iZombie: Heaven Just Got A Little Bit Smoother
April 5, 2017 6:45 AM - Season 3, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Two-and-a-half minutes after the season 2 finale, Liv finds her loyalties torn, Major searches for a place he can fit in, Clive struggles with what he's learned, and Ravi is, shockingly, less than the best with Peyton.
The season 3 premier briskly sets up the major plots of the coming season, as Vivian Stoll of Fillmore-Graves plots to protect zombies after they are discovered; an Alex Jones-like radio host starts provoking attacks against zombies; and Don E starts a new operation with Blaine's father.
A.V. Club review
The season 3 premier briskly sets up the major plots of the coming season, as Vivian Stoll of Fillmore-Graves plots to protect zombies after they are discovered; an Alex Jones-like radio host starts provoking attacks against zombies; and Don E starts a new operation with Blaine's father.
A.V. Club review
I've been waiting for this for soooo long. Goddamnit Ravi! I feel terrible for that poor zombie family. And Clive...
This show makes up for all the BS in all the other CW shows.
* still super giddy since watching the premiere last night *
posted by numaner at 10:35 AM on April 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
This show makes up for all the BS in all the other CW shows.
* still super giddy since watching the premiere last night *
posted by numaner at 10:35 AM on April 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
This was great. I appreciate the slow burn on worldbuilding: while Fillmore Graves came completely out of left field from Liv's perspective, (and therefore the audience's during the S2 finale), they're a completely logical outcome of last season's events. Everything clicked, made sense. Vivian Stoll has some crazy ideas, (no they will not let you have Zombie Island!), but the internal logic is consistent and compelling.
And oh man, Ravi and the brain and Clive and... yeah, everything was top notch. I can't wait for next week's story.
I've been waiting for this for soooo long.
Me too. iZombie is one of my favorite shows in recent memory, and I am absolutely delighted to have it back.
posted by mordax at 10:40 AM on April 5, 2017
And oh man, Ravi and the brain and Clive and... yeah, everything was top notch. I can't wait for next week's story.
I've been waiting for this for soooo long.
Me too. iZombie is one of my favorite shows in recent memory, and I am absolutely delighted to have it back.
posted by mordax at 10:40 AM on April 5, 2017
The best part of Clive being in the loops is now we have a reason to have Clive and Ravi in scenes alone together. His relentless pragmatism is a foil to Ravi's generally sunny genius I didn't even know I needed. Who gets to make the real-life decisions about what you're doing here?
"I don't like to think about that."
posted by absalom at 2:30 PM on April 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
"I don't like to think about that."
posted by absalom at 2:30 PM on April 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
In addition to the plot stuff generally being very well done, there were lots of great throwaway moments, too: Carlos Santana's title-drop tweet ending with "hashtag-stop-the-violence," the zombie mercs sound-off verse, Ravi gently pushing the trash can towards drunk Liv...
I do wonder how long it's going to be before Vivian figures out that her husband was "killed" by her stepson?
posted by thecaddy at 3:20 PM on April 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
I do wonder how long it's going to be before Vivian figures out that her husband was "killed" by her stepson?
posted by thecaddy at 3:20 PM on April 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was worried that the near yearlong hiatus would dampen my spirit and enthusiasm . .. but happily this episode rocked.
posted by davidmsc at 10:43 PM on April 5, 2017
posted by davidmsc at 10:43 PM on April 5, 2017
I do wonder how long it's going to be before Vivian figures out that her husband was "killed" by her stepson?
I was under the impression Blaine was the one who turned her husband into a zombie to sell brains and when he refused to pay for anymore brains, Blaine had him killed ?
posted by Pendragon at 11:44 PM on April 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I was under the impression Blaine was the one who turned her husband into a zombie to sell brains and when he refused to pay for anymore brains, Blaine had him killed ?
posted by Pendragon at 11:44 PM on April 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Speaking of that zombie cadence....
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:12 AM on April 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:12 AM on April 6, 2017 [5 favorites]
I was under the impression Blaine was the one who turned her husband into a zombie to sell brains and when he refused to pay for anymore brains, Blaine had him killed ?
We're only getting Vivian's side of the story here, though, and what she knows would be affected by what her husband told her. But given what we know of Blaine's dad, he never would have admitted to his wife that he was turned by his own son. And then he tried to take over Blaine's business right before Major kidnapped him and dumped him into a freezer (something that I misremembered, and also another point of potential point of contention between Vivian and Liv's team).
It is very, very much like this show to keep its enemies close.
posted by thecaddy at 10:56 AM on April 6, 2017
We're only getting Vivian's side of the story here, though, and what she knows would be affected by what her husband told her. But given what we know of Blaine's dad, he never would have admitted to his wife that he was turned by his own son. And then he tried to take over Blaine's business right before Major kidnapped him and dumped him into a freezer (something that I misremembered, and also another point of potential point of contention between Vivian and Liv's team).
It is very, very much like this show to keep its enemies close.
posted by thecaddy at 10:56 AM on April 6, 2017
Wait, hang on, did I totally miss an explicit statement that Vivian's twice-departed husband is Papa Blaine, or was that just implied by the timeline of his disappearance?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:23 AM on April 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:23 AM on April 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's implied, and I could be off-base here. But the fact that the next scene after Vivian's story was Don E and Blaine's dad...
posted by thecaddy at 12:12 PM on April 6, 2017
posted by thecaddy at 12:12 PM on April 6, 2017
Didn't she say her husband's name was Harrison? Something with an H, anyway. Blaine's dad is named Angus.
At first I thought Vivian might have arranged for Wally and his family to get taken out to gain emotional leverage over Clive, but then they showed her grief. (Nice that they're rounding the character out from just Type A-CEO-ness.) And anyway if she didn't think Clive would go along with the program it'd be easier to have someone on her zombie team "accidentally" scratch him or something like that. So never mind.
Thanks, Netflix, for letting me get caught up in time to watch this season with everyone as it airs!
posted by rewil at 9:17 AM on April 7, 2017
At first I thought Vivian might have arranged for Wally and his family to get taken out to gain emotional leverage over Clive, but then they showed her grief. (Nice that they're rounding the character out from just Type A-CEO-ness.) And anyway if she didn't think Clive would go along with the program it'd be easier to have someone on her zombie team "accidentally" scratch him or something like that. So never mind.
Thanks, Netflix, for letting me get caught up in time to watch this season with everyone as it airs!
posted by rewil at 9:17 AM on April 7, 2017
I made the mistake of getting into this show right as the second season ended, so I binged two seasons straight away and it has felt like a reeeeally long time waiting for more. This episode was such a fantastic return - great set-up for an interesting season ahead, and Clive being in the know is going to be great.
posted by fever-trees at 7:42 PM on April 17, 2017
posted by fever-trees at 7:42 PM on April 17, 2017
Coming back to Clive being in the know is SUCH a relief, because the amount of stuff that he, a detective!, had to "disregard" or not put together had long outlasted the bounds of any sort of character-writing logic.
posted by desuetude at 9:08 PM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by desuetude at 9:08 PM on April 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
yeah, they were totally wasting Clive as a character for about a season and a half, but now he's getting some really compelling stuff, which is good to see.
I thought this is a fantastic way to start the season, they've all but dropped the police procedural rhythm of seasons 1-2, and I hope that's how they're going to keep it, because it was dragging the show down. This looks like it could be a great departure for the show, which is awesome. I think genre shows really need to be careful about becoming formulaic, they need to take some risks and try new things, or else the characters just do the same things over and over without learning.
posted by skewed at 8:32 PM on July 29, 2017
I thought this is a fantastic way to start the season, they've all but dropped the police procedural rhythm of seasons 1-2, and I hope that's how they're going to keep it, because it was dragging the show down. This looks like it could be a great departure for the show, which is awesome. I think genre shows really need to be careful about becoming formulaic, they need to take some risks and try new things, or else the characters just do the same things over and over without learning.
posted by skewed at 8:32 PM on July 29, 2017
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posted by Thorzdad at 7:03 AM on April 5, 2017