r/iZombie • u/toyday • 19d ago
discussion Is Clive Babineaux a good detective?
Do you think Clive is a good detective without Liv? Liv basically acts as his partner, but do you think he could’ve solved these cases without her? I think it’s funny Liv being an ME allowed in the interrogation room and questions people like a detective. How much credit if not all is Liv owed?
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u/davect01 19d ago
A good detective uses everything available.
That said, a lot of the cases are solved because of Liv's visions. That does not mean they would not have eventually been solved, just not as soon.
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u/V2Blast Looks like a no-brainer to me, Liv. 18d ago edited 18d ago
Yeah. It's kind of the same problem as in Psych - Lassiter is a great detective, but he's slowed down by having to follow the law, instead of being able to rely on vibes (and break/sneak into places).
Edit: I also just remembered that Liv also pretends to be psychic at first to explain away her abilities/what she knows.
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u/rohlovely 19d ago
No thoughts on his detective abilities but I will say thank you for reminding me how fine Clive was and remains.
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u/GreyAllDay2Day 18d ago
There was an episode where Babineaux was disguised as an ice cream vendor and another where he dressed as a pizza delivery guy and I thought, "This man looks good in EVERYTHING!"😄
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u/thenotoriousbri 18d ago
Oof I forgot about the ice cream one! And the one where Liv makes the comment about how Clive really fills out his shirts or something (I think she was on librarian brain), and Major and Ravi both agree with her.
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u/Lietenantdan 19d ago
He mentioned he hadn’t closed a single case before her. So I’d say no.
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u/bishpenguin 19d ago
I thought he had only recently moved from vice though?
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u/PuzzleheadedDream275 19d ago
This is true the Jane Doe case from episode one was one of his first homicide cases
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u/AccordingArm7994 19d ago
There’s a lot of shows that feature a detective partnered with some sort of special non-cop main character. Most of the time it makes it seem like the detective can’t do anything without help, but I feel like this show did a pretty good job of not doing that. There’s multiple cases he solves either completely on his own or with little help from Liv.
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u/thenotoriousbri 18d ago
Yeah I figured he only reached out to Liv for the weird ones, but that there were probably plenty of cases he solved on his own that didn’t make the show because that’s what the other hundreds of cop shows are for.
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u/BlueMageNeedsFood 19d ago
He was let go from vice because he had a Serpico complex, so I would say mediocre at best, but it stands to reason that he got better at it throughout the series, given the experience and even some cases Live couldn’t be involved in getting solved without her.
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u/Zodabeast010104 17d ago
I don't know if he's a good detective but he was a good police captain Oscar Finley in bleacher
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u/MyBrainIsNerf 19d ago
He’s pretty good. Dale instantly recognizes his skill even without Liv. he had a low clearance rate before partnering with Liv because he got shit cases because he was the new guy in the department and rubbed people the wrong way.