{"id":5879,"date":"2016-10-04T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T15:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5879"},"modified":"2016-09-29T11:47:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T18:47:45","slug":"mark-watches-izombie-s02e11-fifty-shades-of-grey-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/10\/mark-watches-izombie-s02e11-fifty-shades-of-grey-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘iZombie’: S02E11 – Fifty Shades of Grey Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eleventh episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>, I WASN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T READY. NO ONE WAS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For extensive talk of sex and consent.<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh my god OH MY GOD, IT ALL ESCALATED SO MUCH.<\/p>\n

Major<\/b><\/p>\n

This show is really turning into tension built on inevitability. IT IS, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. There are a ton of serialized plots unfolding over the course of this season, and each of them derive their tension from threat that the inevitable will eventually happen. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll start with Major\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plot first, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great example of this. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even address the fact that Dale mentioned that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be turning on the GPS tracker that Minor wore in the last episode. AND HERE, THAT INEVITABILITY BECOMES UNBEARABLE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s honestly one of the more intense sequences this season because Major gets so close to being discovered as the Chaos Killer. Yes, I mentioned how focused Major was post-sobriety, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also been rather sloppy with this one detail. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been parading around the victim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dog! \u00c2\u00a0Even worse, he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly subtle here, given that he left upon news of the tracker, and then behaved bizarrely when Ravi asked about Minor.<\/p>\n

So even though this one loose end was tied up, it sort of wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. It was replaced by a new inevitability: Ravi is too suspicious. How much longer until he figures out what his roommate has been up to?<\/p>\n

Fifty Shades of Grey Matter<\/b><\/p>\n

First of all, BRAVO FOR THAT TITLE. Bravo!!! Yet again, this show skewers something lovingly and with wit, and I WILL FOREVER THANK\u00c2\u00a0IZOMBIE<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0FOR GIVING ME KRISTEN BELL READING SMUT. DID I KNOW I NEEDED IT? NO. AM I BETTER PERSON BECAUSE OF IT?\u00c2\u00a0YES<\/i>. However, through this tale of jealousy and resentment, the writers find a way to address the complications of sex and sexual desire. Grace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is so tragic because her work did not\u00c2\u00a0actually<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0harm anyone. Muriel was jealous of the attention that Grace got, and she resented that Grace was getting popular off something she considered disgusting and gross. Even worse, though, was Grace\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s husband, who projected his own issues on his wife and then MURDERED HER BECAUSE OF IT. He claimed that she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care about him, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that it was most certainly the other way around.<\/p>\n

So I saw a parallel in Peyton and Blaine, since she comes to realize that Blaine most likely manipulated her into having sex. Maybe he was genuinely attracted to her, and she was clearly attracted to him. But she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t un-know what she discovers from Liv at the end of this episode, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking tragic and upsetting. How can she trust anything else he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever done or said? Yeah, he might have been telling the truth about Stacey Boss, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0it<\/i>. And even that was done to advance himself, not to do something good for the world! Now, Peyton\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s granted immunity to someone who used that to cover for his monstrous crimes. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I pointed out during the video that if you could see Blaine without his past attached to him, he would be charming.\u00c2\u00a0But you cannot divorce him from what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done<\/i>. Peyton did that by mistake, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like I blame her for that. If someone like Blaine came into your life, handed you all the answers you needed for your job, and treated you with respect and humor, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d probably begin to develop some sort of feelings for him.<\/p>\n

I just hurt a lot for Peyton. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to judge her from a distance, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not fair. She had limited information because Blaine is a liar and a manipulator. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what he does. So I was really happy that Liv treated Peyton as she deserved to be treated: with empathy and support. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna need a lot of it in the future, too, because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop working with Blaine, can she? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s built an entire case against Mr. Boss with him! Oh my god, this is going to be unbearable, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what I mean by inevitability. She cannot avoid him; she cannot see him without knowing what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done. Their next interaction is going to be\u00c2\u00a0brutal<\/i>. And what of Blaine??? He now knows that the FBI and the Seattle PD have a case against him, and, armed with this knowledge, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be able to further protect himself.<\/p>\n

What a disaster, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. HOW DID THIS ALL HAPPEN IN ONE EPISODE??? I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even talk about Liv and Drake hooking up yet. But hey, at least there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a positive there: they both openly spoke about consent and brain-influenced sex, which is pretty fucking cool. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad that it happens because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an interesting case! If brains make a person behave differently while on them, can they\u00c2\u00a0truly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0give consent? Liv says that in this instance, she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too creepy because her brains might be affecting her judgment to a degree she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not comfortable with. Now, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still allowed to regret sex with Drake while\u00c2\u00a0off<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0brains, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m interested to see the ramifications of this.<\/p>\n

This episode was A Lot, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. A LOT.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fifty Shades of Grey Matter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded\u00c2\u00a0here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b>
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0 Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"