iZombie Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Filleted to Rest

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Liv may have been on a perfectionist chef brain, but iZombie Season 5 Episode 7 served up a heaping dose of twists.

What are we supposed to do with this information? What does it mean for the remainder of the series?

We have the return of Liv's mother, the revelation about Liv's father, and Justin not only betrayed Major, but he got killed for it.

Blast from the Past - Tall  - iZombie Season 5 Episode 7

The hour focused on family. It was beautiful if a bit clumsy. The case mostly fell to the back in that it wasn't something of interest until Jerry explained why he killed the woman whose brain Liv consumed.

Related: iZombie Season 5 Episode 6 Review: The Scratchmaker

She was an awful woman, and from the sounds of her colleagues, no one batted an eye at her death. However, Jerry came across sympathetic when he broke down and explained the circumstances behind how he managed to kill her.

IZombie has utilized zombies and their mistreatment by humans and vice versa as an all-encompassing allegory for various human experiences, phobias, 'isms, and more.

Suspect Alibi - Tall  - iZombie Season 5 Episode 7

In this case, there was a connection between zombiesm and sexuality -- zombie bigotry to homophobia. Jerry was a zombie who "passed" as a human and hid in plain sight.

However, his boss discovered he was a zombie when she caught him pilfering brains to consume, and she threatened to "out" him to his parents who happen to be some of Dolly's CHIC members.

He was so afraid of being exposed/outed that he killed her by accident. It was tragic. Family can bring out the best and worst in a person. Family can be what restores you or what destroys you.

Our parents screw us up. If we're lucky, sometimes they lift us up.

Liv

Liv could relate to Jerry a bit because of the issues she has had with her family. Liv and her family are estranged. Her mother was never able to forgive her when her brother was ill, and she refused to give him blood. At the time, she was keeping it a secret that she was a zombie.

She was unaware of the effects her blood would have on her brother. Her mother could never forgive her for it.

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What's unfortunate is that it has been roughly a year since the truth about zombies came out, and Eva probably figured out why her daughter did what she did and realized what her daughter was, and she still didn't reach out, respond to any of Liv's messages, or care to know if her daughter was OK.

Complicated Smuggling Job - Tall - iZombie Season 5 Episode 1

What kind of mother is that? It was a surprise when Eva showed up and chastised Liv for beating the machine, but it was worse when she showed no care, concern, or anything toward her daughter.

She was so cold, distant, and angry. She knows more now -- she knows better now, and she remains an uncaring woman who showed no interest in reconciling with her daughter. It was brutal!

Eva: How are you doing?
Liv: Is that rhetorical? You didn't care enough to answer my calls. Return my letters.

The only time Liv got a passionate response of any sort from Eva was when she asked about her father. Liv assumed the man who showed up at the hospital was her dad, and it wasn't the case.

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In another shocker, Liv's father is Martin Roberts; he's the mysterious man who has been leading whatever charge this is that required the FG zombies and Romero zombies. Holy plot twist, Batman!

Did he know he had kids out there? Did he know one of them is a zombie? Where the heck is this headed now?!

Eva warned Liv against searching for her father. She said he wasn't a decent guy and had many issues, but she also didn't give Liv any incentive to not search for him after her terrible treatment.

Up until this point, Liv has sustained herself on her found family: Major, Ravi, Peyton, and Clive. They are everything she has, and it has been sufficient, but there's been a piece missing for her entire life. Of course, she's going to go searching for it!

Liv: Martin Roberts.
Martin: Yes.
Liv: My name is Olivia Moore. I'm your daughter.

Hell, you can even say all those orphan zombie children are her family. She was not the most pleasant nor understanding while on the perfectionist's brain, so she unleashed her frustration on them. They have been cooped up in the hideout for a while, so they were bound to get rowdy.

She made it up to them with a lovely family-style meal that hit me right in the feels. I cannot be the only one who enjoyed domestic LilyMoore. Major came home from a trying day at work to kids hugging him, and a delicious spread of food Liv made.

Cheers to Family

Little did he know Liv was in her feelings about her family. What's going to happen when both of them realize Liv's father is behind the turmoil and coup d'état at Fillmore Graves?

Major was having family issues of his own. He has faced a lot of blowback from many of the FG soldiers who don't respect him, but all this time the one person he could count on, without a shadow of a doubt, was Justin.

We might lose faith sometimes, but you can't give up on family. It might be the most important thing we've got.

Liv Voiceover

Traitorous Justin was disappointing as hell. He arranged for the death of his colleagues. How awful is that? What's the freaking point?

At first, I was relieved he wasn't killed, and then we found out it was because of his involvement. It sucks that Justin was this character they rarely knew what to do with, and then he lingered in the background as Major's friend and second after he broke up with Liv, and now he's a traitor.

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Well, he was a traitor. Some of Major's colleagues, the freshly defrosted Inspector, and Martin were all surprised Major shot Justin dead. It was a move reminiscent of Chase, and it was something Major had to do, but it was a shock he showed no hesitation whatsoever.

Heavy is the Head - Tall - iZombie Season 5 Episode 2

It seems Martin is reevaluating how he plans to deal with Major after hearing about his response to Justin. With that move, Major has become more unpredictable than planned.

For Ravi's part, he was able to reconnect Dr. Collier with her twin sister. Finally, Collier returned, but it was with a storyline involving her twin sister and aside from her boss being upset at Ravi for not sharing his information about the teens with the syndrome which can lead to a zombie cure, nothing of substance came from the arc.

Justin: You really should have stayed gone, Peters. You picked the wrong team, brother.
Major: I'm thinking you picked the wrong team, brother.

It's a chance something big may come down the road, but if it's the case, they didn't pepper anything throughout this hour to tip anyone off, so it felt like a loose plot to tie into the overall theme of family and the chance to use Ravi instead of having three main characters missing from this hour.

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Peyton was onscreen for a millisecond during a TV interview, and Blaine and his part of the series were absent again.

The interaction between the twins and Ravi playing mediator and going out of his way to harass Collier's sister was cute, and they should be reunited soon enough for some reason or another, but yeah.

Ravi's New Ally - Tall - iZombie Season 5 Episode 1

Also, was that Mills' daughter kidnapped at the end of the hour? Isn't she the only thing keeping them from nuking the city? If her father arranged for her kidnapping that doesn't bode well for any of the inhabitants of New Seattle.

Meanwhile, Clive is the ideal man, and Michelle knows it, which is why she put him down as the baby's father on her paperwork.

He went out of his way to put her on a low-risk case, and she ended up in the hospital anyway. Clive is such a good guy; he's too good to be true sometimes.

The Perfect Man - Tall  - iZombie Season 5 Episode 7

He rushed to her side the second he found out she was in the hospital, and it's what she appreciates and misses about him. She gave him more background on the pregnancy situation.

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She knows her ex is likely the father; she's damn near certain, but Clive is the guy who would be the best father. Am I the only one who was turned off by her being so misleading all of this time?

I mean, it's nice that she thinks so highly of Clive, and she's right, but it almost feels exploitative putting him on the hook to care about her and this baby as if it was his own.

Family Matters - Tall

We know Clive, even with this news the baby probably isn't his, he'll still feel a need to be present in some way. It's who he is.

Michelle is trying to choose her family instead of accepting the family she has, and it fits in with the rest of what was going on during the hour. Family, it f**ks us up.

-Related: Get CBS All Access via Prime Video Channels for Hit Shows, Exclusive Originals & Live TV! -

Over to you, iZombie Fanatics! How do you feel about Justin being a traitor? Did the return of Liv's mom meet your expectations? Were you shocked by the father twist?

Hit the comments below, and don't forget you can watch iZombie online here via TV Fanatic!

Filleted to Rest Review

Editor Rating: 4.4 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 5.0 / 5.0 (7 Votes)

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.

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iZombie Season 5 Episode 7 Quotes

Clive: They told me you put me down as the father of the baby and in case of an emergency.
Michelle: the baby's not yours, Clive.

Dear God, did someone run this through cat litter?!

Liv [spits out coffee]