| Love & Basketball | |
| Season 2, Episode 5 | |
 | |
| Air date | November 3, 2015 |
| Written by | Bob Dearden |
| Directed by | Michael Fields |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Even Cowgirls Get the Black and Blues |
next Max Wager |
Love & Basketball is the fifth episode of Season 2 and the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It aired November 3, 2015 and had 1.43 millions viewers.
Plot[]
Liv, Detective Babineaux and Ravi investigate the mysterious death of a peewee basketball coach. Liv, consumed with overzealous coach brains, gives Major a much needed pep talk. Meanwhile, things get a little crazy when Blaine and Ravi are forced to work together to recreate the cure. Lastly, Detective Babineaux receives a surprise visit from Suzuki's widow, Helen.[1]
Recap[]
Major tries to kiss Liv, but Liv warns that kissing might infect him with her zombie disease. He backs off and Liv warns that their makeout sessions could make him a living dead.
A guard, Mike Hayden, is watching the game at an office building lobby when a man comes in and shoots him dead.
The next morning, Major wakes up on the couch and finds Liv checking his blood pressure to see if he's a zombie. She has him drink coffee to confirm that he's still human, and figures that they have no future as a couple until they have a cure. Liv figures that Major needs help and suggests that they be best friends. Ravi calls to say that a new body comes in, and Liv says that she'll check in with Major later.
At the office building, Clive tells Liv and Ravi that the last page of the visitor's log was torn out and the security cameras were turned off. Only one person could have accessed the system: their victim.
At the funeral home, Blaine meets with the son of a deceased woman. A zombiefied, desperate-for-brains Gabriel comes in and agrees to cut the Utopium for Blaine in return for the cure. Blaine agrees and takes him in the back.
At the morgue, Liv cuts open Mike's skull as Clive comes in and says that three people entered the building that no one can identify. He asks if Liv is getting any visions yet. As Liv has yet to consume Mike's brain, she looks at the photos and poorly acts like she's trying for a psychic vision, to Ravi's amusement. She obviously gets nothing and Clive leaves. Liv then eats Mike's brain.
At the Max Rager lab, Rita and Dr. Erving watch a zombie who is too far gone. Erving warns that they need the DNA of a functional zombie to continue their tests, and suggests that Gilda get a drop from Liv. Gilda says that she'll have Major do it.
At the station, Mrs. Suzuki hangs up on Clive as Liv comes in. As Liv studies the photos, Clive explains that he called Mrs. Suzuki and she took offense at his suggestion that her husband might have been suicidal. Liv doesn't get anything, and complains that Clive is a Knicks fan. He's surprised that she's trying to talk basketball, just as several kids come in. They explain that Mike was their basketball coach and think they know who killed him. The team leader, Jordy, explains that they think RJ's father, TJ Ryan, tried to choke Mike. RJ left the team since then, and Jordy wants them to investigate.
Liv and Clive visit TJ as he spars, and Liv gives him some tips. TJ says that RJ is with his divorced mother, and Liv has a vision of TJ choking Mike. She then has a vision of TJ slapping his son behind the bleachers. TJ says that he was at a tavern during Mike's murder, and Clive takes down the name of his teammates. Outside, Liv, says that Mike reported the choking incident to Child Protective Services, and TJ hits his kid. Clive glances over at TJ and scowls.
Major arrives at work with one of his clients, and he stares at Gilda as she exercises. The man goes to change and Gilda comes over and asks why Major didn't respond to her texts. Major gives her an excuse and she asks how many zombies he's removed. When Major says that they're people, Gilda insists that they're zombies and tells him to go for two. Major says that he needs a stronger tranquilizer and Gilda tells him that she'll do what he can.
Later, Major goes to Gilda's office and she introduces him to Erving. Erving asks why the sedative failed, and Major explains that the zombie woke up in his trunk. He says that his victim asked him to take care of his dog, and Erving is surprised the zombie was so lucid.
That night at home, Major is preparing to take Utopium when Liv comes in. He hides the vial and Liv gives him a pep talk about toughing things out. Major stares at her and smilingly says that she's weird, and Liv makes him promise there's no Utopium in his house. She then tells him to come down and watch Hoosiers with her.
Clive goes to TJ's house, parks on his lawn, and honks the horn. When the man comes out, Clive tells him that RJ's teacher will call him if the boy is injured in any way. When TJ pokes Clive in the chest, Clive beats him to the ground, tells him to never put his hands on his son again, and walks away.
The next day at the station, Lt. Devore calls Clive into her office. She says that Mrs. Suzuki called him and Clive points out that the case doesn't add up. He says that there was one other shooter at Meat Cute and they never found Blaine. Dale is outside Devore's office and mimes a clichéd rowing past the window at Clive, who just avoids bursting into laughter.
Liv takes Major to the community center and introduces him to the team. Jordy is less than impressed, and Major steps up to the challenge. Liv coaches as well and a fight breaks out between Jordy and another player, Charlie. Major breaks it up and asks if that's what Mike would want. The boys go back to playing and Liv nods in satisfaction.
Ravi is working in the morgue when Don Z comes in. Don Z explains that Ravi autopsied his twin brother Scott E, and gives him a dose of tainted Utopium compliments of Blaine.
Gilda comes home and finds Liv cooking supper. She claims that she's been out with her new boyfriend, and Liv says that she was kissing her ex-fiancé. Gilda, in a short burst of temper, "accidentally" cuts Liv's hand and Liv goes to wash up. Once she's alone, Gilda collects the drop of blood from the cutting board.
The next day at the morgue, Liv checks out the Utopium sample. Ravi says that they have to make zombie rats first and take months to test the cure. Liv realizes that she could be with Major, and figures that Ravi can speed the testing up. Clive comes in and explains that Mike was using a site, Funders Keepers, to raise $5k to take his team to a basketball camp. A final $4,100 pledge on the last day put Mike over the top... on the day he died.
Liv goes to the gym where Major is coaching. Charlie shoves Jordy and Major breaks them up. Major asks Liv to take over while he talks to Charlie, and Liv leaps in. When they snicker at her, she runs them up and down the court. Major comes back with Charlie and Liv gives the team a break. He tells her that Charlie had trouble at home, and Liv has heard from Jordy that Charlie's father took off without a word.
That night, Major approaches a man at the Space Needle and asks for his sport section. He senses that the man is a zombie and walks out. The man's son and daughter come in and Major watches them together.
At the station, Clive is trying to trace the $4,100 when Dale come over. She asks him why he got pulled off the Meat Cute case, and Clive says that his superiors liked the story that Suzuki went down a hero. He doesn't believe it, and when he told them, they took him off the case. Dale says that astronaut Alan York disappeared, and they found a strand of his hair in a sink drain at Meat Cute.
At the morgue, Ravi and Liv create some more zombie rats. Liv wants to name the rats after basketball players, but Ravi protests that she won't care about basketball in a few days and he wants to continue with the Star Wars theme. Clive comes in and says that he couldn't trace the $4,100 as it was done in bitcoin. He gets a call and tells Liv and Ravi that one of the three unidentified people in the photos turned up dead... in Tacoma. The trio heads to Tacoma, and the coroner, Dr. Ian Metzger, takes offense at Ravi. Ravi explains that he and Metzger both interviewed for Ravi's current position, and Metzger complains that Ravi took his job. The dead man is Telly Levins, and his body was found in the concrete foundation of a construction site. They found a hammer in his hands, and Metzger figures that Levins slipped, hit himself in the head, and fell in the wet concrete. Ravi points out the evidence showing that someone beat Levins to dead, but Metzger doesn't believe it. Clive has confirmed that Levins has a rap sheet as an enforce for bookmakers, and points out that Levins went to the 14th floor of the building an hour before Mike was shot. A law firm occupies the 14th floor and they represent crooks. The tapes show only one other person going up to the 14th floor.
Clive and Liv go to see a lawyer on the 14th floor, Roger Thrunk. Thrunk says that Mike talked to everyone about his Funders Keepers program. He claims that he doesn't recognize Levins, or remember anyone on the floor the night that Mike died, and that Mike was very much alive when he left for the evening. As Clive leaves, he notices the copier and Thrunk confirms that everyone has their own login code. After some checking, Clive calls in on lawyer Harry Cole and says that his code was logged on the copier on the night that Mike was killed. Cole says that he was working late on a big case. Clive has confirmed that he bets on sports, and Harry says that he never met Levins. Liv has a vision of Cole watching a game on TV and losing, and Liv says that in Mike's email, he said that Harry had a breakdown in the lobby after a Hearst college loss.
Clive notices a baseball bat belonging to Pete Rose and smells bleach on it, and asks Cole he was in the room when Levins came by to collect on his debts. The detective figures that Cole grabbed the baseball bat and killed Levins. Cole argues that this is all conjecture. Clive finds blood on the Venetian blinds, and he says that they'll check it, and it will stop being conjecture if it proves to be Levins'.
Ravi is preparing to inject the zombie rats with his attempted cure, and Blaine comes in to get the cure. The coroner warns that it won't be ready for a while, and Gabriel sneaks in, grabs one of the syringes, and injects himself. He dies in a matter of seconds, turning black, and Blaine says that the cure needs work. Ravi explains that it was the tainted Utopium that he was going to use to create the cure, and Blaine notes that he's created an anti-zombie drug. The two men look at each other for a second, Blaine clearly realizing the potential as a zombie murder weapon and Ravi simultaneously realizing that it would be terrible in Blaine's hands. They both lunge for the vial and the vial slides across the floor. A scuffle ensues, whereupon Ravi finally destroys it rather than lose it to Blaine, and Blaine casually strolls out, commenting that that's his cardio done for the day.
In the interrogation room, Clive lays out the case against Cole. He figures that Cole killed Levins and then called Mike and made a deal. In return for Mike shutting down the cameras, Cole would cover the remaining $4,100 of the camp fundraiser. He took the visitor's log page and then killed Mike to cover his tracks. Harry confesses to Cole's murder, saying that he acted in self-defense. However, he insists that he didn't kill Mike. He called in the law firm's fixer, who advised on the bleach, removing the visitor's log and paying off Mike to turn off the cameras. However, the fixer then shot Mike to tie up loose ends, which Cole insists he didn't agree to. Cole agrees to give the fixer's name if the deal is right, but Clive says that only one guy showed up at the firm before Mike's killing. He doesn't say the name, but the audience know it was Thrunk.
Major tells Gilda that he checked off eight potentials and none of them were zombies. He says that they shouldn't mix business with whatever they were doing, and Gilda casually says that they'll play it by ear. As Major leaves, Gilda warns him that the odds of all eight names coming back negative is low.
At home, Major flushes the Utopium down the toilet. He shaves off his stubble and goes downstairs to Liv. She suggests that they go out to dinner, and Major says that he doesn't want to pretend being her friend. He wants the two of them to be together again despite the risk, and asks if they can give it another shot.
Clive calls Liv and says that they caught Thrunk trying to leave the country. Mrs. Suzuki comes in and tells Clive that her husband could have been suicidal. She started poking around and found something in a Tupperware container in her husband's beer fridge. She doesn't know what to make of it, but says that maybe Clive will, and leaves. Clive opens the container to find part of a brain.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
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Co-Starring[]
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Zombie Traits/Skills[]
Liv[]
- Coach Hayden - Basketball knowledge
Brain Food[]
- "Brain omelette" — Liv makes brains in an omelette.
Comic Panel Titles[]
Title Meaning[]
- Love & Basketball - Reference to the film Love & Basketball, an American sports drama film from 2000.
Trivia[]
- When talking with Major, Gilda's line "Zombie killer – qu'est-ce que c'est?" is a reference to the Talking Heads's song "Psycho Killer" that uses several French phrases, including "qu'est-ce que c'est" which means "what is this?" in English.
- When Clive, Liv and Ravi traveled to the Tacoma morgue, the chief coroner's name is Dr. Metzger. In German "Metzger" means "butcher". It's also used as a slight derogative term in the German language used for medical doctors, who sometimes are seen as butchers, if you are unsatisfied with their work. It is also a possible reference to Meat Cute butchery.
- The basketball video was actually the 2000 Continental Basketball Association Finals between the Yakima (WA) Sun Kings and the La Crosse (WI) Bobcats held at the Yakima Valley SunDome. Yakima won the game, 109-93, to win their second CBA title.
- The chapter title, "Tainted Love", is a reference to the song "Tainted Love", by music band Soft Cell.
- The chapter title, "Smells Like Teen Spirit", is a reference to the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", by music band Nirvana.
- The chapter title, "Rats From a Slinging Ship", is a reference to the music band, Rats From A Sinking Ship.
Soundtrack[]
Used To Be In Love - Profile
Friday I'm In Love - (David Anders Cover)
Friday I'm in Love - The Cure
Used To Be - Natali Felicia
Gallery[]
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Videos[]
