TV Review: iZombie (Season 4, Episode 12)

iZombie aired it's penultimate episode, "You've Got To Hide Your Liv Away" this week, and after what has been a rather uneven season, it's clear that the writers are upping the stakes just in time for the finale, with an episode that sees Liv come under fire for her role as Renegade and Ravi finally getting one step closer to that elusive zombie cure

iZombie has been kind of frustrating this season - we seem to have be going back and forth, getting some great, really standout episodes followed by episodes that just seem to be treading water and back again. However, the one thing iZombie always knows how to do is up the ante for the season finale and this year is no exception. The plotlines that have been building all season finally reach boiling point in this episode and it's definitely one of the more satisfying hours that iZombie has delivered this year.

The episode begins where the last one left off; Fillmore Graves demanding that Liv (Renegade) comes forward otherwise they will execute her coyote in her place (with a tweet, of all things!). We all know that Liv is going to do it, because Liv is Liv and she's not going to let someone else die for her. From the promo, I was expecting Major to sacrifice himself in Liv's place, but no, no, he drugs her and kidnaps her instead. Then we have this whole weird Stepford wives 1950s sequence with Liv and Major on happy married couple brain, which aside from Liv's cute outfit, was ultimately just really weird and slightly unsettling, as it felt like Major was using the brain to manipulating her into cheating. That along with the kidnapping? Yeah more than a little bit dicey.

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Luckily the brain wears off and Liv comes back to her senses. I'm honestly so sick of the Liv and Major back and forth by now. I didn't like that he told her that she had been right about everything, because quite frankly, I think they've both been in the wrong and I hated that he manipulated her into playing happy families with him because of the brain she was on. These two either need to get back together or call it quits for good, because their toying with each other is getting old. I did love that it turned out that the wife caused the accident that killed her husband, and that Major got his comeuppance for what he did to Liv (note: she did not kill him, just locked him in the basement with some rotting zombies). 

Ravi gets the most fun storyline of the episode, as with Liv out of town and him on his "monthlies", it falls to him to help solve the murder of a cured former zombie. Rahul Kohli has been doing some stellar work this season and this episode was some of his best; watching him play a Kim Kardashian like socialite to Clive's straight man was hilarious and showed me that they really do need to give him and Clive storylines together more often! It isn't all fun and games for Ravi though, the murdered former zombie brain, along with Isobel's brain, helps him come to the breakthrough that we have all been waiting for: a cure! 

After it finally seemed as if the vicious circle that is Clive and Bozzio's relationship had ended, we returned to it this week. Clive meets up with new love interest Michelle for a date, when he is told by a fellow officer not to rub his new relationship in Bozzio's face and exactly why she had broken up with him in the first place. This of course leads to... a proposal? WHY? They haven't resolved any of the difficulties they've been having, they've just jumped into marriage. This is going to go down the toilet before they ever make it to the aisle I'm sure, but in the meantime, I will just be frustrated at the rubbish way this show handles most of its romantic relationships. I don't want to see Clive as a zombie, if he was then the dynamic between him and Liv would be ruined. If they are really insistent on going down this road, then hopefully Bozzio will be one of Ravi's test subjects for the cure and they'll both be human, but I honestly don't think their relationship will work out either way; they have too many issues. 

Brother Love and Blaine are once again kind of just floating around in this episode. I really don't see the point to the Brother Love storyline anymore, it doesn't add anything to the episodes and quite frankly I just find him frustrating. Sure, they arrested him for McKenna's murder, but nothing actually happened there. I still honestly don't know what they're doing with the whole Brother Love thing and that's not okay, one episode from the end of the season. Blaine was more interesting before his dad showed up!

The episode ends on one hell of a cliffhanger, as Levon turns himself in as Renegade, just as Liv shows up and reveals that it was her all along. Graves decides to execute both of them, in a kind of Romeo and Juliet-esque move. So we're all set up for a very exciting final episode of the series; obviously we know the show has been renewed for a final season, so Liv isn't going to die, but it will be interesting to see what happens with Levon  and the cure going into the final season.

One thing's for sure, we're set for one heck of a finale!

iZombie is available to watch on Netflix, with new episodes arriving weekly.