iZombie Recap With Spoilers: Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues

The episode opens on a trio of teens walking around drinking a beer and busting on each other. When they duck behind a bush to avoid being seen by a car, one of them spots a gun. He picks up a bottle and shoots at it while it’s in the air.

Peyton wakes up and, while lacing up her sneakers, sees on the news a story about a man being pursued by police. She heads to an aerobics class, after which she runs into Liv. The pair hug and both tear up. Liv brings her a drink and thanks her for the birthday cake. Peyton says she was really upset when she first left, but she understands how hard the last year must have been for Liv. She feels bad that she bailed on top of everything. While they’re talking, Liv gets a text from Ravi and has to go.

In Gilda’s bed, Major wakes up and rolls out. She flirts with him, but when he shoots her down, she gets back to business and tells him to kill zombies today.

Major arrives at home, meeting his stolen dog and apologizing to Ravi, who tells him that he needs to be more responsible with the dog around; it was whining all night. Before Major can give Ravi a ride home, Liv arrives at the door. Major takes the dog out the back door while Ravi and Liv leave through the front to go to work.

At the location of a murder, Liv and Ravi find Clive with the body of a waitress. She had been writing to an inmate, but they’d been returned unopened.

At work, Clive meets his supervisor. They have a shooter in a recent convenience store murder, but no weapon. She introduces an FBI agent who is following up on a number of missing person reports of rich and powerful people in Seattle. His CO tells him to give the agent whatever she needs.
At the morgue, Liv fries up some brains for lunch.

Later, Clive comes to report on the inmate, who knew the waitress was cheating on him. She begged him in a letter not to do anything crazy when he gets out, which he did a month ago.
Clive and Liv head to a pawn shop where the convict is working, asking him about his ex-girlfriend’s death.

He says he hasn’t spoken to her since his parole. He went to see her play at the country-western bar, but he couldn’t stand being there when the emotions came flooding back.

After they finish talking to the ex-boyfriend, Clive talks to the pawn shop owner while Liv picks up a guitar and buys it on the spot.

Back at the morgue, she starts writing a song about the dead woman’s relationship, hoping she gets some insight.

At his apartment, Ravi is making out with Steph when Peyton comes in, saying that Major had said she could crash there for a while until her apartment was ready. She leaves to go get food, and Ravi’s current girlfriend says she was impressed by his ex.

Clive and Liv head to the bar, where the manager says nobody would have a motive to kill Lacey. A customer says he saw her drop a pot of coffee in the manager’s lap yesterday. By the time they can turn back around to question him, he’s driven off.

In the mortuary basement, Blaine is frustrated that a two of their rich clients have disappeared.

One of Blaine’s flunkies comes in and tells him that they’ve found Gabriel, the guy whose recipe tainted the Utopium before the boat party. He’s now a preacher, and doesn’t want to cooperate, even after a beating.
In her office, Peyton starts looking for information on Mr. Boss, starting with inmates who are already in jail. None of them are willing to talk.

The manager of the restaurant comes into the police department with his pregnant wife and tells them that Lacey was in love with him and made a move, which he rejected, which is why she poured the coffee on him. When Liv reveals what actually went down — that Lacey asked for a cash advance and he came onto her, but she rejected it — his wife says he came home late and harried.

Later, the FBI Agent — Bozzio — seems taken with Clive, and makes fun of another cop who is too new age-y for her taste. She asks Clive what she needs to know to survive and not piss people off. He tells her that he’s the one who pisses people off. She makes a joke about doing the opposite of him, and then when he’s not receptive to that, she asks him for a tip for nearby food. He recommends a food truck, and she invites him out. Before he can take her up on it, the manager’s wife is ready to take her statement.

Clive quickly realizes that her story is too perfect, and he tricks her into saying there was blood on his clothes. Clive tells her that there was no blood in the strangulation murder and advises her that falsely reporting a crime is a felony.

At the bar, Liv preps for an open mic night. Ravi comes, dressed in Western wear, She gets up and sings her song, which seems to apply either to Lacey and her ex in a literal way or to Major and Liv on another level.

At the police department, Bozzio throws out the New Age guy’s candle when a woman comes in to bring a bag in to the police Her son found it. Clive directs her to the New Age cop and goes back to a message he was leaving for Liv that he needs more visions now that the manager is off the hook.

As Liv realizes that the song has given her clarity and she has to talk to Major, Ravi wants her to stay and be his wingman, but she can’t. Lacey’s ex follows her out to the car. He tells Liv that he loved Lacey and he’s sad he screwed it up. Liv says love isn’t always enough.

Major is sitting on the couch with the dog when a report about the dog’s former owner being “still missing” comes on. He gets up to answer the door and it’s Liv. She tells him that she always knew they were meant for each other, but she now realizes it’s time to let him go. He closes the door on her, seemingly unfazed, and she starts to walk away even sadder before storming in and asking her how he can be this cold to her. He asks whose brain she ate, who he’s being cold to. She says she couldn’t bring her zombie life home to him and be his wife — she was confused and dangerous — and that every decision she made was to try and protect him and those around her.

He says that he keeps asking her for space, and she’s always around. She asks him why he’s making her doubt “the only thing in my life that I was sure was real” and leaves.

Later, Major — out of it, maybe stoned — is playing video games when Ravi comes in and asks where the dog went. Ravi tells him to run out and find the dog.

At the mortuary, Blaine and his two goons open a coffin where Gabriel is taped and tied up. Blaine has one guy scratch him when he’s still not cooperative, telling one of the goons that soon, he’ll be a fresh, angry zombie.

At the district attorney’s office, Blaine agrees to help Peyton take down Boss, offering a huge amount of information in exchange for immunity.

Nobody, including Blaine, knows who Boss’s Hong Kong supplier is. He and Peyton flirt a bit during interrogation.

Later at Liv’s apartment, she tells Peyton that she went off on Major. Peyton says Major doesn’t seem alright. Gilda comes in and Liv offers her food, which she declines. Peyton says she thinks a background check on Gilda is in order. The two talk about how Peyton met an interesting guy at work today — who she thinks Liv would like.

At the mortuary, Gabriel is released from the coffin. They tease him with brains and, when he still won’t crack, send him out of the building and tell him to come back when he has a new answer.

Liv heads to the police department the next morning, and she says she believes the ex didn’t do the killing; he’s soft on the inside and not a bad guy. Clive is skeptical, but when it’s revealed that the gun that woman brought in last night was used in the convenience store shooting, and that it was found on the same street as Lacey’s home, he puts two and two together and realizes that she was killed not as a crime of passion, but desperation: she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Major comes home to find Ravi drying off the dog; he found it on a lost pet message board. The dog had been found at the park where Major had kidnapped the dog and its owner. Ravi chastises Major, asking him what’s going on with his life and saying he doesn’t think Major can take care of himself, let alone an animal. Major says he’s going to get himself together, but when Ravi yells at him a bit more, he heads out to get some Utopium.

It’s on the house, because the dealer is a kid Major had mentored back at the shelter. The dealer thinks it’s hilarious, Major feels ashamed — and as he leaves, he gets a booty call text from Gilda (whom he knows as Rita).

Instead, he goes to Liv, says that he needs help, and the two kiss.