iZombie, the CW’s new show loosely based off the Vertigo comic book of the same name, has been on the air for a few weeks, and I have been remiss in my duties by not telling you if you should be watching it or not. Though after watching the first couple of episodes, I am not sure if I can answer that for you. The cast is good, and it is definitely charming, but it is still feeling a little too much like a standard police procedural.
The show follows Olivia (Rose McIver) who was once a promising young physician, but after being turned in to a zombie has taken a job as a mortician so she will have constant access to her new favorite treat, brains. Something interesting happens when she eats a person’s brain, she can see parts of their memories, and use some of their abilities. Like for instance speak a foreign language that the deceased used to know. This ability has made her quite useful to the local police.
The writers have set the show up well, and they have made the cast believable, but it still kind of seems like just another cop show. A show about an undead crime solving mortician should be anything but ordinary. Though it is still in the early going, so the show may still be finding its footing. I will give the writers a few more chances to make this world a little more fun.
The cast is pretty good. Rose McIver makes Olivia “Liv” quite charming, and you really feel for her unfortunate fate. Her medical examiner buddy Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti played by Rahul Kohli keeps the show from getting too heavy, and he provides a good deal of the humor. Malcolm Goodwin’s Clive Babinaux a Seattle police detective that is bad at his job is less interesting, but maybe the show will turn him around.
I want to like this show, and it has moments I think it is going to escape its procedural trappings, but so far it hasn’t. I am still willing to give it more time because I think the premise could be a lot of fun, but we will see if the CW is willing to deal with the low ratings long enough for it to find itself, or if iZombie will shamble off the air. For now I think it is still worth a watch, just to see if you like the concept. There are definitely worse things on TV.