iZombie 1×8 Review: Dead Air

The rug was really torn out from beneath us this week, and even the cuteness of the Zombie Rat couldn’t soften the blow.  It seemed like we were going to have happy endings for everyone (except poor Major), but at the last moment it was all taken away from us with one horrible blow after another.  I suppose that having Bradley James shirtless twice was a nice peace offering from the writers, but really, things were going so well, guys.  I understand dramatic narratives and the need to raise the stakes, but ouch.  Way to stack all the bad twists into just a few short scenes.

The Brain-of-the-Week was a radio host for a sex advice themed show, which meant that Liv got both the good and the bad things that come with being an expert on relationships.  On the plus side, the sex with Zombie King Arthur (aka Lowell) seemed like it was pretty damn spectacular.  Not that I really think sex with him was bad before, because I mean really, it’s King Arthur, but I’m sure having a knowledge of someone who talked about sex for a living made things a lot more interesting.  On the down side, she begins to question why they are together to begin with.  Do they have anything in common besides being zombies?  No, not really.  They would have probably never met if they weren’t half dead.

Then we have Ravi, who developed an attraction towards Peyton after she fiercely rescued Major from jail.  While under the influence of the Sexpert Brain, Liv is very critical of the idea of the two of them dating.  She doesn’t think Peyton would be interested in Ravi and wants to spare him from being rejected.  Once the brain wears off, she’s in favor of the idea and… Peyton says yes.  It was amazing!  This is the beginning of a beautiful ship, my friends.  Or at least it was until the writers decided to be cruel and ruin our day.  To top it off, they had to throw a wrench in Liv’s relationship with Lowell, too, because no fandom can have nice happy ships all the time I guess. To quote the great philosopher Adele, ‘we could’ve had it aaaaall.’  And really, it seemed like we were going to until those final terrible minutes.

Moments after the USS Ravton (Peyvi? we need a nice ship name, guys, get to it) had set sail, the Zombie Rat bit Ravi’s hand through his heavy duty chainlink gloves.  Can the zombie virus be transmitted between animals and humans?  Not sure, but if it can we are in for some epic angst.  A zombie just can’t have a relationship with a human.  It’s too much of a risk when a simple scratch can transmit the disease.  To top it off, Liv discovered that Lowell is getting his brains from Blaine, which is something I’ve been suspecting since he first showed up.  I hope that Lowell isn’t complacent with Blaine’s horrible scheme, but with the way they’re building up the sadness, he probably is.  And hey, let’s make things even worse here; she discovered them by having a flash of Blaine directly from Jerome’s mind, who is Major’s recently murdered friend.

WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL.

I was pretty distraught and no amount of cuteness from the Zombie Rat could comfort me.  Not even Major’s increasingly likable sense of humor could soften the blow.  And really, Major’s jokes were pretty much the only not depressing thing about the character this week.  I’m bummed.  So bummed. Can at least one of these two awesome couples get fixed next week?  Please?

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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