* * * * A“iZombie” is a fantasy series based on the Vertigo comic book of the same name. In it, Olivia Moore (
Rose McIver), an overachieving medical resident, becomes a zombie and takes a job as an assistant medical examiner. She discovers that when she consumes the brain of a victim, she gains access to their memories, and begins helping detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) to solve crimes.
The series does a great job at interlacing episodic plots (who’s brain will Liv eat this week?) with longer plot arcs. There are arcs involving the zombie who first scratched Liv, Blaine DeBeers (David “Adam” Anders), her former fiancee Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley), and Vaugn Du Clark (Steven Weber), the owner of the drink company that sponsored the event where Liv was scratched.
The writers have done an amazing job at blending the crime, fantasy/horror, and comedy genres. Liv’s boss Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli) is particularly funny, but is well integrated into the episodes and is involved in many of the long arcs. Goodwin and Anders are also humorous at turns, and McIver has her moments too. In addition to gaining access to her “victim’s” memories, Liv takes on aspects of their personalities, leading some great situational humor.
The season 2 ender sets up a fundamental change in the milieu that should help prevent the series from becoming stale. Changing things up is risky. Remember Fringe season 5? I’ve watched a couple of episodes from season 3, and so far, I haven’t been disappointed. Here’s hoping that iZombie continues to be a great series.