iZombie Review: "Cape Town"

The fall finale of iZombie did a great job exploring Liv's condition and gave the cast a lot of great material to work with, even though the storytelling started to veer into some dangerous areas. In recent episodes the main theme of the show has been focused on how these different brains are affecting Liv and her relationships. Namely her relationship with Major. It was interesting to see Liv still under the influence of last week's brain at the beginning of this week's episode. The writers have never done that before, but it was a smart way to set the tone for the episode. All of this of course led to the eventual break-up of Major and Liv, which easily gave those actors the material for their best dramatic work on the show. After season three of Veronica Mars which became a nauseating case of its main characters repeatedly breaking up and then getting back together, seeing Thomas do something similar with Liv and Major worries me. That being said, this break-up did feel natural because Major cannot accept Liv as she is, and Liv has found a profound sense of purpose in becoming a zombie.

The show has always used Liv's ability to solve murders as a point of purpose in the chaos of her life, but this episode managed to convey just how much that sense of purpose has become a necessity for her will to live. Having Clive end his work relationship with Liv (another storytelling device that worries me) puts a major halt to that sense of purpose. Though if the last two episodes show anything, it's that Liv is so driven by this sense of purpose that she's willing to work outside the law to solve a case. All of this sets up an interesting conflict for the show. Liv has the ability to solve cases in a way that nobody else can, but the brains she is consuming are making her increasingly unstable both her personal and professional life.

As for the case of the week, it was a little disappointing. Given that the source material for the show is a comic book, the show could have had much more fun with the idea of Liv as a superhero. That being said, it was an effective delivery tool to the point where Clive cut Liv off. The case of the week has been the weakest part of the show for a while, but this was probably the least interesting case so far.