iZombie recap: Caffeinated benefit of the doubt

It seems the iZombie writers channeled Looney Tunes this week when they killed off an overly optimistic coffee shop owner by dropping an air conditioner unit on her. Liv then eats the brains of the deceased woman and transforms into the positivity queen. The endless rosy demeanor and benefit of the doubt is annoying at times, but once you get past that, this episode reveals some surprises and comic gems.

Drake is an inside man. Did not see this coming. All this time, we thought he was part of the villain circle, carrying out Mr. Boss’s bidding. Turns out, Drake is an undercover cop. In a ruse to get an update on the case, the vice detective supervising Drake (Veronica Mars’s Enrico Colantoni) arrests him coming out of a club and takes him to the station. And even though it could hurt the investigation, Drake refuses to give up Liv.

Blaine in his underwear, playing the piano and singing “Whiter Shade of Pale” moments before Mr. Boss’s henchman kidnaps him, drags him to the woods and slits his throat. I am well aware that Blaine is a legit villain, but I wasn’t ready for him to be done yet (even though during last week’s episode, I was prepared for someone to die, even him.) In a sigh of relief, at the end of the episode, a rezombified Blaine digs himself out the dirt, steals a tablecloth from a group of picnicking girl scouts and walks back to town. Now that Blaine has reverted to zombie status and Ravi’s remake of the zombie cure failed, how long does Major have before he starts craving brains again?

Ravi attempts to picking up a barista at the memorial service of the coffee shop owner. During his banter with the young barista, Ravi makes a Star Wars reference that completely goes over her head. Clearly, she’s not the girl for him. And the look on his face, priceless. Maybe he’ll think twice next time he uses a memorial as a dating service.

While working this case, Babineaux takes the opportunity to drink some “decent coffee.” Yet, while questioning the rival coffee shop owner who confesses to a “code brown” incident during the time of the murder, Babineaux loses his taste for a cup of joe.

Zombie cat fight. Though Liv has moved on from Major and her stomach is full of butterflies at the thought of seeing Drake, she still feels the sting when she learns it was her roommate Gilda/Rita that Major was fooling around with. Although she is completely off on how Rita and Major met (Tinder? The gym? No. No.), she sets Rita straight with a right hook to the face and a promise to burn all her belongings if she’s not out of the apartment by midnight. What’s even more impressive is that Liv managed not to go into full zombie mode. Rita may have been left speechless, but I doubt she’s just let this go.

In the midst of all this going on, the daughter of the coffee shop owner was the mastermind behind her mother’s death. Her boyfriend takes the fall for her and she jets away without remorse or consequence. Maybe a piano will fall on her head…

Best line of the night:

“I’m currently between lovers,” – response from Pam, the rehabilitated coffee shop employee, when Babineaux asks her if anyone can confirm her alibi for the morning of the murder.

iZombie is on hiatus till March 22. See you then!