“No, no, no. If they want to eat brain mash, let them eat brain mash. In this house, we eat whole brains and solve murders.”
Often times on a television show the outsiders are the true anchors of the story. For over two seasons now Malcolm Goodwin’s portrayal of Clive Babineaux has been the most underappreciated performance of the series. Clive is a seemingly rooted person, but there is a side of him that is always underlying. How does a seemingly rational person believe for one second that the girl in the morgue is a psychic? That notion exists, because buried under that rough and tough cop exterior, the good detective is a believer with a hidden gooey center. This is why he ignored all the signs at first, but thankfully the detective figured out Liv’s secret so we could finally see “Team Z” whole.
Most of Goodwin’s storylines to this point have dealt with Clive suppressing his feelings, so you can understand how refreshing it was seeing Babineaux rattled at the death of his former neighbor Wally. Raised under the roof of an abusive father, Wally was taken in by Clive after the detective arrested dear ole’ Dad for hitting his mother. Clive took a liking to young Wallace, but couldn’t help but having eyes for his mom too.
Not to sound like a broken record, but again it is refreshing to see Goodwin play a younger, less jaded, more mustached Babineaux in the flashbacks. With his new boss grilling him about his relation with the dead bodies it was amazing watching the layers of Clive. Thank god Rob Thomas (not of matchbox 20, but there was this) has let Goodwin off the gruff leash and given him something to sink his teeth into. We are no closer to figuring out who murdered Wally, but at least there is some skins in the game now.
Fortunately, not everything was kid shootings and baby daddy drama, as we got some outstanding comic relief from Liv and Major. While Clive was dealing with Wally, the two zombies digested the brains of a recently murdered father and daughter. Liv and Major’s relationship has had many incarnations over the course of iZombie, but father and daughter were one no fans saw coming.
If Clive was the star of “Zombie Knows Best,” Robert Buckley’s Major was the MVP. Viewers expect Liv’s zany actions on the “thinkin’ stuff,” but to see Buckley go full on teenage girl was an absolute joy to behold! Surely, female (and some male I’m more than sure) viewers played the bathroom selfie scene back more than a few times, but the former One Tree Hill alum (R.I.P Q) gave us a peek at his comedic side. Also anytime you can hear a former college football player whine “I’m going to mercenary training GOD!” is a good time.
Liv was given the week off from the heavy lifting of the episode, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Rose McIver is brilliant weekly as Liv, but any great star needs to share the ball with the role players. Don’t worry though, Liv was still able to give a great heart to heart to Ravi thanks to the “dad brain.” Oh, and she solved the mystery, whose plot twist harkens back to Thomas’ other smash hit Veronica Mars. In the future, however, I think it would be smart for The CW to steer away from this. Comparisons of the show are bound to happen, but iZombie needs to carve a niche out of its own.
Brains for thought…
What did you all think of “Zombie Know Best?” Comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @themikeycuralli!
