‘iZombie’ 1.02 Episode Recap and Review: Brother, Can You Spare A Brain

A new iZombie means a new Murder of the Week! This week, our murder victim/afternoon snack is Javier Abano, a prolific local artist who’s known for his colorful nudes and his affairs with his models. He’s found by his wife, Lola, and his best friend/art dealer, Artie (you’d think he would have started going by “Arthur” when he got into the art business, but no).  When our heroes arrive on scene, we’re told that Javier was between 6 and 7 pm by having a paintbrush driven into his eye. (Yes, I made the “he had an eye for art” joke. No, I don’t regret it.) Detective Babineaux is rather convinced that Lola was the one responsible. After all, it’s always the wife.

Further supporting Clive’s claim is Liv’s post-snack vision of Javier having an affair and being discovered by someone off-screen. When Babs and Liv go to talk to Lola about it, Javier’s mistress is already there. Lola introduces her as Tasha, her “favorite of Javier’s lovers.” Javier and Lola had an open marriage and she was well aware of his other lovers. This puts a bit of a dent in the spouse theory. Besides, Ravi discovers that the angle of the paintbrush would put Javier’s killer at around 6’2. While Tasha is rather tall, Lola is right at Liv’s height.

Artie, however, is right at 6’2, intensely loyal to Lola, and her alibi for the evening, as they were at dinner together when the murder happened. He points Babs towards the slew of angry ex-boyfriends of Javier’s various models. It sounds like a good lead, especially when another vision shows that the person walking in on Tasha and Javier was Tasha’s ex, Tito. They bring Tito in for an interview, during which Liv is flirting HARD. Tito tells them that Javier dumped Tasha for Becca, Artie’s 18-year-old daughter.

Babs takes Liv and Ravi to Javier’s posthumous art showing/wake in order to see if Liv flashes on anything. An almost violent encounter with Tito in Javier’s private studio leads Liv to a vision of Javier and Becca having an ultrasound. Javier was going to leave Lola in order to start a family with the pregnant Becca. Liv is calling Artie out on it when Ravi realizes something that should probably have been noticed by the crime scene experts from the get-go: Javier’s killer could have been standing on the stoop, which would bring someone about Liv’s height up to 6’2. Babs was right the whole time. The wife DID do it!

Want more of Jenn’s review? Check it out on iZombie TV Series!