iZombie Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Brainssssss
Lindsay MacDonald
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Meet Liv, an upbeat, talented, beautiful surgeon with a great job, an amazing fiancee, and her whole life ahead of her.
Until she gets turned into a zombie, that is.
Kicking off an all new series, iZombie Season 1 Episode 1 is a wild ride of crime-solving hilarity, with a little supernatural danger thrown in for good measure.
Pilot episodes can be very hit or miss, and iZombie is no different. There were some fabulous, shining moments, and some that were just this side of cheesy. Overall though, I think The CW has a promising new series on its hands.
Liv is a cute, driven, totally relatable female lead with some pretty great comedic timing; basically, the perfect fit for a slightly silly new show like iZombie. There's more than a little Veronica Mars in her, which is fitting since both characters were hatched from the mind of Rob Thomas. You instantly like Liv and sympathize with her plight of being turned into one of the living dead.
I don't have post-traumatic stress. I have post-traumatic ennui. Post-traumatic defeatism. Post-traumatic 'what's the point?'
Liv
Personally, I think the shock white skin and hair might have been a little much, but they get the point across; Liv is no longer the vivacious young girl she once was. She's dead.
The jury is still out on her friends and family, as they were not heavily featured in this pilot episode. Your typical characters seem to be accounted for, though. The nerdy-hot love interest, the controlling best friend, the judgmental mother, and the nearly invisible little brother. More to come on them in future episodes.
The character that stood out the most to me was definitely her coworker, Ravi. He's not only funny and smart, he's also 100% dedicated to finding a cure for Liv's zombie infection.
I have so many questions. First, why the hot sauce? Is that a zombie thing?
Ravi
Not to mention, Ravi's almost comically invested in the psychic act that Liv must put on to explain away the symptoms of eating brains. The flashes of memory she gets from the brains she eats is a nice mix-up on the zombie mythology, and they provide a great avenue to her life of crime-fighting. She tends to know a lot more about murder victims than she should; a fun fact that draws in one Detective Babineaux.
Babineaux is going to be a personal favorite of mine, I can already tell. He's an odd mix of 'sarcastic skeptic' and 'super sleuth,' with some good old fashioned charm thrown in. Nonetheless, he and Liv make a great team.
Together, they solve the murder of a Russian prostitute, and Liv realizes that there might actually be a point to living this crazy life of hers after all. The crime solving felt a little heavy-handed for me, but I imagine the kinks will get worked out as Babineaux and Liv become a team and their partnership starts to feel more natural. Something tells me they'll avoid the pitfall of becoming too procedural easily enough.
Liv: I was a dead, alabaster badass!
Ravi: I'm performing open-heart surgery on you without anesthesia. You are beyond badass.
It also makes sense that Liv would find solving crime so therapeutic. She wanted to be a doctor to help people, after all. Now she can continue that calling, even if it's post-mortem.
The real reason this new series is looking like a winner is the dazzling wit behind every joke and one-liner. It's a smart show for smart people, if you can handle the fast talk.
I think we're up to the task here at TV Fanatic.
Next week, on iZombie Season 1 Episode 2, we'll find out more about the mysterious Blaine, the zombie who scratched and turned Liv at that boat party. Personally, I can't wait!
You're up! Are you in for Liv Mars, Zombie Detective? Hit the comments and share your thoughts.
And be sure to watch iZombie online for another look at Liv's zombie origins!
