There are precious few TV series titles that I actually get to watch on time, or relatively close to their premiere dates. Most of the time, I end up watching episodes weeks or months after they air. Heaven forbid, I have titles that I'm years behind in viewing, some of them already concluded with their runs.
Then, there are titles like iZombie, which I actually finished a mere week after its second season finale aired. It has to be pretty special that I actually pushed it up my viewing list every time an episode would come out. Writing a wrap-up post about it in a timely manner, however.... well, here we are, some two and a half months after I watched said season finale episode. But, it's not something I want to miss writing about.
Liv Moore (Rose McIver) has her life going well for her. She's a promising doctor who has residency at a top Seattle hospital with a great fiancee in Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley). Encouraged to be more spontaneous, she attends a boat party with a coworker. Unfortunately, with the free flowing Max Rager drinks and party drug Utopia, several party goers start attacking others and attempt to eat them. While trying to escape, Liv is scratched by drug dealer Blaine McDonough (David Anders). Liv finds herself shore bound, miraculously surviving, but very much changed. Her hair and skin turn white and she suddenly has an appetite for brains. Realizing that she has become a zombie, she alienates her family and best friend Peyton Charles (Aly Michalka), as well as ending her engagement with Major. She starts working as a medical examiner to gain access to dead people's brains, but her coworker Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli) quickly surmises that she is a zombie and attempts to find a cure. Liv also realizes that when she eats human brains, she somehow gains the owner's personality and memories, which could prove helpful to Detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) with his murder investigations.
There was much to look forward to with iZombie. With so many forms of media tackling the zombie genre, the TV series featured a refreshing take with its mythology. Instead of featuring a main character running away from zombies, Liv is actually one. And instead of being a mindless brain-obsessed creature, Liv is actually living a semblance of a normal life provided she has access to brains. Without them, then the rest of the non-zombie population of Seattle could be in trouble. Another interesting take is how Liv actually embodies the personality of the owner of the brain she ingests until it's out of her system or until the next brain she eats.
Rose McIver is definitely up to the task of portraying brain-fed Liv in every episode, with each episode featuring extreme personalities that would definitely make those who knew her pre-zombification wonder about her well-being. With Rose McIver embracing every possible personality thrown her way, it makes for a lot of fun and funny moments. And there are times when Liv's personality of the day or week can lead to a whole different set of troubles for her.
Despite the comedic opportunities presented by Liv's constantly changing personality, iZombie isn't just a comedy series. It features great storytelling potential, with its procedural element with the different murder investigations that Liv assists Detective Babineaux in, and the ever present threat of a zombie invasion courtesy of others who survived the doomed boat party. Blaine is an interesting villain, using his new status as a zombie to create an enterprise to make more money for himself. By turning others into zombies and charging them for supplying brains for them to eat, not only does he end up making quite a profit, he also forces Liv to allow him his business because taking Blaine out of the picture would mean zombies looking for food for themselves. Then, there's Vaughn du Clark (Steve Webber), CEO of Max Rager who aim to study the zombies to create the ultimate Max Rager drink. Steve Webber plays the character in a campy manner, but still comes off as an effective big bad for both seasons of the series.
There's a great balance of showing Liv going up against adversaries, both human and zombies alike, and her constant struggles of living the life of the undead. Not only does she initially keep it a secret from those she loves, she constantly has to make sacrifices to save them from either being a zombie or getting embroiled in the many conspiracies that seem to surround her. Even the very idea of making a romantic relationship with anyone is greatly affected by the threat of possibly turning someone into a zombie. And, despite her attempts to keep those she cares for away from the truth and the threat, the storytelling is all the more compelling when those who were clueless are now clued in and have to pay the cost for knowing.
The first season is more centered on Liv and Blaine's different approaches to being a zombie, but the second season starts to introduce the potential of a zombie apocalypse on a larger scale. And therein lies my excitement for what series developers Rob Thomas (the Veronica Mars creator and not the singer :P) and Diane Ruggiero-Wright have in store for us in a few months. Also, Liv cooks her brains in very creative and yummy-looking ways... and, with Hannibal not making a return to TV any time soon, there's a weird food porn vibe that I would like to continue to enjoy here.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Adaptation, Comedy, Drama, Horror, iZombie, Must-Watch, Procedural, TV, TV Series
