Review: iZombie Season 2 – ‘Zombie Bro’

iZombie Season 2 Episode 2 – ‘Zombie Bro’

iZombie continues where the first episode left off and begins hinting at some of the season long plotlines we’ll be treated with. But what does this mean for the characters and what exactly can we expect from the second season of iZombie?

Spoilers

The episode starts of with Major feeling guilty about his first hit seen last week. Overall this episode hints at a far greater focus on Major. Major has always been the most transformative character, but this season seems to ramp it up to a far greater degree. With his relationship with Liv still a little messy, and now a drug problem propping up. Even if Ravi seemed to enjoy the Utopium more.

Speaking of Ravi, he must be incredibly desperate for the cure if he’s willing to take it directly for “research purposes.” I guess Blaine hasn’t had much luck yet.

Speaking of Blaine, he’s had a lot of trouble this episode. Unable to find any tainted Utopium, at least so far. His side business is floundering, and he’s about to start a freaking war to change that.

Max Rager didn’t really do anything this episode, we had some scenes with the secretary, nothing more than a sidekick role so far however. Liv’s family wasn’t in the episode at all, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Also Peyton hasn’t been seen either. This isn’t surprising, her character was written off due to another project. She had left so suddenly though, that I would be surprised if she doesn’t show up again at some point, but this might have to wait until season three.

Season two seems to have some quirks in comparison to its previous season. One being the over-the-top brain’s Liv has been eating. ‘Grumpy Old Liv’ definitely had this, ‘Zombie Bro’ overflowed with it, and the upcoming episode ‘Real Dead Housewife of Seattle’ doesn’t seem to lack any either. It’s unclear whether this is a positive or negative change as of yet. These first two episodes and the personas that came with them have been a lot of fun, but could also  wear itself out pretty easily if not handled correctly.

The other trend is the focus on more sympathetic crimes. In particular the confession scenes, our killers aren’t just killers, they are portrayed as normal people caught up in emotion. Over the lose (or perceived lose) of a loved one. Given the preview for next week it seems unlikely that this will continue, but it is an interesting observation nonetheless.

As for the crime itself, it was interesting. Even if the murder weapon seems to be a knitting needle. Liv’s visions were almost completely useless this episode, which makes sense considering the lack of connection between the murderer and the victim, but it was frustrating for the visions, which really set the crime aspect of iZombie apart, to be severely underutilized this episode.

Liv’s frat boy persona was a ton of fun to watch though, Rose McIver continues to show her ability to play many types of Livs. Furthermore, you can tell she has a lot of fun as the role, being able to play with so many different stereotypes.

If I were to guess, the season’s plotlines will be as follows: First we have Major with the drugs and zombie killing. Max Rager must have something else up its sleeve, most likely involving Liv more personally. The hunt for tainted Utopium will continue, probably unsuccessfully, Blain’s about to start a war with “The Boss.” Clive is probably going to learn about zombies and Liv’s… diet.

Overall the episode continued the status quo in both episodic stories and overarching storylines, but didn’t really do anything to set itself apart. It was a fun episode, if a little forgettable.