iZombie - Blue Bloody

**½ / ****

Blaine has created an even bigger monster: his father has transformed into a messianic leader of a particular church dedicated to zombies, offering brains for free, “cleansing” the city of those who would exploit and mistreat them. Angus, the Prophet, stands in the back of a truck advertising his own church while tossing brain pieces to zombies (and potential new members of his ever growing following). Angus is full-blown gonzo fanatic, sermonizing at a towering cadence, arms opened wide to the heavens, the reverend robe completing his metamorphosis. This could very well be a problem in the city of “New” Seattle.

The murder investigation just serves as comic fodder, involving a bluntly incorrigible debutante—plentifully affluent with the cook, groundskeeper, and chauffer on her vast estate—killed by a golf ball, shot from a “golf ball gun” (its force is impressive) right into her eye. Liv has her brains for a margarita cocktail, replacing the usual olives on a toothpick! Liv starts to embody this rather unpleasant, mouthy, unfiltered windbag, nary a word that isn’t frustratingly offensive, prejudice, or politically correct. After the brains wear off, Liv is in tears as Ravi must comfort her after all the nonsense that spewed from her lips and facial expressions during the investigation. It seems the victim left a cool million to each of the three who worked for her everyday (enduring her insults, orders, and repugnant comments), but they were aware of the golf ball gun, so it is up to Clive and Liv to determine which of them is the killer. Her sashaying about with her hips protruding, the hair propped up in a very poufy coif, dressing down folks with her eyes and lips (before the usual rude commentary on what she sees and disproves of); once again McIver is an absolute treat, even as she portrays quite a cipher. Clive certainly doesn’t stomach the “Driving Miss Daisy” attitude and disregard for his skills as an investigator, often snide and less than complementary.

 

Major’s trying to mentor his two youths accompanying him on the streets to diffuse anti-zombie activity, falling prey to disorderly thugs at a store disturbing customers. It escalates into chaos as the leader of the pack and Major’s pupil-in-uniform scuffle. A scratch on the thug’s arm, infecting him, leaves Major feeling defeated. Liv and Ravi take the sick child of the cook (employed by their debutante victim) to a checkpoint so that he can be coyoted out of the city to LA, having to get past a bothered Major who knows they aren’t entering anti-zombie, unsafe territory to secure a dead body. Yes, Liv and Ravi are successful, leaving the boy with Renegade, an underground human-smuggling leader, using a Laundromat as her headquarters. Major addresses this with Liv, resulting in a heated exchange that once again splits them up. It has been four seasons of this shit…I have to admit that this holding pattern has overstayed its welcome. Either put these two together or split them for heaven’s sake!

Clive can’t have sex with Dale because she is a zombie, but he loves her. The problem of a high sexual libido, constantly craving and desiring Dale, is wearing on Clive. He goes to Ravi, looking for pharmaceutical help to reduce his sexual drive so he can function without always yearning for sex. Dale doesn’t want him to do this, so that is where they are. How can they overcome this problem, though?

How Liv walks, talks, expresses the new persona, with the wardrobe and purse, crackling wrappers of candies she pops in her mouth, and the loud perfume she catches others off-guard; McIver just hides Liv within that character and eventually emerges once again a bit miffed at the cost of eating her brains. She's a hell of a talent. It is much admired, seeing her work. But Liv and Major's on-again/off-again sexual relationship is becoming a parody. The writer's room needs to make up their mind because this has grown quite tiresome.