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‘iZombie’ recap: Telling fish tales in ‘The Whopper’

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This is absolutely huge. It’s critically important. It’s vast and pivotal and earth-shattering and series changing. Or is it?

This episode of “iZombie,” dubbed “The Whopper,” was supposed to be the season 2 finale, but a while back, the CW network ordered six additional episodes. Hooray, on the one hand, for the extended run. On the other, that means there’s more time yet in the coming weeks to deal with this hour’s big turn of events.

So what happened? What’s the massive reveal?

Ready? Liv, Major and Ravi finally – finally! – find the stash of buried Utopium. With it, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli) can brew up a new batch of zombie cure, and all will be set right. The world, or the walking dead of Seattle at least, will be saved!

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Not so fast, friends. There’s nothing neat and tidy about this dram-rom-zom-com, and there will be nothing smooth and uncomplicated about the road to a zombie-free Pacific Northwest city. Will it happen at all? Would we have a show if it did?

But it’s nearly impossible to not be moved by the scene at the end of this hour in which the heroic trio – with the swelling strains of “One Day More” from Les Miserables as the soundtrack – digs up the unfortunate soul who’s lousy with tainted designer drugs.

Look at them – they’re so happy.

Freeze frame!

Thank you for that throwback device, Rob Thomas, showrunner and writer of this particular episode. Who doesn’t love the cheesy, ‘70s-style freeze frame? No one, that’s who.

And no matter what’s to come, there’s plenty of solid entertainment this hour, in which Liv Moore (Rose McIver) tells tall tales, Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley) spills his guts, not literally, and Blaine DeBeers (David Anders) gets his revenge.

It’s a Blaine-centric episode in general, which is always good news, and it weaves a few critical threads together. Picky fans might find it a little too expository, but it doesn’t lose any of its momentum even as it talks us up to speed.

It does set some pretty high expectations. Wonder how the rest of the season will deal with that? Don’t disappoint me, Rob Thomas & Co.

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On to the down and dirty, in which the victim du jour is Corey “Big Fish” Carp, a member of Mr. Boss’ low-life posse and a pathological liar. He’s an FBI agent, he’s a Sept. 11 first responder, he’s an astronaut! Actually, none of the above.

Someone gunned him down and left him in a shallow grave, which points to a logical link between this desultory character and a few missing Utopium-stuffed drug dealers.

Liv, snacking on a bacon-brain cheeseburger, vows to find the connection, not knowing that it will start to erode her relationship with Drake (Greg Finley). That was doomed anyway, right?

Det. Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin), seemingly for the first time, notices that Liv takes on the personality traits and quirks of their homicide victims. What took so long, Clive?

Otherwise, he’s a crack investigator who’s working Carp’s murder while consulting with his crush, FBI agent Dale Bozzio, about developments in the Meat Cute massacre.

Dale and Clive inch closer to Blaine, setting up surveillance at his Shady Plots funeral home, knowing that he’s up to no good. They just don’t grasp the extent of his operations, mistakenly thinking he’s the Chaos Killer responsible for siphoning Seattle’s elite off the streets.

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The real Chaos Killer, meantime, tries to kidnap another wealthy zombie. He’s caught in the act and brought to Blaine’s parlor of death. Major the serial killer, meet your new uneasy ally, Blaine the brain merchant and would-be criminal kingpin.

It’s fitting that an episode about a compulsive liar brings forth lots of truth, since “iZombie” is so much about its secrets and consequences. What if people tried to be honest for a change? That’s just weird, Liv says.

Major finally gets to spill – even if it is to Blaine – about his zombie-hunter night job, and it feels like a weight lifted for all of us. He doesn’t rat out his Max Rager blackmailer-employer because he needs a bargaining chip and information is power. But he and Blaine will work together, starting with the thaw of one very powerful and sadistic Daddy Dearest.

Per his will, Blaine’s father has just left millions of dollars and his Clooney-adjacent Lake Como manse to the nanny who raised (and tormented) young Blaine. And he stipulates that Blaine walks away empty handed if there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Since it’s presumed that he’s fallen to the Chaos Killer, Blaine gets nothing. Imagine how well that sits with Blaine. Now imagine how pleased he is when he learns that Dad isn’t dead, just iced.

He lures in a replacement zombie so Major can keep up his head count, and the defrosting begins, to which Blaine says, “Somebody’s gotta make the obligatory popsicle joke, right? Nope? When did it get so highbrow in here?” (Laughs are sparse in this episode, so enjoy this one).

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As soon as Pop wakes up, Blaine tries to convince him to rewrite his will. He’s a charmer, but he’s no match for this rotten patriarch. Stronger methods are required. Hint: goons and torture. Prediction: Blaine will, as Blaine always does, come out on top.

Since Liv has been spinning fish tales – she nearly won the lottery, she resuscitated a fellow diner, she reconciled with her brother – Drake doesn’t believe her when she warns him about Blaine’s plan to become the underworld’s top dog. He’s working both sides of this power struggle, and he’s preoccupied with random illnesses (hypochondriac brain). Is he the next one to fall?

He won’t be the only character feeling the heat. Ravi, armed with the drug that he thinks has the potential to avert a zombiepocalypse, will have to work fast. Major and Blaine don’t have forever. New Hope is dead. Long live hope.

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