One of my very favorite aspects of iZombie is how fun and just plain wacky the series can be, while it also continues to be one of the most compelling dramas on television, telling rich, emotional stories involving its cast of characters and upping the dramatic stakes at every turn. “Pour Some Sugar, Zombie” is a near-perfect example of this, as iZombie is able to let us enjoy the hilarity of Liv channeling her inner stripper while also providing an interesting case of the week and pushing forward several of this season’s major storylines. That’s a tricky balance to pull off, and a show could easily fall to one side or the other, becoming too humorous so that the drama doesn’t really work, or taking its own absurdity so seriously that it essentially becomes self-parody Fortunately, iZombie hardly ever loses its footing and still remains one of the most unique series on television, as tonight’s episode proves yet again.
Liv eating a stripper’s brain could have felt too familiar to her behavior as a erotic fiction writer in “Fifty Shades of Grey Matter,” or even her more lustful tendencies in “Brother, Can You Spare A Brain?” However, the stellar writing from iZombie co-showrunner Diane Ruggiero-Wright and the always strong work from Rose McIver ensure that “Stripper Liv” feels fresh and new. There’s no shortage of laughs when she and Peyton visit the strip club, or even when she sits in the car on a stakeout with Clive (“This way, pizza boy. Mama wants some pepperoni”), and a lot of that is due to the small and subtle differences in how each brain’s personality is crafted in the writer’s room and the performance McIver gives as Liv after she’s eaten it.
And although iZombie‘s most effective and satisfying brains usually connect with Liv’s personal situation thematically, “Pour Some Sugar, Zombie” is able to rise above that pitfall for three main reasons. First, Cassidy’s brain pairs Liv and Peyton up to work on a case together for the first time in the show’s history, and it’s a wonderful change of pace, especially as we see Peyton learn to just go with Liv’s erratic behavior. Second, it provides some forward movement in the Stacey Boss storyline, as Peyton is able to retrieve $1.9 million worth of contraband from one of the crime lord’s stash houses, thanks to Liv’s help, and while that might not seem like a big plot point now, I’m willing to bet that it will put Peyton in Boss’s crosshairs during the final three episodes of this season. Finally, after solving the case with Clive and discovering that Destiny was Cassidy’s real killer, something clicks for Liv, and she goes to see Drake’s mom, who reveals to her that Drake is an undercover cop; sure, that’s something that we found out a couple of weeks ago, but it’s huge news to Liv and I’m very curious to see what she does with this information in next week’s episode.
But while Liv eating a stripper’s brain and helping Clive catch Cassidy’s real killer (while also assisting Peyton with the Boss case) is the A-plot of “Pour Some Sugar, Zombie,” it’s the secondary storyline involving Ravi and Major that leads to the best moments of the episode, as Ravi inches closer and closer to finding out the truth about his roommate until his worst fears are confirmed after he breaks into Major’s safe. I never expected Ravi to be the first one to discover that Major was the Chaos Killer (even though he doesn’t actually kill people); I figured Liv would find out first. But Ravi being the one to uncover the truth is a great development, especially since his anger causes Major, who has reverted back into zombie form, to go into “full-on zombie mode” before he can get all the facts. Plus, with how well the iZombie writers have crafted the Ravi/Major friendship, while also dropping hints about Ravi’s suspicions throughout the season, this turn of events is even more satisfying and provides both Rahul Kohli and Robert Buckley with some terrific material for the final hours of Season 2.
iZombie‘s second season has been a tremendously entertaining and captivating ride, even when the show has bitten off a little more than it can chew (I’m not sure if we needed Stacey Boss and Vaughn Du Clark as major villains during the same season, but hey, I’m not complaining). This season’s several different storylines have been colliding for weeks now in some incredibly thrilling and mostly satisfying ways. “Pour Some Sugar, Zombie” continues that trend with Ravi and Major’s confrontation, while also giving us even more questions (Who took Rita? Will Blaine’s memory ever come back? What will Liv do about Drake?) that will surely be answered by season’s end. Here’s hoping the show has even more surprises up its sleeves in these final couple weeks, and that it can stick the landing to what truly has been a fantastic season of television.
Other thoughts:
- As I mentioned above, Rita is most definitely a zombie, and she’s captured by, more than likely, her dad’s men after stealing brains from Liv’s freezer. What do you think the rest of this season has in store for Rita and Vaughn?
- I’m really hoping Blaine’s memories come back, and that this side effect of the cure isn’t permanent. While David Anders can do vulnerability well, we all know he’s even better when Blaine’s snarky and sarcastic.
- And while Blaine is currently on the mend, it appears that his guys may try to do some business behind his back, as Donnie gets turned into a zombie at the end of the episode.
- I really hope we get more episodes of Liv and Peyton working together. I love Liv and Clive as a team, but it was really refreshing and fun to see Peyton react to Liv’s method for getting visions. Also, that lap dance scene is easily one of the funniest moments ever on this show.
- Also great: Liv, Peyton, Ravi, and Major all hanging out and getting to have fun with each other before the crap hits the fan later on in the episode. I particularly like how Ravi already had all of their Friends characters picked out.
- “Be honest, man. When I leave the house, you like to try on my clothes just to feel close to me.” At least iZombie gave us some nice Ravi/Major moments before that final scene.
- “Did that stripper just accept a tip with her butt cheeks? How does she even know how much he gave her?” “Oh, she knows.” Rose McIver’s delivery of that last line absolutely killed me.
- “Booty call! Or family emergency. Butt dial?”
What did everyone else think about this week’s episode of iZombie? Comment below and let me know.
[Photo credit: Katie Yu/The CW]
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