iZombie Review: Brainless in Seattle, Part 1 (Season 4 Episode 3)

It would seem the third time really is the charm, because iZombie Season 4 Episode 3, “Brainless in Seattle, Part 1,” manages to save this season from an early grave — with a hopelessly romantic zombie, of all things!

A fun night out with the original brain gang proves how capable iZombie still is at creating good TV that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Liv might fall hopelessly in love with every man she meets in this newest episode, but thankfully, the love we are feeling for “Brainless in Seattle, Part 1″ is perfectly rational.

With no weird zombie cults running around or medieval guillotines being built, what is shown of Fillmore Graves in this installment is not only tolerable but exciting.

So far this season, Chase Graves has been all talk. Not that you can mind when that talk is coming from such a good-looking man, but some action would be nice from the zombie that created this whole mess.

This new brain crisis forces the show to move towards a clear climax, which is something we haven’t exactly been getting lately from Angus and his religious rambling. Not to mention the threat of all zombies going boat party crazy from hunger raises the stakes and builds much needed anticipation to see this new world order crumble.

Sure, for Chase’s sake we hope it all works out. But he has put a bunch of zombies in a sealed-off city and forgotten he has to feed them. This man deserves the chaos that is coming. And if this episode has solidified anything, it’s that chaos is coming.

Thankfully, what makes “Brainless in Seattle, Part 1” so darn lovable is its ability to balance out the doom and gloom of this new world order with the fun shenanigans of Liv, Ravi, Peyton, and even Major at times.

It is truly the group dynamic between these four that has been lacking in the last two episodes. Their interactions together showcase iZombie’s humor so well.

At the end of the day, Liv and her brain of the week are only as funny as the people reacting to her antics.

Now, no one is expecting these characters to hold hands every week and sing kumbaya, because this is still a television show and there needs to be some kind of development in the story. However, the rough start to Season 4 is a perfect example of how much a show like iZombie can falter when it doesn’t use its best assets.

Believe it or not, Ravi being forced by a zombie to do a makeover montage is this show’s best asset. Peyton and Liv dancing terribly to the montage music is a close second.

There are so many positives in this episode to enjoy, with the only negative being that we have to wait another week for the second part.

First off, Liv is not completely overtaken by Annie’s bachelorette brain this time. This allows for her to interpret being a hopeless romantic in her own unique way, rather than just becoming the victim she’s investigating like some kind of method actor.

Ravi proves he is the reason everyone is crying in the club with an embarrassing robot dance, but his best moments are spent with Peyton, as the two operate in an uncertain friend-zone. It makes for great comic relief when Liv flutters off to find her next soulmate.

It’s good to see Ravi and Peyton sharing the screen again, and this time not because they are in a life-threatening situation that involves Blaine.

Speaking of Blaine: great news! We can go back to resenting him again.

The reveal that Blaine DeBeers (longtime villain and sometimes ally of Olivia Moore) stole the 16 vials of the cure that went missing from Ravi’s office last season is infuriating. We all know he did it, and yet the casual reveal comes as a shock.

iZombie does a brilliant job of making its villains three-dimensional.

Blaine is a perfect example of this. He scratched Liv, killed her first zombie boyfriend, and then pretended to lose his memory after taking the cure. Yet, we find ways to tolerate him because he still does the odd good deed for the good guys.

While we suspect every bad event is orchestrated by Blaine, there is still that small part of us that doubts his motives.

This stolen cure is just a friendly reminder that Blaine will always operate in his own grey area, and iZombie will always find a way to remind us of that.

Unfortunately, Blaine is just too good at being bad for us to hate him completely for it.

“Brainless in Seattle, Part 1” proves love has found its way back to Seattle, and in return, it feels like we are falling in love with this show all over again.

Liv is finally given the opportunity to prove to us why she is the only one in a sea of zombies that matters as she continues on her quest to find Annie’s killer. Part 1 has been one lovely first date, but the second date is looking just as promising with iZombie Season 4 Episode 4, “Brainless in Seattle, Part 2.”

Top Quotes from the Episode:

Liv: Major, there is no way to tell you this, but I met someone and I think he may be the love of my life.
Major: I had a very long day trying to unsuccessfully track down a video. Plus, we’re in a fight, so I’m going to go make myself a burrito.

Liv: I understand. Most of my boyfriends have died in terrible ways, too.

Liv: I saw Bozzio last night at The Scratching Post. She was cheating on Clive.
Peyton: Oh, that’s terrible. You think he’d want to know?
Liv: Clive won’t eat soup dumplings because they have too many secrets. So yeah, I do.

Liv: So what do we do?
Renegade: We cry, we mourn, and we never forget the Annies ever.

Clive: That better have been a good one [vision], because I’m starting to forget why I put up with this.

What did you think of this episode of iZombie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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

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