‘iZombie’ 2.04 Episode Recap and Review: Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues

iZombie 2.04

So in case the birthday cake wasn’t a large enough clue, not only is Peyton back in town, but she’s more than willing to be besties with Liv again. Liv catches her after a dance workout and the two set up some time to catch up. Yay!

This episode’s Murder of the Week is a waitress named Lacey Cantrell. Lacey is (was?) a Texas transplant with an angry ex-boyfriend in the pen. Matt Sudak, nicknamed “Sue,” has been sending her letters back unopened ever since he found out that she’d cheated on him while he was in jail. He’s out now, but his boss at the pawn shop gives him an alibi.

Liv and Clive head to the country bar where Lacey worked. They interview her boss, Rick, who says that she was a little worried about money, but that nothing else out of the ordinary happened. One of the bar’s regulars proves that to be a big sack of lies when he tells the duo that Rick and Lacey had a big screaming match that ended with her dumping a pot of hot coffee on his lap. Liv flashes on Rick agreeing to give Lacey a cash advance if she gives him a little something else. Cue indignant screaming, an elbow to Rick’s solar plexus, and a lapful of coffee.

Rick and his pregnant wife come into the station to explain what happened. He tries to say that Lacey came onto him, but Liv calls him out. Hearing this, his wife turns on him, denying his alibi and saying that Rick didn’t come home until after midnight. She tries to set him up further, but Clive catches on pretty quickly. Whoever killed Lacey, it wasn’t Rick. On the other hand, it turns out that Sue’s alibi has just fallen through.

Liv goes back to the bar and signs up for Sing/Songwriter Night. Turns out that Lacey had country music in her soul (or at least in her brains). Liv sings the song that she wrote about Lacey and Sue’s relationship, not knowing that Sue himself is in the audience. He catches her out in the parking lot, but instead of getting rough with her, he compliments the song and admits that he screwed up with Lacey. He sounds genuinely heartbroken over it.

So who actually killed Lacey? Throughout the episode, the rest of the department has been focused on finding a convenience store killer and his gun. A couple of kids find the gun in the bushes in Lacey’s considerably less affluent neighborhood. Clive confronts the shooter and finds that Lacey’s death was entirely a case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The shooter was hiding from the cops in Lacey’s closet when she surprised him by coming home early.

Meanwhile, over on the Utopium subplot, one of Blaine’s goons has finally tracked down the dealer who cut the tainted Utopium. Unfortunately for them, Gabriel has now found God and turned over a new leaf. He refuses to give Blaine the formulation, so Blaine tortures him for a few days, then turns him into a zombie. Despite the offer of food and a cure, Gabe still stays mum, so Blaine sends him out on his own to wander for a while. Next step: go to Peyton and tell her everything he knows about the Utopium trade. I’m still not sure how that’s helping him, but we all know he has a plan in mind.

Speaking of Utopium, Major is still doing poorly. His Utopium habit is getting worse. He neglects poor Minor, invites Peyton to stay with them without telling Ravi, and ends up trying to score the drug off of one of his former kids. It’s that last mistake that makes Major realize that something’s got to give. He shows up at Liv’s place to ask for her help and the two end up kissing.

Oh, thank heavens Major has realized that he has a problem. Four episodes into the season and I was already heartily sick of his downward spiral. I’m sure this isn’t the end of his troubles, but “the first step is admitting you have a problem,” and all that.

Along those lines, I’m not naïve enough in the ways of the CW to believe that one tearful kiss at the end of the episode is going to make all well again between Liv and Major, and frankly, I’m not sure I want it to. As I’ve said before, I’m not shipping Liv with anyone right now, and I rather like it that way. There’s too much going on to distract Liv with a Relationship-with-a-capital-R, and I’d be happier seeing that screen time spent on her friendships and (God forbid) figuring out this incredibly quite zombie outbreak.

iZombie 2.04 Episode Recap and Review: Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues

Best Quote:

Ravi: “You’re going to miss me trying to convince one of these lovelies to play ‘Cowgirl and Indian’!”

 

Things to Ponder:

  • Okay, so now the head of the Utopium task force is LIVING with the Utopium junkie. Yeah, nothing’s going to go wrong here.
  • I’m ashamed to admit that it took me most of the episode to understand why Ravi named the dog Minor.

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