iZombie Recap: Episode 1.01 – Pilot; First Details on Episode 1.02 – Brother, Can You Spare a Brain?
Matt Molgaard
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The opening moments of “iZombie” give us a quick glimpse of Liv Moore’s (Rose McIver) life prior to her becoming undead. She’s working at a hospital as a medical resident, living a fast-paced life, anchored by – crucial here – life.
But before we know it, a zombie outbreak changes the complexion of Liv’s existence as a whole. During the outbreak, which occurs on a boat after excessive usage of a new designer drug and is covered extremely briefly in a snap recap sequence, Liv is bitten/scratched and transformed into a flesh-eating zombie. And now that she’s a zombie, she’s traded in her work at the hospital for a gig in the morgue… where she feels more at home, so to speak.
Viewers quickly transition into Liv’s routine post-zombie bite. It’s generally lighthearted, as she shares jokes with her awkward co-worker, Ravi Chakrabarti (relative newcomer Rahul Kohli, who comes across as amazingly comfortable in front of the camera). But throughout all the easygoing jokes and generally dry humor, we’re afforded a glimpse of Liv’s troubles with adjusting to her new “lifestyle.” Home audiences are privy to some of Liv’s new issues, including the fact that she’s quickly forced into the role of something that resembles a detective specializing in unorthodox murder cases. But before we get into Liv’s investigative skills, we see more flashbacks offering more details, displaying the life of a woman with an ambitious drive and a future with a handsome, upbeat fiancé. Her drive looks like just the thing to lead her down a successful career path, and her love looks to be genuine.
And then it all went to hell.
Cut back to modern day and we learn, through a series of conversations with Ravi (the only one to peg Liv a zombie, for the record), that Liv picks up visions after devouring brains – which is of course necessary for her to continue cruising through life as a functioning member of the undead. Eating the thinker seems to gift the woman with a strange knowledge. She uses it after a vision of a woman being attacked intersects with an encounter with a new local detective, Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin). It takes just a few conversations to lead Liv into the world of unorthodox crime fighting.
Our protagonist is able to channel her visions surprisingly well, and while Babineaux struggles to solve the murder of a high-class call girl, Liv seamlessly fills the voids of his investigation. One clue leads to the next vision, and soon we learn that the victim was murdered over a ring. But why? Because said ring happens to be a wedding ring, and the owner of that ring is in a rage over having lost it, fearing that his wife will uncover the truth of his affairs. How do we know? We watch the confession unfold in the latter moments of the episode as berserker cop Pratt grills two other call girls whom he enjoyed company with on the night his ring disappeared. His crooked background bursts to the surface just as Babineaux and Liv arrive to prevent two more homicides. While Pratt manages to slip Babineaux, he fails to repeat a successful escape from Liv, who takes a bullet to the chest in the process of forcing Pratt’s vehicle off the road, where he crashes into a tree before being ejected and subsequently cuffed by Babineaux, who arrives just a moment after the crash.
As the inaugural episode comes to a close, we see a major shift in Liv, who went from inspired hospital resident to downbeat, lackadaisical autopsy technician with no desire to interact with the outside world to newly invigorated mystery solver. It’s work and then home for Liv, who obviously finds difficulties in fitting in with the living, up until the point that she realizes she still has something to give back to the world. In fact, she may have something far more valuable to give back now that she isn’t entirely human; very few, if any, possess her abilities.
The verdict is still out on “iZombie.” There’s a wealth of potential in the series, despite the obvious differences between the live action rendition and the print edition. They’re not entirely different stories, but there are key differences (Liv’s life – in general – in the graphic novels is markedly different than the life she now lives on The CW), and that could either win fans over or turn them away. Regardless, there’s big promise in the series, and if the current writers are willing to slow things down just a tad and not force a wealth of plot – current and past details both factored in – down the viewers’ throats immediately, we could be in for an excellent journey. And the editing, it must be noted, is awesome. The animated to live action transitions play faithful to the graphic novels and add a little visual spice to the production as a whole. While there was a lot to swallow during the pilot, there’s room for major growth and there’s enough uniqueness in the concept to convince viewers that The CW may have another rare gem on their hands.
Agree with us? Then here’s a preview of next week’s Episode 1.02, “Brother, Can You Spare A Brain?,” which features the return of Liv’s “maker,” Blaine, portrayed by David Anders.
“iZombie” Episode 1.02 – “Brother, Can You Spare A Brain?” (airs 3/24/15)
50 SHADES OF PSYCHIC — Liv (Rose McIver), Ravi (Rahul Kohli), and Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) work together to solve the mysterious death of a well-known painter. Liv finds herself consumed with passion after eating his brain and can’t resist trying to seduce Major (Robert Buckley).
Meanwhile, Blaine (David Anders) makes a surprise visit to the morgue. John Kretchmer directed the episode written by Diane Ruggiero-Wright.
For more info visit “iZombie” on CWTV.com, “like” “iZombie” on Facebook, and follow “iZombie” on Twitter.
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