iZombie 1×6 Review: Virtual Reality Bites

I like to call “Virtual Reality Bites” the episode where Liv got her groove back. This week, iZombie was all about grudges, whether that meant acting upon them or letting them go. There was also lots to learn about all the guys in Liv’s life, and she finally gave in to moving on from Major. This was definitely a character growth episode.

The brain of the week in “Virtual Reality Bites” ended up being a much hated hacker and gamer who seemed to have an endless queue of people who wanted to get rid of him. After Simon’s body was discovered, ten long days after he had died, Ravi gave Liv the bad news that he wasn’t sure how the victim died and Liv would have to eat the brains. Due to the deterioration, though, Liv had to drink the brains, and she was not excited about it. Apparently even brains can become rotten and taste bad to zombies. The brains had some interesting effects on Liv, including knowledge of an online multi-player RPG and a bout of agoraphobia. I really have to give it to Rose McIver: she is versatile enough that she can pull off these little quirks from the brains of the week without missing a beat. Liv and Ravi spent some time gaming together, and Ravi really could not have been more excited to game on the job. Nerdy Ravi is sexy Ravi.

Back in boy news, Liv had a date with Lowell! Well, had a date planned until the agoraphobia kicked in just as they were about to meet up. Luckily, she had the sense to tell him the truth when she broke the date because he understands the brain effect. Just when I thought that we weren’t going to get a zombie date, Lowell showed up for a “drop by” to Liv’s, complete with some anxiety meds for the agoraphobia. Aww! They have a super cute date, and I totally ship them. According to the rest of Twitter, other fans do too, and have dubbed them “Livwell.” Which is ironic, because they’re zombies.

I have to admit, at the beginning of the series, I thought that the character of Clive had been miscast. But he is SO growing on me! I loved watching him and Liv team up this week to get their man. I feel like the writers finally have a good measure of Clive and how much he should be involved in each episode. He is even getting funny! And I love it. I even squealed with panic when Clive showed up at MeatCute this week and a run-in with Blaine. It was the first time that I actually really hoped nothing would happen to him. That is character growth!

Speaking of MeatCute, the final subplot in this episode was Blaine’s involvement in the brain trade. Blaine’s gal pal, Jackie, ended up killing a young delivery man from the shop because she was hungry! She dumped the body and it ended up in the morgue, and subsequently alerted Clive to come around and ask questions. This, of course, did not make Blaine very happy because he is trying to keep the brains for sale under the radar. We ended the episode with Major discovering that Blaine is the one behind all of the kids going missing in the skate park. Unlike other genre shows, this news was actually communicated back to Liv which makes me very happy. I love it when television characters communicate!

All in all, this was another solid episode of iZombie. I really appreciate that the writers are not dragging out the subplots and we are actually treated to story line movement with each episode. I also really like that I get to know more about each character every time, and that makes me really invest in them and want to get to know them even more. I have to admit that iZombie has become one of my favorite shows already.

Author: Erin

Erin has reviewed many shows over the years including Orphan Black, iZombie, Penny Dreadful, and Killing Eve. She has a keen eye for on-screen chemistry, and loves to tackle the subject of casting. She is also our horror aficionado. She live tweets shows, and loves to share her feelings. Erin has a BA in History, and likes to analyze the lore behind historical fiction. She attends San Diego Comic Con every year and has also attended C2E2 and WonderCon.

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