‘Return of the Dead Guy’ didn’t feature any specific case, opting instead for an episode that deals with most of the ongoing plots that would typically play out in the background. It’s great to see this happening at this point, mostly because we only just scratched the surface of how they all tie together in the previous episode. This hour felt like it was meant to help the audience connect the dots, even if those dots were a little scattered.
It was nice to see Drake come back for a little cameo, even if it was only in Liv’s head. The idea to bring him back after she eats the brain of the domatrix killer Weckler was a neat way of bringing him into the story without it feeling extraneous to what was happening around it. But at the same time, it did feel a little late in the game to be bringing up Liv’s guilt over what she did to Drake at Max Rager. We’ve moved so far past the events of last season, and Liv was more than happy to be moving on with Justin up until this point, so why are we only seeing her guilt play out now?
Of course, you could make the argument that so much has happened that Liv hasn’t really had a chance to process that guilt until now. With brain after brain arriving to shove it into the back of her mind, her own brain has been otherwise occupied. And then up pops this extremely vivid memory of her dead lover and suddenly she’s forced to come to terms with what she did. I liked the idea, and the way she dealt with it felt true to how Liv would process it herself, but it feels strange to be thinking about the past when there’s so many crazy things going on in the present, like Peyton’s investigation into the dominatrix case.
So many of the characters were split up this week and while I missed seeing the group interact as a whole, it’s hard not to argue that the pairings we saw here worked extremely well, especially Liv and Peyton’s. They’re best friends, but it’s been a while since we’ve seen the two have fun together. The repartee here was great to see, and it’s the kind of thing you’d only expect from two people who are very close. I don’t think very many people would feel comfortable dressing up and whipping their best friend to help them trigger a zombie vision. I also liked seeing them reference things that happened years ago. It makes you realise that Peyton was a part of Liv’s life for a long time, most of that time being pre-zombie, and she’s been very understanding of her weirdness lately. As for what they found out from Liv’s visions, I’m a little bummed that Wekler really is a murderer, but it’s intriguing to see the cover-up of his crime lead back around to zombies; namely his very own daughter, who had one of the Fillmore Graves brain mash tubes.
Elsewhere, more fun pairings elevated the zombie truthers’ quest to expose zombies to the world and Ravi’s undercover operation amongst them. I mentioned last week how much I’m starting to like Don E, and I think I like him more after watching him and Ravi try to work together to stop Johns and his minions from torturing Don and outing the zombie underworld. The episode ended on a frustrating cliffhanger – countdown endings are the worst- but it does promise even more fun on the other side with the always entertaining duo of Liv and Blaine ready to rescue their sidekicks.
Plus
I’m not sure what to think of Major’s new friend Shawna just yet. I also cringed at “fort lust”.
Isn’t it cool that Clive and Peyton can go for steaks together so casually?
Blaine managed to talk Stacey Boss into working for him. He could sell ice to the Eskimos couldn’t he?
Justin and Peyton were so chill about seeing Liv make out with thin air. They’ve been so desensitised to the weirdness of zombie life.
He Said, She Said
Liv: “That is some weak sauce, counselor. Looks like we found something Peyton isn't good at.”
Peyton: “Oh, hell no! Take it back, you filthy little piggy!”
Blaine: “Forget utopium. Brains are the future.”
Angus said something very similar a few episodes back. Blaine really is his father’s son.
Blaine: “Look at you all snug as a bug in a rug in our blissful hereafter model in mahogany.”
Liv: “I was so haunted by the way that you died that I tried to push you out of my mind completely. I've been diving into all these different brains, at least in part so that I don't have to live inside my own head, face the grief of losing you.”
There was a lot of forward momentum established in this episode, but it was also a little confusing to watch; I don’t think I should need to imdb so many characters after a single episode. But I guess it’s almost a positive that iZombie has such a dense world of characters to drawn from, and so much going on that it’s constantly drawing your attention. Hopefully things will get a little more streamlined over the next few episodes as we start to get some answers.
6/10
Also posted at Doux Reviews.
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