iZombie 3.06: Some Like it Hot Mess

After the previous episode’s hard-hitting ending, ‘Some Like it Hot Mess’ had an incredible task in raising the emotional stakes. In a lot of ways it did that, and it was certainly a major turning point in this season’s memory loss plot, but I couldn’t help feeling a little deflated when the credits rolled.

The memory loss story has been played up for so long, that finally learning the truth was a relief. It’s hard, though, to say if I’m happy with this truth. I saw Blaine’s fake-out coming a long time ago, and it’s sort of a little disappointing that there wasn’t a bigger surprise in store when he came clean about his memory coming back after just two days. Do we believe that he actually wanted to use the opportunity to start over? Maybe experiencing what it was like to be genuinely cared for by Peyton inspired him to become a new man. I doubt it, though. And what was he doing with Ravi’s memory serum? Does he have a new business plan in store?

Peyton’s reaction to learning the truth was great. She should never have been so closed minded about Blaine and his secrets in the first place, but it’s easy to see why she might have gotten sucked into the romance of it all, and she had very little hesitation in cutting Blaine off after he confessed. It’s very telling that one of the first things that she realised was that Liv could have used the cure a long time ago. Liv lost months of her life as a result of Blaine’s deception, and that Peyton’s first thought was of her friend was a nice moment for her. Hopefully she gets a big plot all her own soon so she can develop a bit more.

Liv may need to wait even longer for the cure now, on top of the time Blaine took from her. The cure was stolen by an anonymous thief (my money’s on Don E), and Major gave the only remaining dose to Natalie a few episodes back, who may or may not have taken it herself. There were some great moments when Liv thought she could finally be human after two years as a zombie; the moment she tells Clive she’s done with their partnership stands out in particular, with both Rose McIver and Malcolm Goodwin selling the hell out of the material. When the opportunity to be human is taken away again, you really feel for her. Of course, it’s obvious it wasn’t going to happen- we’d have no show - but I still got sucked into Liv’s ups and downs, here.

Major’s struggle with his initial memory loss took him to some interesting places, both emotionally and literally, as he makes a trip to Walla Walla to visit his mother Sue and her partner, Dalia. Has Major mentioned his mother before? I liked that the writers didn’t make a huge deal out of her sexuality. It is 2017, and it’s great that most TV series out there are aware of that. Instead, Major’s heart to heart with her had more to do with his father staying around and his mother being the one that walked out rather than her decision to spend her life with another woman. Will we see him spend more time with her in the future?

The case here was a lot of fun at first. Yvonne, a party-girl/DJ/store assistant/shoddy roommate/narcissistic mess gave us some hilarious gags. But as the episode wore on, Liv’s inappropriate comments and lack of common sense started to grate, particularly when they ruined some genuinely affecting moments. Maybe that was the point, though. Liv even says she’s sick of having other people in her head, and having the victim intruding on her personal life more than usual demonstrates that frustration to a T. Personally I was more than ready for Liv to solve the case so we could get on with things elsewhere.

Plus

Liv dropping her phone in a corpse mid-autopsy was pretty funny.

There were a lot of references to the dominatrix case in the previous episode. Don’t think it means anything except for that the writers are making more of an effort to tie the world of Seattle homicide together with Peyton’s role as ADA.

Is it bad that I sort of sided with the culprit of this week’s murder; Yvonne’s jilted roommate. Living with flaky people is the worst.

He Said, She Said

Liv: “This case I’m solving? I think she was killed for being awesome.”

Liv: “I am so sorry Ravi. Clive’s been so needy on this case. He’s just like-“
I think that catlike noise Rose made after this line was kind of the best thing ever.

Peyton: “You’re a sad, selfish, greedy man!”
Blaine: “Wait, what happened to ‘it didn’t matter how we got here’?”
Peyton: “I’m a lawyer Blaine. I shouldn’t be trusted.”

Clive: “You’re throwing the towel in on being a zombie now? You can’t tough it out a few more years, at least until I get my captain’s bars?”
Liv: “Thanks for giving these past couple of years meaning, Clive.”

Thematically this episode was strong, but the execution was a little messy. Though we got some great moments between the cast, and it’s put the story in an exciting place, in other respects the episode was a little disappointing. Hopefully things will gel a little better going forward.

6/10

Also posted at Doux Reviews.