As my bio at the bottom of the article says, aside from being a fan of horror, I am also a fan of mystery. And what we have here, folks, is a mystery.

Here are the questions:

• Who killed Wally and his family?
• Who blew up the helicopter, killing Vivian Stoll, CEO of Fillmore Graves?
• Who ordered the death of Wexler?
• And these aren’t the only ones! There are a couple coming!

So, let’s start with the revelation that Harley Johns is a zombie. He, of course, is not happy about it. Zombies killed his two brothers. He hates them as much as he hates himself. But a quick call to the Chaos Kidnapper, Major Lilywhite, and Harley is sedated and placed in the freezer in the bunker until they can figure out what to do with him.

Our favorite CDC Investigator and former Boss of Ravi (who was her sex toy), stops in for a visit, trying to track down the possible transmission of an upcoming pandemic, namely, the Aleutian Flu. Dr. Katty Kupps sees the tabloid zombie story that Rachel wrote. She mentions it, but pays little attention to it. She sees Liv, who has finally tanned and has a wig, giving her hair a different look.

Lonely Major gets an unexpected call from an unexpected ex-Zombie. Natalie is back in town. She’s cured, she’s happy, she’s moving to the south of France, she asks Major to help her move…and then come with her. Major agrees.

Across town, in the secret bunker, unknown hands jimmy the lock on the freezer containing the zombie Harley Johns. Another mystery!

Major is called into Chase Graves’ office. Chase knows that Major is now human and fires him. The other troops corner Major, wanting to know if it is true. Major fesses up. They want to have the biggest farewell blowout for Major that Fillmore Graves has ever seen!

Speaking of unexpected, this week’s murder victim is none other than Dr. Katty Kupps. She’s found propped up in an alley. Liv eats some of her brain and is treated to Ravi’s sexual advances to her. Liv also finds that Katty was a sex fiend. She finds herself in the bar in the hotel, picking up any man who shows an interest. That includes Chase Graves. The two end up in bed together. Liv finds a cocktail napkin next to the bed with Katty’s name and room number. Insert organ sting here.

Harley’s friends stop by and don’t realize that the now freed Harley is a zombie. He makes short work of them and gets the brains he needs to think clearly.

The party is in full swing. Major has brought Natalie. Justin is a little worried. Liv hasn’t shown up yet. He has tried calling her, but to no avail. He and Major step outside to talk about it. Inside, some of the guards notice a stranger who seems to have come for free beer. They ask him to leave. But, it’s Harley Johns, wearing a fashionable vest made of dynamite.

“You know what we zombies are?” he asks. “We are abominations!” Boom!!!!!!

Major and Justin are blown back, but survive. Natalie, however, was standing in front of Harley. I did say that people were not going to find love.
Of course, there is great relief when Major and Justin show up at the apartment. But that relief is short-lived when Liv fesses up that she slept with Chase Graves that night. Justin leaves in anger.

Blaine shows up at Chase’s office, hoping to get a new supplier for brains. Chase tells him no and that his place is off-limits for the soldiers at Fillmore Graves. Blaine is not happy.

Major shows up later, telling Chase he wants back in. Chase says no. Major tells him to scratch him. He wants to be a zombie again. We don’t see the scratch, but we all know that Chase gives Major what he wants.

Clive is following up on the passengers of a flight from Paris. That is where the Aleutian Flu is coming from. The road leads back to Wexler’s zombie daughter and her friend. Her friend happens to be the daughter of Carey Gold, Wally’s teacher and zombie from Fillmore Graves. A light goes on in Clive’s head. Is this just another connection to Fillmore Graves? Are the zombies spreading the virus?

Upon returning to the office, Clive finds FBI agent Bozzio sitting in his seat. She wants to show him something. Apparently, while trying to find the Russian connection from a few episodes ago, Bozzio and her crew intercepted The Scratching Post’s supply of brains and caught Don E’s man. Bozzio has made a connection between this guy and Major Lilywhite. The brains don’t make any sense, but she is sure that Clive can fill in the blanks. He pulls down the shade and unplugs the camera in the room. Then, he slugs the prisoner, who goes full Romero. Bozzio is terrified. Clive calmly explains the whole zombie situation to her.

But what is the plan? And who is behind all this maneuvering?

Main suspect: Chase Graves.

An employee of Fillmore Graves, namely Carey Gold, had her daughter fly to Paris, fetch Chase’s dog and bring it back. It is found that the dog could have been wearing a collar that could spray aerosol germs, spreading the Flu. By now, the Flu has mutated, as all good Flues do, and those who catch it will die. Fillmore Graves has a shortage of brains for its employees. What better way to take care of this than killing the non-zombie population and taking their brains.

Who knew about Harley’s bunker? Well, there was a Fillmore guard who ate Bo Johns’ brain. I am sure he could have mentioned it to Graves as some point.

But why would Graves kill so many of his own men? Shortage of brains, for one. And covering his tracks by killing Major, Justin and anyone else who knew Harley’s whereabouts. Besides, he could always train more.

He knew about Katty Kupps. Maybe she found out about the zombies and had to be killed.

Everything points to the evil that is Chase Graves.

Have you ever read Agatha Christie?

I have always been a huge fan of Hercule Poirot. To this day, I have never solved a Hercule Poirot mystery. But I have learned one thing: the most obvious suspect never did it.

Sure enough, Chase figures out that Carey Gold is leading a team of rogue zombies who do not believe that Zombie Island is the answer to their problems. Some think that the government will nuke them, once they are all in one place. Chase calls for guards to come and take her away. But they are on her side. Chase is quick on the draw and kills all three. He places the gun to Mrs. Gold’s head ready to shoot.

I wouldn’t expect a reference.

“There are others,” she hisses.

Chase dispatches her, just as Clive and Liv enter. Liv saw Gold looking at Katty, who was dying in the trunk of her car. She had also figured out the plot from texts to the teenagers from their zombie friends. Clive hears Chase’s explanation and asks if she killed Wally and his family. Chase admits that he isn’t sure if she pulled the trigger, but he is sure that she ordered it.

The Aleutian Flu is spreading. This was the Doomsday Option in the Fillmore Graves plans, put into motion by Mrs. Gold. However, there is a vaccine. Unfortunately, the rogue zombies are placing a couple of drops of their blood into each vial. If you get a vaccine, you become a zombie. Liv finds this out, and gets the word out to Clive, but too late for Bozzio, who is putting on the “I Got the Shot” sticker as Clive returns to her.

Bozzio and Clive

Liv gets to the TV station. Johnny Frost is on the air. He got the shot. There is a white streak in his hair. Liv explains what is happening to him and gives him a tube of the brain mush, which he eats greedily. He goes on the air and tells people not to get the shot and that those how do will become zombies. He also points out that those who have become zombies are not monsters, but still are friends and family, who still love them and care about them.

Discovery Day is here!!!

Chase Graves comes in with a thumb drive that he prepared for Discovery Day. Played on the air, he explains that those dying from the flu will be scratched and be cured, never to contract a disease again. He tells his belief that they can all live together. But he also says that people from around the country need to donate the brains of their deceased loved ones to keep the Romero nature of the zombies in check.

In a beautifully done montage, we see Major scratch a dying woman at the hospital, who opens her eyes and she sits up, cured of the Aleutian Flu. Mayor Baracus is reading a story book to a class of children. We switch to Major and Justin, handing out brain tubes to zombies. A band of gun-toting humans rounds the corner and begin to fire upon the group. Major and Justin have no choice. In the classroom, Peyton, now the Mayor’s Chief of Staff gets the news and whispers it to Baracus, who does his best to hold it together in front of the kids (a mirror of George Bush on 9/11). At The Scratching Post, the increase is zombies equals the increase in business. Blaine looks on happily.

Montage, montage, montage

We finally end at the lab, where everything began. Ravi found two vials of the tainted Utopium among Katty’s possessions. Although they have evaporated, there is enough residue to develop a vaccine making human immune to the zombie virus. The drug is put on a sugar cube that Ravi quickly downs. He will be the guinea pig. He instructs Liv to scratch him.

As the lights fade, Liv scratches Ravi’s arm. It fades to black. Then, the is a zombie-like moan from Ravi. Liv says the line of the night.

Scratch away!

“Don’t be a dick,” she tells Ravi.

In two episodes, they have tidied up all the plots, subplots and sub-subplots. It was done beautifully and, in my opinion, touchingly. The writers, technical staff and the cast did not “half-ass” it, as I feared they might. I look forward to season four, where we will likely see the adjustment period that Seattle goes through with the addition of its new “ethnic” group.

To say that I am looking forward to Season 4 is an understatement.