What I’m Watching: iZombie

iZombie: Season 1, Episode 9 “Patriot Brains” (B+)

There’s something jarring about a comedic show taking a very dramatic turn that makes it all the more poignant and effective. Liv eating sniper brain definitely contributed to her nonnegotiable breakup with Lowell, but it was because she reacted to her new undead condition by trying to help people by assisting the police in solving crimes and he more selfishly took to surviving whatever way worked best and didn’t necessarily involve thinking about other people or who it was suffering to feed him. It was Liv’s underlying conscience that overcame her military meal to prevent her from taking the shot, but unfortunately Blaine deserved the swiftest execution, regardless of how it was motivated. Lowell professing his love for Liv and then moving to kill Blaine himself because he realized he didn’t deserve to live was noble, and Blaine shooting him in the head represents the first real and irreversible death of consequence on this show, one that is going to deeply wound Liv. Major not shooting his pursuer in the head was a mistake, and let’s hope Clive mentions what happens to Liv or Ravi so that they can step in to keep him both out of a mental institution and out of harm’s way. He’s not doing himself any favors by marching into a gym and suggesting that he eat human brains to bulk up, and clearly Ravi trying to distract him with video games isn’t working either. It will just be a matter of whether Liv will be too distraught to move forward in any way or if her next batch of brains can propel her back to being on her feet and driven to stop Blaine from hurting more kids.