I’m getting ahead of myself here. The main focus of the episode was on the stalker-brain Liv ate, thereby causing major trust issues between her and Major (which, to be fair, shedoes have a reason not to trust him). It was only a matter of time before something started to pick apart at the integrity of Liv and Major’s relationship. Of course, it’s easy to forget that there are still plenty of lies on Major’s part that are just waiting to come out into the open. Like Liv, we were all in the honeymoon phase of their newly rekindled relationship, forgetting that the truth must come out eventually (or maybe that was just me)
The moment where Liv broke down while trying to open up Major’s safe was some great work by Rose McIver (of course he had removed the list of zombie names and his drug-gun by that point). We haven’t ever seen Liv this broken, and while Regina’s stalker-brain certainly added to those emotions, it has become clear by this point that they still tap into some of Liv’s innermost thoughts and feelings.
Throwing another wrench into Liv and Major’s relationship was Gilda’s jealousy. It’s ironic that she’s actually developed feelings for Major, but it is oddly satisfying for viewers to see her get so frustrated with Major. It was heartbreaking to see her toy with Liv’s emotions when she told her that she should punish him, but it was wonderful to see her refer to Gilda as a desperate woman who threw herself at Major (Gilda’s reaction was perfect). That cat needs to be let out of the bag soon though. iZombie has a tendency to drag out secrets for too long, and this one is nearing that threshold. Hopefully the midseason finale next week remedies that problem with this particular plot line.
“The Hurt Stalker” was an exceptional episode of iZombie, choosing to focus more on the emotional journey Liv is going through in her relationship with Major as opposed to the season-long arc. It was a nice build-up to the mid-season finale next week, allowing things to simmer just before they boil over. We’re in for a treat next week!