iZombie - And He Shall be a Good Man

 

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While I haven’t been all that wild and crazy for the fourth season, the finale was quite dramatically on target. It has good bait in how the executions set for Liv and Levon will result, as Chase agrees to move them to a different time in the hopes of deterring a revolt. Levon, unfortunately, is a character that sadly gets in the way of the never-ending Liv-Major complicated on-again/off-again love angle that has continued from the very beginning until now. Why the decision to use black-out edits during the break in of the warehouse where Liv was to be executed (after Levon’s head is crushed under the falling guillotine anvil) as Major charges towards Chase is beyond me and absolutely ruins any thrill of its end (and Chase’s much deserved and justified demise, under the very weapon he created to execute other zombies).

Chase’s death was anti-climactic and not necessarily the most important act within the season finale, although you would have thought it might be. He just dies and Major is moved into Chase’s position as leader, telling Liv that she would not be forbidden to turn others into zombie from outside the city. She considers abandoning the Renegade role (“retiring” it) in favor of being human again, as Ravi has developed a “cure brain” thanks to immune Isobel. But once again, when the cure is right there for Liv, she decides to give to someone she cares about…Bozzio, allowing her and Clive to marry as human so they can start a family and have sex without concern of any zombie repercussions. I thought the Chase death would be the big angle to conclude the season, but it was decided (perhaps wisely after thinking about it) to give us a few feel-goods. Angus and his followers take the advice of Blaine and Don E, heading towards an area in Seattle supposedly vulnerable to escape, executed en masse by the US military. Blaine wisely stays back, once again rejected by his father for being a coward (when he’s actually just not stupid enough to perish), as Angus hops on a horse (!), galloping to his doom. Blaine and Don E, though, are gifted of their incurred debts and guaranteed wealth (and prestige) if they can secure brains illegally for the city, promised by newly badged Commander Lilywhite at Filmore-Graves…once again, despite all of their reprehensible behavior and antics, make out like champs. And Liv receives her just applause and recognition for standing up against Chase Graves even as Levon was lost to their cause. The loss leaves a heavy heart but at least it was not in vain. But with the US government no longer allowing brains to be shipped into Seattle, Blaine’s role in finding them will not exactly be easy…and could result from nefarious and unethical means in order to do so.

Towards the end of the season, the formula of the show was altered due to Chase’s gradual violent descent and loss of his humanity, falling victim to his disconcerting ideals regarding how to run his version of law enforcement in Seattle. There was really not alternative but for him to die, but how Major does as his replacement is left to be realized in the fifth and final season. When I learned that there would be a fifth season, it did sort of take some suspense away from the finale. Sure iZombie could have pulled a Fear the Walking Dead and killed off their main female lead, but fortunately the creative team wasn’t that stupid. But Blaine has always been the main antagonist, escaping the pitfalls of his crimes despite efforts to implicate him. And now Major is willing to reward him with value he’s never had to get the city brains. No more Angus, too, and his church all charged towards open gunfire, left on the ground unable to move as their heads took a final shot, his mission from God dying with him.

Peyton returning to Seattle when Ravi pleaded with her to stay out, her role in getting a documentary out about Liv’s Renegade mission, speaking out to her community on reporter Frost’s cooking show, and the efforts to bring human and zombie relations peace really have built her character into someone quite special. And her cute romance with Ravi has been a pleasant addition to their development as well. Ravi’s potentially creating enough cure remains in question, though, but that possibility is also a thread we might see developed in the final season. But Liv realizing her work in the Underground and the loss she’s had to deal with weren’t without success and the visualization of that by the appreciative crowd thanking her at the end puts a button on the episode.