iZombie: Season 1, Episode 5: Flight of the Living Dead
I love how self-referential and aware this show is. Look at the title of this episode, paying homage to the granddaddy of the zombie genre. They even mentioned “Warm Bodies” in this one (It was a movie I liked, but not everyone agreed). Judging from some small pieces of dialogue, it appears that Liv’s memory and skill absorbing abilities do in fact work the same way in other zombies. Her new love interest Lowell, knew she had eaten her friend Holly’s brain, when she mentioned seeing through her eyes.
This is the second episode in which the murder of the week victim has been someone Liv knew in her living life. Holly was kicked out of her sorority for not being the right material. Liv realizes how petty some aspects of her previous life had been and she reflects on a great many things about her friend after eating a bit of her neural matter. Holly loved life, adventure and experience. Even Peyton had to question a few things when thinking about her former friend.
It was a brilliant crime this time and if it wasn’t for Liv, the killer would have definitely gotten away with it. It would have never shown up on the homicide department’s radar. Clive got in trouble for investigating it and everything. That made Liv the primary investigator for once. She handled an interrogation on her own and did most of the footwork. In the end she came out on top. It’s pretty hard to fail at an investigation when you can see through the victim’s eyes.
Now Liv has a new boyfriend who is also a zombie, so this time she can be completely open. I would say it should work out well, but ever since the Hulu incident where I saw episode 7, I already know what’s coming. It’s going to end very strangely.
Speaking of Liv’s relationships, Ravi is still the best man in her life. He is supportive and useful in multiple capacities. He’s a genius and I get the feeling he’ll never betray her. No matter what, I think he care for her far too much to bring her anything but hope.
Major, on the other hand, seems to be searching for a way to fulfill some kind of void in himself. He’s a good guy, who can fight surprisingly well, but he seems to be wandering a little bit. Now he’s getting into vigilante justice. Hopefully it ends well for him, but I kind of doubt it will. I doubt Blaine would ever be as merciful as his lackey was.
This episode clearly marks a slowing down of the narrative, but it was still good and there was starting to be a bit of a need for that. I still think the show is very fresh and interesting and I’m looking forward to continuing it.
Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.
