iZombie Season Two Premiere – “Grumpy Old Liv” Review. Oh, the Humanity!

Season 2, Episode 1

Air Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at 9/8c on The CW

Rating: ★★★★★

iZombie quickly rose to the top of my list of favorite new shows last year and it remains firmly planted in my top five shows I must watch each week. The cast brings the brilliantly sarcastic and humorous dialogue to exquisite life, capturing my attention from beginning to end.

Liv (Rose McIver) has a lot going on this season. Family rift, major issues with Major, and helping Ravi cook up a new batch of zombie cure.

If you missed last season, a quick recap – Liv (Rose McIver) was turned into a brain eating zombie by the deliciously mischievous local drug dealer Blaine (David Anders). In her attempts to find a cure, Liv trades in her medical training to work in the Portland PD morgue where she has access to fresh brains, preventing her from going on a mindless rampage across the city chomping on people’s noggins. Meanwhile, her friend and boss, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohil), assists Liv in concocting a cure for her zombiism. Becoming a zombie isn’t easy on Liv. She’s pale, her hair is nearly white, and she had to break off her engagement to the extremely hot, and also very nice, Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley), who nearly became a zombie until Liv saved him. (Technically, she tried to make him a zombie to save him from his wounds, but then used the remaining “cure” on him to de-zombify him.) At the very end of season one, Liv’s little brother Evan (Nick Purcha) got caught in the cross hairs when he tried to get a job at Blaine’s butchery, Meat Cute.

Now, as we dive into season two, “Grumpy Old Liv” provides many answers to the questions from the season one finale, while posing new challenges to the so-called “cure” Ravi mixed up. What I absolutely love about iZombie is the way McIver embodies a variety of characters each week after consuming brains. Doing this gives her visions of the victim’s lives, including how they were killed and who may be responsible. In “Grumpy Old Liv,” in particular, McIver channels the personality of an ornery curmudgeon to perfection.

Det. Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin), along with medical examiner Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohil) and Liv (Rose McIver) question the sister-in-law of the deceased old man.

The entire cast brilliantly showcases their talents each week and brings writers Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright’s scripts to vivid, hysterical life. While there is a lot of humor in iZombie, there is also drama, mystery, and heart. And let’s not forget – brains. Each week introduces a fun and inventive way for Liv to scarf down some (gulp) juicy brains. I only wanted to hurl once during season one when Liv had to liquefy the brains. In “Grumpy Old Liv,” it’s good old fashioned spaghetti and meat…er, brainballs.

“Grumpy Old Liv” centers on the death of an elderly man whose sour outlook on life rubbed everyone the wrong way. His racist remarks and hatred of everyone and everything around him didn’t make him the most liked neighbor on the block; however, it makes for very entertaining television when the cast of characters, including Det. Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin), must deal with Liv’s new less-than-sunny disposition.

Goodwin is another favorite of mine. His methodical approach to playing Clive works well with how the character is written. Being a new detective, Clive must trust his gut when working cases. He takes everything in but reserves judgment until he has more evidence. Clive knows something isn’t quite right with the Meat Cute explosion and continues his search for Blaine, who seemingly has disappeared.

Blaine (David Anders) may not be a zombie anymore but he still acts like one.

Speaking of Blaine, he’s enjoying his new “humanity,” thanks to Liv. As much as he loves his pies and chocolate, Blaine craves to have the strength and power of being the HZIC (head zombie in charge) again. But something is amiss. Both Blaine and Major have had the cure but experience some strange side effects. How long will the cure last? What other side effects will manifest, if any? I’m sure those questions and more will arise in this second season of iZombie. I’m in it for the long haul; how about you?

Tune in to iZombie, Tuesdays at 9/8c, only on The CW.

For more on the show, visit the official site http://cwtv.com/shows/izombie/.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.