iZombie: Reflections of the Way Liv Used to Be Review

This iZombie review contains spoilers.

iZombie Season 2, Episode 17

iZombie has been slowly building an intricate web of undead secrets, lies, and — in some cases — amnesia amongst its cast of characters over the course of its second season. This week, those overlapping plots have really started coming to a head, and it makes for some exciting, character-driven TV.

As is the case with most episodes of iZombie,Liv’s storyline is not the most interesting thing about “Reflections of the Way Liv Used to Be.” Instead, that honor goes to Major, who is in the background for most of the epsiode, and Ravi, who is pretty much carrying the weight of the undead world on his shoulders at this point. The ep picks up where last week’s left off, with Ravi having a) just discovered Major is the Chaos Killer, b) Major turning back into a zombie, and c) Ravi tranq-ing Major. 

In the aftermath of these major developments, Major explains it all to Ravi: He hasn’t been killing the zombies so much as freezing them. It’s all been part of a massive ploy to keep Liv safe from Max Rager. As great as it is ti (finally) hear Major tell someone the entire truth, it immediately highlights just how unsustainable Major’s plan has been and just how unnecessary it was that he kept Ravi and Liv in the dark. Not only could they have probably figured out a less conspicuous way for Major to go fake-go after Seattle’s zombie population, but Major’s entire plan hinges on Ravi eventually finding a permanent cure for zombie-ism. No pressure, Ravi.

In yet another facepalm-worthy example of the We Must Keep Secrets to Protect the Ones We Love Trope (which should die a slow and painful death), Major convinces Ravi not to tell Liv the truth about the Chaos Killer. His argument? Liv loves justice so much that she will go after Vaughn Du Clark, getting herself killed. As is often the case with this overused trope, this reasoning is thin and pretty insulting. Liv may stand for truth, justice, and the American way, but she’s not (usually) a hotheaded idiot.

Furthermore, it’s Liv’s choice to make. Major, more than anyone, knows how insulting and potentially dangerous keeping secrets can be. He was the Liv last season — a fact Ravi briefly points out before the bros decide to keep Liv out of the loop. For now. I have a feeling this may all come to a head in next week’s two-hour season finale. After all, Major is arrested as the Chaos Killer in the final moments of this episode. Time for another “How do we feed a zombie while he or she is in prison?” dilemma.

In other news, Blaine’s memory is still wonky after having taken the latest iteration of the cure. Several characters over the course of the episode muse if Blaine is faking, but the show seems to be playing it straight. It’s hard to imagine what Blaine stands to gain from pretending not to remember his own life. While he is wandering around both the funeral home and the greater Seattle area in a confused daze, Don E. has taken over the Utopium business. Meanwhile, Blaine has renegged on his deal with Peyton (because he seemingly can’t remember her or Mr. Boss), which could result in his arrest. 

If Blaine isn’t faking, then it seems unlikely he won’t regain his memory in some way before the season’s end. I don’t see iZombie lettings one of the its best characters transtion into someone else entirely. There is no iZombiewithout Blaine and, as Major pointed out when he contemplated taking the amnesia-inducing cure himself, are you even the same person if you can’t remember yourself?

Meanwhile, in sub-basement of Max Rager, Zombie Rita/Gilda has been locked away by dear old dad. He insists that finding a cure for zombie-ism is his top priority — after the Super Max launch, of course. Rita is not buying it. She is pissed. In many ways, this storyline is the wild card. Rita seems poised to betray her father (who basically betrayed her first), and bring her considerable knowledge and talents to Team Liv — that is if she ever escapes the sub-basement.

However, Du Clark’s mention that he is interested in the cure could spell trouble for Ravi, who — as far as we know — is the only person in the world who has been working on one. Could Du Clark force Ravi to work for him? He’s obviously capable of it. In many ways, Ravi is the key to this entire narrative. He often plays as the goodnatured, quirky sidekick, but, in many ways, he is the heroic linchpin of the show, not to mention the character who has the most chance to affect change. His cure that could determine the fate of the entire undead population and humanity with it.

While Ravi and Major were hatching a spontaneous plan to turn Du Clark into a zombie just to test the cure on him, Clive and Liv were trying to solve the murder of a local co-ed. Per the usual, the murder was fine, but nothing to write home about, but it did bring Detective Lou Benedetto (aka Enrico Colantoni, aka Keith Mars) back into the narrative.

We last saw Benedetto when he was checking in with undercover cop Drake, but we knew relatively about him prior to tonight’s episode. Turns out he’s not the nicest guy, temporarily manipulating Liv into keeping secrets from Clive to secure his own off-the-books CI network. Though Liv blamed the brain she was on for her decision not to tell Clive about it immediately, it’s hard not to blame her own brain a little bit, too. After all, Liv still hasn’t told Clive about Seattle’s zombie problem, even though he is one of the most supportive people in her life — and is often working on a zombie-related case. This is information that would not only help him keep Seattle safer, but could potentially safe his own life one of these days.

“You can trust me with almost anything,” Clive tells Liv sweetly after she admits she let Benedetto manipulate her into lying. Hopefully, we’ll find out if that statement is true sooner rather than later. Personally, I’m sick of Clive being kept in the dark re: the zombie secret. Could the zombie conspiracy finally gain a new member in next week’s season finale? If last season’s finale is anything to go by, things are about to get crazy.