Reflections of the Way Liv Used to Be open on a student radio program. It’s not clear why yet, but thing did get rapidly interesting on two different fronts. Both Major and Liv are going through big emotions in this episode.
The Blain is going through some big life events. He’s human now but has forgotten everything he was and did when he was a Zombie.
The body doesn’t drop at the college until minute nine, bringing us back to the opening scene.
Brain Stir Fry
Our victim is a college student, and Liv is about to get a taste of who she was when she was a bit younger.
While the show opened with scenes form a college radio program, the show really starts when Major wakes up. Ravi is pissed. He knows that Major is the Chaos Killer – until Major sets him straight. Major has been knocking out his victims and freezing them. Major then puts it back on Ravi. If Ravi can come up with a cure Major can unfreeze all his victims and all is good.
Not a good sign for Major though, his hair is turning white and he is hungry. Zombie hungry. Thankfully for Major, his first brain meal is from a super positive human.
Meanwhile Liv goes to Mr. Boss’s office in the hopes of finding Drake. Now that she knows Drake was an undercover cop she is on a mission to find him.
We also get a better picture of how evil Vaughn Du Clark is. Rita Du Clark has turned, and he just puts her in a cage as if she’s not his kid.
The episode ends on another cliffhanger as the noose tightens around Major. He should never have taken the dog – it was his undoing. The last thing we see is Major getting taken in by the FBI. They have found the Chaos Killer.
Pour Some Sugar, Zombie opens with Ravi, Major, Peyton and Liv day dreaming about being next door neighbors. At least until the victim gives Peyton a call and gets murdered while on the phone. Time for Liv to eat some stripper brains to help Peyton. Unfortunately, Peyton doesn’t really understand how the whole zombie vision thing works.
Brains Lettuce and Tomato
Liv on sassy stripper brain is something to behold. Peyton being underwhelmed by stripper Liv was priceless.
Pour Some Sugar, Zombie Scoring
Pour Some Sugar, Zombie scores a 82/100, making it Worth Your Time. Liv does sassy stripper really well. Probably too well. She is either an amazing actress (which she clearly is) or maybe she’s been in a few strip clubs as well. More power to her!
Spoilers Below
Peyton, now in the know about Liv, wants help to close her case. Liv wasn’t into eating stripper brains, but she does it for Peyton. What a good friend. Liv on stripper brains is to the point, sassy, and dirty in all the good ways.
Meanwhile Ravi is putting together details that Major doesn’t want him to. The chaos killer is in the news big time, and Ravi recognizes Minor, the basset hound that Major took from one of the victims. Ravi follows the crumbs until he finds Major’s gear. What is major going to tell him an injection gun full of horse sedatives is for?
Blain is struggling with memory loss after taking the Zombie cure. He doesn’t remember being a zombie or anything that he’s done.
The murder investigation ends with Liv and Clive confronting Destiny, the stripper. She killed our victim because she was afraid her victim was going to send her man to jail.
Liv is still searching for Drake, and goes to his mothers house to try and find him. Liv finds out that her man wasn’t such a bad guy after all. He was working under cover.
The episode ends with Ravi confronting Major and ends on a cliff hanger as Ravi uses Major’s own kit against him. Major passes out as Ravi stands behind him, the syringe gun in his hand.
Coming Home opens with powerful imagery of WWII before cutting to Daryl in the pit. As usual, Daryl is kicking some Zombie Ass. The undead might be hopped up on go juice, but Daryl is a natural born fighter. His harsh upbringing has made him a survivor.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The episode has team Daryl fighting their way out of the Madam Genet’s stronghold. There is a ton of good action scenes, as well as phenomenal character development. Normal Reedus was born to play Daryl Dixon.
The episode ends on a double cliffhanger. And yes I spoil those surprises if you keep reading below the Spoilers section!
Coming Home Scoring
Coming Home is the final episode of the season. Honestly, that is its biggest sin. Otherwise it hit it out of the park and scores 100/100. Daryl Dixon ended the last two episodes with perfect scores! How I just have to hope that the show had enough viewership to start a franchise!
Overall Daryl Dixon Season 1 scored an 87/100 for the series, making it Worth Your Time!
Spoilers Below:
Coming Home has some awesome action scenes and mini storylines. The whole Quinn plot sees the greedy, self absorbed man do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Daryl, knowing the full truth, still honors Quinn’s sacrifice with Isabelle. The overall plot of the episode hits us with two major events at the end. Is Daryl going to stay in France or try to get back to the States? Or is god damn Carol going to come to find Daryl instead.
I hated Carol at times in the main series, but over time she became my second favorite character after Daryl. That says something about the writing doesn’t it?
The series ends with Daryl between Laurent and the ship that can start him on the way home. Back in the States Carol begins her hunt to find out what happened to Daryl. A double cliffhanger – but it was so well done.
The Good
When Daryl in the pit and tells Quinn he’s going going to die. They think they are about to fight each other, and Daryl plans on winning.
I loved how one of the Crazed Zombie tackles another Zombie. Whatever they infected the undead with – its not making them more stable – just more vicious.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Pop that Zombie head off!
Pop That Head Off!
Daryl might be a total bad ass but he is also very emotionally smart. After using Quinn as a weapon so he can escape, Daryl lets Isabella think that Quinn didn’t explicitly ask him to tell her. Which of course Quinn did, but he’s an ass. Of course Isabelle already knew that, and suspected Quinn’s real motives.
I love when the walkers just start coming out of the surroundings after laying dormant for a while. The scenes on the beaches of Normandy when Daryl wakes up a small horde was awesome!
The Bad
How many times is Daryl going to be separated from Laurent by a set of bars in this series? I think this was the 3rd time right?
When Codron catches up to Team Daryl at the broken car, it was just a little too perfect how Laurent’s comment made the man spare them all. Surely he would have popped Daryl at the very least for killing his brother?
How is Daryl able to resist Isabelle and the chemistry between them?
He Blinded Me With Science opens with Ravi examining a burnt body. It is a woman. Ravi calls her Cinder-Ella. I laughed. I’m going to hell! Ravi’s not getting much off the body though. He hopes that Liv can get more from the brain.
Brain Stew
With some nice warm brains in her belly, Liv heads out with Clive to solve the murder. The good news is that these brains are the super smart kind. Liv is going to be very intellectual this episode!
He Blinded Me With Science had several great scenes. Watching Major find out Gilda is actually Vaughn Du Clark’s daughter. After accusing Du Clark of telling Gilda to seduce him. Not what a father wants to hear.
We also get to see Liv in human mode. It is so weird to see her with normal skin tones!
So what cost this episode some points? I didn’t like that Liv thought she was going to not get caught going to Max Rager. She looks different, but not that different.
La Dame de Fer (The Iron Lady) picks up just were Paris Sera Toujours Paris left us in a cliffhanger. At the end of Paris Sera Toujours Paris we saw Daryl fall through a roof. Where did he fall? Apparently into the catacombs under the city. La Dame de Fer picks up with Daryl at a gate. Who is on the other side? No one other than Laurent! How did the kid get into the catacombs with Daryl? Don’t worry about silly plot and continuity issues like that!
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
The good news is that Daryl kicks a lot of Zombie Ass in this episode. That is always a good thing.
The episode’s main goal is to show that Laurent is special. Daryl needed to see that to give him a reason to continue on as Laurent’s guardian right? The lack of any explanation of how Daryl ends up in the water cost this episode some points. On the other hand, the Zombie horde at the Eiffel Tower made up for a lot.
The Good
Daryl has the moves when he wants to kill something. Always good to see him go full Badass.
Daryl Takes Revenge
Daryl know how to use a flail. It might just be the perfect weapon for the ZA. It has reach and can easily crush skulls.
Flail Action
I loved how Daryl delt with their prisoner. In the real world I can’t see anyone being nice to a prisoner standing between you and your objective.
The Bad
Not a lot of continuity between Episode 3’s ending and where Episode 4 picks up.
Laurents plot armor when he is surrounded by the undead.
How did Daryll and Laurent end up in the catacombs? Don’t worry about that.
How did Daryl end up in the water? Don’t worry about that either.
If Laurent can stand in a horde in the catacombs and not get bit, why do the zombies at the Eiffel Tower not ignore him in the same way?
The Whopper has Major and Ravi finding a body. They think it is going to give them the materials needed to perfect the Zombie Cure, but it finds out its just some other poor thug. At least until Liv makes a brains burger and the dead man’s memories lead them to the correct body. Eventually.
Brains Burger
There were a lot of great scenes in The Whopper. One of my favorites was the dead man’s last romantic conquests. Her reactions were just perfect.
D*ck Never Called Me Again
If you aren’t a regular fan of iZombie the premise is simple. Zombie are real, and Liv uses her position in the medical examiners office to kill two birds with one stone. She has to eat, or she will devolve into a raging, brain hungry beast. The second bird is her desire to go the right thing. Because she gets flashes of her meals memories, it gives her the ability to help the police solve what might otherwise be unsolvable cases.
The Whopper Scoring
The Whopper hit on so many fronts. There is an awesome sub story with Major, another with Blane, and as always Rose McIver plays Liv and her brain dependent emotional state to perfection. Which is why The Whopper is Worth Your Time and scores an 85/100.
Physician, Heal Thy Selfie has a nice twist right from the start. The basic premise of the show is that Liv will eat the brains of murder victims, which results in her seeing flashes of the victims life. She partners with Clive, a police detective, and pretends that she is a psychic. Because Clive can’t handle Zombies. What happens if there is a crime but the heads aren’t on the bodies? It kind of limits how effective Liv can be.
Brain Trust
On top of that, she is still seeing her Zombie Bouncer hook up. I’m not going to call the dude her boyfriend. He has skeletons in his closet, and he works for Blain. Sure, he is being coerced with brains, but I still don’t like the guy.
With no heads, and thus no brains, but still needing to eat, Liv gets stuck eating a pathological liars brains. She made some lovely sushi out of it.
Brain Sushi
Worse, Liv’s new personality also can’t stay off her phone!
Physician, Heal Thy Selfie Scoring
Physician, Heal Thy Selfie had some highs and progresses the story along decently. My favorite scenes in the episode were actually the start of what I think is a love story between Ravi and Peyton? Still, I felt like this episode was just missing something. It scores a 70/100, making it Worth Your Time, but just barely.
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter starts with a librarian kicking a young man out of the library. According to the older librarian she’s kicking him out because he likes to watch snuff films on the library computers. Good reason to kick him out.
If Books Could Kill
This introduces us to the episodes victim. A mousy blonde librarian isn’t feeling so hot. Before she can go home sick though she ends up coughing up some blood and dying suddenly.
Once in the medical examiners office Liv makes herself a snack. I’m not sure what to call it.
Librarian Brains
One of my favorite parts of the episode is when we hear Kristin Bell’s voice. It made me smile. I am assuming that Kristin is a fan of the show. Unfortunately for Liv, she is now on erotic author, librarian brains. Her victim loved to write erotica, and was sadly a victim of a marriage that wasn’t able to satisfy her own erotic needs. Let’s just say that Liv is on some brains that make her desperate for a specific type of attention.
While Liv is dealing with urges she struggles to contain, Major is dealing with his own troubles. His activities as a Zombie Assassin are threatening to catch up to him.
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter Scoring
Fifty Shades of Grey Matter was one of those great episodes. Liv, played by Rose McIver, is an amazing actress. She plays each “brain” so well. She also does naughty and sultry really well. Which is why this episode is scoring an 85/100, making this episode Worth Your Time.
Cape Town isn’t about a city in South Africa. It is about would be caped crusaders who are turning up dead for Liv and team to find. While dealing with the mystery of who is killing the vigilantes, Liv is also forced to deal with her issues with Major.
I love how Liv makes a new meal from each victim before taking a bite. I’m not sure what that says about me. I’m sure its not bad right?
Hero Sammy
Liv lives out the would be super hero brains, putting on an eye mask to go full vigilante. While Liv is doing her best to ride out her new dose of brains, Major is dealing with his latest Zombie target. Not every Zombie wants to live the horrible life they have been forced into.
Cape Town Scoring
Cape Town is another great episode in the series. It has a few nice twists, and the chemistry between the main group is something other shows just hope to capture. How can you not love Live, Major, Ravi, and Clive? It is an awesome cast that works really well together. That chemistry was on great display during this episode and earned it a an 88/100.
Joel is wounded and bleeding. Not to mention in a ton of pain. He urges Ellie to go to Tom. Ellie covers up Joe’s shivering body before walking upstairs and going through the door. Is she leaving? We won’t know for a little bit because when Ellie leaves she steps into an epic Flashback.
Fedra Camp (Flashback)
Ellie is running lap before a bully decides to pick on her. Ellie says she doesn’t want to fight but her bully just says “her” friend is gone and her friend was the fighter. After the brawl Ellie’s camp commander tells her she is smart and she could be leader – but not if she keeps acting like a grunt.
Later, after Ellie goes to bed we see someone sneak into her room. It turns out it is her best friend, Riley Abel, who has been on the run for three weeks. Ellie demands to know where her friend went. Her friend went to join the Fireflies. The two of them head out into the night as they chat about when to fight, and when not to.
The two young ladies climb the stairs of an abandoned building only to find a corpse. It looks like the dead guy overdosed and drank himself to death. The Last of Us is a tough world.
Pills & Booze
The Mall (Flashback)
Riley has taken Ellie to the old mall. Which takes us back to Episode 1, When You’re Lost in the Darkness. The mall was referenced when Ellie was talking about how she got bit.
After Riley leads Ellie into the mall, Riley turns on the lights. Riley is going to shoe Ellie “The Four Wonders of the Mall”. Ellie is amazed at how the escalator works, and ends up almost taking Riley down. I thought it was going to lead to them coming face to face. Maybe for a kiss or something. But it didn’t happen. Yet. There have been hints that Ellie might be gay. You be you Ellie. Love who you want to love.
Riley makes Ellie close her eyes before taking her hand. Riley walks her to the Ferris Wheel. The two share a touching moment as Ellie looks at her friend, clearly in love.
This is when the Ferris Wheel stops.
Photo Booth (Flashback)
Ellie and Riley go into the photobooth after the Ferris Wheel freezes. The girls pull the drape closed and proceed to make funny faces as the booth takes pictures. The two exit the photo booth to head to the Fourth Wonder of the Mall, the Arcade.
They head into the Arcade as the beeps and sound effects of the games fill the air. The two find a Mortal Kombat II game and can’t contain their excitement.
The camera slowly pans away from the girls and into the darkness. They aren’t alone. One of the infected is in the mall and all the noise is wakening it up.
Macho Nacho (Flashback)
Riley’s next stop takes the girls to where Riley has been sleeping. It is also where she’s been making explosives for the Fireflies. After Ellie confront her, Riley admits she came back to see Ellie because it is her last night in Boston. The two share a touching moment as Riley tells Ellie she wanted to say goodbye.
Ellie stomps off as Riley watches. Ellie gets as far as the main entrance before guilt or anger makes her go back. The lights are off and we can hear screaming – but it was just Riley in the Halloween store.
This leads Riley & Ellie to having a very cute dance scene that culminates in a kiss. Of course everything is ruined by the infected.
That Post Kiss Smile
The way they both smiled afterwards says it all. Love is love.
Enter the Infected (Flashback)
Riley tells Ellie to run just before the lone infected attacks. Riley is knocked out almost immediately, leaving Ellie to go toe to toe with the Zombie with her blade. Just when it looks like Ellie might be in trouble Riley get up and distracts the infected with her baseball bad. Giving Ellie the moment she needs to stab the creature in the head with her knife.
Ellie’s First Kill
Ellie momentarily celebrates her victory in combat before lifting her arm to show her bite mark. Riley lifts her hand as Ellie cries out in denial and frustration. Riley has been bit too.
Ellie rages before she asks Riley what they are going to do. Riley lays out two options. She has the gun in her hand or they can just keep going.
We aren’t shown how Riley dies before jumping back to the current timeline.
Joel & Ellie (Current Timeline)
Ellie searches frantically for something. We don’t know what it is until she finds it. She was looking for a needle and thread.
Ellie uses a needle and string to sew up Joel. He’s in pain but the job has to be done. The episode ends with her sewing up Joe’s injury.
Am I the only one panicking because there are only two episodes of Season 1 left?
Left Behind Scoring
Left Behind scores 90/100 and is and is Worth Your Time. It is an amazing episode. Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid have electricity jumping between them! My only wish is that there were more Zombies!
Things I loved about this episode:
The way that the episode portrays Ellie’s affection for Riley. So much was said with so few words.
The Halloween Store dance and emotional movement when Ellie kisses Riley. There is just a moment where we aren’t sure how Riley will react to being kissed, but clearly she was just as much in love with Ellie as Ellie was with her.
Things I hated about this episode:
Have the young survivors not seen an infected? Is the mall in the Quarantine Zone? It seems like the survivors in the Quarantine Zone would maybe be more careful?
Sewing up the external wound on Joel isn’t going to do much if he’s bleeding internally.
