iZombie Review: Cape Town (Season 2 Episode 9)

Breakups and zombie strippers are a great way to start off the mid-season finale of iZombie.

This episode, titled “Cape Town,” puts a sharp focus on two relationships withering, while we see the zombie problem from the perspective of an outsider just trying to survive day to day life.

Clive and Liv breaking up, using the term loosely, is harsh. He’s given her a purpose and helped her find her way. She’ll have to reassess her life now that she knows who she is, that she is not alone, and her friends know her secret. Clive isn’t done with her; he’ll help her along the way to find a new reason to continue being the undead alabaster badass she is.

He just won’t indulge her or allow her to put herself in a position to be hurt. If he knew that she is super-powered and could go into rage mode, he would act the same way. He protects the ones he cares about with everything he’s got.

Please don’t make us wait long for more Babineaux and Liv!

Meeting Natalie, the zombie stripper, is the slap in the face that Major needs. In another life, Liv could’ve ended up like her. Instead, she’s taken the pain inside of herself and turned it into something good. Liv eats brains for more than just surviving; she does it because she wants to change people’s lives since she can’t change her own.

After this encounter, Major can now understand why Liv separated herself in the first couple of months of her zombie existence. She was scared, hungry, confused, and alone. And he didn’t help when he found out the truth. Major helping the zombie stripper is his first true step in telling Liv the truth and helping out Team Z in the fight against Max Rager.

Liv breaks up with Major because she sees no future for them. Just because a cure is supposedly right around the corner doesn’t mean she’s the same person. He tolerates her because he’s still dreaming of the past. Liv is stronger, smarter, and knows that eventually he will see they’ve made a mistake getting back together. She is sacrificing any small hope of happiness to avoid further pain for both of them.

This breakup is different from the Clive breakup because Major knows what she’s hiding and he can take a stand. He can tell her no, that he’s not backing down until he gets her back. Of course, none of this is going to happen until he sees that this is it. This is Liv Moore, cure or no cure. It’s the only way these two can work towards a semblance of happiness somewhere down the line.

Other Observations:

• Greg Finley returns to The CW as Drake. Seeing him as Tony on The Flash just wasn’t enough of this man!
• It’s becoming clearer with each episode that Max Rager might not be the biggest enemy in town. All fear Mr. Boss.

Lesson learned: Some things are too good to be true. The cure doesn’t work.

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iZombie airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.

Lyra Hale

Lyra is a TV and movie enthusiast. It all started on a dark night when she turned on Fox and fell in love with the X-Files. It was all history after that as she got lost in Doctor Who, The Marvel Verse and most recently everything DC. Her love for Doctor Who lead her to study abroad, where she fell into live-tweeting and the lovely explosion of fandom life that Tumblr is. Her main love for the summer (with a mega re-watch happening) is Arrow. When she isn’t sharing her love for TV and movies she’s writing fan-fiction, taking care of her family, and puttering around her kitchen.