iZombie 1×12 Review: Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat

This episode was, like, totally weird, you know?  The Brain-of-the-Week was a prom queen cheerleader and we got treated to all the over the top, like, youth talk that seems to drive the point home that they are young and cool peeps that totally speak like kids do these days.  But that wasn’t all that happened this episode. We also got some totes adorbs hints at budding OTP Ravi/Peyton and some more completely bummer development on Major’s cray cray plot.  Also there was an incredibly awesome fight scene, which we haven’t had nearly enough of considering this show is about zombies.  So totally weird, am I right?

Okay, I can only keep up that kind of talk for so long before I annoy myself.  I definitely can’t go the whole review like that, so I won’t even try.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to judge depictions of youth on TV since I’m almost a decade removed from my teenage years, but they felt a tad too stereotypical.  It’s especially odd since Rob Thomas got it so right in Veronica Mars.  iZombie has to go to extremes in order to show her transform because of her Brain-of-the-Week.  This brain did, however, give her a chance to have some much needed girl time with Peyton.  While the main protagonist is a well-rounded female character, she is surrounded mostly by men pretty much everywhere she goes.  It’s great to see this episode pass the Bechdel test.

Ravi and Peyton are apparently still together, but their relationship seems to be happening mostly off screen.  It’s unfortunate since they had such an epic build up.  Sure, the show isn’t about them or their relationship, but getting them together was a driving plot point for the majority of an entire episode.  Now they’ve been pushed to the back as set decoration.  They were supposedly supposed to go to San Francisco at the end of the episode, but we haven’t really seen how their relationship evolved at all or really any details about how they interact with each other.  Now that Peyton knows about Liv’s secret, I hope that we get some more interaction between all three of them as Peyton comes to terms with the situation.  I’d be sad if she got written off entirely at this point.

Meanwhile Major… oh Major.  Once again, I know he’s a pretty good person with a kind heart, steadfast determination, and traditionally good looks, but I still don’t care.  And his constant tough circumstances aren’t helping me feel any better about how little I care about his character.  He’s in danger yet again.  This time he’s literally strung up and at the mercy of Blaine and his zombie pals.  I almost feel like he’s going to either be turned or killed before the season is done.  There’s no way he’s going to escape alive and well.

The highlight of the episode was the amazing fight sequence with Liv and Sebastian.  It was a well-choreographed, entertaining, brutal sequence that ended with a strong emotional impact.  Peyton saw Liv in Full On Zombie Mode and then fled the house.  It was one of the best scenes this show has done so far.  This is the first time Liv has had to actually confess to someone she loved.  When she tried it with Major it turned out it was a hallucination, so much of the emotional impact was lost.  This was raw, though, and I’m truly terrified about what might happen next.

We’re getting very close to the end of the season and all the pieces are in place for an epic finale.  So far I’m impressed with how this show has managed to balance Brain-of-the-Week plots with the overall story.  The characters are entertaining (poor, poor Major excluded), the effects are top notch, and it has a kickin’ rad soundtrack.  Of all the shows currently airing on TV, this is by far my favorite.  When Hannibal comes back in a few days, it may get bumped down to second place because I long ago sold my soul to that show, but for now?  iZombie is totally king of TV.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.

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