iZombie Season 4 Episode 4 Review: Brainless in Seattle, Part 2
Jasmine Blu
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That can't be the last that we see of Bruce the serial killer, right?
When it was apparent that "Brainless in Seattle" would be a two-parter, I imagined that meant Liv would be on the hopeless romantic brain for two installments.
I didn't expect the serial killer storyline to be wrapped up halfway through iZombie Season 4 Episode 4.
An intriguing concept would have been if Bruce lingered in the background throughout the season as an ongoing case that they couldn't immediately crack, and the gang solved other murders too.
They carted Bruce away so quickly they didn't bother interviewing him. It was both refreshing and unusual that aside from the CLiv tiff at the station, there wasn't a single scene in an interrogation room.
They figured out the identities of Bruce's other victims only so they could piece together a victimology and give Ravi the chance to go undercover again.
I love when Ravi goes undercover, but it also stresses me out every time. It wasn't as great or harrowing as when Ravi went under with the redneck zombie-haters, but Ravi's obnoxious accent was entertaining.
The investigatory aspect of the hour was lackluster, but the rest of the hour made up for it with the interpersonal storylines culminated by a rare moment of lightheartedness where nearly all the gang, save for Clive, were playful and merry.
If anyone needed a night out it was Clive.
He spent the entire investigation every bit the exasperated parent whose mischievous kids were overdoing undercover aliases, making terrible three stooges jokes, and trying to set him up with Hunter. Clive as the "dad" friend/straight-man to Liv and Ravi's juvenile antics never get old.
Related: iZombie Review: Race to Find Renegade!
The Nasty Girl mistaken "mug-cute" Liv orchestrated was funnier than the stuck in an elevator fiasco. However, the crux of Liv's meddling came from Clive's somber response.
Liv: I think that you should break up with Bozzio.
Clive: Where the hell is this coming from?
Liv: It's just, it's never going to work.
Clive: I know you're used to saying pretty much whatever you want without consequence, so let me draw a very clear boundary for you right now. My relationship with Dale is none of your business, and there's not a brain in the world you could be on that will change that. Not that it matters because I suspect this is coming from you. So stop.
When he pulled her aside and told her to back off with her disapproval of Bozzio, it was a great scene, particularly when he rightfully pointed out that the brain wasn't to blame for her candor, it was all her.
As suspected, Clive and Dale are in an open-relationship, but when Liv finally broke down and told him the truth about Dale's display at The Scratching Post, it was unbearable. Clive doesn't want to be in an open relationship. He isn't the type.
He's torn between wanting to be with the love of his life and sacrificing his own happiness to accommodate her zombiesm.
He didn't expect Dale to quickly seek physical affection elsewhere even though it was an agreed upon option for them both. What good is an open-relationship when only one person benefits from it, and the other is miserable? Oh, my darling Clive.
Liv: All that weird Bozzio stuff, the reason that I said what I did, I saw Bozzio kissing another guy at The Scratching Post. I'm so sorry, Clive. For everything. I thought you'd want to know.
Clive: Were in an open relationship.
Liv: Oh.
Clive: Yeah.
Liv: You don't seem like the open relationship type.
Clive: I'm not, but I'm in love, and I'm willing to try anything to make it work.
Meanwhile, Liv and Major are the types who will always orbit around one another and never let each other go. Major held up remarkably well to Liv's quest to find Tim Timmerson, but he tends to handle Liv dating others better than she does.
Related: iZombie: Why Season 4 is Poised to be the Best Yet!
Liv's mission to find Tim included putting an ad out looking for the guy and begging him to meet her at The Scratching Post. They also played the other classic rom-com song, Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me."
Their make-out session was a whole lot of "eww," but more so when she realized that their beliefs didn't align. Don't you hate it when you meet the perfect person, and you find out they're a supremacist? It's the worst!
Tim is one of the zombies who subscribes to Angus' dogma about the rightful place of humans in the evolutionary chain or whatever. Liv didn't piece together anything at that moment, but thankfully, this storyline is coming into the fold.
I'm fond of how the show utilized Tucker to briefly demonstrate how one succumbs to the allure of radicalism and zealotry. Once scratched, he was no longer accepted by his friends, family, and girlfriend.
Related: iZombie Review: Major Fallout
His close friend's idea of doing him a favor was sliding him a revolver so he could "do the right thing" by offing himself.
He was alienated by his close ones, ostracized by the rest of New Seattle, and has reason to distrust the zombie militia used to enforce law and order amongst the zombie faction. He doesn't benefit the least bit from the zombie pecking order hierarchical system that leaves him and other zombies like him out in the cold.
You've always done the right thing, Tucker. [slides him a paper bag with a gun in it] Now shouldn't be any different.
Tucker friend
Angus is, in the words of Eliot Spencer from my beloved Leverage, "Twenty pounds of crazy in a five-pound bag." That being said, the humans are openly discriminatory and/or terrified of zombies, and the Fillmore Graves soldiers are reaping all the benefits while professing to keep the zombie commoners in line.
The most even-minded zombies out there could at least understand the appeal of Angus' message. That's all it takes. It's a great way to highlight the disconnect between our zombies and the other zombies.
For all of Major and Liv's disputes about zombie politics, there is still a chasm between them and the other zombies out there.
Sure, Liv is self-righteous, and Major's ethics are morally questionable, but they're both basking in the privilege their respective positions afford them.
As a Fillmore Graves soldier, Major isn't hurting for food, and he can waltz into The Scratching Post and get whatever brain he pleases. Meanwhile, Liv had the perfect hookup "before zombies were cool." She's not hurting for anything either.
Major's new career and his personal code of conduct always seem to be at war with one another. In fact, using Angus to point that out was clever. Major's past as the Chaos Killer was the only thing that spared him and his cadets from being torn apart by Angus' congregation.
The show likes to assure us that despite Major being aligned with someone who does questionable, reprehensible things, he's not completely lost.
I'm sure Jordan being spared was largely due to Major. He takes mentoring Jordan and Captain Seattle seriously. Their scene confronting Tucker's friends at that bar was one of the best of the hour.
It was a major display of badassery from Major, and it was very much appreciated. He's also shown to be the best babysitter ever when he took Jordan and Captain Seattle to The Scratching Post and didn't mind that they dosed him with wrestler's brain.
Major on wrestler's brain, while funny, did not top Major on teen girl brain.
Major allows the kids to be kids, which is something Chase would never do. Also, how cute are Jordan and Captain Seattle as a couple? Adorbs!
What struck me as odd is that Major didn't mention Angus and his flock to Chase. I get that Chase was busy, but a quick memo would make sense.
If I ever see you here again wearing that devil cloth I'll knock your skull clean off your body.
Angus [to Major]
It's also strange that Blaine still doesn't know about his father. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but was Blaine's stooge who shot Renegade's crew the same guy that Angus killed?
Blaine is feeling himself now, and it's almost like he's reverting back to season 1 Blaine. I don't know how to feel about that.
Related: iZombie Round Table: A Serial Killer in New Seattle
He told Don E about using the stolen zombie cure. There's no telling what he'll do with the rest of the vials, but it's doubtful that it'll be anything good.
The candidness he exhibited while on Anthony's brain led to a few funny quips and moments, but otherwise, he was back to being the full-blown zombie gangster that we know so well.
Customer: Tell me, where do you get all of these brains?
Blaine: Well, I'm the head of a huge criminal enterprise. [both laugh.] Now I have to go to do a terrible thing to a nice lady. Enjoy your meal.
Blaine busting into Renegade's laundromat was upsetting. Sidenote, isn't it difficult passing security in that part of Seattle? How is everyone going back and forth with ease?
I don't know what Chase has planned for Renegade. I know many of you don't view him as an antagonist or a bad guy.
Related: iZombie Round Table: Talk Sex with Dr. Ravi!
I can't definitively say he is one, but he's unpredictable and unsettling. The villainous smirk he gave Renegade left me uneasy. I hope nothing terrible happens to Renegade. I adored the relationship she formed with Liv. I enjoyed the background on how she knows so much about Liv.
Liv: How do you know so much about me?
Renegade: Oh, I have been watching you for years almost as long as I've been undead.
She remembered Liv being the sympathetic woman in the morgue when she had to identify her husband. Renegade didn't elaborate on how she was turned, but damn, her connection to Blaine was something else.
They spent a while seemingly redeeming Blaine, not now he's behaving in the manner he used to behave in the first season, and thanks to Renegade, we're reminded of his awful deeds in the past. Blaine, the kid killer, is who inspired Renegade to do good with her life as a coyote.
Over to you, what will happen to Renegade now? Do you think Blaine is reverting back to his old ways? Hit the comments.
You can watch iZombie online at TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
