iZombie: You’ve Got to Watch It

It’s a tale as old as time:

Girl has perfect life. Girl goes out for a little fun. The party at which the “fun” commences gets crashed by drug-addled, blood-thirsty murderers. Girl wakes up to find she’s a zombie. Girl abandons her old life for the sake of not cracking open heads for the sweet brains within. Girl has visions of those she devours and teams up with an unorthodox detective to bring justice to aforementioned dead people. Well, okay, not exactly a tale as old as time, but the iZombie show has a way of growing on you.

As is the case with so many shows today, iZombie was originally a comic book. And as a fan who believes the original material’s generally far superior to a watered-down television show, I have to say the iZombie show beats the comic hands down. The comic’s needlessly complicated, classifying supernatural creatures by virtue of the “over-” and “under-” soul and the role the concept plays with supernatural mythologies.

iZombie the show is much simpler. Olivia “Liv” Moore was on the fast track of a perfect life. Unfortunately for her, the one party she goes to is bombarded with the undead. She gets scratched by zombies and wakes up in a body bag. Ordinarily, that would mean the loss of Liv’s humanity, but iZombie’s zombies are different. They retain all of their humanity and intelligence. They can even go on for months without brains. The catch? The longer they go without eating, the more they become bloodthirsty monsters. So Liv, having cut all ties to her former life, becomes an intern at a police morgue, trying to maintain her dignity while slowly accepting her “zombie-ness” and all the disgusting things that comes with it.

On the other hand, zombification has its perks if you’re a homicide detective. A side-effect of devouring brains includes visions of the corpse’s life and death, making her an invaluable ally in dispensing justice. Throwing a zombie (one that retains her humanity instead of being a shambling, brain-damaged mess) into a police drama is an unusual move, but somehow it feels more natural than the comic it draws inspiration from.

A large part of the show’s appeal comes from Rose McIver, the actress portraying protagonist Olivia Moore. Eating brains is more than just visions: Liv takes on the deceased’s personality traits as well. So each week the audience get a different Liv. This plot twist could have gone horribly wrong (the quality of Liv’s personalities run the risk of deteriorating with each new episode), but instead of being overwhelmed with a new personality each week, McIver takes the different traits and makes them her own. McIver uses these new personality traits as a way to explore paths the human Liv wasn’t capable of: living in the moment, being happy without overthinking, etc. The traits are like a coat: Liv tries them on, but she can take them off.

Zombies have been done to death (pun intended). They’ve been an attention-grabbing way to lure ratings from a trend-obsessed audience. In the hands of a lesser actor, Liv could have been more of a complicated mess just like her comic book counterpart. Yet Rose McIver constantly amazes by continually creating a new, likeable Liv, always with the right balance of quirkiness and charm. It’s because of her that iZombie is such a fun experience.

Have nothing to do on a Tuesday? iZombie is a great way to pass the time. Click here to learn more online. Have fun.

If you enjoyed Michael’s zombification, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You may also check out his personal blog over HERE.

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