Welcome back! Let's jump right in to the recap for episode 2, Brother Can You Spare a Brain. This week, Liv fully embraces her new role as a crime-fighting zombie, gets in touch with her artistic side, and opens up to her new buddy Uncle Snark Daddy. Two of these three are not terrible ideas.
Aside - just heard Rose McIver's "stay tuned for my show" tag at the end of Flash. No idea she was from New Zealand and has an accent!
We open on a man and woman coming home from dinner out. He is complaining about their dining companion being a no show, while she defends the unseen third party, explaining that he gets pretty single-minded when he's working. Alas, his problem this evening was less being absorbed in work and more being stabbed through the eye with a paintbrush.
Liv and Ravi examine the body while Ravi explains that the victim is a fairly famous artist. Ravi is a fan, while Liv thinks that the paintings look like the guys was just trying to "show off how many different colors of paint he owned." So we have established that Liv is not an art-y person.
Detective Clive is on the scene as well and in his head has pretty much already tried and convicted Lola, the wife, but asks Liv if she's got any psychic insight that will speed the case towards what he considers its inevitable conclusion. Not having partaken of any brains yet, Liv has to admit she's got nothing except concern that this "psychic" cover is going to blow up in her face at some point.
Luckily, artist boy's manner of death means Liv doesn't even have to wait for the autopsy to be over before grabbing a snack. She just scrapes the brain matter off the paintbrush, throws it in the microwave, and dumps on some hot sauce. This brain eating should probably be more off-putting to me, but I just find it mildly amusing.
Random scene where Major comes over to the apartment with a box of Liv's stuff that he's apparently kept for the last few months and now admits that he's using as an excuse to come see her. He also admits that he has a closet full of engagement gifts in case Liv wants any of them. Um, Major, you were supposed to return those. Miss Manners would be appalled. Roomie just wants to shop the gift closet. Classy.
Back at the morgue, Liv continues what has apparently been a pretty exhaustive social media search for Uncle Snark Daddy. She's been combing any and all photos posted by anyone who was at the party, but with no luck. Ravi suggests she take a break and tosses her a magazine he stole from the dentist's office. It's a fake version of Cosmo, complete with kinky sex tips article. Liv gets depressed thinking about Major for about half a second before having flashbacks to an actual kinky sex scene from Artist Boy's brain. Starring someone who is definitely not his wife.
Liv heads to the police station to tell Detective Clive he was right after all - Artist Boy was cheating, so it seems likely that Lola found out and killed him. They go to confront her, but their theory takes a blow when they arrive to find Lola embracing the woman from Liv's vision, whom she introduces as her favorite of her husband's lovers. Lola explains that they had an open marriage and each was aware of the other's "dalliances." The final nail in Detective Clive's "the wife did it" theory comes when they get an email from Ravi to let them know that the angle of the paintbrush indicates that the murderer was approximately 6'2'', significantly taller than Lola.
Detective Clive interrogates Artie (Artist Boy's art dealer and the other dining companion from the top of the hour). Artie is surprised to hear that Lola claimed she and Javier (Artist Boy) had an open marriage. Actually, Artie says that Lola was totally devoted, despite Javier constantly sleeping around. In fact, Artie's theory is that it was actually a jealous boyfriend of one of Javier's lovers who killed him. Oh, but Artie is 6'2''.
After some sketch artist and "Liv's new artistic ability/smugness" hijinks, Zombie Uncle Snark Daddy visits Liv in the morgue. They each confirm the other is a zombie, and Liv explains the reason she saw the vision of ZUSD is that the seeming victim in her vision actually died later in a DUI (what a coincidence) and she ate his brain. Maybe it's because I watched Alias, and Vampire Diaries, and Heroes (and Once Upon a Time and Arrow and 24), but there is no part of me that buys his whole innocence act. (ps - Anders, you may be a bit typecast)
Anyway, ZUSD tells Liv that he thought he was the only zombie until just now when meeting her (yeah right). He compliments her ability to get brains on the job (and says he grave robs for his - YEAH RIGHT), "explains" that he attacked the guy in Liv's vision because the guy tried to mug him, and the new zombie besties bond over the grossness of their diet. They also discuss Liv's freak out last episode and agree that "full on zombie mode" will be their nomenclature for when that happens.
Again, I buy none of this. Liv, I get that you're excited to have another zombie to befriend, but HE'S THE REASON YOU'RE A ZOMBIE TO BEGIN WITH.
Ravi comes in, immediately identifies ZUSD as the zombie Liv has been looking for, and nonchalantly starts trying to collect physical specimens to continue his research. In the course of the discussion, Zombie Uncle Snark Daddy "reveals" that he doesn't know how either he or Liv became zombies. Liar, liar, liar!
When Liv recounts their first meeting, he swears he doesn't remember because he was "super high" the night of the party, then tries to apologize. He knocks over some medical instruments, sparking a fuller version of Liv's earlier Javier affair zombie memory. She tries to subtly usher ZUSD out so she can go check it out, but Ravi is clueless until ZUSD himself explains that Liv doesn't trust him to be alone with human Ravi. Well Liv, maybe Javier's brain at least gifted you with that tiny bit of common sense.
Detective Clive is now on board with Artie's theory about the murder, so he is interviewing Tasha's jealous ex. Who, of course, is 6'3'', His contribution to suspect roulette is to casually mention that Javier was also sleeping with the 18-year-old daughter of his best friend, Artie.
Back in our other plot, ZUSD heads to a bar and picks up an attractive "older" (in tv world) woman. They head to a hotel room, start to get hot and heavy, and next thing you know ZUSD goes into "full on zombie mode." Liv, I don't even hate to say it, but I told you so.
Another awkward home scene - Major brings by more engagement stuff while Liv takes advantage of her new "artistic" ability to paint something roughly equivalent to what I or my four-year-old goddaughter could create. She's also listening to jazz, which is a little off-putting to Major who apparently spent years trying to get her to appreciate the genre. Hopefully it's just this episode, but the roommate/ex-fiance scenes really feel like (painful) filler.
Zombie Uncle Snark Daddy pays another visit to the morgue to drop some snarky one-liners and to ask Liv a favor - a steady supply of brain snacks. He says that he's trying to become a better person than he was dealing drugs at the boat party and when he beat up the mugger (say it with me now - yeah, right). She agrees to bring some to him at some random location later, since if he just comes by to pick them up she can't witness any sketchiness that may or may not end up being a misunderstanding.
Yup, ZUSD hanging in a random alley when some henchmen pay him a visit to let him know that his former boss is looking for him. ZUSD isn't feeling it. (Do I need to call him Blaine now that we know his name?) After some more banter, ZUSD hands money to one of the thugs just as Liv is arriving to deliver her bag o' brains. She wanders off frustrated.
ZUSD eventually gets in the car with the thugs so we can learn a little exposition. The drug gang hasn't seen ZUSD since the night of the boat party and thought he might be dead. Now that he's back, the big boss thinks ZUSD cut the drugs he was selling on the boat with something legal, causing the whole chaotic outbreak.
ZUSD just laughs and points out that when he's "running the city," he won't make the same mistake - "underestimating the little guy." A fight ensues, coating the inside of the thugs' car with blood and screams.
ZUSD's endgame seems to have not involved eating his bar date, but converting her. Her hair is starting to develop telltale white streaks and she's generally quite confused about the whole thing until ZUSD explains that she's now a zombie, welcoming her to "Team Z." Then he makes his offer - if she pays him $25,000 a month, he'll keep her supplied with enough brains to still pass as human.
Ravi would really like ZUSD to come back to the morgue for more tests, so Liv has to tell him her suspicions that ZUSD may not be being 100% truthful with them and may just be using them for access to brains. (Did Liv snack on someone who can make obvious connections while we weren't looking?)
Back to the night's main case, Detective Clive wants his morgue buddies to come with him to a posthumous show for Javier that evening, hoping it will trigger some of Liv's "psychic" abilities. He also mentions that Artie actually disappeared from the restaurant during dinner for long enough to commit the murder. Finally, Detective Exposition shares that Artie tried to withdraw money from an ATM - this didn't really work since he's broke.
A couple wandering by at the party mention that they can no longer afford any of Javier's work - it apparently tripled in value upon his death. More motive for agent Artie.
Our intrepid heroes split up at the party, only to come back together for the grand finale. Detective Clive confronts Artie about being broke and in love with Lola, two problems that could be solved with Javier's death. At this point, Liv interrupts with her own new discovery - she realized one of Javier's paintings was an ultrasound of the baby he was going to have with Artie's daughter Becca. One more point in the "motives for Javier" column.
However, right then Ravi rushes over, having realized from his vantage point on the other side of the room that with (short) Liv standing on a raised platform yelling at (tall) Artie, she actually could have stabbed him at an angle that would have appeared to come from a much taller murderer.
In the end, Detective Clive was right all along. Lola found out Javier was going to leave her to start a family with Becca and murdered him out of jealousy before even leaving the house for dinner.
Liv visits Major in an attempt to retain some of the beauty and color she feels she got from Javier's brain. She basically throws herself at him after six months of icing him out. He's understandably confused and upset and throws her out.
We close with Liv and her roommate hanging her new masterpiece (okay, in the end it turned out better than what I could have done) in place of a generic print they had bought at a big box store while originally decorating their apartment. Liv realizes (via one of many long, flowery monologues from this episode that I have spared you) that maybe this zombie thing isn't all bad.
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