Real Dead Housewife of Seattle

"Let me tell you a story. When we first came up with the 'Suspected Zombies' list, Vaughn's idea was to send them all letters, zombies and non-zombies alike, informing them they'd won an all-expense-paid Hawaiian cruise. And then scuttle the ship in the middle of the Pacific. Your work, distasteful as you find it, saves lives."

- Rita to Major Lilywhite

"Real Dead Housewife of Seattle" is the third episode of Season 2 of iZombie. It was written by Kit Boss and directed by Jason Bloom. It is the sixteenth episode of the series overall, and premiered on October 20, 2015.

Synopsis
Liv eats the brains of a recently murdered trophy wife who was pushed to her death from the balcony of her stunning architectural home in the hills by a hired hit man. A Pinot Grigio-sipping, suddenly fashion obsessed Liv and Detective Babineaux begin questioning suspects in their search for the original brains behind this murder. Meanwhile, Liv and Ravi are surprised to learn that Peyton has returned to Seattle. Major Lilywhite and Blaine DeBeers also star.

Recap
A woman is drinking wine and gossiping about the Botox party. She’s on the phone with one pal talking about another woman and says she threw a drink in her face. She goes to get the door. Alex Towne, a realtor stops by and says he’d like to buy her house for all cash $10 million. He asks to see the view and she shows him. He grabs her and chokes her. She fights back. They both fall through the glass edged balcony. Her friend is still on the phone and says Taylor, Taylor…

We see dead Taylor at the bottom of the cliff. Ravi tells Clive that the woman’s other breast implant imploded on impact. She was married to Terrence Fowler and Clive says the other guy is alive but in a coma and not expected to survive. Clive says his name is Joe Fricano, not Alex Towne. Liv wonders why he was in the house and we see that Joe had her Facebook home page printed out in her pocket and thinks it’s a murder for power and may be her husband.

He says the real Alex Towne realtor is coming in. Liv asks Clive and Ravi to go out for drinks Friday. Ravi says he has plans with Stephanie on Friday – he met her at the club. He babbles then Clive says he can’t and is busy. Ravi tells Liv to dig in and she says she never had a lady who lunches for lunch. She mixes her brain into tuna salad and Ravi says she looks tasty and tasteful. At the gym, Major is bench pressing when Gilda shows up and asks shouldn’t he be working on the list.

He says he crossed a name off the list since it was human. She tells him Vaughn is not patient then says when they came up with the suspected zombie list, Vaughn was thinking about telling them they all won a cruise then sinking the ship. She tells him his work is actually saving lives. Turns out Alex Towne is a woman and says she’s happy to help but likely won’t recall one looky loo. Liv compliments her bag and asks if it’s a Stella. Liv says it conveys style and not being a suspect.

They show her the photo of Joe Fricano and she says he came to a showing and she found him poking around in a nightstand. She says he was at Vaughn du Clark’s house then says Vaughn is Seattle’s most eligible bachelor. Liv says he’s ick. Major gets on the elevator with a guy and his arm hairs stand on end. The elevator door closes and Major does not look happy. Later, Major follows the guy when he’s out walking his dog. Major tranqs him. The dog whimpers.

He tucks the guy in his trunk and the dog into the car. The guy promises not to press charges if he doesn’t hurt him then also begs him not to hurt his dog. Major cranks the radio – it’s Hush Hush, Voices Carry. He shoots the guy, wraps him in plastic then throws him over the bridge. Liv comes to work dressed to kill with a new haircut and Liv says her roommate let her raid her closet. Liv asks Clive if he’s ready to hang Vaughn du Clark from the rafters.

Her makeup and nails are on fleek. Clive says Terrence sits on the Max Rager board and Liv says that’s the Vaughn-Taylor connection. She tells Clive he needs a pocket square. They head out to Vaughn’s office. Vaughn says of course he knows Taylor and says they came to board functions. There’s another girl there acting as his assistant so Glenda is unseen. Vaughn says they’re entitled and boring. Liv says the guy who killed Taylor was caught going through things at his house.

Vaughn tells his assistant not yet on his appointment and she gets a flash of Taylor riding Vaughn. Liv asks how many times he had sex with Taylor. He says zero and says they were not lovers. He says he prefers younger, blonder women then gives her a look. Liv throws her water at him and says she’s not his little whore. Vaughn tells Liv he thinks she doesn’t like him. Liv is stunned to see Major waiting in the reception area. Vaughn says – you two know each other?

Major asks about her nails and she says the color is Sorry Beyonce. Clive says he has questions about the Meat Cute thing and Major says it’s a solved crime. Liv pulls Major aside and chews him out for being there and working for Vaughn. Major says he has to make a living and says he’s training him. Liv says Nazis says they’re following orders. He says she’s ridiculous and she slaps him. Gilda lurks nearby listening and Vaughn says let’s go. He and Major leave.

Clive talks to Liv about the vision and she says Vaughn had sex with Taylor wearing an ankh necklace. Gilda hears all of this. She hears they suspect Vaughn in the murder. They head to the stereo installer business where Joe works. He says Joe did a huge install at someone’s house but they don’t know the name. They says their manager knows and is back in a couple of days. Clive says they get to talk to Terrance and she asks him to pull the car around. He says he’s not driving Miss Crazy.

They head to Terrance’s house and Clive says the view is amazing. Clive asks how he and Taylor have been getting on – he whispers with his lawyer then says they were planning a trip for their 10th anniversary. They ask where he was when Taylor died and he says with his personal stylist. Then Clive asks about Taylor’s affair with Vaughn. Terrence freaks out and starts smashing things then cuts his hand. The lawyer hustles him out.

Clive says he’d hate to be Vaughn. Gilda sits in Vaughn’s chair and confronts him about screwing Taylor. He asks how she knows and she says somehow her zombie roommate knew. Vaughn reminds her that if it wasn’t for him screwing other men’s wives, she wouldn’t exist. OMG Gilda is Vaughn’s kid! Major works out then snorts some utopium. He’s in the Max Rager gym. Gilda comes down to work out and tries to tempt him with her yoga moves. He turns his back on her and she creeps up behind him and says he doesn’t have to go. He grabs her in a kiss and they start stripping each other.

Clive and Liv go talk to Terrence’s stylist. They ask how he was and she says he seemed skeptical about the denim she picked out. Liv compliments her view and then says she’s a genius for getting paid to shop. They talk shoes and Clive is annoyed. He asks if she ever talked to Taylor and she says mostly about clothes then asks if they’ve met Camille and Debra, Taylor’s friends, and says they’re awful people. They bring in Camille who says Debra ruined Taylor’s lupus fundraiser by barfing.

She says Debra never even apologized. Then Debra says Camille is a compulsive liar and stole Taylor’s business idea. Camille says that she was with Taylor when she found out Terrence was meeting gold diggers on line. Then Debra says she was there the night Terrance punched a hole in the wall when he found out Taylor was having an affair. Liv gets a flash of Terrence screaming about Vaughn and says anybody else but him. Debra says she spaces out like that when she was on a master cleanse.

Liv whispers to Clive that Terrence already knew about the affair and says Taylor told him to go back to his online sluts. Debra says let her go or bring her a mineral water. Liv tells Ravi she saw Major working out at Max Rager. Ravi is stunned that Major didn’t tell her. Liv rants to Ravi in very dramatic fashion about everyone abandoning her then plops down on the couch and says she needs a Pinot and salty chocolate. They listen to a news conference about cracking down on utopium.

Peyton Charles is back and is heading it up. Liv asks if Ravi knew she was back – he had no clue. Peyton says the party is over for anyone in the utopium trade. Liv says she hasn’t heard from her for three months. Ravi admits it’s weird but says they just dated a few weeks. He says Peyton will want to be back in her life eventually. He says she needs to leave the door open to it. Liv gets a call from Bethany, the stylist. She says she found the shoes for her. Ravi cheers for her.

Liv goes over to try them on and says they go with everything. Bethany criticizes her wardrobe and says dump the boxy for some foxy. She pulls a dress out of the closet and then they switch to red wine saying white is so last bottle. She asks about Debra and Camille then invites her to go along to a boutique sale that the mean girls will be at. Liv is thrilled to agree to go. She’s got the strappy shoes on at work and asks Clive what she thinks of the shoes.

He shows her photos of all the chicks that Terrence clicked on and Liv says it’s a catalog of skanks. They flip around and she makes mean comments about all of them. Clive says he’s not sure if Terrence was close to any of them. Clive says Joe’s boss is back and they need to go talk to him. Liv says she has an important meeting. Then she says Terrence did it then says it’s a me day and she’s going to see a friend. She tells him he has it. She meets Bethany and they air kiss.

She shows Liv a red dress she found for her. She tells the clerk to start a tab. He says happy birthday and Bethany says they have to celebrate. They decide to go to Fin and Juice, a smoothie and sushi place. Clive heads to the stereo shop and the guy says he fished past his limit. Clive asks about the mystery customer. He shows a pic of Terrence and he says no, it was a pro quarterback. Then he says Joe met a girl a few months ago and says she ran him around. He shows photos of Deb and Camille but he says no.

The guy says she was more of a skank and Clive says he has a catalog of skanks and asks him to flip through it. Liv tries on the red dress and tells Bethany to go find something for herself. Liv checks herself out in the mirror and then her phone buzzes. It’s Clive who says he thinks Bethany hired Joe to kill Taylor. She asks how and he says Bethany met Terrence on the sugar daddy web site and also had Joe on the hook too.

Clive reads her the profile details and he says Terrence must have turned her into a persona stylist to cover the money he was giving her. Clive asks where she is and she says shopping with Bethany who is getting her 40% off. Clive says to keep her there. Bethany comes out and asks Liv to zip her up. Then Bethany elbows her in the face and runs. Liv tackles her and Bethany maces her and Liv goes full zombie. Liv knocks her out then fights to get it under control.

The manager says they’re calling the police. She says she is the police. Clive has Bethany in the interrogation room and Liv comes in. Bethany says to keep her away from her. Clive says Bethany got off easy and says Terrence was making her wait to make her the next wife and so she had Joe go find evidence of cheating to get Terrence out of the pre-nup. Clive reads off warrants she’s wanted for in other states all with rich older men.

Clive says while she’s serving time on those charges, they’ll dig up evidence on this murder too. Liv asks her what doesn’t orange go with. Ravi comes home calling for Major and says he crushed his date. The dog comes up tail wagging and he sees that Peyton is there too. Ravi says they house is full of surprises. Peyton tells Major to go to bed and says he needs some sleep. Major says he wanted to go to bed anyway. Peyton tells Ravi she’s sorry for disappearing.

She says fight or flight is a real thing then says what she saw made her fly. Ravi says he knows what she saw and Peyton says it took her a while to wrap her head around it then she got the call about the task force. She asks if Major knows and Ravi say she does but is still trying to wrap his head around it. Peyton asks if she can hug him. He holds her close and sniffs her hair then looks uncomfortable. She asks him about his date. Liv goes to buy some booze and the guy notes it’s her birthday.

He says it looks like she’s having quite the party – she says all her friends will be there. She goes home and pulls out her bottle of whiskey. In the fridge is a birthday cake for her. She pulls it out. Gilda comes out of her room and says she didn’t tell her it was her birthday. Liv says she didn’t tell anyone. Gilda says some chick came by and waited then left the cake. She describes the girl’s beauty mark – Liv says her name is Peyton. She smiles.

Vaughn does tai chi watching a video. Terrence shows up and Vaughn says it looks like he’s holding a lot of tension. Terrence says he’s holding his nards. Terrence says he’s got the votes for a hostile takeover. Vaughn smiles and says now what. Terrence says he started working on it when he found out he was screwing his wife so now he’s going to screw him. Vaughn says to play it smart and take the long view then says they both want the same thing – a private jet, an island, etc.

Terrence says the stock hit a 52 week low and Vaughn says they need to see what they’re doing in the lab. He tells Terrence he’ll lose his head. Terrence says to show him and they head down in the elevator to a deep sub-level. They go into a lab and Vaughn says the real magic happens here. They go into a room with a chair with straps and Vaughn says it’s for science. He says he needs to get Dr Holland. Vaughn leaves him in there and then the doors close. Vaughn says Terrence is so consumed by work. Holland is there – he’s a zombie and attacks Terrence.

Starring

 * Rose McIver as Olivia Moore
 * Malcolm Goodwin as Clive Babineaux
 * Rahul Kohli as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti
 * Robert Buckley as Major Lilywhite
 * David Anders as Blaine DeBeers

Guest Starring

 * Aly Michalka as Peyton Charles
 * Jazz Raycole as Bethany Miller
 * David Starzyk as Terrence Fowler
 * Leanne Lapp as Rita
 * Kurt Evans as Floyd Baracus
 * Brian Markinson as Dr. Holland
 * Steven Weber as Vaughn Du Clark

Co-Starring

 * Serge Houde as High Priced Lawyer
 * Ona Grauer as Taylor Fowler
 * Ingrid Tesch as Terrence's Assistant/Meg
 * Nicole Fraissinet as Camille Underschite
 * Lucia Walters as Debra Canfield
 * Lee Page as Joe Fricano
 * Anne Marie DeLuise as Alex Towne
 * Antonio Cayonne as Rich Tech Guy
 * Nicole Major as Vaughn's Assistant
 * Dagan Nish as Damon
 * Nicholas Carey as Matt
 * Sergio Osuna as Clerk
 * Noel Johansen as Manager
 * Timothy Lok as Liquor Store Clerk
 * Don Chow as Tai Chi Instructor

Soundtrack

 * I'm In Love With My Life (Mystery Skulls Remix) by PHASES
 * Noir by Sstaria
 * Voices Carry by 'Til Tuesday
 * All Day All Night by Truthsayer
 * Castle by Halsey
 * Visions by Arum Rae
 * When You Coming to See Me? by MAWR
 * Liang Xiao #1 by Don Chow
 * Emergency by Icona Pop
 * Come On And On by The Original Eyes
 * Lazy Jane by Jenny O

Production Notes

 * The story takes place on Liv's birthday, and premiered on Rose McIver's actual birthday, October 20.

Cultural References

 * Veronia Mars references in this episode: Liv says about Peyton when asked "A long time ago we used to be friends", which is a line from the Veronica Mars theme song " We used to be friends" by the Dandy Warhols. When Liv pulls out a bottle of spicy whiskey in her inner monologue she says to the bottle "Hello friend", a phrase said frequently during Veronica's inner monologues as well.