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iZombie: Looking for Mr. Goodbrain, Part 2

“Do you want an apocalypse?”

When this season started it was clear that the writers had a very specific set of goals in mind that they wanted to achieve. Clear and concise planning on their part meant that this finale was able to achieve most, if not all of those goals, but there was still time for some interesting twists along the way.

As the direct continuation of the first half of this two-parter, this episode revealed how everything connected, and the answer is pretty straightforward, at least at first; Fillmore Graves really were behind many of this season’s wrong doings, though the character driving all of it wasn’t who I expected.

I’m a little disappointed that Carey Gold was the one who not only ordered the death of Katty Cupps, but was indirectly responsible for the Tuttle/Reed murders and orchestrated the outbreak of the Aleutian flu as well. It makes perfect sense when looking at the different machinations used to get us to this point, but I don’t think she was an important enough character to have as the big mastermind, here.

Chase makes for a far more interesting big bad in this instance, but perhaps such a reveal would have been too obvious. On the bright side it means that we get to keep him around a lot longer, something I’m happy to see. He never really shook his Logan Echolls tag for me, but Jason Dohring really shone these past couple of episodes, making Chase seem like a genuinely fascinating and layered character. He absolutely deserves a lot more screen time going forward, whether it's with Liv or the rest of the cast. He keeps those around him on their toes, something Liv and her friends will need.

Chase will also have an important role to play in the growing tensions that are rocking through Seattle now that the world knows about zombies, and half of the city is infected. It’s an ambitious idea to turn Seattle into a potential battleground between zombies and humans. Whether the series can handle something like this remains to be seen, but it certainly continues the trend of past finales in expanding the scope of this world. We got a glimpse into the potential devastation it could cause towards the close of the episode with the Fillmore Graves army attempting to stop an angry mob from killing them. Watching them take those humans down hints that the show won’t shy away from taking a plot like this to some dark places.

Major will also be front and centre in the fight to protect the zombie population. He’s now a zombie once again and ready to stand alongside Justin and the rest of the FG army as they attempt to provide food and protection for those who have turned. It’s starting to get hard to track Major’s zombie/human status now. He seems to spend every second season as one or the other, so maybe he’ll change back? I do think it was the only natural choice for Major at this point. He lost a lot because of the hate that fills the city, it’s only right that he’d want to make a stand against all that to honour Natalie and his lost army friends.

While most of this episode dealt with some world changing events, it ended on a much quieter and personal note with Ravi asking Liv to turn him in order to test his latest version of the zombie cure. Though he’s had a morally tumultuous season, Ravi has always been one of the more well-intentioned characters on the show, and his sacrifice here is a testament to that fact. How this will change the dynamic between Liv and Ravi is anyone’s guess, but I loved that a season that focused on such high stakes drama, closed on a quiet and life changing moment between these two characters.

Plus

I’m getting so tired of the whole “losing cell service when providing critical information” thing that so many shows do. Why couldn’t Liv have sent a quick text to Clive to let him know that the flu vaccine was being tainted by FG?

I also feel bad for Clive now that Bozzio is a zombie, meaning they can never properly be together. And he was finally able to come clean to her.

Blaine didn’t play a massive role over the last few episodes, but he certainly benefited from the surge in zombies around Seattle.

It looks like Peyton has taken Baracus up on his offer to work for him. It’ll be interesting to see where this position takes her next season.

Johnny Frost conning his way to the top of the vaccination queue was genuinely hilarious. I hope we get to see more of Daran Norris next season.

He Said, She Said

Chase: “If we’re going to survive, we’re going to have to do a few things that can’t be undone.”

Clive: “I’m sure there’ll be plenty more surprises to come.”

Liv: “Why are you doing this? Making more zombies? Do you want an apocalypse?”

While they didn’t reach the storytelling highs of the sophomore season, I think both this episode and season three as a whole were solidly executed. The ambition of the events that transpired here are still exciting and wonderful to watch unfold, but the series might benefit by taking a few beats next season to get back to the core characters. If the final moments of this episode are any indication, it seems like the writers may already know this. At a time when the world around them is going nuclear, we need to remember why iZombie works so well, and that’s with a well-written group of heroes (and anti-heroes) at its heart.

4 out of 5 I got the Shot stickers.

Originally posted at PandaTV.

9 comments:

  1. I've got a strange feeling. Series finale feeling, to be exact. This would be a perfect one. It's strange to feel a bit sad that your absolutely favourite show of all times was renewed.

    I agree, Carey was never such a good or important character. Her reveal of being the biggest bad was not that satisfying.

    I saw Johnny jumping the line as soon as he appeared outside of that church. It was still fun to watch.

    Bad reception is fine, I think; when you're already on call, typing a message would take more time. But who the hell doesn't charge her phone?

    Nice foreshadowing with "I can't find a body for this leg". A-and here it is! But really, did they really need to kill this guy again?

    I wonder if Bozzio would remain FBI.

    Are they going to keep Seattle zombies confined within the city limits? I can't really see how it works. Unless real military steps in and blocks the city from outside. But even then, zombie virus would inevitably spread out.

    All in all, not "Salivation Army", but a very good season finale.

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  2. Couple of questions left unanswered.

    - Who stole the cure from the morgue? If it was Carey (herself, or by proxy) — how did she know it was there? Her only link to the morgue gang (we really need some name for them) was Justin, but if he is not bad, then it seems safe to assume he didn't tell her.

    - Who arranged the dominatrix murder? If — again — it was Carey, then why? Was she also a client? Getting Baracus to the mayor's office seems in line with their plan A, but with plan B it's a bit pointless.

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  3. I'm assuming Baracus will be a regular fixture next season so hopefully we'll get an answer then.

    As for the cure, I'm not sure. Seems a little strange for iZombie to drop a plot like that and not actually follow up in some way so maybe it'll be revealed next season as well.

    Thanks for follow these reviews.

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  4. Thank *you*, Panda, for completing another season.

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  5. I guess the Weckler case and the assasination attempt on Barrackus was Chase Graves because he was still doing plan A, while the Helicopter bomb and Tuttle-Reid was Gold and plan B as was revealed.

    The cure theft is very puzzling and it must be explained. It can't be the Chase Graves part of FG or they'd know abot Major being a zombie before the sex-blanket fort blog. I think we would have gotten more Blaine scenes in the finale if it was him. I have no clue here.

    I bet Seattle will become a ghetto surrounded by the national guard next season. I guess it will also herald the complete transition away from cases of the week.

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  6. Hmm, that would mean that Chase Graves part are the same cold-blooded killers. I'm not sure they are going in that direction. I mean, the Weckler case. Baracus assassination attempt is not that interesting; it could be Graves, it could be Baracus himself, doesn't really matter.

    I also don't think cases of the week would go away. Crime still happens, Clive is still in the police, Ravi and Liv still work at the morgue.

    One thing I just thought of: now Liv can finally properly explain why she refused to give her blood to Evan. Remember that guy?

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  7. Would be nice to see her family back, but it would be one awkward conversation: "see the reason I didn't give up my blood is because we had to write you out and needed a believable reason for you to hate me and now we lost that believable reason thanks to our outside of the box storytelling so we had to bring you back for season 4. Sorry for cutting your vacation short." :)

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  8. I am REALLY annoyed we never returned to the 'who stole the cure' thing. It feels like the writers forgot about it? Very annoying. Also wasn't a fan of the 9/11 callback with Baracus and Peyton. It felt in poor taste. Other than that, I feel like this finale is going to be as good as the next season. I'd hate to see the show abandon their format entirely but a full out zombies vs. humans war could be fun too.

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