Liv on Sniper Brain, Ravi on Nerd Duty: The Best Team-Ups in iZombie

For better or worse, zombies have been around in pop culture for a very long time. The 2010s in particular saw an explosion of them on TV, from the record-breaking juggernaut The Walking Dead (2010–2022) to random experiments like Netflix’s later horror-comedy The Santa Clarita Diet (2017–2018). Tucked somewhere in between was a supernatural procedural dramedy called iZombie, which aired for five seasons on The CW. It wasn’t exactly a breakout hit, but the series developed a passionate cult following that loved its brisk humor, the charisma of its cast, and its unique pairing of weekly murder mysteries and long-game zombie mythology.

The show was based on an ongoing Vertigo comic book series of the same name by writer Chris Roberson and artist Michael Allred. The eponymous iZombie, Gwen Dylan, is a zombie gravedigger who works in Eugene, Oregon, and is only able to retain her memories and mental acuity for 30 days by eating a human brain. Her only real friends are a 1960s-era ghost and a were-terrier named Scott “Spot,” and her supernatural misadventures often center around combating threats like vampires, mummies, or the Frankenstein Monster. The television show borrowed from these concepts, but kept the broad premise while discarding almost everything else. Its creators, Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, moved the action to Seattle, and Allred’s influence is really only present in the comic book stylization of the opening credits and the obvious cover of “Stop, I’m Already Dead” by Deadboy & The Elephant Men.

The protagonist of the series, Liv Moore (Rose McIver), was an ambitious medical student who always thought of herself as a rational skeptic—until she was turned into a zombie. At a bachelor party on a rented boat, the energy drink Max Rager was mixed with an experimental batch of the designer drug Utopium. Zombie corpses with acidic blood were released on the revelers, one of whom scratched Liv while she was escaping. She woke up on a beach in a body bag, undead and a raging brain-eater. Liv left Major (Robert Buckley), her fiancé, at the altar to protect him from the truth, alienated herself from her best friend, Peyton (Aly Michalka), and got a job at the medical examiner’s office to have a constant supply of fresh brains.

Liv was only able to keep her undead secret from her boss at the morgue, Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), for so long. A former CDC scientist who was fired after warning about a virus that could turn people into zombies, Ravi was awed and determined to find a cure when he discovered Liv’s condition. Liv also began consulting with Detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin), who thought she was psychic. In fact, after eating a brain, she took on flashes of the memory of the person who had been killed, along with any specific personality traits their brain might have held, from random abilities like foreign language fluency to unique vulnerabilities like crippling phobias. Liv, Major, Ravi, and Clive had to use this to solve murders while avoiding becoming ensnared in the same killer’s web.

Brains, Baddies, and the Show’s Iconic Cast of Characters

Any good show needs a villain, and iZombie had one in Blaine DeBeers (David Anders), the zombie who bit Liv on the boat. A Utopium dealer with a taste for party drugs, Blaine later reinvented himself as a human brain trafficker to infect rich people and create a market for his sales. His strange combination of charm and cruelty, and a few relatable family issues, made him one of the series’ most compelling antagonists and at least one potential unreliable antihero.

As much as the show focused on gruesome murder mysteries, there was a strong throughline of humor at the level of individual details. Major’s surname was “Lillywhit,e,” and Blaine’s butchery in season one was called “Meat Cute.” Ravi and Major adopted a dog named “Minor,” and a zombie bar was called “The Scratching Post.” Fans also developed a game of rating the show’s recipes, from Liv’s inventive stir-fries, pizza roll concoctions, and hush puppies to Blaine’s chef-y creations like medulla oblongata stuffed gnocchi.

A unique supporting cast was gradually added to the main characters over the years. Jessica Harmon’s Dale Bozzio became an FBI investigator before becoming Clive’s partner, Bryce Hodgson was first introduced as the brain-devouring Scott E. from a mental hospital before reappearing as his twin Don E., who was working for Blaine, and special guest stars like Daran Norris as sleazy weatherman Johnny Frost or Steven Weber as Max Rager CEO Vaughan du Clark often livened up proceedings.

Liv’s ever-changing personalities from the brains she devoured might have been the show’s most consistent source of entertainment. By eating someone’s brain, Liv would sometimes be a dominatrix or a grumpy old man, a LARP enthusiast or a children’s basketball coach. McIver brought such a wide range to each character that it added depth and meaning to Liv’s interaction with her bosses and police detective friend.

One standout episode early in season two saw Liv eat the brain of her former sorority sister, Holly (Tasya Teles), a thrill-seeker who accidentally died in a mysterious skydiving accident. The freedom and fun Holly had in her life prompted Liv to question her desire to always play it safe after becoming a zombie.

The show became a little bit weaker in terms of its narrative threads in later seasons, and its finale rushed through much of the show’s loose ends for an unsatisfying ending. But its appeal, creativity, and especially its characters still managed to make iZombie a unique offering in a landscape already glutted with zombie shows. It’s a rare example of how you can have a sitcom about brain-devouring detectives and puns about “lobster brains.”