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truthbeetoldmedia · 5 years

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iZombie 5x11 "Killer Queen" Review

As iZombie creeps toward its series finale, we are getting our last tastes of brains as our heroes get closer to a cure than ever before. This episode managed to juggle a case-of-the-week while also doing a fair amount of table setting for the finale, even if some aspects were anti-climactic.

While the last few episodes have had murders that tie directly into the progressing plot or were a result of the existence of zombies, this week’s case was pretty isolated from the rest of the episode. Other than Liv’s sole, crucial vision, it seems as if this murder could have been solved on any other show. An aging drag queen, Mike, is murdered with a six-foot string of pearls, sending Liv and Clive down a rabbit hole into old school drag queen culture. It gives Liv the opportunity to gussy up more than usual, via dramatic eye makeup and a wig with impeccable finger waves. There’s a conflicting consensus among the group on her look — Clive calls it a “bold choice” while Ravi remarks that it’s “A bit more reserved than I was expecting, frankly.” Despite being suspicious of the new queen in town, Bitchcraft, it turns out to be the drag queen’s performing and business partner for 20 years, Gary, who is the culprit. Mike was planning on selling the drag bar to turn it into a parking lot, and Gary could not abide to lose his home and family to such a business decision. A very specific Cher outfit ends up being the smoking gun, which Liv, with her new found keen drag queen eye, was able to spot.

While Clive and Liv are getting schooled on the nuances between traditional and mainstream drag queen conventions, Major and Ravi get a much more action star plot in this episode. Another murder case down at the station tips Liv off to a cure that’s been floating around, and she and Ravi are able to trace it back to the Freylich brains. Ravi makes Major a sushi dinner to ask for his help, but it turns out Major doesn’t need much convincing to basically play James Bond. He whips out his hopelessly charming smile to get a contact from a young woman named Clarissa Bates and puts a tracking device in a business card. (The best part of being in charge of Fillmore Graves is “the toys,” he gushes.) He and Ravi stake out where they think the Freylich kids are being smuggled from, decked out in black beanies and big coats. Ravi finds the van with all the kids while Major gets in a close range shootout. Ravi drives the van into their assailant, and then uses it as a getaway car, with all the kids in the back.

Ravi has been feeling so guilty about the Freylich brain discovery, and I have to say, seeing all the kids in the van with their mouths duct-taped was pretty disturbing. It certainly puts a visual on the horrible operation Blaine has been running. While Ravi is stealing the Freylich kids out from Blaine’s nose, Blaine figures out that Don E has been smuggling brains for Fillmore Graves behind his back. He’s angry, but halfway impressed. This coincides with the day of Don E’s and Darcy’s wedding. Don E gathers his friends and the bagpipe player to the bar, dressed to the nines, ready for holy matrimony, when Blaine quietly tells Don E to follow him. When Blaine leads Don E to the back, it seems like he’s setting him up for some kind of payback, but then it’s revealed Darcy has passed away. She’s peacefully lying on the couch, dressed her wedding dress. Blaine coldly tells Don E that Darcy has to go to the client soon, but Don E should take his time.

All of this was so heartbreaking. I felt like neither Don E or the audience got a real moment to say goodbye to Darcy, which is a bummer. But it also casts a suspicious light over her death. Although we knew her Freylich brain would take her too young and too soon, you can’t help but wonder if Blaine had hastened the process. It would certainly be in his character to do so, as Ravi has taken his other potential Freylich cures, and Blaine has motivation to want to hurt Don E now. It seems as if Darcy died with no sign of struggle, but I have a hard time believing it. Don E has emerged as one of my favorite characters this season, and I’m interested in where he will end up when the show ends. Darcy burned bright and quick, but I enjoyed her time with us. On the other hand, I hope Blaine gets his comeuppance in a few weeks.

What seems to have the biggest impact on the endgame going forward is Ravi and Liv’s discovery of Martin’s operation. Right as the episode starts, they flee into the night with the original recipe of uptoipium, as well as the knowledge that Martin and Enzo have a full army of Romeros. Ravi tells Liv that he can send the uptiopium to Charlie at the CDC to find out more. Martin and Enzo find the tamperings Ravi and Liv left behind, and move their operation. That doesn’t stop them from moving some important pieces their game plan.

It’s still a little fuzzy to me what Martin’s end goal is. Martin seems to only be driven by revenge, to get back at humans for hating zombies by creating more and more zombies. We never really see what the root of that anger is from. Sure, tensions are high between humans and zombies in general, but Martin seems to have a lot more agency in this situation than he claims. After all, he started this whole mess! He also believes that zombies are more superior to humans, but there’s really no other basis for this belief other than he accidentally created a way to live undead.

When Martin is wishy-washy on pushing forward some of the details, Enzo tells him he’s being soft, and Liv has been a bad influence on him. Martin gives the okay to have their hostage, Graham’s boyfriend Stephen, killed. It cannot be understated what a terrible, awful, logistical mistake this is on Enzo and Martin’s part. Stephen comes through the morgue, which alerts Liv of his connection to Graham. Since Graham has no incentive to stay loyal to Martin and Enzo, he tells Liv about Riley, the double agent coyote. Riley had just left for a smuggling mission Liv hadn’t been tuned into, and as it turns out, it was a way for zombies to leave Seattle to infect a much bigger number of people. Liv immediately calls Martin, and begs him to call it all off. Martin tells Liv, “You’re a good person and suffer when others do,” which is why all of this is upsetting to her. For a moment, it seems like Liv might have won Martin over, but then Enzo shows up. Frustrated with his inaction, Enzo executes Martin, with Liv watching the whole thing.

Unfortunately, I found this to be a little underwhelming. When Martin was introduced at the beginning of the season, it was supposed he was some kind of unstoppable force of evil. Reintroducing Graham into the mix reminded me of that first initial meeting, when Martin and his goals were still shrouded in mystery. As episodes went on, he became a less and less formidable presence. It was humanzing to see him try to be Liv’s father, but it undercut the sinister vibe significantly. I was hoping to see more of a heartbreaking showdown between Liv and Martin. With this latest development, it has effectively (and perhaps unwittingly) made Enzo the Big Bad for the entire series. I’m not sure this was the strongest choice they could have made, but with two episodes to go, I’m hopeful iZombie has a little extra twist up its sleeve to close us out.

Final thoughts:

“When have I ever been anything but professional?” Clive looks like he could cite several years of grievances to this comment.

This was a good episode for Liv’s wigs, which I would expect nothing less for a drag queen episode

The biggest laugh for me this episode was when Liv admonishes Jenkins for pulling an image from the security footage of a drag queen that was so obviously “not Cher!!”

Graham finding out that Stephen had died was absolutely devastating. Graham was underutilized this season, in my opinion.

I missed Peyton. As interesting as the Ravi and Major plot was, it would have been so exciting to have her come along, as well as Liv. I hope the four of them get some key group moments before the series ends.

Also, where is Bozzio? I want to see the baby!

Lots of gays buried in this episode. Along with the attitude towards sex workers in a previous episode, sometimes iZombie can use disappointing, regressive tropes.

I thought the Renegade plot would be much more front and center this season, but I wonder if they weren’t sure what to do with it in the midst of everything else going on. Seeing Liv back at their headquarters again was a little jarring, as we haven’t paid it a visit in a few episodes.

Haley’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝.5

iZombie airs Thursdays at 9/8c on the CW.

#iZombie #Killer Queen

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Stargirl: Rick Tyler’s Vulnerability is his True Strength

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This article contains Stargirl spoilers.

Stargirl Season 2 Episode 8

Summer has been no fun for the kids of Stargirl. The newest season has seen them lose teammates and classmates as well as taking on Eclipso, their most terrifying foe yet. After the shocking events of episode seven which saw Yolanda Montez abandon the mantle of Wildcat for her own sanity, episode eight focuses on Rick Tyler’s Hourman, who’s having issues of his own. It’s one of Stargirl‘s most powerful episodes yet, anchored by an incredible performance by Cameron Gellman. In the wake of the tragic events that occurred this week, we chat to Gellman about vulnerability, where Rick’s at, and where he’s headed.

Rick has long been one of Blue Valley’s most traumatized children. His parents were killed by Solomon Grundy and he’s been raised by his abusive Uncle Matt. But despite that he’s found a new family in the Justice Society of America, which is why Yolanda leaving has put him so on edge as we enter episode eight.

“I think he’s super aware that one of his strongest teammates just got totally wiped out,” Gellman explains. “If she’s capable of being flipped upside down with that much ease, then he is as well. He has just as many insecurities, fears, and nightmares as she does, if not more. So I think he’s thinking, ‘It’s just a matter of time.'”

Rick’s worries aren’t unfounded as we saw in gruesome form. But before things take that awful turn, we learn something beautiful about Rick. In secret he’s been helping and feeding Grundy, the creature who killed his parents who he let live last season. It’s a stunning act of forgiveness and kindness, and as Gellman tells us it’s Rick’s way of trying to heal.

“It’s healing for him to give love and understanding to this misunderstood, scared, and lost creature the way that he feels scared, lost, and misunderstood himself,” Gellman says. “In that way, it’s a way of giving love to himself. But then it’s also a way of stepping into the man he knows he can be. The man that he knows his father would have taught him to be if he hadn’t been killed. He’s trying really hard to be the best version of himself, and knows that when you give love to something that’s lost, it flourishes. That’s true for Rick who now has the JSA and it should be true for Grundy as well.”

The pair are more similar than anyone might realize. The haunted child, pushed into a life of violence whose only power comes from his fists, and the monstrous creation utilized by the Injustice Society to kill and maim. In Gellman’s eyes Rick sees that similarity and it draws him to Grundy.

“I think there’s a real wisdom and grace in trying to see yourself, or trying to see someone else that’s outwardly so callous and rough around the edges, as just needing a little bit more attention,” he says. “We are a product of our circumstances, and the town and Matt have shaped Rick just as much as the ISA shaped Grundy. Rick thinks all the time about who he’d be if his father raised him instead of Matt, so who would Grundy be if he was in the right circumstances as opposed to being raised and abused by the ISA?”

It’s a big question and the kind that clearly drives Gellman. From the first season of Stargirl, his performance as Rick has been starkly impressive and emotionally driven. So how does he get into the mindset of a character who’s suffered such loss and familial abuse? For Gellman, it’s all about embodying Rick’s absolute exhaustion and emotional strain as a way of channeling what he’s been through.

“We don’t see Rick at home very much,” Gellman says. “There’s a lot of characters in this show who have a lot going on, and so a lot of what we know about them is just what’s been said or what’s been touched on. So with that I think it becomes important to carry the weight of where he sleeps at night when he comes into the environment we do see him in. Someone that’s always in a mode of having to defend themselves and fight, who’s dealing with that level of frustration and that exhaustion, I think that just becomes a part of someone’s body, a part of their shoulders, a part of their energy that they walk around with.”

It’s just as important for Gellman to put himself in the mind of Rick too, as it’s vital that he understands a character that he cares about so much.

“I spend a lot of time thinking about his life, thinking as though I’m him. What does he think when the world is quiet? When there’s no more distractions and you’re alone with yourself and your ugly thoughts. What are those? What are those sadnesses? Those speculations? What is it like to miss your parents that much? What is it like to have so much pressure on you to be this amazing superhero when you barely know how to take care of yourself? Just letting those things occur to me and letting them sit in my body, that’s kind of how I deal with Rick.”

His passion for the character comes through, not just in his thoughtful approach to playing him but also in the literal way he expresses himself.

“I have so much love for him,” Gellman enthuses. “And so much empathy for his circumstances, I just feel like I got lucky to be able to play him, so I try to bring as much honesty to that as possible.”

That exploration of male vulnerability is one of Stargirl‘s biggest strengths. Rick’s story is the kind we rarely get to see portrayed on TV, and even in the world of Stargirl it’s not the only one. In season one we saw the dynamic and tragic story of Henry Jr. (Jake Austin Walker), the son of Brainwave. His heartfelt and tragic performance was one of the series’ standouts and did a brilliant job paving the way for Rick to truly explore his trauma. And Gellman shares that Jake did the same for him.

“Jake Austin Walker is such an amazing human being and an amazing guy, he led the way,” Gellman tells us. “I was still really trying to figure out how to do this thoughtfully, how to do this honestly, how to do it with confidence. He was always in that big brother role, I think for everybody on set, where he’s been working his whole life. The example that he set for me and the conversations that we were able to have about the way that we approach the work really informed a lot of me stepping into my own life.”

It’s a relationship and lesson that clearly inspired the actor, and one that he’s taking with him and offering up to the next generation.

“I feel so honored that I got to do that with him last season. I feel like I now get to do that with Trey Romano and the work he’s doing with Mike. I love that kid to pieces. I think that’s the beautiful thing about what we do is, you get given little gifts and gems and then maybe you can pass them along.”

Gellman clearly took that passion and craft to heart as episode eight gives him his most emotionally devastating moment yet. After spending time caring for Grundy, Rick tries to protect him against bear hunters only to be shown that Grundy has killed a young girl. It’s a dark twist on the iconic moment from Frankenstein and it throws Rick over the edge. To Gellman, it’s one trauma too many for Rick, and he can barely process it before he acts.

“I don’t even think that he can process it in the moment,” he says. “I think it’s a split second of Rick maybe even seeing himself or his parents on the ground. He’s thinking, ‘I gave him a chance and that means that his actions, from the moment I didn’t kill him, are on me. And now, that thing has ripped another human being out of the world.'”

The discovery sends Rick after Grundy in a brutal fashion, but it is of course just another trick by Eclipso. Grundy never killed anyone, and the person that Rick thinks is Grundy is actually his abusive Uncle Matt. Using his powers and the Hourglass, Rick almost kills Matt, beating him to a pulp before being stopped by Courtney (Brec Bassinger) and her family. As he awakens and sees the truth, Rick cannot face what he’s done.

“You have this great power and you’re supposed to use it right,” Gellman explains. “I imagine my father always used it right, but all I do with it is put my team in jeopardy, using the anger and the impulsivity wrong. Look at your own bloody hands and see your family, blood all over them and all over you. It’s such a total failure. And how are you supposed to trust yourself? You think you know what’s going on and then it changes like that? You’re never in control. That confirms Rick’s greatest fear that he’s not in control of his powers and is essentially a piece of white trash. Also, in a really messed up way, Matt is the last living connection that Rick had with parents, even if he’s awful. That’s still his blood, that’s still his family on this Earth. And to have almost killed him, it’s just way too much.”

As Rick is driven away in a police car, fans are understandably worried about Eclipso’s latest victim. As Gellman tells us, “They should be! You’re seeing him at his absolute worst in total isolation. People like Rick that are struggling as much as they are, all of that gets amplified when they’re by themselves. We leave Rick in a place that’s as low as he can possibly be, where he’s going to have to deal with himself and deal with what’s happened to him.”

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Stargirl airs on The CW every Tuesday at 8PM

The post Stargirl: Rick Tyler’s Vulnerability is his True Strength appeared first on Den of Geek.

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