Non-Geek TV From The Geek Perspective: iZombie

There’s a lot of TV out there, and I don’t know if this week’s show is a Geek Show or not.  I mean, it probably could be if it isn’t.  I don’t know.  It has freakin’ zombies, but the main one is perky and friendly, not stumbling around trying to eat Sheriff Grimes or whatever that guy’s name is.  I actually don’t watch The Walking Dead and am basing all my knowledge on said show on the fact I read the first few trades and watched an “Epic Rap Battle of History” between Grimes and Walter White.

Look, this week’s show is iZombie.

Lunch time!

What’s the premise?

Loosely adapted from the Vertigo comic of the same name by writer Chris Roberson and artist Mike Allred, medical resident Liv Moore (get it?) decides to screw around and have fun for once by attending a boat party when the party is attacked by zombies.  She’s scratched and turns into one.  She dumps her fiancé for his own safety and takes a job in the local morgue where there is a steady supply of brains she can eat to retain her intelligence and basic personality.  Her boss at the morgue figures out her secret and finds it fascinating.  Meanwhile, Liv gets psychic flashes and bits of knowledge and personality from the brains she eats, which she uses to help solve murders with a city cop who thinks she’s just a psychic.  Once in a while, usually about once an episode, Liv will get really upset and go “full zombie” which is some sort of berserker mode that could cause her problems if she isn’t careful.

What’s the appeal?

It’s a charming little procedural on the CW, which has managed to figure out how to do both genre shows like  Arrow/The Flash, and the twentysomething /teenage drama stuff well.  This show is more or less both those things without too much angst.  I hate angst.  Creator Rob Thomas also was the man responsible for Veronica Mars, and while I’ve never seen that show, apparently Veronica Mars and iZombie share the same delightful charm.  Liv is a fun heroine and she’s a joy to hang out with.

Anything stand out?

You know, the show in general is just plain fun.  There’s an ongoing plot involving a former drug dealer-turned-zombie who’s gathering runaways to feed to rich zombies he personally infected, as well as getting into the nuts-and-bolts of both the universe and its zombie mythology.

Even characters who, on another show, might not amount to much, like Liv’s assistant DA roommate and her former fiancé, a man somehow named Major, don’t seem too clunky or embarrassing.  While Liv is easily the best character on the show, the writing keeps everyone involved and everything is fun.

As an added bonus, the opening credits and various other shots have illustrations that look like Allred’s work.

Any downsides?

Before she turned, Liv was a brunette.  Since she turned, she is now a very pale, white-haired woman…and no one seems to have noticed enough to comment on her new look.  When a woman is suddenly something of an albino, I think it may be something worth noting.