iZombie episode 9: Patriot Brains

This week's episode picks up right where last week's left us hanging - in the elevator. There were a lot of feelz in this one, and I gotta say - I hate just being left hanging when I know something isn't as simple as it seems. There was a lot more work done on the relationship between Liv and Lowell, and I was just starting to feel like maybe it had a chance - and then BAM. Maybe not.

The whole vibe for the episode this week was depressing, but in a good way. That touched me. I mean, the usual energy between her and Clive was there. It was a little weird between Liv and Ravi, but it was downright sad between her and Lowell. Major makes a mistake that nearly costs him his life, and still might - but he's closer to the truth than he realizes. The problem is, I don't think he can handle the truth! Meanwhile, Ravi is so far not a zombie after being bitten by the zombie rat - yet.

There wasn't a whole lot of focus put on the actual crime this week - a dead soldier, and a murderous computer geek. There was a lot of focus on Liv's new sniper skills. Passengers on the good ship Livwell are probably wondering what now, especially since something rather permanent seems to have happened with a fan favorite. But I've learned that things aren't always what they seem with this show, so I'm holding out for the hero to come riding back in on his steed later on - perhaps in season two.

Is Lowell gone for good? Will he rise again from the dead? Hit the jump for the recap, and tell us what you think in the comments!

iZombie Episode 8: Dead Air

iZombie fans rejoice! If you haven't heard by now, the series has been picked up for a second season! It's not known yet when it will premiere or how many episodes were ordered. The first season had a mid-season debut and 10 episodes were ordered for it, so let's all cross our fingers and hope we get a full 23 episodes out of it - or at the very least, a half season of 13 episodes. Now that the good news has been announced, let's get on with the rest of the good stuff!

Last week Liv turned into Zombiemom after eating the brain of a pregnant girl, and she gained an appreciation for her own mother. She and Lowell got to know each other better. We saw lieutenant Suzuki in action as Zombiecop, and Major got more than he bargained for when he found the Candyman. Ravi conducted a clinical study on some rats with Utopium and MaxRager drinks, with an interesting - if gross - outcome. And one of the rats gets lost again.

This week, things heated up for Liv and Lowell. Major got beat up and released from jail, and Ravi saw Payton in a different light. A radio host was murdered live on the air. Liv found the lost rat, and Ravi believes for a moment that he's created a monster. I need to say how much I am loving the prop and make-up department on this production! Major's bashed up face... the delivery boy's flayed open head on Jackie's counter from episode 6... the dead rats... They can come decorate my house and do my make-up for Halloween - or anything - whenever they want!

Another of the things I am loving about this series is the continuity. While the general theme of the show is "crime of the week," there's more going on than that. It looks like Lieutenant Suzuki's story is about to expand and mingle with the storyline between Major and Blaine - did I mention there's a twist this week? Oh - and there's a really huge OMG, too.

There's been a lot of speculation about whether or not Suzuki is in Blaine's pocket or not, and this week we find out what team he bats for. And it looks like next week's episode will be a rev-up for the season finale, judging by the way this week's episode wound up at the end. My guess (and fervent hope) is that the last episode of the season will go off with one hell of a bang!

So far, the Livwell ship is still afloat. But is it me, or does Lowell seem really insightful about what's going on with Liv? I mean, he comes to the exact, correct conclusions about her behavior every damn time - even before she does. And I'm not so sure yet that bringing Ravi and Payton together is a good thing.

I really wanted to kick Liv's ass for how she treated Ravi about the whole issue, and I think I fell in love with Rahul Kohli's performances even more. That particular scene was an emotional moment that was very well played. I felt Ravi's pain. Hopefully all this shipping doesn't take the focus off the whole premise of the show - crime solving and zombie research with our new Scoobie Gang.

What do you think - too much shipping going on?  Should they just stick to the storytelling, crime scene action, and brain eating? Hit the jump for the recap, and tell us what you think in the comments below!

iZombie ep 7: Maternity Liv - This week, Liv is Tiger mom!

First off, I'd like to clear up something. In the pilot episode, the Lieutenant was sitting at a desk with a nameplate that said "C. Abe" so I had assumed that his name was Lieutenant Abe. He was never addressed by name until this episode - unless I missed it before, and I've been referring to him as Lieutenant Abe in my past recaps. So I'd like to correct that and apologize for the confusion. Going forward I will be referring to the character correctly.

Liv gets maternal this week, when she eats the brain of a pregnant teen. This makes for some interesting and funny interactions between her and the people around her - she starts mothering everyone. Ravi is understanding but weirded out by it, Evan is annoyed by it, her mother is taken aback and even Liv is embarrassed by her actions. Later, things seem to get strange with Lowell, and Liv doesn't understand right away. Major seems to be going a bit too far by taking things into his own hands with the search for the Candyman, and that spells trouble for Clive. Evan is told to get a job, so he starts looking.

Check out the recap after the jump, and tell us what you think in the comments section below!

iZombie Episode 6: Virtual Reality Bites

Hey everybody - sorry I'm late, but life the universe and everything happened, and I wasn't able to watch this on the night of the actual broadcast. I did pick up a few spoilers along the way before I did get to watch it, and they only made me want to see it even more. Now that I've finally watched it, I can say this: Holy shit! Oh - and, uh... ew?

With each episode, we are getting less of the vision-y type stuff and more deductive logic being used to solve the cases. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, though. I mean, a big part of the series premise is the whole "eat a brain, see what happened" thing. The characters are becoming much more cohesive as a team, and that's definitely a good thing. Each of the characters' skills contributes to a well-balanced group.

I'd really love to see Payton play a bigger part. I love Aly Michalka in this role. Sure, her character isn't absolutely necessary to the crime-solving part, but an attorney tends to look at the evidence in ways that a cop or medical examiner might not. That could provide some interesting flavor to the whole "whodunnit" angle. Besides - I'm getting attached to all of these characters, and it's not difficult for me to see them as real people that I would want to hang out with - hell, who am I kidding? I'm actually starting to wish I could be part of that team because they just have too damn much fun!

I can't help but wonder if Major is just bluffing about being able to move on. I think he still has it for Liv and he's just trying not to pressure her. Liv is clearly trying to move on with Lowell, but will she be able to? I hope we're not going to see her running back and forth from Major to someone else and then back again. Some things make for good drama, yes. But I don't think that would be one of those things.

I'd also like to see Major play a bigger role with the team, as well - and not just as the rejected love interest. As a social worker, there is so much potential to expand on the character. He could also transition into being a victim/witness advocate, or he could become a private investigator specializing in missing persons/cold cases. Hell, send his ass to the Police Academy and have him be Clive's new partner. Robert Buckley wears this role well, and the character seems well-suited to become more than just a recurring one.

Each episode has been better than the last, and there's so much potential for this to have a nice long run - as long as the character development keeps going the way it has been, the possibilities for good storytelling are endless, and y'all know how I love a good story!

What do you think will happen - will Evan actually get a job at the Meat Cute? Do you ship Ravioli, Livwell, or Limaj? How about the possibilities for Bliv? Any thoughts on the bromance ship Rajor? Hit the jump for the recap, and tell us how you ship in the comments!

iZombie Episode 5: Flight of the Living Dead

This week's episode gave us a couple of interesting reveals, one which could lead to something interesting or sad - I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. Liv MET someone... It also seems like a case was left hanging - literally. The victim this week was a skydiver who happened to be a friend of Liv's. Several people were investigated for that case, but ultimately the suspect got away so the case remains open. Meanwhile, Major is still looking for his missing shelter kids, and nothing is resolved this week. Oh - NEWSFLASH! Lieutenant Abe takes his coffee with hot sauce! DAMMIT! Best. Ep. EVAR! Well... so far, anyway. I said that about the last episode too, and it just keeps getting better!

The new plot developments are starting to give me that familiar buzz at the base of my skull, and I cannot wait to see what's in store for next week!

Catch up with the recap after the jump, and let us know what you think in the comments!

iZombie Ep 4 "Liv and Let Clive"

This week's episode had some interesting stuff going on... Rose McIver brought her Yellow Ranger moves! Blaine's building a mob empire, and we see a little bit more back story on Clive. Ravi puts the obvious in front of Liv's face, and that makes Liv think about her relationship with Major - into which Ravi has somehow been drawn. We think we know what happened to Eddie. (And when Eddie said he didn't like his teddy, you knew he was a no-good kid... No? Oh, fine.)

My two favorite things about iZombie are the writing and casting. The writing is great! There are little clues dropped in each episode that are relevant to to either the previous or upcoming episodes, which helps preserve the continuity and storyline sequence. The dialogue is both witty and cheesy at times (my favorite things!), but it's also starting to look familiar. That in itself isn't a bad thing necessarily, although I'd really like to see this show stand on it's own rather than lean on comparisons to "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

We're already building the Scoobies, we've got the Big Bad. We have the love-interest-at-a-distance (granted, he's not a vampire). We've got the younger sibling who so far hasn't caused any trouble, but wait - is it Tuesday yet? Don't get me wrong. I loved "Buffy," but I love iZombie too - probably for all the same reasons, which is why I really want to see it become something more than another "Buffy" clone.

The casting of major characters is really great, and some of these folks have been around the genre before:

• Rose McIver (recurring roles in the Herculese/Xena franchises, Tinkerbelle in "Once Upon a Time," "Power Rangers RPM" as Summer Landsdown/Yellow Bear RPM Ranger) is really owning the role of Liv Moore, and she is already my favorite alabaster badass living dead girl. 
• Rahul Kholi as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti delivers dialogue to great effect, and I would love to see him become more than comic relief - I would love to see more back story on him. So far, all we really know is that he was fired from the CDC because they thought he was a whackjob. Yeah. Bet they regret that now, huh? And if Ravi finds a cure, you can bet your ass they will be calling him back to Atlanta and Rick Grimes will be all over that! 
• Malcolm Goodwin (guest appearances on "True Blood," "Bones," Elementary," and a regular on "Breakout Kings") as Det. Clive Babineaux is a little more laid back than what I'm used to seeing from other TV show cops, and it's pretty refreshing. To me, he comes off as a a real, normal human guy who happens to be a cop instead of the cop with the attitude. He's not Horacio Kane, and that's a good thing.
• Robert Buckley is Major Lilywhite, Liv's ex-fiance. Yes. That is his name. Why? I don't know. But I'm sure there is a joke from the writer's room in there somewhere, and I'd love to hear it! I'd also like to see Major become a bigger part of the team, 
• David Anders  ("Once Upon a Time," "Vampire Diaries," "The Revenant")  is well-cast as Blaine DeBeers (and I'm sure that there's a writer's room joke somewhere in there about this name, too). Hopefully he's not just a single season bad guy. Blaine is already being compared to Spike, which I don't think is really fair. I mean, granted - both Blaine and Spike are undead, and they are both blondes. But that's where the resemblance ends, in my book. Blaine is already so much more than Spike... he's becoming a crime boss, with plans to take over the city - Spike was never so ambitious. I can't wait to see what happens next with Blaine!
• Aly Michalka (Aly & AJ, "Phil of the Future," "Grown-Ups 2," "Hellcats") is Liv's best friend and roommate Peyton Charles. I really would like to see more back story on her, and how it fits in with Liv's story. They're best friends - Peyton seems to know Liv's family and Major really well. And having someone who works for the DA's office could come in handy for this team.
• Nick Purcha ("Spooksville," "R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour") is Liv's little brother Evan. So far, he's just a recurring character who doesn't seem to really have a purpose yet. I'm sure that there will be ways for him to get into trouble though. Liv won't be able to hide the fact that she's dead from him very much longer. 

Check out the recap after the jump, and tell us what you think in the comments!