{"id":5895,"date":"2016-10-13T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=5895"},"modified":"2016-10-04T15:21:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T22:21:56","slug":"mark-watches-izombie-s02e18-dead-beat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2016\/10\/mark-watches-izombie-s02e18-dead-beat\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘iZombie’: S02E18 – Dead Beat"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighteenth and penultimate episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>, help me. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready. I\u00c2\u00a0couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0be ready.<\/p>\n

Blaine<\/b><\/p>\n

Remember when he was in this episode and did a\u00c2\u00a0nice<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0thing? Remember how weird that felt? Remember that? I mean, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to when this episode contains THE SINGLE MOST DESIRED SCENE IN THE WHOLE SHOW, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still important. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is planning for Blaine, but I certainly don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sticking him in the background without a reason. On the one hand, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a\u00c2\u00a0lot<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to deal with otherwise, so it makes sense to focus this recent batch of episodes on other characters and storylines. But I suspect that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a purpose behind his amnesia and that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see what it is in the season finale. I worried during \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dead Beat\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that he was foreshadowing for Major, but since that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the case\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 hmm. I have no real theories otherwise, which scares me. I am utterly unprepared.<\/p>\n

Good vs Good<\/b><\/p>\n

It took me until this episode to vocalize what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so frustrating (in an entertaining way!) about the way that the conflict in season two of\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is designed. Once you take out Blaine, Mr. Boss, and Vaughn, most of these characters are good people trying to do what they\u00c2\u00a0think<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0is best for the world. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re people who have friction with one another, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never consider any of them antagonists. Dale Bozzio is a great example of that; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at odds with Major, Ravi, and Liv, but she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not their enemy. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what makes this so agonizing at times. I want the best for her, and I want her to succeed, but doing so is at the\u00c2\u00a0expense<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of other characters that I like. The same goes for the reverse, and thus, the audience is given a conflict that feels impossible. How can you resolve it without someone getting hurt?<\/p>\n

And as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dead Beat\u00e2\u20ac\u009d unfolded, it became clear that this would have to end badly for someone. The whole time, though, I kept expecting it to be Major. Getting caught with so much incriminating evidence was bad enough. Yeah, maybe the sleazy lawyer Vaughn hired (HI, KEN MARINO, YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE SO GOOD AT THIS TYPE OF CHARACTER, I SWEAR) would have gotten Major off, but then Major got pegged for the Meat Cute massacre, and IT WAS OVER. I knew it. How could Liv and Ravi get Major cleared of\u00c2\u00a0two<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0crimes, both of them high-profile cases that he technically was responsible for, but for different reasons?<\/p>\n

But hey, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a logistical nightmare for another time, given that the\u00c2\u00a0main<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0concern everyone had was getting Major brains so he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kickstart the zombie apocalypse. And oh, how Liv tried. Which I admire, first of all, and which demonstrated what a loyal person she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been, even if sometimes her loyalty might be misguided. She sought out every literal resolution to this problem that did not involve giving him the cure that would have given him amnesia. And what answer did she finally come up with?<\/p>\n

Babineaux<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still reeling from that scene, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. STILL. While the whole sequencing was shocking to me because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been waiting for it for SO LONG, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not at all out of character for Liv to do that. Her solution is one that is partially self-sacrificing. She could have lost a friend, her job, her credibility, any number of things by revealing to Babineaux who she was and what was really going on. But she did it anyway because she saw it as the only option left to save Major without wiping out his memory.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so satisfied with how it unfolded, especially since Babineaux did not initially believe her. Why\u00c2\u00a0should<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0he? Not only was her story ridiculous, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like this would have been the first time she acted strange in his presence. Yet once he has the truth demonstrated to him, he does what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s asked. And then I was reminded that for as much as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been clamoring for the truth to come out, I forgot one thing.<\/p>\n

Knowing the truth comes with a price.<\/p>\n

Each person who has learned about zombies has had to pay some personal cost, and most of the show has demonstrated that to us through Ravi, Liv, Blaine, Peyton, and plenty of others. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect Babineaux to have to pay it so soon, though. Yet it made sense. How could he free Major without pissing off and disappointing Dale? Thus, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s initiated into the world of the knowing, and he learns right away what an awful thing it can be.<\/p>\n

I desperately hope this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the last we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen of Dale, and I also\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0need to see Babineaux\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s further take on everything. HE HAS A LOT OF CATCHING UP TO DO. But let me just state outright that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy that\u00c2\u00a0iZombie<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0finally brought Babineaux into the fold. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an exciting choice, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see what they do with it. SO MUCH POTENTIAL.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dead Beat\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":"