When someone close to Major dies of an apparent suicide, Liv consumes the brains resulting in a mix of reality and paranoia. Clive questions Major and learns of a secret computer file that may contain important details in the investigation - and finding the killer.
iZombie premiered late enough in the regular season that it's still airing the final few episodes of its wonderful first season after every other show had their finales last week. This is a slower week as the summer season is about to get started. Thusly, now is a great time to check in with iZombie as it heads into its home stretch. The show has already been renewed for a second season (which will debut this fall once again with The Flash as its lead-in). However, so much of this first season has been fun because of the willingness to push the story forward in exciting ways. The conflict between Liv and Blaine is ramping up, with Major's dark arc in the crosshairs, while Ravi is making significant progress on finding a cure for the zombie disease. All of those stories are bound to have big climaxes in the final episodes of the season. It will be interesting and exciting to see how things conclude and where the creative team can take the story in year two.Those are all big idea questions for the future of the show. They don't need to be answered right now because "Astroburger" continued the trend of great episodes the show is on right now. iZombie features a narrative that works on an episodic level as well as in the big picture story. It's impressive just how distinct each episode is and how the brains Liv eats every week effects the way each episode's story is told. It's because she eats the brain of a schizophrenic that the shocking revelations at episode's end work so well. The reveal that Liz not only was working alongside a dream Johnny Frost but completely imagined her conversation with Major where she told him the truth about zombies was devastating. It could easily be seen as a contrivance meant to prolong that particular story for as long as possible. Instead it worked well because it was counterbalanced with Major going even further down the well that is Blaine's covert zombie operation.
It has become a big trope in the recent TV adaptations of DC Comics stories to keep the truth about the protagonist's special abilities away from his or her big romantic love interest. It's often been a frustrating device because it deliberately has to keep that character at arm's length even though their primary function is as a love interest. It's a tricky concept that never really works. The characters always work better in the context of the show when they are let in on the big secret. It's only really a problem when it comes to Major on iZombie because of how much danger he is getting in because he doesn't know the dark truth about zombies. Clive, Peyton and Liv's family don't know the truth about her being a zombie and that works because they don't need to. They have their own stories and rapport with Liv that isn't fundamentally about her connection to zombies. On the other hand, Liv broke off her relationship with Major because of this change and that has only caused him to spiral downward so drastically and suddenly. He truly believed he was going insane and that was entirely the byproduct of Liv not telling him the truth. At times it has been an annoying contrivance in this season. And yet, Major has often found agency on his own that Liv's deception was never too problematic. He was busy interacting with a story that Liv wasn't entirely aware of even though it includes Blaine and the other zombies in town.
But now, Liv is aware of what Blaine is up to. That adds more momentum to the narrative as it hits its final run for the season. Sure, she still doesn't know about the Meat Cute and only has minor concerns about a famous astronaut living in Seattle disappearing. She should know better than that by now. But she does know that Blaine is nothing but bad news. That's what makes the situation so tense when he finally shows up at the morgue once again. The show has very deliberately kept Liv and Blaine apart for most of the season. They stand in opposition. Both of them are aware of it and know that the other could bring nothing but pain and complications their way. And yet, Liv chose not to poison Blaine when she had the chance. She just doesn't know enough about zombies and how they can be killed to truly try and take Blaine out this way.
However, Liv and Blaine having interactions again and Major checking himself out of the mental institution (and back into Liv's life) brings up the problem of Major not knowing the truth. Liv desperately wants to tell him. Even though that scene where she tells him is all in her imagination, it still shows how deeply she cares about him. She wants to tell him that she's a zombie. But she also wants him to be okay with that. She loves Major and fears that the truth will make him desperate to kill her. And yet, keeping the truth from him may still be having the same effect. He has grown increasingly crazy throughout the season. Major believed it was a good and sane idea to jump into the trunk of a car driven by people he knows are killers. He then believes it's a good idea to steal their brains when they're not looking even though he has no idea what they are for. Liv is the only person he can really trust. And yet, his declaration that he will kill every last zombie only strikes more fear in Liv's eyes. The second that he comes barging into her apartment it's apparent what has happened. That her confession was just a dream and he is still in the dark. It is a heartbreaking twist. The confession scene was so great that the pain of it not being real was huge. However, it also sets up even more desperation and uncertainty for the final two episodes of the season.
Some more thoughts:
- "Astroburger" was written by Kit Boss and directed by Michael Fields.
- It was pretty apparent right away that something wasn't quite right with Johnny Frost. Why would Liv willingly be hanging around this guy so much? But that didn't take away from the even bigger twist in the end with Major.
- Also, Daran Norris dancing in the middle of the apartment was pretty great.
- The doctor who was running the mental institution was obviously the killer pretty early in the episode. Finding the person who killed Scott E was never the investigation's top priority for Liv though. She needed to find the video of the Lake Washington incident. She did eventually solve the case for Clive but it wasn't that surprising.
- Ravi and Peyton really do seem like a fine couple with plenty of quirks. Now if only they had more actual screentime with each other instead of just a few minutes where Liv is also in the room.
- The connection between Max Rager and zombies is still a little too much in the background, but will probably be heading to some kind of revelation in the next episodes as well.
