iZombie

It's in the same time slot as Marvels Agent of Shield
Time slots are so 20th century ;)

she did "the Buffy move" as she was realizing she knew kung fu
Yeah she did!

One thing bugging me a little, she gets the visions and characteristics of the person whose brain she eats.. but there's no sign of this happening with the other zombies? Is it some special gift? Or convenient plotting since she's the only POV character?
 
Time slots are so 20th century ;)

Yep - and, being stuck in the 20th century with most of my tech, that's why I watch it on cwtv.com - but I'm not metered by the Nielsens so it doesn't hurt anything.

Yeah she did!

:D

One thing bugging me a little, she gets the visions and characteristics of the person whose brain she eats.. but there's no sign of this happening with the other zombies? Is it some special gift? Or convenient plotting since she's the only POV character?

Thank you! I'd forgotten to make that point but it hit me for the first time in last night's episode because there was so much about the other zombies eating. I agree, that is a problem and I don't know how to explain it. It looks like convenient plotting so far but maybe they'll come up with something good.

Another thing I'm vague on - how do you kill a zombie? Because we know Liv can withstand a shot to the chest or whatever but that the other zombie was killed by a crushed skull. So I was thinking brains, naturally enough. Oops. Spoilers for #4:
But Blaine shot the two henchmen zombies in the foreheads which should kill them right? But I got the idea he was literally "putting them on ice" and could thaw them out later if he wanted, too. I probably got that part wrong, though.
Still not clear on all the mythology, but still enjoying the show.
 
I would watch this show for the dialog alone.

Episode 4, "Live and Let Clive," provided plenty of one-line chuckles, like a reality TV show called “Real Homemakers of Whoretown” as Blaine's underlings were considering their plans.

I was disappointed in Blaine's abrupt termination of his boys. They showed more promise as comic relief than as entrepreneurs. As Blaine said, however, most small business start-ups fail.

Also laugh-worthy, Blaine's head chef's gourmet, brain-centric entrees. It's all in the presentation.
 
#5 "Flight of the Living Dead" was another very good one, though I'll say that maybe it's "topped" out, found its level, whatever. This one is the first that didn't strike me as "the best one yet" but just "among the best of all these spiffy episodes". Probably the main reason

is that this is the first episode I recall where nothing actually got solved and it was all middle - we figure we know who the killer is, yet what happened to her? And we've been dragging the "missing person" thing along while solving the case of the week but then, without quite solving the case, we didn't really advance this one a whole lot either beyond it coming to the attention of Babineaux. (But check out Major breaking bad until Mr. Zombie went zombie.) And what's up with the boss cop being a zombie? What's up with the great Northwest? Live humans are massively outnumbered as almost everyone is a zombie or wesen. ;) And they just introduced New Guy which also leaves it feeling mid-stream. Wonder if he's a temporary guest star or semi-permanent addition? (No spoilers there - rhetorical question.) And we did get the answer that the "personality modification" that Liv gets is not unique to her, though that raises more questions. While Liv can become faintly psychopathic as a "good girl", it seems unlikely that a psychopath could not be changed into a "good guy" by this - talk about repeated concentrated doses of empathy. Ah. Maybe I just figured it out. Maybe it's not unique to Liv, but also not common to all zombies. Maybe stupid psychopath villains are immune to the empathy thing and so don't get the flashes at all. Whereas Liv and New Guy do. Anyway - watching Liv biking was a blast for both the literal and symbolic aspects.

This is the first time in a looong time that I've had the "oh no, don't cancel this!" feeling - lately, everything I've watched is pretty definitely safe and, in some cases, I'm close to 'canceling it" myself. But this is on a weird network that's already renewed practically everything they've got and I don't know where they'll find room for it if it isn't doing gangbusters. But, hey, who'd have thought Buffy would run seven years either? Both mid-season replacements, too.
 
This reminds me more and more of Buffy in its heyday – witty exchanges, pop culture references, plots that don't stay too far into the unbelievable. I've been paying special attention to the phrases on the comic frames that introduce each segment – punny stuff.

I was certain that the “new customer” who arrived in the body bag at the end of the episode was Major, but it seemed that they unzipped the bag in the final moments with no reaction. Happy to be wrong.
 
I was certain that the “new customer” who arrived in the body bag at the end of the episode was Major, but it seemed that they unzipped the bag in the final moments with no reaction. Happy to be wrong.

Wow. That didn't even occur to me but would have been really dramatically effective and pretty Whedonesque. She's all happy about the new guy in her life - and the old one dies. Ouch.

But I just assumed he was kinda broken and not completely dead. But that's yet another thing that was incomplete in the episode - just left what actually happened unresolved. But... crap, forgot his name - boss ME guy and old boyfriend are now roomies so, if he doesn't make it to a hospital or something soon, they should go looking for him. (As long as the other zombies don't pick him up first.) *cue eerie dramatic music*
 
Wow. That didn't even occur to me but would have been really dramatically effective and pretty Whedonesque. She's all happy about the new guy in her life - and the old one dies. Ouch.

But I just assumed he was kinda broken and not completely dead. But that's yet another thing that was incomplete in the episode - just left what actually happened unresolved. But... crap, forgot his name - boss ME guy and old boyfriend are now roomies so, if he doesn't make it to a hospital or something soon, they should go looking for him. (As long as the other zombies don't pick him up first.) *cue eerie dramatic music*
That leads me to another question:
If the old boyfriend had been the new morgue customer in the bag, would Liv have been capable of doing her dining and divining thing to solve his murder?
 
S1:E6 "Virtual Reality Bites"
In case we are ever faced with the dilemma, we now know the best way to ingest a little rotten brain: Smoothie! Yum!

Why, if Simon “Bringer of Cyberdarkness” Cutler, could so swiftly be brought to death's door by accidental consumption of peanut products, did he not keep an EpiPen right next to the computer array at which he apparently spent most of his conscious time? He had already made at least one emergency trip up those stairs, as Liv's vision revealed. Of course, from a plot perspective, had he been proactive, he would not have become the murder victim of the week.

Glad to see that Major survived his beating by the Candyman.

Memorable lines
Ravi to Clive: “Liv will suck it up and help in any way she can.”

Liv to herself: “Must have doughnuts. Great! I ate Homer Simpson's brain.”

Liv to Ravi as she booted Cutler's computer: “Seriously, what are the chances that an agoraphobic in his twenties was not a chronic chicken-choker?”

Liv to Ravi after learning that Cutler was an online Trollock: “I'm a Polish troll?”


I think the writers might have crossed into Badtasteville with that last line, as persons of Polish descent might have taken offense.
 
I think my favorite line was when Liv was medicated for her agoraphobia and floated/fell into the chair and Babineaux said, "Way to stick the landing." I just love casual throwaways like that. But, yeah, Ravi having fun with Liv "sucking it up" and the Trollock and all that were funny to me, too.

And, yeah, Trollock is where they crossed the line into Badtasteville - not the lingering shots of bloated corpses, decapitated corpses, corpses that have been speared on clothes hooks and had half their skull eaten off, and Rotten Brain Smoothies. No bad taste there. ;) (Seriously - I kind of like the demented-ness of this show but I did think they went a little heavy on the gross factor with this particular episode but something was in the air as (no specific spoiler) Gotham also went Grand Guignol this week.)

Excellent point on the pen. Maybe he just had it locked in his head that it was a "medicine cabinet" thing. But, yeah, that's a pretty weak spot. (He could also maybe be afraid he'd lose it in all the food wrappers, chip bags, and drink cans if he kept it with him but he could always have more than one. Keep it in his pocket. Etc. Yeah, weak spot.)

I'm not sure if I liked the "Major on the slab" gimmick or not - half funny, half gimmicky. But, yeah, while I figured last week he was damaged, I didn't think he was dead. For a moment, I thought, "Well, I guess he's dead after all" and, when he opened his eyes, I even had a moment of "When did he get scratched?"

Anyway - definitely leveled off for me but it's definitely my favorite new show. Still worried about it - the ratings actually went up a tick last week over the week before but fell 2 for this week's episode (never sure how much of that is random, how much is people not liking the episode before and not tuning in to the latest, and how much is people not liking that very episode and tuning out before it's over). But the CW is promo-ing it as a "new hit show" and, as of last week, was, in fact, doing better than the average CW show and was behind only Arrow and Flash. Every network does this for every show but you can't cancel a "new hit show", right? :)
 
And, yeah, Trollock is where they crossed the line into Badtasteville - not the lingering shots of bloated corpses, decapitated corpses, corpses that have been speared on clothes hooks and had half their skull eaten off, and Rotten Brain Smoothies. No bad taste there.;)
I stand by my observations.
Slurping runny brain tissue, death by peanut powder, coat hook, electric drill; dismembered human corpses dangling from the ceiling in the back room of a brains-to-go bistro – all perfectly acceptable. Merely holding up a mirror to ordinary, everyday life.

On the other hand, an ethnic slur against not two proud segments of our greater society – absolutely unacceptable. A morally reprehensible act on either side of the screen.;)

...my favorite new show. Still worried about it - the ratings actually went up a tick last week over the week before but fell 2 for this week's episode. But the CW is promo-ing it as a "new hit show" and, as of last week, was, in fact, doing better than the average CW show and was behind only Arrow and Flash. Every network does this for every show but you can't cancel a "new hit show", right?

This flagrant usage of the “T-word cannot pass without consequences. I would not be surprised at a catastrophic drop in the iZombie ratings next week, as angry Poles and Trolls everywhere ax the show from their viewing lists.

I anticipate that the CW will soon be the unhappy recipient of a strongly worded protest from the Polish Anti-Defamation League, as well as an impossible to solve riddle from the International Brotherhood of Bridgetenders.;)
 
“Maternity Liv”
Liv to Ravi about her new zombie beau: “Things were so great with us last week – like buying new underwear great.”
 
I was going to wait until the end of the series to start this, but found myself needing something to watch - glad I started it, because it's great!; sad I started it, because now I'm stuck in the weekly wait.

Not sure I see the Buffy similarities, though - yeah, it's comedic, with a strong female lead, but everyone's favourite slayer isn't the first thing that jumps to mind. I think it's got more in common, in tone and execution, with Dead Like Me.
 
Good news! We don't know when or how many episodes, but we're getting a second season.

Not sure I see the Buffy similarities, though - yeah, it's comedic, with a strong female lead, but everyone's favourite slayer isn't the first thing that jumps to mind. I think it's got more in common, in tone and execution, with Dead Like Me.

That's a bunch of similarities, though. :) It's dramatic and comic and has a strong female lead and has "supernatural" critters (zombies instead of vampires, thought these zombies are actually "natural" as presented) and makes the really horrible strangely palatable (heh - just add lots of hot sauce) and so on. But I agree that it's got its own thing going and is in no way a Buffy-derivative. One of the biggest things is that Liv uses her... brains. ;) Buffy was a smart girl and used her brains all the time but often in the service of how to best apply violence - it basically always boiled down to a fight. With Liv, there was the one episode where she brained up on some kung fu and beat a guy up and she has gone full-on zombie mode a few times but the resolution is often not through a physical fight. She's got Clive to make arrests on occasion. And she's definitely older than Buffy - no high school or even college themes. I haven't seen Dead Like Me or probably any number of other shows it might be closer to.

As far as the last episode, "Dead Air"
probably the most significant thing is Ravi getting bit by Zombie Rat. I can see pros and cons but I strongly think he should not become a zombie - but I don't see how they're supposed to get out of it unless somehow rats can initially become zombies the same way as humans but can't spread it to humans. Maybe it only goes rat-to-rat and human-to-human. But that seems really implausible (even in context) so I dunno. Maybe there's an incubation period and very quick treatment of some kind can prevent it? And I'm not sure about Major seeming to get ready to go all Bronson. Also, I'd like to see his role reduced a little - not that he should go completely or anything, but he seems to be a virtual co-star and it seems he should definitely be second tier. And wondering how the police captain thing will play out. But those are all continuing threads. As far as the case of the week, it was okay but not the best. The little character details and larger arcs were the more interesting parts to me this week, I think.
 
As far as the last episode, "Dead Air"
probably the most significant thing is Ravi getting bit by Zombie Rat.
I wasn't paying very close attention to Ravi's scientific efforts, but I think he was attempting to replicate the transformation to zombie by using samples taken from Liv. If that's true, I guess he has proven that the virus can go inter-species, at least from human to rat; so maybe the reverse is also possible.

Interesting that the rat, when it went “full zombie,” had the strength to bite through Ravi's hand chainmail. Another interesting revelation from Liv as she played with the zombie rat was that zombie brains are not on the zombie menu.

I liked the twist at the end when Liv discovered that she had snacked on a bit of Jerome's brain, and she now knows the nature of Blaine's business. Funny he was making his own deliveries. I guess that will change once Liv's little brother gets a job there.

Lots of things going on. Good thing the show will get a second season to work on the story lines.
 
1:09 Patriot Brains

(Not to be confused with Tom Brady or “Deflategate")

OK. A bite from a zombie rat does not turn a human into a zombie. Good news for Ravi.

How was he able to create the zombie rat? I may need to go back to the episode that detailed his scientific method.

Looks like Liv will be in the market for another boyfriend. I suppose she is going have some issues over not taking the shot.
 
Currently watching the new one.

Even if I have nothing else to say, I want to chortle at the book by Chekhov on the chest of drawers in which Major hid his handgun.

EDIT: Well damn. Should have seen that coming.
 
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Went back a couple of episodes to Ravi's description of how he was attempting to produce a rat zombie.
It seems that he was using some sort of chemical cocktail rather than samples of zombie blood in his experiments. So, I guess the condition is non-transferrable from species to species in either direction.
 
1.10 Mr. Berserk

Another iZombie rule:

If you taste-test zombie blood, even being sliced and diced by a big boat prop won't save you from going zombie.
 
1.11 Astroburger
Easily the funniest episode of the season, so far...
...courtesy of the latest murder victim being a mental patient who frequently has heated conversations with the Devil. Liv consequently experiences the victim's hallucinations and has numerous, animated exchanges with the Beelzebub on bags of Hellfire Cheezy Puffs, which seem to be everywhere.

Liv is accompanied for most of her investigation by TV weatherman Johnny Frost, who turns out to be a helpful hallucination with a significantly static forecast for the day's high temperature.

The high point of the episode comes when Major plants an unanticipated kiss on Liv's lips, which immediately raised, in my mind, the question of whether a saliva transfer could convert him to zombie status. Liv tells Major her deep, dark secret, which made me think, "OK, now they can be zombies together."

Think again. The scene turned out to be nothing more than, you guessed it, another hallucination.
 
I love this show! It has just the right amount of humor for a serious program, that might otherwise be too intense for some viewers. I agree with REBerg, that last episode was indeed funniest.

I do wonder that these zombies seem to have the correct body temperature, that they are not decomposing, stinking, and dropping parts all over, or even attracting vultures. :ROFLMAO:
 
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