* Spoilers for iZombie, season 4, episode 9.
Liv Moore on iZombie. Photo source: the CW, screenshot by Linda Maleh
Ok I’ll say it: Liv on rapper brain may be my favorite yet. Lin-Manuel Miranda would be proud. Beyond that, this episode gets more complicated, by a lot. Turns out one of the prisoners attacked by the zombie mob last episode escaped, and it just so happens that that person was in jail for mass murdering zombies, making him known as Zombie-Killer-Cain. Our rapper and his zombie girlfriend are his most recent murder victims.
This episode is where all the secrets come out (or at least many of them). Having a serial killer who hunts zombies on the loose causes Filmore Graves to put the city on lockdown. The result is that Peyton and Isobel, who were supposed to go with Liv to a movie, wind up stuck in the police station with Ravi and Liv. (Clive is there too, but we’ll get to that later.) After finding Isobel hiding in one of his morgue drawers (you know, where they keep the dead bodies), Ravi quickly figures out that she’s fatally sick and begs Liv to scratch her to save her life. Liv is reluctant to admit that she’s committed a capital offense, but she finally confesses to Ravi that she already scratched Isobel and it didn’t work; Isobel is immune. Ravi is then convinced that they need to study Isobel, in the hope of creating a new zombie cure or vaccine. Isobel, accidentally overhearing them, is eager to try it out, wanting to help people before she dies. Liv protests and says that Isobel needs to go home to Boise, Idaho. Upon hearing that Isobel is not a Seattle native, Ravi asks how she got into the city. Isobel answers that she got smuggled in by a coyote, but then reveals that the coyote works for Liv. Tired of keeping secrets from Ravi, Peyton confesses that Liv has taken over Mama Leone’s smuggling operation and is the new Renegade. So, let’s review: Peyton and Ravi now know everything about Liv’s secret life, while Clive and, more importantly, Major are still in the dark.
Isobel and Ravi on iZombie. Photo source: the CW, screenshot by Linda Maleh.
On the more fun side of things coming out, we have the Clive storyline of the episode. When the sirens go off indicating the lockdown, Ravi and Clive immediately get together with a couple of buddies in the building to secretly go play some Dungeons and Dragons, revealing that Clive has been playing the game since the D&D themed episode last season, which was implied in last week’s episode. Can I just say I love the blossoming of Clive’s nerd side? When new officer Michelle realizes they’re playing, she begs to join. At first Clive tries to hide what they’ve been doing, but upon realizing that she’s not mocking them, but really wants to join, he welcomes her. Clive’s been pretty down since he and Dale broke up last episode, which I feel like we’ve all known was coming, but this episode proved that new love interest Michelle is actually perfect for Clive. The two share a kiss before the episode is up, just in case there was any doubt in mind.
The Major part of the episode is no where near as fun. Major and his team are sent to try and take down Cain, but after picking up a concussed Filmore Graves soldier, Major realizes the soldier’s high-level access card has been stolen. Zombie-Killer-Cain is in Filmore Graves headquarters, and he’s going straight for the guy at the top. After shooting Chase Graves in both kneecaps, Cain is about to shoot him in the head when Major shoots Cain in the gut first. Cain is left bleeding on the floor, but when Major asks Chase if he should get him medical attention, Chase says to scratch Cain and turn him into a zombie. Major is hesitant to do this, especially as Cain begs Major to just let him die. Chase, however, insists, saying that Cain “has an appointment with the guillotine.” Major scratches him, and I have to wonder just how far Major will go for Filmore Graves before he loses himself. Liv insinuates the same thing earlier in the episode when she blows up at Major for standing by while they crushed Mama Leone’s skull. It’s unclear what took her so long to get angry at Major for that, but a fallout between them was inevitable.
Chase Graves and Zombie-Killer-Cain on iZombie. Photo source: the CW, screenshot by Linda Maleh.
Finally, we’ve got the Blaine part of the episode. This is one of the more evil and devious schemes we’ve seen from him in a while. It starts with a hooker complaining that Blaine ordered her to pleasure the mayor all night for free, and ends with said mayor dead, dumped on a bench. Should we fill in what happened in between? Ok. So Don E. eats a brain, given to him by Blaine, that turns him into a computer hacking genius. Blaine explains to him that he wants to sell the zombie cures he stole from Ravi on the black market, but he needs them to be untraceable. Don E. with his new hacker brain accomplishes this easily, but he has a question: how are people going to know that they work? Blaine’s answer: they’re going to cure a well-known zombie, and then kill him in a way that only humans can die, and they’re going to do it on camera. This is of course where the zombie mayor comes in. The mayor is cured and then shot through the heart, and the video of it goes viral overnight.
Mayor Baracus shot through the chest on iZombie. Photo source: the CW, screenshot by Linda Maleh.
Other important moments of the episode? Blaine says he has a way of how to turn the whole country zombie, though he doesn’t explain it yet. Major meets Isobel. Chase realizes specific reports are being kept out of his hands. Blaine and Don E. realize that Ravi’s something between a zombie and a human, though they don’t know how yet. Finally, since the mayor is dead, it’s revealed that Peyton is the new acting-mayor – the fact that she’s involved in a criminal smuggling operation may be a conflict of interest.
As Liv raps at the end of the episode, New Seattle is “a powder keg now, all we need is a match.”
