iZombie "The Exterminator" Review: Two's Company, But Three's a Horde
iZombie S01E03: "The Exterminator"
It's easy to forget that iZombie is only three weeks old, because it arrived with a strong voice that's all its own. The show's pilot quickly established the series' genre-bending world and dropped us right in the middle of the action, while last week's "Brother, Can You Spare a Brain" introduced viewers to the charismatic and villainous Blaine. This week, "The Exterminator" continued building out Liv's world in natural ways, but the most important development was the reveal that there are definitely more than two zombies in Seattle, and they might not be as attractive as the two alabaster ones we've met so far.
The reveal that Liv's fellow resident Marcy was also turned the night of the boat party—and that she went without brains for so long that she devolved into a more traditional zombie, complete with insatiable hunger, shuffling feet, and a decaying visage—is important to note for two reasons. First, it reminds us that despite all of the show's zombie-defying logic and Liv's better qualities, there's a Marcy inside her. It's unlikely that there will be a shortage of brains for Liv to devour—she works in the morgue, after all—but she's now seen the dangers of zombies up close, and if Marcy isn't a cautionary tale for Liv, I don't know what she is.
We've seen Liv go into full-zombie mode a few times now and she's always been able to eventually rein in that side of her, but when she tapped into it this week to save Ravi, it seemed harder for her to come back, or even register who Ravi was. Regular access to brains and her ability to feel human emotions like pain are what keeps the basics of Liv's humanity in tact, but the fact of the matter is that there is a monster hiding inside Liv and all the Piggy and Brain jokes can't cover up the fact that she's dangerous. She knows this and it's why she withdrew from her life and broke off her engagement to Major in the first place, but even though she seems to have a better grasp on her life lately, that fear is always right under the surface. Maybe she's more resilient than Marcy—she did manage to break through the numbness she acquired after eating the brain of a sociopathic hit man to save Ravi from Marcy—but we can't just ignore the underlying threat this zombie-ism presents to Liv and to the people around her.
The Marcy discovery also confirms a larger and more immediate problem, one that's been looming in the background of the series, but hasn't been addressed until now, which is that Seattle is definitely dealing with a zombie infestation, however underground it may be. For five months, Liv thought she was the only zombie and then Blaine arrived on her doorstep. Now she's also facing the harsh reality that if Marcy survived, it's possible others did too. Complicating the matter further is that Ravi's attempts to bring Marcy back from the edge by introducing brains into her diet were futile, which confirms that there is a point of no return. Ravi's earnest and hopeful outlook on curing Liv is one of his most endearing qualities, but if there is going to be any hope at reversing her zombie-ism, she has to be able to retain her humanity first.
While Liv was off solving murder cases with Clive and snuffing out potential zombie threats with Ravi, Blaine was off doing something nefarious, which I would normally support, but now he's involved one of the teens from the halfway house where Major works as a mentor, and I'm not comfortable with that. I think we all know A) what happened to his missing friend, and B) what is probably going to happen to him. We know that Blaine is setting up his own brain supply service based on what transpired last week, but what we don't know is what he's doing with these teens. We can assume he's murdering them, but we don't really know for sure, and that's what makes Blaine such a great villain. No one really knows where they stand with him and what to expect from him. He's just as likely to zig as he is to zag, but one thing is for certain: nothing good can come of this. The ease at which he is able to lie is frightening, and his disarming personality might be even more dangerous than the zombie side of him. At least we all know to be on red alert when it comes to zombies.
The case of the week, which involved the murder of a sociopathic hit man whose brains left Liv feeling numb to everything that was going on around her, was less humorous than last week's murder of a sensual painter, but it was still more than just window dressing. Once again, the case highlighted the ways in which Liv's life has changed since she was turned into a zombie and how she's avoided dealing with the accompanying pain. Marvin Webster's brains made Liv numb to emotions so that she felt nothing when she discovered Major had a new Jenga-loving girlfriend or when she ruined the biggest case of Peyton's career or, even worse, when Ravi was being attacked by Marcy, but eating his brains served as another teaching moment for Liv. She gains insights into herself when she's looking at the world through the lenses of other people, which is why iZombie can continue to exist in this repetitive format without feeling stale. Even as the threads of ongoing storylines begin to emerge and the threat of zombies become a real cause for concern, the series is still focused on discovering who Liv is as a person by allowing her to wear many hats, and that's what keeps it grounded in reality.
POSTMORTEM
– Seriously, the show needs more of Aly Michalka's Peyton. If iZombie is renewed for Season 2, I hope she'll be promoted to series regular. And not just because the show is lacking in estrogen, but because she knows Liv in ways the other characters don't. She can call Liv out on her bullshit and have it feel real because they've been friends for so long. Their relationship is definitely one the show should focus on building out more.
– For an episode in which Liv was supposed to be numb to emotion and empathy, it sure punched me in the heart when we learned that Major is a mentor at a halfway house. Could he BE any more perfect? (Also, seriously, my heart hurts just thinking about what Blaine is doing to those teens from the halfway house.)
– "I hate to pry..." "Said the man who keeps asking for my urine samples."
– "Did you just throw a rock at her?"
