quirks along with visions of the perpetrators. The results are consistently laugh-out-loud funny.

The balance of the credit goes to the talented supporting cast members and the writers who supply them with an abundance of snappy dialogue.
 
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Good point REBerg. I basically agree. That said, they really need to not push their luck any further and need to get back to good storytelling[1], more action[2], and less emphasis on relationships. And this may not be a minority view, as the show's ratings have dropped to 0.5 which is heading into "get worried about getting cancelled" even on the CW - any 0.5 show would have been axed on any other network long ago.

Still, if it can keep at least the current level of quality, I'm content to ride it until it crashes. It's still very funny and entertaining. I almost did a spit take when they introduced "Dale Bozzio - she's from Missing Persons." :D (I wonder how much of the show's audience even got that?) The segment intertitles are still funny. Etc. Just would like a little more drama and less melodrama to go with the comedy.

[1]
I wouldn't have really liked the last episode any better as I don't like the sort of episode it would be but shouldn't Liv becoming a compulsive liar have had more result, such as something terrible happening because she said something true that was disbelieved? "The zombie who cried werewolf" sort of thing? And how many times is Major going to be almost killed (often by Blaine but not only him) only to fairly easily get out of it? Etc. Let's focus back on the case being important for its own sake.

Incidentally, this episode reminded me that Liv's mom and brother have disappeared completely. Not sure that this isn't a good thing, but it's different. Similarly, she doesn't do the "I learned something today" voiceover/summary like she used to. Again, not sure that that's a bad thing. But they are further signs of a general difference lately.

-- Edit: just realized that the show's also a lot less gross than it used to be. They used to push it almost too far, but now I think they've retreated too far. They need more starving zombies and the morgue should be an unpleasant place, I think. ;)

[2] More brains with Kung-Fu grip! More Buffy moves!
 
2.14 Eternal Sunshine of the Caffeinated Mind:lol:

Blaine's zombie resurrection to the tune of Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale, with Blaine striding through a group of birdwatchers, was totally hilarious. I saw the return coming, but I couldn't possibly have anticipated the tune or the circumstances.
 
For some reason, Blaine reminds me of good ol' zombie Merle; even before he became a 'walker'. Merle was just out there, a constant threat, but at the same time, I found he rather entertaining. Blaine is a guy who is sometimes enemy, sometimes, ally; but usually, humorous.
 
Jeffbert said:
For some reason, Blaine reminds me of good ol' zombie Merle; even before he became a 'walker'. Merle was just out there, a constant threat, but at the same time, I found he rather entertaining. Blaine is a guy who is sometimes enemy, sometimes, ally; but usually, humorous.
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He is really a gray character -- obviously evil, but sometimes so pathetic I've just got to feel sorry for the guy.
 
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