After a solid season opener last week, "Zombie Bro" was driven by a well utilized brain, even if it was light on the zombie mythology that has been the more interesting part of the series as of late. The one thing that I didn't like about last week's episode was that the personality Liv took on was inconsequential (to the point that it seemed to disappear completely when Liv needed to have a serious conversation), and way too broad to be interesting (for me, the racist old man jokes all fell flat). Liv could have eaten anybody's brain and it wouldn't have mattered. Frat boy brains are no less broad than old man brains, but the episode was written in a way that allowed them to matter. Liv's frat mentality led to some very funny moments (both Liv's morgue pranks and the way her behavior was freaking out Babineaux, were hilarious), but also stuck around through important moments, like when Liv talked to Major in person for the first time since curing him of being a zombie.
In season one, the personalities that Liv took on altered her relationships with the people she was closest to. Underneath all of the zombie mythology and crime solving, this is a show about how one event changed all of Liv's personal relationships. These brains can be fun, but if they don't affect that one central theme, then they aren't' worth much to the show. The beauty of having Liv stay in character with each new personality is that when her true self breaks through all of that, it has a much greater impact than if the personalities just come and go when they are convenient. Liv's scene in the bathroom with Major was one of the show's most sincere scenes so far. Liv's joke about not shaving off Major's eyebrows was also her way of saying that no personality she takes on could prevent her from being there for him.
While Major's new unwanted quested to hunt Seattle's zombies wasn't featured in this episode, it was always looming in the background. The show has put itself in a try position with this plot line. A wrong step could make Major's motivations seem too flimsy, or could make his actions irredeemable. This episode did a good job of balancing all of those elements. Starting with Major's guilt stricken reaction to his first zombie killing, and ending with his fall into drug addiction highlighted just how much the situation is destroying Major inside. The show also sprinkled in little reminders of why he's so motivated to comply with being blackmailed too. Throwing Liv's phone into the street and the bathroom scene where he tells her that he won't let anything happen to her are good reminders of why a good character is doing such a bad thing. This doesn't necessarily redeem Major, but the constant reminders of his humanity are going to be pivotal in keeping him from being a character beyond saving.
The third story line mostly just involved Blaine doing all of his usual scheming. The episode just showed the beginnings of whatever it is Blaine has planned for the season, so it was by far the least interesting part of the episode.
Potentially insignificant observation: This is the second case in a row where the killer was motivated by false information when they killed the victim. Maybe it's coincidence, maybe it's on purpose. Time will tell, I guess.
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