iZombie - Dirt Nap Time

 So as far as this episode goes, I did personally enjoy the progression of the story arc involving Blaine while the pivot from Liv and Major (AGAIN) has become just preposterous to me. This episode a buddy of Major's (who works with him at Fillmore-Graves) named Justin (Tongayi Chirisa) interested in pursuing Liv...Major gives him the okay. Justin also learns that Major is human, so there is that. Justin is cool so Major doesn't have to worry about him snitching to anyone. However, still remaining with Fillmore-Graves despite no longer having the abilities of a zombie does land Major into awkward situations such as going to a "zombie speakeasy" with some of the guys from Fillmore-Graves where to prove you are among the "undead" eating a ghost pepper is a requirement...matter of plot convenience is Don E showing up to allow Major inside. Don E and Blaine both tell Liv they didn't take the remaining doses of the cure, so that bit of mystery remains intact. The case involving Clive and Liv is in regards to a preschool teacher who talks and acts like the host of "Blue's Clues". This teacher has affairs with student moms, a "human flaw" that gets him nails from a nailgun shot into his forehead. So the investigation involves any jealous husbands (and a single mom girlfriend he was supposed to be exclusive with) that might want the teacher dead. Liv all happy-faced--speaking through hand puppets about how to behave and issuing "time-outs" when anyone might "misbehave", not to mention, sticker stars and preschool rituals and teaching tactics that work on kids--is as over the top as you might imagine. How Liv maintains the "you can do anything you set your mind to" and "you can be anything you want if you apply yourself" attitude is rather amusing if not outright silly, but Clive's responses to her are, as you might expect, pure gold. Clive, all credit to him, has to navigate around Liv's many jarring personalities and try to keep her as corralled as possible...never an easy feat. But most of the time, they still get the murderer.

Blaine's life gets more than a bit complicated after Don E decides to take over his brain selling business/operations and his father sends an armed muscle to shoot him...this father - son rivalry was always a series staple. One or the other was often getting the better of each other. Prior to this, Blaine was going through depression because of Peyton leaving him, with preparing and selling brains doing very little for his state of mind or emotions. Also the subplot involving the dominatrix killer and the memory card capturing a number of high profile clients takes a turn when Peyton learns that he is found dead in his cell, seemingly from an asphyxiation suicide. And, in another subplot advancement, the brother of a victim killed in the Max Rager slaughter involved in a zombie-hunting team (and a buddy riding shotgun) capture Justin in full zombie on the hood of their truck after Major caused their tires to blow out...backing into Justin, they notice him recover when he should have been dead and even while in full speed he nearly still caught them. So this episode covered a ton of ground while still finding time to get in an investigation (as daffy as it was). Sometimes the personalities Liv encounters after brain feed are more than a bit as close to caricature without nearly any hint of nuance. 3.5/5