This episode of iZombie, wonderfully titled ‘The Hurt Stalker’, is quite wonderful itself. Brimming with great lines, Supermax development, struggles for Liv and Major, Gilda being Gilda, and Liv in jail.
Review of iZombie Season Two Episode 8 ‘The Hurt Stalker’
The most noticeable focus in this episode is definitely the long-awaited tension between Gilda and Liv, book-ending the episode. The brain featured this episode, an obsessive wedding planner, is the perfect opportunity to bring in the drama.
The largest of which is between Liv and Major. With Liv getting into Majors phone (Reason #528 not to use the fingerprint scanner), good thing ‘Rita’ didn’t text about Major’s night jogging. What’s interesting is primarily at the end of the episode, with Liv in Major’s phone, while Gilda texts a sexy photo. While the plan is almost assuredly going to work at first, Major won’t be happy about this. It will be clear that Gilda is trying to break him and Liv apart, and if she doesn’t have a good excuse for it, things could end badly for… someone.
Additionally, this stalker-brain-worried-about-Major-cheating almost led to Liv finding out about Major’s jogging routine. This leads us to the biggest flaw of the episode, which is the false tension brought here. Everyone was led to believe that Liv would find out, because last we saw the safe had Major’s hunting supplies, but much to everyone’s surprise it had been switched out with the engagement ring, yay… If I were writing iZombie (which I clearly am under-qualified for), I would have this interrupted, by Ravi or a case development, and played out for a few episodes longer. Even when Liv is off the stalker brain, she wants to know what’s inside, she isn’t obsessive enough to force Major again, but is suspicious. This would have removed the false tension in the scene, and wouldn’t have broken immersion, resulting in much more of a perfect episode.
Aside from this one moment, ‘The Hurt Stalker’ was spot-on. Supermax got some long-overdue screen-time, more about Clive was known, and the mystery was pretty great too.
The first Supermax development seen is when zombies get their hands on it. The subject then turns from a Dawn of the Dead shambling zombie to the sprinting zombies of 28 Days Later. Perhaps the more interesting moment is when Du Clark tests Supermax on himself. It did indeed boost his performances, though the violent tendencies haven’t quite been normalized yet. We can only hope no one is nearby when Major inevitably drinks one.
Despite not being involved in the investigation of this case, Clive really was the star of this episode. Much was learned about this man, from his food taste to idea of entertainment. The sad aspect of it however, is that this is not the first time Clive has been suspected of… shady dealings, last season there was a similar episode based around casting doubt on Clive’s character. Though Liv this time was more loyal to Clive’s word, it’s a little sad the only way we get to learn about Clive is if he’s accused of something.
The murder featured this episode was quite enjoyable as well. A nice touch to introduce the victim last episode, usually the best episodes of iZombie had their victims introduced prior. While the investigation was entertaining, the standout moment is when Liv is behind bars. Giving off a strong Orange is the New Black vibe along with the tension from a lack of brains gave this sequences equal parts humor and suspense.
The most curious moment was when the police captain was revealed to have cheated on his wife. This seems like an unnecessary addition, all it contributed was a reason the scrapbook was stolen (which itself is unnecessary), and give Clive an opportunity to jab at the captain. One can only hope this will develop into something later, (perhaps another crooked captain?) otherwise that was nothing more than a waste.
Overall, ‘The Hurt Stalker’ was another example of iZombie in top-form. The second season took a while to get going, but at this pace season two is leading up to an unforgettable climax.
