‘iZombie’: “Conspiracy Weary” Deftly Connects the Season’s Numerous Plots

After an overloaded episode last week, “Conspiracy Weary” gets things moving quickly again with the zombie truthers plot taking center stage. Picking up where the last episode left off, Liv (Rose McIver) and Blaine (David Anders) storm Harley Johns’ (Andrew Caldwell) live streaming of Don E (Bryce Hodgson) going “full Romero”. Separately, Fillmore Graves’ mercenaries also show up, and Johns’ group is killed while he escapes. Peyton’s (Aly Michalka) investigation into Weckler’s death reveals some big discoveries, Major (Robert Buckley) continues to deal with being known as the Chaos Killer, and Ravi (Rahul Kohli) inadvertently reveals too much about zombies to the wrong person. There’s a lot going on, but iZombie manages it all easily, and gets in some great comic moments.

After the Johns’ operation is taken down, Liv, Blaine, Don E, and one of the mercenaries all eat some of Bo Johns’ (James Pizzinato) brain, giving them all conspiracy theorist personalities. While there’s no actual mystery of the week to solve, Bo Johns’ brain does move forward some of the lingering questions from the Tuttle/Reid murders, as well as the assassination attempt on Floyd Baracus (Kurt Evans). Plus, there’s the added bonus of having the three having simultaneous visions and debating whether Tupac is still alive. They’re a twisted sort of gang, one that would be fun to explore down the road if there was a good plot reason why the three should eat the same brain.

While Liv and Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) are on Harley Johns’ trail, they discover a trap at his cabin and are able to warn Major and Justin (Tongayi Chirisi), who are there with Chase Graves (Jason Dohring) and other mercenaries, although not before two men are killed. (While not necessarily a surprise, this episode confirms that Chase is also a zombie.) Eventually, Liv and Clive return to the cabin and find a secret underground bunker where Johns is holed up. At this point they’re sure he’s behind both Anna (Caitlin Stryker) and Wally’s (Mataeo Mingo) murders, and the Baracus assassination attempt, but Liv gets a vision immediately before Clive fires his gun proving that Harley isn’t responsible for the murders. Clive barely has time to feel guilty over killing an innocent man when it’s revealed that Johns is a zombie.

Worse, Ravi’s infiltration of the zombie truthers has unintended consequences when Rachel (Ella Cannon), who’d been at the same initial meeting as Ravi, shows up to see Don E, runs, and later seeks out Ravi. When she discovers he lives with the Chaos Killer, she disappears again, but finally listens to Ravi when he explains later that zombies are real. Unbeknownst to Ravi, Rachel is a reporter for a Seattle alt weekly, and the episode ends with her story being published on the front page (“Zombies Are Real and They’re Coming for Your Brains”), complete with a photo of Liv in full-on zombie mode. It’s a huge development, and if people believe the story, or Liv, Ravi, and Clive are named, the consequences would be dire, particularly with Zombie Island not yet ready.

Meanwhile, Peyton’s dogged pursuit of the Weckler case results in her getting his last personal effects, and she discovers a safe deposit box key. She convinces Weckler’s daughter, Tatum (Ava Frye), to let her tag along to get the memory card, but learns more than she bargained for when Tatum experiences a vision and Peyton realizes Tatum is a zombie. As if that wasn’t enough, the memory card includes a video of Weckler calling someone in a panic after Roxanne’s been killed. While she and Liv speculate that it could be Baracus, they have no evidence, and he’s also just been elected mayor, making any potential involvement by him in Roxanne or Weckler’s deaths even messier.

Major’s story also finally intersects with the rest: he continues to see Shawna (Sarah Jurgens) until Liv discovers that she’s been posting photos, texts, and videos of Major online. When confronted, Shawna argues that people need to see another side to him in order to change his Chaos Killer reputation, but he’s unmoved. They break up, and Major is driven further into self-loathing, particularly when his mercenary buddies tease him and wear t-shirts with one of the online photos on it. Major’s complicated and unresolved relationship with Liv also doesn’t help matters when half of their interactions are awkward. His increasing isolation from humans is an interesting choice now that he’s no longer a zombie, especially as it remains to be seen if he’ll ever get out from under the cloud of the Chaos Killer.

“Conspiracy Weary” does a great job of further connecting pieces from the various complex plots of the season. Seeing the ways in which the zombie truthers, Baracus, the Weckler investigation, and Fillmore Graves all intersect is part of the fun of iZombie, and knowing that the show knows how to deliver resolution and questions in equal measure, gives much to look forward to for the final two episodes of season three. The season’s almost over, but with a fourth season confirmed, there’s comfort in knowing that everything doesn’t need to be wrapped up quickly; rather, iZombie can continue its well-plotted and always entertaining long-term storytelling.