iZombie 3.04: Wag the Tongue Slowly

Gossip is the word of the day in ‘Wag the Tongue Slowly’, with a scandal-obsessed Liv milking the tension in her friends’ lives for all it’s worth after she eats the brain of an office busybody. Though played mostly for laughs, Liv’s nosiness is used smartly as she looks to find dirt on the fallout of last week’s Ravi/Peyton drama, and pokes fun at how “boring” anti-zombie enthusiasts are. The case and all its candid details provided a good opportunity for the show to have some stand-alone fun, while still playing with serial storytelling at the same time. In other words, pretty typical iZombie stuff.



Ravi is down in the dumps after his big screw up last week. He doesn’t say much about his encounter with Katty, nor does she make an appearance, instead he spends his time moping around, whining at any person who can stand his company. I mentioned in my review of the previous episode that it’s good to see characters be a bit unappealing sometimes in order to give them a bit more depth. At the same time, he was kind of unbearable in this episode. Grow up and deal with the consequences of your actions, Ravi. And get back to the guy we love.

Funnily, Ravi gave Blaine all the opportunity he needed to get closer to Peyton. Asking him to find a babysitter while he awaits any potential side effects from the cure is an open invitation for the Blaine to cosy up to Ravi’s ex. I hope this memory loss thing comes to a head soon. It feels a tad bit dragged out at this point, and I think the real Blaine adds a touch of wit and cynicism that the show needs right about now. Perhaps it is really over, and Blaine told the truth when he said the cure didn’t restore his memory, but it seems more likely that he lied in order to get Peyton to sleep with him. It’s gross, but so Blaine. How long will it take to find what’s really going on inside his head?

The case here was a lot of fun, if maybe a tad inconsequential in the end. There’s no big epiphany, the victim never really providing more than surface entertainment, but the circumstances of her death were cool to explore. It’s always sad when the culprits turn out to be victims themselves, usually at the hand of the person they killed (accidentally poisoned in this instance). An office prank turning deadly is sort of the perfect case of iZombie to tackle. It’s funny on the surface, but has some real darkness in the end when you realise the perpetrators didn’t mean serious harm, but ended up ruining their own lives instead.

Plus

I loved the moment of realisation Liv and Clive had after they found out that Cheryl was a huge gossip.

Major finally located Natalie, who is being held captive by human traffickers. He couldn’t save her but he gave her the cure. Will she take it? It seems like an easy out for a woman who had a tough life. Maybe there are some memories she may want to forget?

Rose McIver’s performance here was excellent. She nailed the excited look of a gossip primed to hear something juicy every single time.

He Said, She Said

Liv: “Blaine and Peyton. I saw them duck into the alley last night after his set [...] They were out there for quite a while. Doing what? You tell me...”

I loved Ravi “volunteering” to go through hours of porn for the case.
Liv: “Focus on the crime thrillers.”
Ravi: “So, ignore remakes of classics, such as The Magnificent Seven-Way, Bone-Hur - No doubt part of the Criterion Hard-Core Collection.”
Liv: “If you're not up to it...”
Ravi: “I'll muddle through. You see, I believe in justice, Liv.”

Nothing truly huge happens in this episode, or does it attempt to do something more meaningful, but it was a nice, funny and entertaining chapter that got us to where we needed to be for things to start kicking off again.

7/10

Also posted at Doux Reviews.