iZombie - Heaven Just Got a Little Smoother

I had a good feeling about the third season of iZombie, after seeing Max Raeger and his “darling” daughter depart at the end of the second season. Not to mention the setup of Fillmore Graves and how Major, tagged as the Chaos Killer, in the papers for such notoriety, and can’t even get a coffee without that being rubbed in his face, decides to go to work for them. Liv’s face seeing him hiking with the other soldiers preparing for the inevitable revelations that zombies exist in Seattle, that unexpected shock, after visiting a crime scene with Ravi where Clive finds a dear family he was closed to (including a kid named Wally) murdered in cold blood—for being zombies—comes right after her Janko, no-emotion, super soldier brain has worn out and she comes to tears over “putting Drake down”. Clive, all that intense emotion after seeing Wally in his room, will not stand for the death of this family and is all in as far as protecting zombies from humans willing to execute them in cold blood. I thought “Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother” was just a fantastic opening episode for the next season (that being the third in this case) of the show. It really sets up the eventual discovery by humans that zombies are among them with the head of Fillmore Graves, Vivian Stoll, informing the iZombie clique—Ravi, Clive, Major, and Liv—that they are prepared to protect themselves if and when the humans learn of their existence and plan to strike at them. Many of her soldiers she personally scratched because of a biological weapon used on them when on a mission. Wally’s death definitely left a very serious effect. The question is who knew about Wally’s family being zombie and what will be the results once the person (or persons) responsible is uncovered?

I started watching the fourth and fifth seasons on The CW so I know the outcome of the third season, but I’m already digging the setup of the third season that gets us there. Liv wants to be optimistic that humans will accept zombies while Major isn’t so sure. Clive struggles with the knowledge of zombies and keeping that huge secret but Wally’s death certainly shakes him. Ravi is looking for the cure that won’t leave Major with amnesia, showing a little experiment with a brain he “lights up”. Ravi and Peyton are also disrupted by Blaine’s heroic rescue of her and her past sexual relationship with him. Peyton, meanwhile, meets with Blaine and the obvious sexual tension is palpable. At the end of the episode, the two of them decide to meet up for “games” (gin rummy, yep.) so Ravi will be happy about that. Again, I know how all of this goes but at this point it was amusing to see this love triangle sort of shaken and stirred thanks to Blaine’s amnesia—which is obviously temporary since he eventually returns to the same murderous sociopath from before the cure wiped away all that vile scumbaggery. Don E awakens Blaine’s pops from “cold storage” to undermine Blaine’s “enterprise”…Angus, though, thinks Don E is thinking “too small”. And Mr. Boss is out of the country where extradition isn’t available.

This isn’t really as difficult to follow as iZombie episodes go. There will always be a lot going on, that is just the iZombie way. Multiple characters with their own developments, corresponding and yet dealing with their own problems. 3.5/5