iZombie: Season 2, Episode 1: Grumpy Old Liv
Back at it again with a running stride! The iZombie cast and crew have once again proven that they know how to make good television. Since last season I have familiarized myself with the comic and it’s decent, but in a niche I don’t really consider myself the biggest fan of. I mean, I like monsters and all, but I’ve never been a huge fan of mixing everything together. I like this much more focused look on this unique breed of zombie the show is giving us. The show is vastly different from the source material, all the way down to the main character’s name (Liv Moore is so much better than Gwen Dylan), but I actually love that here. Had they gone the route of the comic, it may have felt too much like a cynical version of True Blood.
Speaking of cynicism, I loved seeing the personality Liv picked up in this episode. She was a grumpy old man. It was perfect. I hate to say it, but her mildly racist attitude was even pretty hilarious. Cantankerous people who hate everyone just hate everyone, so no particular group can take particular offense. I think that’s actually a basic rule of most human resources departments. If someone is a d*ck to everyone, they’re just a d*ck and that excludes them from the category of discrimination. She was such a curmudgeon! Yes, I really wanted to use the word curmudgeon… Same reason I used the word cantankerous.
The murder mystery was as entertaining as a lot of the others we’ve seen, if not the best of the bunch, but the real gold was Liv’s life as usual. Her relationships with the people around her suffer so much because of her condition. Clive is growing suspicious of her, Major won’t talk to her, Peyton is still MIA and let’s not even talk about her mother and brother. She did the right thing, but no one can know, so it only enhances her suffering. Ravi is her rock. She needs him as a confidant and friend since he’s the only one that knows the truth about everything.
The long term plot lines for this season are also very interesting. Cured zombies are living zombie detectors! Even “New Hope” (clever Star Wars reference aside) stays away from Liv. Also, Liv has given Blaine the recipe for creating new zombies, that can’t possibly go well. I’m also curious about Liv’s new roommate and Max Rager. What’s going to happen with them?
Do you agree with our review? Let us know in the comments below!
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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.
