Zombie Uncle Snark Daddy seems to have settled into something of a morning routine with Jackie, the rich, “older” woman he zombified a few episodes ago. They wake up tangled in sheets, then get groomed for the day in a process that would seem excessive to a Kardashian. A colorist touches up their roots, an aesthetician sprays on a body tan that seems to stick to Jackie a little better than to ZUSD, and a manicurist attends to their hands. What zombie effects have we seen so far that would require a daily manicure? Or is ZUSD just that generally vain?
Cut to ZUSD making a nutritious breakfast smoothie – veggies, leafy greens, and a nice helping of brains. Heh.
Finally, they chill by a pool while Jackie goes for a swim. Pretty healthful ritual for a couple that’s already undead.
Next up, we join Liv, who walks in (through an admittedly open door) to a house bearing coffee. Whose house? Why, Major’s, of course. She just wanted to casually drop by with coffee to apologize for the recent weirdness between them. Liv, being weird is not a good way to apologize for being weird. In plot notes, Major’s roommate is moving out, and Liv feels bad because he only needs a roommate since she was supposed to be living there and paying half the expenses by now. Also Eddie (the missing kid from the shelter last week) has not only not reappeared, but Jerome (the friend who was looking for him) is now MIA as well.
I am glad Major is somewhat more organically a part of Liv’s daily circle by the end of this episode. I get that Robert Buckley is a series regular and so the writers have to somehow shove Major in to every episode, but this randomly dropping by each other’s home and work feels really awkward.
Speaking of awkward, Major is wearing only a towel during this entire exchange. And as the conversation winds down, Major’s Jenga/make out partner from last week wanders down the stairs wearing only Major’s UW t-shirt. Uncomfortable introductions ensue.
At the morgue, Liv and Ravi are working on yet another John Doe. (Are there a lot of unidentified bodies in Seattle? Though I guess the ones that end up in the morgue are more likely than average to be unknown.) Identifying this particular individual will be a greater challenge than usual, since his fingertips and molars were removed post mortem.
Ravi shows off some professional coroner knowledge, saying that the man had been a member of the Blue Cobras, an Asian street gang, for about 5-7 years, based on his tattoos and the dispersion of their ink. Go, Ravi. He also recognizes from the victim’s injuries that he was likely killed at a “boot party,” where the gang members kick and stomp their prey to death. None of this helps with his actual name, though, so Ravi suggests that Liv take a “working lunch” to see if she can learn anything via vision.
In the start of the evening’s most inane subplot, Liv’s brother Evan stops by to 1) be overenthusiastic about the possibility of seeing gore, 2) pick up Liv’s keys since he’s staying with her for a few days for no reason other than to be in the episode, and 3) be creepily obsessed with Roomie Peyton, who isn’t even in the episode due to an out of town DA conference.
Seriously, during the course of the episode Evan “jokes” about (mis)using Peyton’s “personal massager” and rifling through her sports bras. It’s obviously meant to play as comic relief, but it falls flat. Ravi is comic relief; Creepy Brother Evan is just creepy and inappropriate.
Also successful comic relief? Liv’s disappointment that “ethnic” brains don’t taste like their respective cuisines. Detective Clive shows up at the morgue as Liv is chowing down on her not!Kung Pao Brain lunch in the middle of the morgue. Discretion, Liv! We’ve already seen your idiot brother and Major wander uninvited into your workplace; maybe eat the brains in a break room or something?
As soon as Detective Clive sees the victim’s face, things get weird. He knew our John Doe, actually named Sammy, and is immediately uncomfortable and defensive. He snaps at Liv to stay out of the case, prompting her first flashback from the Brain Lo Mein she was just eating. In the vision, Liv sees Detective Clive delivering a beat down to someone named Ray, while Liv’s new brain buddy Sammy tries to intervene. After coming out of it, she lies (badly) that she saw nothing.
Once Detective Clive is on his way, Liv explains to Ravi that in her vision Detective Clive was beating Ray for being a snitch. Liv immediately leaps to the conclusion that Detective Clive doesn’t want them on the case because he’s a dirty cop, before impressively segueing her rant into the conclusion that Korin (Jenga girl) manipulated Major’s roommate out of the house so that she could move in with him.
In addition to being comic relief, Ravi also remains the voice of reason. He points out that Liv has been manically jumping to conclusions since just about lunch, suggesting the first brain trait she’s taken on of Sammy’s may be paranoia. Liv agrees. Then she suggests that Ravi move in with Major to head Korin off at the pass. He demurs.
Ravi: So, to sum it up, satisfied with my current living situation, concerned with your paranoia with regards to both Major and Clive.
Liv: Duly noted. But remember, just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean there's not some strange stuff going on out there.
With that, we cut over to Meat Cute, aka ZUSD’s punnily named base of operations. Throughout the rest of the episode, the zombie chef who is also running the place brings ZUSD a series of fancy new brain recipes (Braised cerebellum a la Grenoble, as well as Gnocchi stuffed with medulla oblongata in a fra diavolo sauce) to sample. It totally goes against Liv’s complaints that she can’t really taste anything except brains and hot sauce, but it’s still entertaining to envision ZUSD’s empire as an upscale zombie version of Plated.
ZUSD didn’t just stop by to sample the goods. He also chastises his two meathead delivery guys for an address mix-up (again, hee!) before sending them out for their daily rounds.
Meanwhile, Liv has started her own, not at all subtle investigation into Sammy’s death and Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive’s sketchy behavior. She starts by visiting Vice (Clive’s former unit) and asking for information about Sammy’s death and/or Clive in general. As I mentioned, not exactly subtle. Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive’s former partner describes him as overly ambitious and says no one was sad to see him go when he left. She also mentions that no one was surprised when he was suspended for a year. Overall, exactly the glowing recommendation Liv’s distrustful brain is looking for.
Next up, Liv and Ravi try to track down Ray (the guy being beaten in her flashback) by visiting Hong Kong Video, since Ray was wearing a staff shirt from there while getting the crap beat out of him. What follows is a treasure of a scene where Liv pretends to be a drunken Valley Girl who hooked up with Ray at a party, while an initially clueless Ravi eventually catches on, volunteering that “Melanie’s” life is “like the whore-y version of Memento.”
While the cashier goes to track down Ray, Liv and Ravi wander into the x-rated section of the store (where Ravi actually finds the whore-y version of Memento). But Liv sees a snake painting on the wall and flashes back to another beating. Here, a man named A.J. threatens the “real” rat with wasabi to the eye (ow), then chastises Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive for thinking Ray could have been the snitch.
Liv realizes they accidentally wandered into the belly of the beast and tries to rush Ravi out. Unfortunately A.J. and some of his friends are waiting for them. Ravi is still pushing for more information until Liv points out the BLUE COBRA tattoo on A.J.’s arm and our heroes high tail it out the door. They regroup across the street just in time to see Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive pull up and head into the video store. Ravi points out that this could be part of a legitimate investigation, but Liv is convinced that Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive is just Corrupt Detective Clive, checking in with his partners in crime.
ZUSD’s meathead brain delivery team is complaining that the gym is going to close before they finish their rounds. (I haven’t included much of their dialogue, but it’s entertaining banter. The writers were on their game this episode.) They are jealous that ZUSD gets all the brains and money while they do all the grunt work. Lead Meathead proposes they go into business for themselves. They have ZUSD’s client list for their deliveries, so they can offer to undercut his prices while they make their deliveries. OK, but do they have a gourmet chef?
Quick scene in Liv’s apartment. Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive has used his amazing detective skills to find out Liv went to Vice and is looking into the Sammy case on her own, even after he told her not to. He offers a little more by way of explanation this time, saying that Sammy was in witness protection and had been safe for months, but snuck back to the city to see his dying mother, which is how he got caught and murdered. Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive tells/threatens Liv to stay out of the situation or she’ll get hurt.
Major again drops by the morgue unannounced. I work in an office building with significantly better security than this police morgue, where bodies of criminals and crime victims and evidence about what happened to them are stored and examined. Roomie Peyton’s DA job suddenly seems a lot harder.
Ravi and Major engage in some more sparkling dialogue while it becomes obvious they are both confused. Eventually it comes out that, despite his earlier protests, Liv told Major that Ravi is interested in renting the spare bedroom. Once they work through their miscommunications (“What's the point of having 7.1 HD surround sound if you can't use it without neighbors banging on your walls?”), it ends up the two are exceptionally well-matched to be roommates. Among other things, they are both serious gamers. By the time Liv gets back to the morgue, they are designing their communal living room Holodeck gaming set up, complete with blackout curtains and a 4K Ultra HDTV.
I like this development. As I mentioned earlier, it integrates Major into the show more organically, while also giving us a chance to get to know Ravi better outside of being Liv’s confidante and delivering pithy one-liners.
ZUSD’s delivery meatheads are at Jackie’s. She complains lightly about the prices, which lead meathead uses as a sales opening. He starts with sympathy for her situation (“He turns you into a zombie and then charges you an arm and a leg for brains”), laments her lack of options (“It's not like you're gonna go off on your own. Start digging up graves or something”), then presents his solution – “What if I told you there was an alternative to [ZUSD]’s service? High-quality brains at a fraction of what you're currently paying.” Beyond the obvious underestimating ZUSD, pretty good sales pitch. (“People assume we're dumb. But we're living proof that it doesn't take body fat to have a phat idea.”) Jackie says she’ll consider it and sends them on their way.
At the morgue, Ravi and Liv catch up on what they have learned. They put together that A.J.’s father was previously the head of the Blue Cobras. He’s been in jail for the last five months, which corresponds neatly with when Sammy went into witness protection. Sammy’s willingness to testify against the big boss explains both his paranoia and his murder.
Liv’s still convinced Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive is involved. She also still has Sammy’s fearful and slightly obsessive brain in her system, so she wants to attach a tracking device to Possibly Corrupt Detective Clive’s car. One of the guys from the video shop catches her and gives chase, which leads her being knocked down by a homeless man’s cart and to another flashback. This one is moments before Sammy’s death. Sammy realizes there’s no hope for him, but tells A.J. the whole gang is going down because Ray’s an undercover cop. Whoops. An alternative explanation for Definitely Not Corrupt Detective Clive’s sketchy behavior suddenly becomes obvious to Liv.
As random passersby try to assist her, Liv jumps up, goes straight into Karate Kid mode, and delivers the line of the night – “I KNOW KUNG FU.” Well at least Sammy’s brain gave her something useful. Kung Fu Livvie Action Figure runs back to the station to tell Clive that Ray’s cover is blown. Not Corrupt Detective Clive gets the real police officers on the case and sends Kung Fu Livvie Action Figure home.
Luckily Ray is on his way back from a five-day business trip to pick up a shipment of Utopium (of course). This gives the cops time to get to the airstrip where the Blue Cobras were planning to confront and kill Ray and instead arrest the whole gang on weapons charges. They also find evidence linking the gang to Sammy’s death. They do not, however, find A.J.
That’s because he’s waiting for Liv at her place. The guy from the video store who saw Liv at the police station was not working with Clive (because Clive is not corrupt); instead he reported her connection to the cops back to A.J. A.J. thinks Liv (not Clive) was Ray’s partner, so he’s there to kill her and tell her that Ray is dead as well. Liv at least gets to break the news that Ray is alive and the rest of the gang is under arrest before A.J. attacks.
Kung Fu Livvie Action Figure knows Kung Fu! Unfortunately, so does A.J., and he’s bigger and more experienced. The fight isn’t going so well for Livvie. But then she hears Creepy Brother Evan come home (the closest he’s come to being useful this episode) and goes into overprotective sister mode, aka Full-On Zombie mode. Apparently Kung Fu is no match for Zombie Fu, and Liv quickly has A.J. subdued.
Creepy Brother Evan comes to check out the commotion. Liv de-zombifies (seemingly with control – did we know she could do that?). Eventually, Not Corrupt Detective Clive shows up to arrest A.J., who is screaming that Liv is a freak. She credits her victory to luck and sorority Take Back the Night seminars.
Liv and Detective Clive have a nice debrief to catch up on how they ended up where they did. Liv admits that she was having visions all along and went to the video store as part of a misguided effort to help. She tries to explain just how strongly she feels the things in her vision, which is why she was willing to be suspicious. Clive explains that his “suspension” from Vice was actually a story to get him in deep undercover with the Blue Cobras, and with Ray as his partner. He feels like he lost a year of his life, and even part of himself, in the course of the assignment. Part of the reason he transferred to homicide at the start of the series was that no one in Vice wanted to work with him anymore.
It’s a nice scene that shows the two of them continuing to get to know each other as their partnership develops. Remember, before the series they had never met and he didn’t believe in “psychic visions” even in the reluctant way he accepts them now. It’ll be interesting to see when and how Detective Clive learns about Liv’s true nature, as well as his reaction towards it.
Back at Meat Cute, ZUSD is sampling the aforementioned gnocchi recipe, and even offers some to the meatheads. (“Look, guys, I know you think carbs are the enemy, I know, but you need to try this.”) This uncharacteristic kindness, even combined with the plastic sheeting on the ground, is not enough to set off alarms for the meatheads until ZUSD asks if they have come up with a name for their startup. With that, he shoots them each in the middle of the forehead. He and the chef haul two more (of many) meatheads (who are literally stored on meat hooks) out of the walk-in closet, seemingly to defrost and replace their entrepreneurial brethren.
Zombie questions this scene raises:
- Did shooting the original two in the head kill them permanently? We saw Liv kill Marcie by bashing her head in with a rock, but I don’t think much else has been said on how one can actually kill a zombie.
- Will the two new meatheads just thaw out and be ready to work? Can one freeze a zombie indefinitely? Does that prevent the mental deterioration of not eating brains?
ZUSD finishes up by calling Jackie and thanking her for tipping him off about the meatheads’ plans. As a thank you, he says he’s sending over something special that will make her “feel like a teenager again.” We see Jerome’s distinctive sneakers from last week on the corpse ZUSD is about to cut into. (Note that this seems to confirm that all zombies, not just Liv, are affected by the brains they eat). To make sure we get it, we also see him get a text from Major asking him what’s up. ZUSD sends a fake reply before telling another assistant (who reminds me of the Albino from The Princess Bride’s Pit of Despair) to get started.
As you can probably tell, I thought this episode was strong, especially the dialogue (and except for Creepy Brother Evan). Liv’s paranoia was a little over the top, but at least she wasn’t throwing herself at witnesses or considering letting Ravi be killed by a zombie. Liv’s relationships with both Ravi and Detective Clive are developing nicely. And we got more insight into how ZUSD’s business works. See you next week!
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