iZombie - Dead Beat

Dead Beat, much like Reflections… is a brisk, well-constructed continuation of the seasonal arc, finally delivering the big, inevitable, expected revelation from Liv to Clive that she is a zombie. It was desperation as Major’s ties to both the Chao Killer and Meat Cute massacre were keeping him in prison, without brains, barely holding it together. Bozzio realizes an eyewitness testimony (a daughter saying she saw Major load up the body of their neighbor in a trunk of his car, with the mother nodding in approval, with the act an attempt to finesse a lot of bad behavior) is flawed as hedges were in the view of her window, meaning she couldn’t have seen Major that night. Meanwhile, the Meat Cute case was actually stronger against Major but Liv revealing her inner zombie (stabbing herself and briefly turning) and truly warning Clive that if brains are provided soon a horde would soon spread throughout the jail forcing him to make a difficult potentially career-ending decision. Bozzio confronting Clive at his home, ending her relationship with him while scolding him for sabotaging both their cases, wanting an explanation but receiving nothing (Clive’s inner turmoil is evident but he’s just trying to protect her), is a very potent scene of melodrama although there would ultimately be a happy ending. All the work to prove Major is guilty, worsening without brains, Bozzio is left with two cases dropped and no convictions. Clive might be out of a job. So the series, at that point and time, was really laying on the ground and pound to poor Clive…it looked like he’d lose everything, but if he didn’t see that Major was released, it would have been FAR WORSE. Liv and Major on “drummer brains” is funny, although slight. There is no case this episode as the second season is on its way to a close. It does appear Du Clark is about to finalize a deal where his Max Rager would be sold to the military, sending his hired gun, Janko, to kill both Major and Liv. Janko later shoots tranquilizer into Liv when she’s back in the lab, hoping to cart her off, interrupted by Ravi. The scuffle results in a mass dose sending Janko to Neverland. His brain might help Liv, however, and that lead will directly be Du Clark. The stacked deck against Major was a nice hook throughout the episode as it looked quite dire for him. Liv had no choice but to shock Clive…and that reveal was worth the wait of two seasons. Now he knows that her “visions” were actually memories and personalities from brains of victims in the morgue she eats…he responds as any of us would. Ongoing is a sleazy defense attorney hired by Du Clark to secure Major’s silence and get him out of jail so his own interests were protected…and his henchman could get rid of him. Blaine provides the brain needed to help Major, sneaking it out of the funeral home behind the backs of Don E and Chief, both of whom wanted $25 grand. While this wouldn’t last, Blaine’s humanization absent all the trauma from his childhood and all the negative qualities that motivated so much despicable behavior is an unpredictable and neat alteration, allowing Du Clark to get some near alone time as the head villain of the season. Don E and Chief sort of sub for Blaine until he returns to his nefarious ways. While the zombies frozen by Major were taken back to holding cells at Max Rager, Liv now knows they are still “alive”. A rescue operation, maybe? Peyton doesn’t get a lot to do besides look sexy and be a good friend to Liv, although she tries to help out with the sleazy defense attorney by getting him to deliver a nougat bar to Major (brains inside) with her very influential feminine wiles. Ravi murdering someone shakes him up, and Kohli sells that traumatic response of taking a human life quite impressively. 4/5