"Grumpy Old Liv," the season opener of iZombie, answered some lingering questions from season one, brought about some unlikely alliances, and even had time to work in a new case for Liv to solve. That's a lot to tackle in one episode, but for the most part the show is able to handle all of the moving parts.
Things start out a short period of time after the events of the season one finale. Instead of seeing the immediate reactions to all of those loose threads, we see how the characters are or are not beginning to move on. Evan won't talk to Liv, because she refused to donate blood to him after his injuries. Liv's family fell out of focus pretty early on in season one, so this is an interesting way to bring them back into the story. In season one, Liv made a lot of mistakes, but she seems to have learned from some of them. Not turning her brother into a zombie may make him mad at her, but she's mature enough to realize she can't make that decision for him like she did for Major. She's also mature enough not to lie to her mother about why she refused to give her brother a blood transfusion. In the greater zombie mythology, Liv and Ravi are mostly acting in the dark about a lot of things, but these small choices about how to treat the people she loves, make Liv a stronger character.
The episode also brought about a lot of unlikely pairs working together. Major being blackmailed into working with Max Rager to hunt zombies, is a dark path to have that character go down. I'm all for creating interesting situations on the show, and this is definitely that, but this is a plot twist that could have some very interesting implications for Major's ability to live with himself, or maintain relationships with Liv and Ravi. Major, unlike Liv, seems to be falling back into his old habit of acting first and thinking later. Realistically, his first reaction to being blackmailed should have been to tell Liv and Ravi about the entire situation, especially given the fact that Max Rager will eventually want to kill Liv, but having him keep it a secret creates more narrative drama.
I found the alliance-by-necessity of Liv and Blaine to be the much more interesting plot development in the episode. Blaine's acidic wit and Liv's no-nonsense attitude made for a great juxtaposition and some of the episode's funniest scenes. The Jimmy Stewart impression Blaine did was spot on, and one of the series' funniest moments. Show creator Rob Thomas is at his best when writing witty banter, and when Liv and Blaine share a scene together, the show feel a lot like Veronica Mars at its best.
The weakest part of the episode was the "case of the week." At this point, the only reason the show continues to use this format is so that Liv has context for the new brains she consumes. Giving Liv a new personality each week tends to add a fun element to the show, and it's always fun to see what Rose McIver try out a new personality, but the cases have consistently become the least interesting part of a show that has plenty of strong plot lines in motion. The grumpy old man personality Liv adopted this week was too broad to do the episode any favors. It was one of the least believable personalities so far, and unlike past episodes where the personality drives the direction of the plot, this personality seemed to go away whenever Liv needed to have a serious conversation with another character. I'm still a big fan of the concept, but if the show is going to stick with a case of the week, the accompanying brain needs to be more interesting than this week's brain. Other than that, this episode was a great start to a new season of one of the year's best new shows.
The episode also brought about a lot of unlikely pairs working together. Major being blackmailed into working with Max Rager to hunt zombies, is a dark path to have that character go down. I'm all for creating interesting situations on the show, and this is definitely that, but this is a plot twist that could have some very interesting implications for Major's ability to live with himself, or maintain relationships with Liv and Ravi. Major, unlike Liv, seems to be falling back into his old habit of acting first and thinking later. Realistically, his first reaction to being blackmailed should have been to tell Liv and Ravi about the entire situation, especially given the fact that Max Rager will eventually want to kill Liv, but having him keep it a secret creates more narrative drama.
I found the alliance-by-necessity of Liv and Blaine to be the much more interesting plot development in the episode. Blaine's acidic wit and Liv's no-nonsense attitude made for a great juxtaposition and some of the episode's funniest scenes. The Jimmy Stewart impression Blaine did was spot on, and one of the series' funniest moments. Show creator Rob Thomas is at his best when writing witty banter, and when Liv and Blaine share a scene together, the show feel a lot like Veronica Mars at its best.
The weakest part of the episode was the "case of the week." At this point, the only reason the show continues to use this format is so that Liv has context for the new brains she consumes. Giving Liv a new personality each week tends to add a fun element to the show, and it's always fun to see what Rose McIver try out a new personality, but the cases have consistently become the least interesting part of a show that has plenty of strong plot lines in motion. The grumpy old man personality Liv adopted this week was too broad to do the episode any favors. It was one of the least believable personalities so far, and unlike past episodes where the personality drives the direction of the plot, this personality seemed to go away whenever Liv needed to have a serious conversation with another character. I'm still a big fan of the concept, but if the show is going to stick with a case of the week, the accompanying brain needs to be more interesting than this week's brain. Other than that, this episode was a great start to a new season of one of the year's best new shows.
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