When Blaine Debeers was introduced in iZombie, he was the antagonist. The only other zombie, that Liv knew about; Blaine quickly saw profit in his new life as a brain-eater. Not only did he start making more zombies to have clients to sell to, but started killing teenagers to feed his clients. This rolled into killing an astronaut and others to serve higher-quality brains. I maintain that Blaine did not scratch Liv on purpose because he was in a rage mode at the boat party (because I’m a Blaine apologist), but he did purposely scratch rich and powerful people to have them in his pocket. Not only did he scratch the chief of police, but his own father. Who was wealthy and influential.
Blaine: He May Be Bad But He’s Perfectly Good At It
In season one, Blaine needed to be taken out. He was killing teenagers, killed Lowell (still my Liv endgame), and almost killed Major. Not to mention that as a result of his decision, Liv’s brother Ethan was almost killed. Blaine was very bad in season one, but iZombie had other plans for him that could have drastically changed his outcome if he had just stayed the course. Then again, not only was Blaine a creature of habit, but was anyone both in the show and the audience going to forgive him for killing Lowell and teenagers?
Was There Ever a Chance?
We saw a change in season two. Yes, Blaine was still scheming. Moving into the drug-selling business again, Blaine looked to make it big. But, we were given more layers of Blaine. We saw the relationship between him and his father. We saw a Blaine who legitimately liked Peyton. Even one who teamed up with Liv several times, donated to charity, and was so desperate to get away from who he was that he faked amnesia. Was this deceitful? Yes. But, can you really blame the guy? After a long look at his life and even being killed (Mr. Boss) and betrayed/taken advantage of by Don E originally, it would make sense why Blaine wanted to reinvent himself. No one would let the sins of his past go, so why not pretend not to remember? If he faked his amnesia, he couldn’t take responsibility for what he’s done.
While Blaine could have gone the Loki route and have his redemption arc, we have to admit that David Anders plays the bad boy so well. While I had no problem with Blaine almost becoming an anti-hero in seasons three and four (and I loved him saving Peyton in season two), I have to admit that it was good to see him return to his bad ways in season five.
Spoilers For iZombie Season Five
Blaine was living the high-life in season five and because it was iZombie’s last season, the story made sure that Blaine paid for everything he had done since season one. In the end, it didn’t matter that Blaine had an abusive childhood and that he had, at one point; wanted to be a better person, Blaine was a criminal. There were some spectacular scenes in season five (that noir episode? perfection), but there was at some point that Blaine decided that he was no longer going to try to be the good guy. After the sins of his past came to life, Blaine lost almost everything. The threat of losing his wealth made him turn to a different way to profit and honestly, Blaine, going back to kidnapping and killing kids is not a good look. Even if they were teenagers.
Part of me believed that maybe we had a chance of redemption with Blaine when he had scratched Peyton. Yes, he had kidnapped Peyton, but he hadn’t shot her. If he hadn’t scratched her, she would be dead. Still, Peyton wouldn’t have been in that situation if it wasn’t for him and his seemingly obsessive nature towards her. I had wished we would have gotten a Ravi/Blaine fight. Blaine not only kidnapped the Freylich kids, but also killed Don E’s fiance Darcy. Don E may have cut Blaine out of the business deal with Fillmore Graves, which showed Don E’s [slight] backstabbing side himself; killing Darcy was not cool.
Ten Years Later?
In the end, Blaine and Don E will spend eternity in the well together. Since we saw where all the other characters were ten years later, it would have been nice to see how Blaine and Don E were a decade later. While the Blaine apologist in me would have loved redemption for the character, he was always meant to be the bad guy that Liv contended with at the end. And David Anders played him so well.
Had you had hope for Blaine or were you satisfied with his ending? Let me know!
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
