iZombie – Night and the Zombie City

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Elected delegates, including those turned into zombie as part of Martin’s (Bill Wise) insidious plan, gather around to discuss actions for the latest chaos and carnage event that ravaged the city. General Mills (Andrew Kavadas) argues that Seattle needs to be wiped off the map, but not everyone is on board with his extreme actions. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones dealing with the fallout of Dolly Durkins’ (Jennifer Irwin) latest plan to elevate tensions within the city. Ravi (Rahul Kohli) examines the bodies of some victims and manages to tell Liv (Rose McIver) about his and Peyton’s (Aly Michalka) discovery of Liv’s father. Liv wastes no time in confronting him about the Beanpole Bob situation. Martin admits that he was the Da Vinci of Utopium, which Liv doesn’t receive well. Matters are only made worse when he tells her that he doesn’t have the original formula, and thus will be unable to contribute to Ravi’s cure. She storms off in a huff, being called to a crime scene in which a private investigator was killed inside The Scratching Post.

Inside the club the gang encounters Don E (Bryce Hodgson) and Candy (Carrie Anne Fleming) before entering the room of Bunny La Fonda. Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) briefs the team on the victim’s backstory – whose body was found by a waitress named Jane (Hanneke Talbot). The victim, who went by Chisel, proved to be a pain in the ass to those who knew him. Liv delicately devours his brain and her whole world changes. The world loses its color, but the intensity is turned up to eleven; a picture-perfect noir tale of the hunter becoming the hunted. Liv takes her little show on the road to the interrogation room with Clive where they question Jane. The young waitress tearfully cooperates, but questions Bunny’s ability to brutally murder someone. They release Jane to follow up on Bunny, who has done a swell job at keeping her identity a secret. As it turns out…it’s because Bunny is dead, too. The story Jane told, it seems, doesn’t make much sense. Bunny is said to have died an hour before Chisel was killed and one hour after she allegedly ordered drinks.

Don E and Darcy (Valerie Tian) lament over the increased police presence and workload at The Scratching Post until Blaine (David Anders) introduces them to take some goods from the rainy-day fund. Liv wanders in and pours herself a drink while discussing the murder with Don E. Darcy, it seems, got a little peeved with Don E in the midst of their conversation and storms off – along with Liv. Don E is left alone, as is Ravi…but not for long. As he performs a routine autopsy in the morgue, Ravi is feeling the effects of the P.I. brain as well, but they do little to improve his situational awareness. Martin sneaks in to the lab to discuss his prior conversation with Liv, and to fish for details regarding Ravi’s zombie cure. Ravi and Martin sit down to discuss the manner in which Ravi created the cure sing stockpiled Max Rager – but it seems as though Martin is working an angle. Liv suggests this very concept when Ravi fills her and Peyton in later; she doesn’t quite trust Martin yet.

Blaine’s teen-kidnapping Freylich’s ring isn’t going as well as planned. With the rising awareness of Freylich’s as a key component to the zombie cure, victims are taking precautions that are making it more difficult to capture them. Bubba (Artine Tony Browne) presents his concerns to Blaine, who doesn’t care about the plights of his workforce, and dismisses Bubba – but not before Bubba catches a glimpse of Candy. They instantly take a liking to one another. Blaine, on the other hand, only likes himself. This is evident when Jane Harland enters the club and points a gun at him. Blaine questions Jane’s inclination to return to the scene of her crime, but his crony knocks her out before he can get her to talk. Jane has mysteriously gone “missing,” at least to the Seattle police department. Clive tells Liv that he’s got eyes on Jane’s apartment, but no one has heard from her since the interview. Liv waxes poetic about existentialism and the like and then takes matters into her own hands when Clive leaves the office. On an unauthorized mission, Liv picks up some documentation on Frank Chisel and heads to his office – where she startles Blaine who is doing his own investigation on the P.I.’s murder.

Meanwhile, at Fillmore Graves HQ, Major (Robert Buckley) and Collins (Elfina Luk) discuss the better part of their job – the mundane aspects of running a militant company. Towards the end of the night as Major is getting changed in the locker rooms, he encounters a janitor who is suspiciously wearing two different ID cards. Major confronts the man and asks him to follow him, but the man panics at Major’s suspicion and runs himself into a hook – effectively killing himself. Major takes care of the cleanup and calls in his lieutenants. They report that the gentleman has been hoarding Max Rager from the stockpile, but he wasn’t the strategist, only the mule. Major knows someone is responsible for the infiltration. Speaking of master strategist, Martin has been injecting his zombies with a new cocktail (Max Rager fueled) that will make them obedient. He tests his theory in front of Enzo and his other henchmen, using a formerly rabid zombie who suddenly is able to take commands. Max Rager was the missing piece of his plan.

Liv catches a brief lecture from Clive on her breaking and entering of Chisel’s apartment, but the conversation leads her to a breakthrough. During their interaction, Blaine’s body language was vaguely familiar. Once Liv is able to draw the connections, she realizes that Blaine has eaten Jane’s brain. They call him in on suspicion of murdering Jane and the two of them begin their usual banter. Their verbal sparring (and Clive’s consequential disdain) prompts a vision of Candy in Blaine’s mind. He refuses to spill the beans on what he saw and Liv hits him. When he threatens a lawsuit, Clive has no choice but to release him. Clive grows angry and dismisses Liv, telling her that until she detoxes of Chisel, she can’t be his partner. Liv, of course, doesn’t listen.

Blaine runs from the station to The Scratching Post and spills the beans on Jane’s brain. He informs Don E about a man named Martel. Jacob Martel, one of Blaine’s clients, bought a black-market cure. Chisel was trying to deliver it to Bunny and Jane allegedly killed her for it. Around the same time Blaine divulges his secrets, Liv finds them out on her own and attempts to discuss the case with a very drunk Peyton. Liv, of course, got even more details than Blaine. Bunny was Jacob’s daughter. Jacob had paid Chisel to find his daughter. Chisel found her…but Jane’s involvement is to be determined. Why would Jane care? In that moment Liv has a vision and connects the dots. Jane found out about the cure and wanted it for herself. Liv deduces that Jane had hid the cure in The Scratching Post and returned to the scene to collect it. She just wasn’t anticipating Blaine to be there. Liv scrambles to collect herself because if Blaine is yet to discover the cure then the case might just be a shoe-in.

Peyton and Liv arrive at The Scratching Post where Peyton picks out the perfect karaoke song. Liv creeps into the kitchen in search of the cure and comes face to face with Blaine once again. Peyton sings Icona Pop’s “I Don’t Care,” distracting the masses from Blaine’s impending assault on Liv. Blaine slaps Liv in the head with a frying pan, forcing her into full on zombie-mode. Meanwhile, Peyton also throws a few punches after her talents are called into question by an ornery club goer. The fights escalate in tandem, with the heaviest blows being thrown between Liv and Blaine in the kitchen. Liv gets Blaine into a chokehold, but before she can do anything she’s attacked by Blaine’s cry-baby bat boy. Liv pulls a gun out to defend herself, but thankfully Clive and backup arrive before Liv is forced to become a killer. Liv spots the blood on Crybaby’s bat. Blaine throws him under the bus – freeing himself once again.

The delegates are called back into session and Laney (Judith Maxie) is taking no prisoners. Earlier in the day she paid a visit to her grandson, who happened to be watching Hi, Zombie. She sits down to watch the sitcom with him and realizes that behaviors characteristic of zombies were recently being exhibited by members of her union. Zombies exist in the delegate ranks and they’ve been trying to pull a fast one on her. Chairwoman Laney is the tie breaker for the board, but she votes against completely destroying them. Laney acknowledges that blowing up the city will do nothing to alleviate the situation. The killing of innocents is not something Laney can support – and thus Martin’s plan is foiled. For now. Later on, General Mills pays Dolly Durkins a call. They have a shared agenda and it’s time they work together.

To wrap up the case the gang pays another visit to Chisel’s office. While The Scratching Post had a lot of action, it did not yield the vial that contained the cure. Ravi plays a pivotal role in locating the cure, as he recalls that there was a laundry cleaner ticket at the scene of the crime. Prior to his death, Chisel dropped off the cure at the cleaners inside of his coat pocket. The laundry ticket was for Bunny to use to pick up the cure in a clandestine manner. They disperse in attempt to get to the cleaner before Blaine figures it out. Don E has a heart to heart with Candy about his relationship with Darcy. After giving him a pep-talk, Candy leaves the bar and it feels like it might be the last time she sees him. That’s when the police storm in. They meet up with Blaine who claims someone already took the ticket. And that’s when we see it. Candy has the coat. Candy has the cure. And…she’s got Bubba. They’re leaving Seattle in their rearview.

This isn’t where the noir ends, of course. Don E meets back up with Darcy where he confesses his love for her and they get engaged! It’s fast, it’s haphazard and it’s kind of…sweet. Exactly the kind of saccharine needed to swallow the bitter pill that’s to come. Peyton, Ravi, Major and Liv discuss their tough days at work over dinner. The story of Major’s hook-death reminds Ravi of his conversation with Martin. He brings his concerns to Liv and she agrees that her father may be working an angle. They agree to break into Martin’s home while he’s at an AA meeting. They’re successful in their B&E and make their way into his lab. They find some old batches of Utopium, as well as recipes for more vintage formulas. That’s when they hear the thudding up above. Someone is in the house. But they haven’t been alone for a long time. In attempt to escape, they pull back a curtain in the basement revealing a cell full of decaying zombies.