After four solid but fairly standalone episodes that have teased the season’s larger arc without really diving fully into it, iZombie decided to move full steam ahead last night into the show’s major story, providing some pretty surprising twists and turns and involving characters that have been more on the sidelines up until this point. It all worked together to create the best episode yet in the series’ young run, an hour that was filled with mystery, humor, and even some romance, things that iZombie has done very well with in its early installments.
Although this may sound surprising, what really helped elevate “Flight of the Living Dead” to another level was that it essentially ignored its case of the week. While a couple of iZombie‘s cases have been fun to follow, the procedural side of the show has definitely been its weakest element, and last night’s episode primarily used Holly’s murder as an emotional story for Liv and as a way to introduce Lowell, the series’ newest zombie, who already has a thing for our heroine.
The surprise twist that Lowell is, in fact, a zombie worked really well in last night’s episode, and it set up an interesting emotional conflict for Liv, who still obviously has feelings for Major. While not every show needs a love triangle, what’s makes iZombie‘s potential one different is the fact that Liv knows that she can’t harm Lowell in any way, since they are both zombies, while she still needs to keep Major at arm’s length to protect him. Liv loves Major, and in an ideal world, she would still be engaged to him, but Lowell represents an interesting alternative for her.
As Liv says in the episode, she thought her romantic life was about as dead as, well, she is. However, her attraction to Lowell, combined with Holly’s outgoing personality, which Liv was channeling at the time, makes him a possible romantic option for her and also presents iZombie with a new avenue to explore the zombie lifestyle outside of Liv and Blaine. How does Lowell go through everyday life? Can he be trusted, or is that British covering up his lies? I don’t know just yet, and I’m excited to find out as we find out more about his experiences as a zombie.
However, as “Flight of the Living Dead” also shows us, it might not be too long until everyone is in the know about zombies and the way they live, as both Major and Clive unknowingly dig deeper into Blaine’s operations as they investigate the countless kids that have gone missing in recent months. For Major, this is a personal issue, as he is the counselor to so many of these teens, and his dedication towards them ends with him getting the crap kicked out of him by the zombie that stole Jerome’s sneakers. Meanwhile, Clive, who we have seen is a very good detective when given the opportunity (not that any of his colleagues would recognize him as one), understands that something is up here and won’t stop until he uncovers what it is, despite the best efforts of his captain, who also turns out to be a zombie.
These story developments for Major and Clive are incredibly exciting because not only do they provide us with a better understanding of their characters (for example, I now really like and appreciate Major and his willingness to help individuals, something I could have never told you even two episodes ago), but also because they’re leading them closer and closer to discovering the fact that zombies exist and that Liv is one of them. As shown on other CW series like Arrow and The Flash, when more characters learn the protagonists’ main secret, the show usually becomes even better, as its writers are no longer forced to have to come up with convoluted reasons for why people aren’t realizing what’s happening with their friend, family member, or colleague.
Clive and Major getting pulled in to the zombie world and inching ever closer to finding out that Liv is a zombie hints at only better things to come for iZombie. However, on its own, “Flight of the Living Dead” is an excellent episode, an hour that illustrates what’s already so darn enjoyable about this series, while also showing off some newer, potentially even stronger elements as well.
Other thoughts:
– It kind of shocks me, because I’m not usually a fan of the “mysterious guy” character type, but I actually really, really like Lowell. His whole speech to Liv about how she gave him hope again was sweet, funny, and charming and nicely verbalized what they each represent to the other.
– Liv having to eat the brain of someone she knew before was really interesting, but my only minor quibble is that I wish we also had some sort of emotional connection to Holly. Even one short flashback scene between her, Liv, and Peyton would have done a lot.
– Liv and Ravi are my favorite best friends on TV right now. Their banter at the beginning of the episode, along with Ravi’s teasing of Liv’s feeling for Lowell later in the hour, were terrific.
– This show has some of the best dialogue on TV.
– We’re only five episodes in and already iZombie has taken us to some really interesting places with its storytelling. I can’t wait to see how the rest of this first season unfolds.
What did everyone else think about last night’s episode of iZombie?
[Photo via The CW]
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