iZombie: Season 1, Episode 6: Virtual Reality Bites

     I loved this episode! Even if this show wasn’t so clever, I would tune in just to see Liv’s personality changes every week. This time she’s managed to eat (drink actually) the disgustingly rotted brain of a shut in. The poor guy had been dead for over ten days before his neighbors finally noticed. They quickly learn that he is the most hated man on the internet. He is known as the “Sim Reaper” and is an internet troll and expert hacker. He is a severe agoraphobe, so no one expected to see him since no one ever does.

In order to learn more about his death, Liv has to utilize his immense gaming and hacking skills to get to the bottom of his death. It’s interesting because everyone thinks it’s a heart attack, until they learn how many people hate him. No one knows who the Sim Reaper is, but if they did he probably would have been murdered a long time ago. So much so that lots of people are celebrating his death. He is a monster.

There’s no surprise that his ego and abuse of his cyber skills is what got him killed. He destroyed a woman for no more than a service call that he deemed ineffectual. He got a donut shop shut down with several Yelp reviews for a single mistake that wasn’t even their own. Unfortunately for him, he was murdered so effectively that his murder would never have been solved without Liv’s zombie abilities.

I don’t want to spoil anything about the brilliant murder weapon or the reasons why, but it was very smart. I’m still loving the chemistry of the actors and the show is still remaining fresh in two genres that are both oversaturated these days (Zombies and Murder of the Week). I still enjoy the self awareness of the show and its ability to poke fun at itself and its roots. I wonder how fresh it can stay though. Also it was an awesome nod to the comic series to have Ravi’s MMO character being a wereterrier.

Blaine’s plans are beginning to come to a head and he’s even looking into harsher punishments for those who betray him. He is not one to be crossed. That being said, Major is constantly crossing him. He can’t let go of the missing kids in his program and it seems as though it’s getting closer to getting him killed. The scary part: Liv’s younger brother might end up working for him. I like where this is going. Things can get a lot worse before they get better.

Jonathan Jones

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.