iZombie 1×11 Review: Astroburger

Can you believe that we are getting close to the season finale of iZombie? Only two episodes left. What a ride it has been! This episode was a bit heavy-handed. From the talking devil on the Hellfire Cheesy Puffs to the matchy-matchy songs to scenes, everything seemed a bit overdone. I even lost some love for Major. I think the character is okay, but the chemistry between Major and Liv is waning and is no longer very believable. Maybe it was just that this episode rubbed me the wrong way. I think the lack of Ravi was weighing heavily on my mind. Luckily we had a lot of forward movement in the plot.

Major’s new friend Scott-E from the mental institution is dead already. But he was murdered! It turns out that our buddy Scott-E was on the same boat party as Liv when the first round of zombies were turned. Major recounts Scott-E’s story to Liv and reveals that before his death, Scott-E handed over his video footage from the party to a local television station. Liv decides that she has to eat his brains in order to locate the incriminating video.

Meanwhile, things are heating up between Peyton and Ravi. Just as Liv gets invited to crash their Chinese delivery date, Major shows up at the door. He checked himself out of the mental hospital! That was fast, and an interesting change of heart, Major. So it turns into a weird Chinese delivery double-date where they continue to talk about zombies. It was a really fun scene, but the tension was palpable with both Liv and Ravi knowing the zombie secret. It was a fun scene until Scott-E’s brains kicked in for Liv, and the devil on the Hellfire Cheesy Puffs bag started talking to her. I guess this is how the show is handling mental illness? The whole thing seems contrived, and it was probably meant to be funny and light-hearted, but it just came off as strange.

Blaine shows up at the morgue. Nice tan, ha. He is continuing his work with Ravi to try to find a cure, particularly when they divulge that it was likely caused by Max Rager. Liv immediately tells him about the boat party video, and thinks that Blaine might be involved in his murder. Later, it is revealed that Scott-E’s doctor who had an affair with him was the one that did the deed. But finding out about the video freaked out Blaine enough that he covered his tracks and torched Scott-E’s place.

Major, what are you doing? This guy cannot last the season. He makes very poor decisions, like hiding in the trunk of Blaine’s car to “follow him.” Very luckily, they end up at MeatCute and Major is starting to put it all together. And finally, Liv breaks her silence and tells Major her zombie secret after he asks some pressing questions. Unfortunately, that entire scene between Liv and Major was just a hallucination from eating Scott-E’s brain, and the confession doesn’t really happen. In fact, Major shows up later and says that he has proof that zombies exist, and proudly proclaims that he is going to kill them all! This seems to be a problem for Liv.

“Astroburger” was a weird episode that was super confusing until the very end, and then it all made sense. I guess this is a good storytelling technique if you are confident in the plot, but to the casual viewer, this might have seemed all too weird (even for a show about zombies). Knowing that most of the episode was a hallucination was a bit of a letdown, but the payoff of having Liv find the boat party video was totally worth all the curveballs. Unfortunately, Liv didn’t like what she saw, and we will have to wait until next week for the fallout.

Author: Erin

Erin has reviewed many shows over the years including Orphan Black, iZombie, Penny Dreadful, and Killing Eve. She has a keen eye for on-screen chemistry, and loves to tackle the subject of casting. She is also our horror aficionado. She live tweets shows, and loves to share her feelings. Erin has a BA in History, and likes to analyze the lore behind historical fiction. She attends San Diego Comic Con every year and has also attended C2E2 and WonderCon.

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