Kyle’s Review

Liv Moore must be a fun character for Rose McIver to portray. The basis of the character is intact no matter what type brain Liv is under the influence of during the week, but we see the character through a different lens in each episode. This week’s “Love & Basketball” has Liv on coach brains and the results are enjoyable. Sure, there’s a little bit of convenience with the brains Liv eats. Major, Liv’s ex-fiancée, needs a friend more than ever right now and Liv could be that friend as this week, she knows and loves basketball. But that’s where the beauty of iZombie rests. On the surface you see Liv as a basketball nut but more importantly, she finds a way to be the friend Major’s needs.

I also like how iZombie never takes itself too seriously. I laughed out loud when I saw Blaine and Ravi fight over a bottle of tainted utopium. I’d describe the scene here but it loses something when it’s taken out of context. Liv always has at least one chuckle moment a show. Even Detective Babineaux who fills the role of grizzled cop can laugh at a goofy coworker at the most inopportune time (getting reamed by his boss), which can lead to a smile. I suspect romance will bloom soon enough between Babineaux and the coworker (who I can’t remember the name of right now and IMDB is no help). I trust this budding romance will be done organically, over time, as every other romance has been handled in iZombie.

When I first heard iZombie would have strong romantic elements, I groaned. Visions of Warm Bodies danced in my head; that wasn’t a good thing. Then, I thought of CW’s other programing—yes, even Arrow and The Flash—and remembered how romance gets rushed or trampled on in the those shows, and I was even less inclined to give iZombie a chance, but iZombie handles romance with more skill and grace than any other CW show I watch.

If you’ve noticed that I haven’t mentioned any of the ongoing plot elements, there’s a reason for that. They didn’t get a lot of time and space in “Love & Basketball.” We had a few moments with Blaine—and he’s part of this season’s overarching storyline—but this week, iZombie focused on the human element. Heck, the solution to this week’s mystery didn’t even depend too heavily on supernatural means, just good old-fashioned detective work. iZombie isn’t perfect, but several of things Jim and I find lacking in the other shows we cover are done right on this show. This was another solid week.