iZombie, The CW’s newest ‘supernatural’ series premiered on Tuesday March 17th. While you may have heard something about it, it’s understandable if you happened to miss the occasion. After all, Tuesday is a busy night for television and the current TV calendar has more things concluding than beginning. But I recommend adding iZombie to your watch list, or at the very least your DVR.
Adapted from the DC comic book series of the same name, iZombie is about Liv, a former med student who was turned into a zombie and now works at a morgue, sneaking brains between autopsies. However, when she eats a brain she gets glimpses into that person’s life so she unwittingly teams up with a rookie detective under the guise of being a psychic to help solve murders. As Liv puts it, she’s just a “fake psychic zombie trying to do [her] part”.
Eating Brains for the Greater Good
The premise may sound a bit strange, but the show is helmed by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, the people behind Veronica Mars, so they know a little something about turning a tiny blonde detective into a badass. The series also shares the same quick wit in both the dialogue and voice over, so there’s a comforting familiarity for any fans of the former show.
For as much as iZombie shares the same DNA as Veronica Mars I couldn’t help but also be reminded of Tru Calling, simply for the morgue employee / murder solving aspect and Wonderfalls for the titular character’s resistance to her new found ‘abilities’.
The pilot episode is pretty solid, Liv’s personal and professional worlds are introduced and although there’s the requisite amount of exposition and character work, there’s also a decent enough case to keep you interested. Subsequent episodes have certainly improved upon its first outing and thankfully a little more drama has been introduced, effectively raising the stakes a bit. Although the series is still mostly episodic, I’m excited to see where the show is headed.
Only three episodes have aired so far, meaning you can pretty easily catch up via Hulu, cwtv.com, or your OnDemand service (I know it’s on Xfinity, can’t speak for the other cable providers though). New episodes air on Tuesdays at 9pm on The CW.
