iZombie - Brainless in Seattle, Part 2 - Review: "Soulmates"

I've been raving about how well iZombie has been tackling the many issues that face a society of walled in zombies and humans in season 4 for a couple of weeks now, and that's probably not going to change. I see that feedback on Season 4 so far has been pretty divisive, you either love it, or it's meh. I'm firm in the love it camp, because I was finding season 3 a letdown and a chore to get through at times. That being said, I'm really straddling the fence on my reaction to the 2nd half of this two-parter.

Let's Decompose Together
I don't think rom-com brain was made to drive iZombie episodes for two weeks, and I truly was annoyed a lot with Liv during this episode. They way it all came to a close was great, and just the amount of feels I look for from this show, but I'm not sure the show needed two weeks to get there. Honestly, this felt like more of a filler case/brain episode than it did like a conclusion to a two-parter. Sure, Liv baking, Liv's voice-overs and the use of 90's songs were great, (I's a sucker for Sixpence!) but it still felt a little bit like it was spinning its wheels. The writers could have done so much more with Liv's search for love, and in a way, they did, but it felt more tacked on than anything else. I did like that show decided to end rom-com extravaganza with Liv speaking on the importance of friends and the love they share and using the human-zombie dance off as back drop was perfect. Much like race segregation was, the zombie/human tension is painful, but there is something comforting about people coming together, putting differences aside and having fun, and just being there for each other. This core group that makes up our show always has each other backs and Liv was right, these are her soulmates! (Plus Clive, who wasn't there) Major on wrestler brain was awful, but it was nice to see him tell Liv that regardless of their respective politics, he still wants to have her as a friend and for her to be happy. (Even if that was with, but thankfully isn't with Tim Timerson) Liv struggled with her secret about Dale this week, and instead of telling Clive, she tried setting him up with Michelle by staging meet cutes rather than address what she saw with Clive.

One of the best moments of this episode was that Clive got the chance to lay things out for Liv when she tried to tell him to leave Dale. I liked that he called her out and told her that he knew this was no brain doing this but her. Clive usually just puts up with Liv and the things she does on brains, when she sometimes is acting out her own impulses due to someone else's brain but this time he drew the line. Of course, there was even better moment later when Liv tells Clive about Dale and the other man. Like many suspected, Clive and Bozzio are in an open relationship but Clive really isn't for it. He's really in love with her and is willing to try anything to keep her. We can feel that it won't last, but it's still not hard to feel for Clive as he opens up to Liv. (Protect him at all cost!) The case with serial killer Bruce was wrapped up pretty quickly as well, but not before we learned more about Renegade! I love this show and I loved the call backs to previous events. Ravi going undercover was cute, but not worth a whole lot of mention. Bruce was taken of the streets and that's another win for the good guys.

Speaking of good guys, I'm anxious over the slow burn of the abuse of power storyline. The show opens with Fillmore Graves goons beating up a zombie in a bar and then features Major and his new recruits shooting up a human bar in an attempt to find the video of Tucker being turned against his will. They of course find out that Tucker has the video, but unfortunately has joined Angus' church of angry zombies. True to form, iZombie's expert story weaving is underway, but I'm just hoping none if it ends up being a letdown. Fillmore Graves, under Chase's thumb, is pretty powerful and is starting to get pretty reckless, and maybe it's because they feel they can, because they run this town and there is no one above them because they are the law. This is an extremely touchy plot and I'm curious to see how the show handles something so topical, especially since Major is in the thick of it. I'm hoping the show has the guts to go there, and has the ability to not get too preachy about it for either side's sake.

The show really excels more when they give David Anders the ability to play around with Blaine. Blaine on honest man brain was just great! I loved that scene of him, Don E and Tanner discussing how underpaid Tanner was and that Blaine revealed that he has the cure to Don E. Blaine is a naturally charming guy, who has always been deceitful and I guess I was thought it was because he was deceitful, but I still found myself clinging to his every word as he was being honest. He told his customers where he found got his brains and of course his customer thought he was joking, because Blaine's charisma is just that powerful. Blaine was successful in delivering Renegade to Chase and for a moment, I was really hoping that she wasn't in that bag and that Blaine had whipped up something else in order to sabotage Chase, but I was quickly reminded that Blaine really is in it for himself, and I still couldn't hate him. Liv's brain stayed too long, while Blaine's stayed too little. The case didn't warrant a two-parter, but the message at the end is what this show is all about; What unites us is love, the experiences we share and emotions we have. That is what make us all human. B-

Favorite Quote: Clive [to Liv]: "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." (Tell it like it is CLIVE!)

The next episode of iZombie, Goon Struck, airs 3/26 on The CW.

What did you think of the episode? Were you surprised about Clive's relationship status? Do you like that Renegade was linked to the past? Where you a fan of Major on wrestler brain? Sound off Below!