iZombie 1.02: Brother, Can You Spare a Brain?

It’s a risky move to have the protagonist of a series like this change their personality week to week. It’s something that Dollhouse tried before, with mixed results. This episode proved that the series can make these new traits work without making Liv herself inconsequential.

Liv herself is still very much in play, even when the people she eats are starting to make themselves known. We haven’t known her very long, but you could see her little ticks, her signature attitude were what remained constant even as she started soaking in everything around her as Javier the artist, this week’s victim, kicked in. I like the idea of all of these people giving Liv an insight into what she lost, what she now has a chance to gain back and what she didn’t even have to begin with. It’s a goldmine for character building, and I hope it’s used to its fullest extent.

The structure this week was similar to last week, but Blaine’s larger presence gave me a better sense of where the show will be going in the coming weeks and in the long run. He’s still a bit of a mystery, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens with all of these other new zombies popping up, and even more so what happens when they decide not to use their new un-dead status for good. He himself is a really appealing villain; both fascinating and interesting, but still dark enough to be seen as the big bad wolf for the foreseeable future.

Elsewhere, Liv’s normal life isn’t making characters like Major more than just a means to an end. So far they’re appearing to give us a hint of what she was like pre-zombie, but Major and Peyton need more of a chance to develop in their own right. With such a small cast, it shouldn’t be hard to give all the supporting cast equal footing, even if they fall outside of the zombie madness.

Plus

I get the sense that Blaine will use his new zombies to help build up a network of sorts.

He Said, She Said

Liv: “In the six months I’ve been eating brains, I’ve inherited things like; a fear of pigeons, kleptomania. A couple of scoops of Javier’s brain in a microwave pizza roll, and I find myself feeling passionate.”
The voiceovers/monologue on this show are so on point.

Liv: “There were parts of me that were dead even before I became a zombie, so maybe that means it’s possible for parts of me to spring to life, even now that I’m dead.”

‘Brother...’ was another good step into the world of iZombie. If the show continues to grow so positively, then there’s a good chance it’ll stick around for a while. It’s already reeled me in for good.

8/10

Also posted at Doux Reviews.