Going through my own version of the zombie apocalypse due to lung damage from Covid-19, I learned about an amazing comedy drama from the tech doing my lung stress test. How did I not know about I Zombie? Thank you, Katrina for telling me about this fabulous series on Netflix.
iZombie
iZombie, is based on the comic book series created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred which was published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint. The series, which premiered in 2015 and lasted five seasons (again, how did I not know about this) was developed by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright. The series stars Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders, Aly Michalka, Robert Knepper and Bryce Hodgson.
Olivia Moore (Rose McIver) had the perfect life. She was a medical resident at a prestigious Seattle hospital, and she was engaged to Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley) a handsome man who worked with troubled youth. She had everything going for her…that is until she attended a boat party where some of the guests were partaking of a new designer drug called Utopium. When people start attacking each other on the boat, Olivia is scratched by one of the drug dealers, Blaine (David Anders) before falling overboard. She winds up in a body bag and wakes up as the police are trying to find out what is going on. She is dead, but not quite. Afraid that she might begin snacking on friends and family, Olivia breaks up with her fiancé and leaves her medical career.
After taking the position of assistant under the chief medical examiner, Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), Olivia is taken under Ravi’s wing when he figures out that Olivia is a zombie. He devotes his time to finding a cure. Working as the assistant coroner allows Olivia to partake of all the brains she can eat. But there is one little catch to her new diet…she is able to pick up on the memories of the brain she is snacking on, which then leads to her helping a homicide detective, Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) to solve a few puzzling homicides. Clive thinks that Olivia is a psychic/medium.
Things really get hairy when people start disappearing. Olivia’s ex-boyfriend is worried because some of the teens that Major counsels have gone missing, and it isn’t long before Olivia, with the help of the victims’ memories, discovers who is behind the disappearance. Olivia needs to be careful because even though she is as powerful as Blaine, her living family and friends can quickly become part of Blaine’s new business: supplying brains for zombies…yes, there is a growing population of zombies in Seattle and their snacking from Blaine’s high end meat market keeps them from gong full World War Z.
Conclusion
I have been binge watching iZombie ever since Katrina, the Pulmonary Tech, recommended the series. This show is a winner because the writing is strong, the acting is top notch, and there is more to each episode than the usual stumbling search for brains. Rose McIver’s Olivia is a smart and compassionate heroine who makes the best of a bad situation. Her heart is in the right place as she tries to solve crimes, fight Blaine, and protect friends and family. Whenever Olivia digests a brain, she takes on the personality of that person, and that my friend can lead to some funny moments.
After watching The Walking Dead for eleven years, and not only watching a host of zombie films, but writing my own zombie series, it is refreshing to see a new take on the zombie apocalypse. I’m not sure how the series will end as I just started watching, but I highly recommend you partake of the show, I would suggest you be choosey with what snacks you eat while watching the show. Stay away from anything resembling brains.
