iZombie Season 1 Review

The show has a lot of fun with the sillier aspects of that set-up – for example, Liv takes a page out of Hannibal’s book, mixing brains into other dishes so as not to be seen consuming it straight from the skull, as it were. It’s a riot to watch her lounging on the couch with chopsticks, snacking on brain matter like it’s a new fad diet. For another, her visions always kick off with a Jimmy Neutron-esque brain blast. It’s no coincidence that this all sounds rather fantastical – like The CW’s best shows Arrow and The Flash, iZombie is ripped from the pages of a comic book (it even features color-pencil freeze-frames to drive that point home).

Luckily, Thomas hasn’t taken a DC approach to this series – despite some occasional blood and gore, iZombie has more in common with Warm Bodies than it does The Walking Dead, handling its supernatural side with humor, warmth and irreverence. And in addition to channeling Veronica Mars, iZombie also shares DNA with another teenage-targeted, zeitgeisty program: Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

For one thing, the zombies are very similar to Buffy‘s vampires, only becoming distinct from humans when their hunger for brains reaches uncontrollable levels. And enigmatic zombie Blaine (David Anders) is the obvious Spike to Liv’s Buffy, setting up a nifty little racket where he turns people into zombies and forces them to pay exorbitant sums for the brains they crave. More than that, though, iZombie is, like Buffy, noticeably comfortable in its own, weird skin, mixing genres so thoroughly it might be close to creating one of its own. If Thomas’ vision for the world outside Liv’s immediate perception is as strong and unique as his visualization of her undead life, iZombie could turn into a truly fascinating little series.

Putting McIver front and center is certainly the right strategy to start moving the show in that direction. Her Liv is whip-smart, compassionate, driven and more than a little peculiar – all of which makes her a blast to watch. In terms of the supporting characters, Liv’s morgue boss Ravi (Rahul Kohli) provides ample comic relief, and Blaine’s cocky demeanor gives his scenes with Liv an added kick – something the series regrettably lacks whenever Liv and Major come face-to-face. That kind of weakness is perfectly acceptable at iZombie‘s young age, though – Thomas will figure out what works and what doesn’t soon enough, and the Mars-like structure of iZombie (predictable procedural spiced with a season arc about the origins of the zombies) will allow it to jettison anything that doesn’t quite gel with relative ease. Liv may be dead, but iZombie, above all, excites in how it seems set to bring more liveliness to The CW’s lineup than the network has had in some time.