iZombie – Death of a Car Salesman

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Five years ago Stacey Boss (Eddie Jemison) met with Martin Roberts (Bill Wise) to discuss his impressive Utopium setup. At the time, Martin had still been perfecting the formula while heavily abusing the substance under the guise of “quality control. ” Just a year later Martin, still addicted to the substance, called some consumers to alert them of the restock. Despite rave reviews from his clientele, Martin insisted on tweaking the recipe even further, fueled by the drug and by Max Rager energy drinks. Alone in a van with one poor soul, the chemical combination sparked a reaction within Martin, leading him to quite literally devour his car mate. Flash forward to today…Olivia Moore (Rose McIver) stands on his doorstep as his estranged daughter. Martin is taken aback by Liv’s appearance and acts ignorant to his daughter’s identity, insisting that he is sober. Before their conversation can progress any further, Liv is called to the scene of a crime. They tentatively plan to meet for coffee in the near future.

A car salesman has fallen dead. Ravi (Rahul Kohli) discusses the victim’s situation while he downs a perfectly crafted brain-infused grilled cheese sandwich. The salesman was killed during a ride in a self-driving vehicle, a situation that smells of foul play. Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) briefs Liv and Ravi on the victim and then moves on to more important matters – a department wide raffle ticket sale. One sandwich later, Ravi’s salesman brain sets in just as Liv’s meal begins to alter her persona as well. The two immediately descend into a deep, cut-throat competition to sell the most raffle tickets. Ravi has a jump on Liv, but she’ll catch up…right after she helps Clive interview the victim’s widow. Ravi, not one to be left out, interrupts the interview with Mrs. Randall (Kate Crutchlow), but Clive kicks them both out of the room before they inflict too much trauma upon the grieving woman. Once out of earshot of the widow, Vampire Steve (Kett Turton) drops a report off with Clive that confirms the vehicle’s operating system had been hacked – evidence of foul play.

Don E (Bryce Hodgson) pays a visit to Blaine (David Anders) in his mom’s basement. Blaine sips on a Bloody Mary and brags to Don E about the washer and dryer he purchased for Mom E. Don E is disgusted by Blaine’s attitude and frustrated with his role in running The Scratching Post on his own. Blaine dismisses Don E’s exasperation, still too thrilled about the transaction made with Darcy (Valerie Tian), the woman selling her Freylich’s brain to him. The questionable activity in Seattle doesn’t stop there. Blaine dismisses Don E and meets with Dalton (Ryan Devlin) to orchestrate another smuggling operation involving the teenagers afflicted with Freylich’s. He wants their brains more than he cares about their young lives. One of Major’s thawed out insubordinates is enacting Martin’s will throughout the city, scratching medical practitioners and commanding them to follow his orders in exchange for survival. This physician later meets up with a government official scheduled to return to DC later and gives him the scratch. They provide the federal employee with brains and hair dye and sends him off waiting for further instruction.

Ravi and Peyton (Aly Michalka) have cause to celebrate. Peyton has earned the opportunity to demonstrate a zombie’s ability to integrate into society – something that could settle the tensions within the city. Ravi is pumped, energized by his salesman brain but also influenced by the pride a man should feel when the woman he loves makes a major accomplishment. It’s nice to see that even in the middle of a culture war love is still in the air. Liv and Major (Robert Buckley) even have their own family time discussing their professional woes before gathering with their friends to watch the premiere of Hi, Zombie. The Zom-Com is a nice buffer for Major who, on the following day, is scheduled to present with Peyton to General Mills and other armed forces generals on the state of New Seattle. The next day Major proposes his plan to relocated zombies to their own island. The Senator and delegates are not so quick to agree, but there are some power players on their side. When the government symposium takes a recess, General Mills (Andrew Kavadas) questions Major on the whereabouts of his daughter. He accuses Major of kidnapping her and of being a terrorist. He then threatens to destroy the city as revenge.

We hop back again to just four years ago when Blaine, Don E and his brother were nothing more than low-time drug dealers. When he enters Martin’s Utopium lab he sees that the chemist is out of office and throws the product in his duffle bag anyway. Blaine immediately samples the new drug’s formula as a pre-game to the Max Rager yacht party. Any of this sounding familiar?

Liv and Ravi have evolved from used car salespeople to fully fledged Glengarry Glen Ross understudies. Ravi emulates The Wolf of Wall Street and Liv mirrors his fervor until Martin arrives. Liv and Martin run off for their little coffee date while Ravi continues his life saving quest to protect Freylich’s victims. Martin and Liv stroll through the park when he exhibits signs of heavy intra-nasal drug use. Liv ignores his jitters long enough for him to reveal that he too is a zombie. She tells him about where she was turned – and he seems to quickly process that her transition was his doing. The moment doesn’t last. Liv, being a doctor, is quick to recognize the symptoms of Martin’s drug abuse and calls her biological father out on his extracurricular activities. Martin seems genuinely distraught over their interaction, but Liv doesn’t have any more of herself to give, and she leaves him in the park.

Liv returns to the police station to find it buzzing with activity. Clive has made a break in the case and invites Liv in to speak with a suspect. The owner of Rick Randall’s car dealership has access to the murder car’s mainframe, but claims he had no cause to kill his best closer. This interview leads them through a string of other suspects where they seem to land on a salesman named Jack (Eric Kennleyside) when a memory is triggered within Liv. They pay a visit to Jack, who lost his position at the dealership. Jack appears to be well-adjusted and in a loving relationship with his wife. Jack spills the beans about the rampant infidelity happening at the dealership – and seems almost smug about it. Upon further investigation on a vandalization of Randall’s vehicle, Clive determines that Jack’s daughter may in fact be the murderer. They call her in for an interview and she fits the profile. She has the knowledge required to hack into the car’s OS, but she denies her involvement. While Liv and Ravi duke it out, Jack barges into the station and confesses that he is the killer. Jack’s confession is validated by Vampire Steve.

Blaine calls a meeting with Darcy who tells him that Ravi called her earlier in the day. Blaine claims that Ravi’s intentions are less than beneficial and recommends that she hide out in the Scratching Post until things blow over. Darcy heeds his advice and bumps into Don E just as he finishes complaining about doing grunt work in his own bar. Darcy and Don E exchange a few words before he decides that she is the woman the matchmaker had said was his perfect match. Don E tells the bartender his theory and she informs him that if it’s true they don’t have much time together as she is Blaine’s Freylich’s brain carrier. Don E then tries to distance himself from her, but he can’t help himself. He spills the beans about Darcy being the one for him and she takes the news pretty well – convincing him that they should seize the day together. Darcy has a bucket list and Don E helps her check off an item (get into a bar fight). They incite fisticuffs within the bar, and then smooch to their heart’s desire.

With the appropriate arrests made, Martin and Liv meet up once again. Liv shows her father brochures for rehab facilities. Her father appears to be grateful and tells his daughter that she’s a good person. He supplements this line with an ominous phrase, “Good people can’t help themselves.” Liv wraps up the heart-to-heart with her father and returns to the station to discover that she and Ravi tied for winner of the raffle ticket auction. Meanwhile, her father is up to more presumably insidious things. Martin sits alone watching a documentary on Renegade when Enzo (John Emmet Tracy) enters the room and warns him about Liv’s tendency to foil the bad guys’ plans. Martin assures his lackey that he knows what he is doing. His confidence in unsettling.