iZombie

I was really shocked when it wasn't Major.

edit: I wonder if it's possible to turn an already dead body. I have a feeling Liv is going to try that if anything ever happens to him.

edited 14th Apr '15 7:48:04 PM by Kostya

Haven't seen the episode yet, but something I was thinking related to Eagal's post:

So, I'm wondering how many people Blaine has killed so far. The show isn't clear about it, but I figure Liv needs about a brain a week (not sure whether or not this is a conservative estimate).

Now Liv has a constant supply of brains, but Blaine doesn't. So far we've seen him kill the two gangsters as well as those two kids, but given that he's turned a few other people, I'd have to think that he's quickly going to get to a dozen at least- and obviously, he needs to keep killing.

Granted, he does keep some of the people he's turned frozen, so that limits the amount of brains/killing needed, but it's still pretty scary.

Peyton: "I feel so cheated on".

• Me*: bites fist to smother laughter*

I love Peyton. And the two of them are so very married.

Okay, so.. How many zombies are Blaine making? It felt off when Liv didn't immediately dig for origin story and means of sustenance. I suppose I can blame it on her being high as a kite on adrenaline junkie brains, and it was necessary to not derail the episode plot immediately into a "Hunt down Blaine" plot, but still, felt a tad off.

... So, saw the episode. Guess I was on the right track with Blaine being a mass murderer.

Like Lowell. Thought that was a great reveal to have him make those ultra spicy drinks and observe Liv's lack of reaction.

Edit- Also, "energy drink that makes people psychotic" sounds a lot like "Utopium". Blaine might not be the only one turning people into zombies.

Edit2- Thoughts on how Lowell is staying around assuming he's not murdering people? Animal brains?

edited 15th Apr '15 8:47:04 AM by Hodor2

I think they did, in fact, just kill Major, and that Liv's little "I want to live now more than ever" was a sort of stealth "this is how she's taking it." I'll grant that if that's what they were going for the editing did kind of blotch it.

I'm hoping it will in fact be revealed next episode. I would honestly give this show major props for killing him off this early.

EDIT: I didn't intend that pun. My subconscious is more clever than I am, apparently.

edited 15th Apr '15 9:57:02 AM by Wackd

I don't think so. You could hear he skaters mocking Major and telling him to get up. I don't think Blaine or his men would kill someone when there's witnesses around. And if they did, Liv would not have known about it yet- or possibly at all- they'd probably take his brain and cut up his body

Blaine generally doesn't hire mooks for their brains.

Apropos of nothing, did anyone else catch Rob Thomas shouting out to one of his other shows last night? (And not just in the casting of Dick Casablancas/Kyle Bradway.)

edited 15th Apr '15 10:32:24 AM by Wackd

Slight spoiler: I was googling a bit and evidently Major ends up getting arrested in the next episode- so, he's still alive.

My guess for his character arc is that he'll find out about Blaine's activities and will then become The Hunter and want to kill all zombies.

x5 Blaine had to have gotten the Utopium from somewhere. I doubt he created it himself.

So now the question becomes why someone is turning people into zombies.

For Science!

edited 15th Apr '15 8:35:28 PM by Eagal

Ravi's speculation about it being a weapon seemed like a suggestion of some kind of Hate Plague weapon that would cause enemy soldiers to literally rip each other apart (wonder if this is a trope- it also shows up in Agent Carter, although that wasn't the intended use of the phlebotinium)

edited 15th Apr '15 8:42:21 PM by Hodor2

It isn't a useful battlefield tool - why make your enemies angry and bullet resistant when you can just as well make them dead? As a weapon, it seems to be aimed at rendering humans extinct. But even for that, it's not an efficient way to go about things. The only way a plot to make zombies makes sense if the people behind it are just utterly insane zombie buffs that somehow got their hands on the tools to make their crazed dreams reality.

I don't think it's a good strategy (although real people have actually thought about using mind altering chemical weapons on the enemy). The works that include the idea generally do it to indicate that the military/government are super-evil.

Why are you assuming they intend to Zombify their enemies? It could be intended for their own soldiers.

Good point. That's the other trope (which is actually what the Agent Carter example turns out to be)- something intended for a positive purpose Gone Horribly Wrong.

The problem is that each zombie needs at least 12 brains a year to remain functional. I suppose you could freeze them in peacetime, but that makes keeping their training up to date very difficult. And it still doesn't explain why people are spreading it.

Going feral if they don't get brains could be a side effect they're trying to get rid of.

I think the assumption (at least from me) is that the intent wasn't to turn people into brain eating zombies. It was either a bioweapon to make enemy soldiers kill each other in a mindless rage or some kind of ill-fated Super Serum.

Edit- But yes, as Izeinsummer notes, the whole thing with the energy drink company suggests that there are people besides Blaine who know a chemical makes people into brain-eating zombies and wants to give it to more and more people- which doesn't make a lot of sense unless the people responsible are omnicidal maniacs.

edited 16th Apr '15 7:23:35 AM by Hodor2

Yeah I watched the pilot on hulu a while back. Ironically when I told my mother about this, she said "oh great, another zombie show," but when she saw it, she said that she liked it.

It's more like kind of a Monk, Psych kind of show, with a zombie gimmick.

I disagree. While it might have a Case Of The Week format, the character(s) get pretty much equal focus. With other shows you have the personal stuff more as a side story. But this show does not feel that much like a procedural like for example Forever or Castle. It's one of the things I like about it.

edited 17th Apr '15 12:14:31 AM by ZheToralf

More importantly, the world building is seriously unstable for an episodic format. There is no way things can continue as they are in even the medium term - there are multiple factions making more zombies! - that really does not jive with buisness as usual continuing on. At all. Either the secrecy goes and zombie numbers dwindle as they are shot or frozen, or the second season is going to logically be "the apocalypse" .

Or the Masquerade is broken and the zombies form their own commune.

This is basically a vampire story with zombies. I imagine by the second season they'll be revealed to the world and it will focus more on Liv and her new boyfriend trying to stop the bad ones.