Lowell and Liv: A Romance Gone Too Soon

If there9s one thing we9ve seen a lot of over the past couple of decades, it9s zombies. But if there9s one period in which we saw particularly A LOT of zombies on television, it was the 2010s. Not only did the apocalypses ratchet up during this period with the likes of AMC9s Walking Dead (2010 62010), but a variety of more offbeat, and occasionally experimental, shows mixed zombies with other genres and concepts. Among them: Netflix9s horror-comedy The Santa Clarita Diet (2017 62018), a show that, like TWD, became a monster success.

In the same category (lightyears away from saturation), one should include iZombie, the supernatural procedural dramedy that aired for five seasons on The CW during the 2010s. It might not have broken the mold or set the channel on fire, but it was something of a small cult favorite for viewers who liked its mix of quick-fire jokes, likable characters, and a bizarre combo of weekly crimes of the week mixed with slowly-unraveling season-long zombie mythology.

The show was based on the Vertigo comic of the same name from writer Chris Roberson and artist Michael Allred, which revolves around a zombie woman named Gwen Dylan who works as a gravedigger in Eugene, Oregon. In order to stave off the loss of memories and cognitive function, Gwen must eat a brain every 30 days or so, with her two best friends being a 1960s ghost named Shade and her dog Scott 9Spot, a were-terrier. The two help Gwen solve supernatural murders from vampires to mummies and more. For the show, executive producers Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright retained the general premise but changed almost everything else: the setting, characters, Seattle, etc. Indeed, Allred9s only real influence ended up being the comic-styled opening title cards for each episode, along with a cover of the Deadboy & The Elephant Men song Stop, I9m Already Dead.

Liv9s boss, Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), was a virologist who tested Liv for her condition and decided, instead of being horrified by her, was fascinated by her condition and vowed to create a cure. She also formed a partnership with Detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) on the crimes, who thought Liv was psychic, but her secret was eating brains (she took on flashes of the previous owner9s memories and certain aspects of their personalities, which she would use to help solve murders). Liv9s memories and cognizance of being a zombie and not knowing when her 30-day cycle would end were one of the reasons why she ate brains, in addition to the fact that it made her hungry for human brains.

Brains, Baddies, and the Characters to Remember

The natural conclusion to a crime drama is the introduction of a series villain, and iZombie would have one in the form of Blaine DeBeers, a.k.a. David Anders. The wealthy, mixed-race zombie who would turn out to be the one who bit Liv on the boat in a scheme that involved her fianc9 served as the main antagonist for the first two seasons at least, before becoming a much more complex character. Blaine started as a Utopium dealer before the outbreak turned him to brain dealing, taking to infecting the rich and then shipping in brains to keep them in an addicted and dependent state on his zombie product.

Blaine9s attractive, cold demeanor and dark family trauma past made him a villain you wanted to see but an ally you might root for as well, though his deeper family connections and complete moral bankruptcy never disappeared. There were other notable characters and villains over time 6 like Dale Bozzio (Jessica Harmon), who became Clive9s new partner after debuting as an FBI investigator; Scott E. (Bryce Hodgson), a memorable mental hospital patient and Liv9s client who would return in season five as Blaine9s brain-stealing zombie twin Don E.; sleazy weatherman Johnny Frost (Daran Norris) and the Max Rager CEO Vaughan du Clark (Steven Weber) popping up in a random, but fun, recurring role.

One of the best and most consistent bits on the show? Liv9s rotating personality palette as a result of the different brains she ate. A dominatrix. A grumpy old man. A LARP-loving college professor. A hip-hop star. A college basketball coach for a bunch of kids. The range McIver displayed in each episode was considerable, and could be used for both comic or dramatic purposes, or simply in service of a plot point or gag..

Take Flight of the Living Dead, for example, when Liv ate her adventurous former sorority sister Holly9s (Tasya Teles) brain. Holly had met her untimely end after a seemingly suspicious skydiving accident, but eating her brain let Liv in on a wild perspective about life, adventure, and making the most of every moment. It was a part of Liv we should have seen more of, before the safe ground she took as a zombie kept her in line.

Seasons 3, 4, and 5 took the ballast off iZombie a little bit, and the season 5 finale9s post-Zombie Apocalypse setup and rushed ending were an unfortunate final chapter, but the show still deserves credit for finding a place for itself and crafting entertaining and consistently original material. It proved that in a medium where it seemed like every genre show had to have zombies on it by 2015, you could still mix murder, mayhem, comedy, and, of course, brains.