The problem with romantic comedies these days is that the story-lines are not very original and the characters not very lovable.
They are also somehow completely lacking in blood, gore, death and flesh eating monsters.
Until now, that is.
If you’re looking for an addictive new series to become completely submerged in, then Stan’s iZombie is the show for you. And you had better get up to speed quick, beacause the highly-anticipated fourth season is dropping next week.
Now, don’t let the show’s title throw you off – it’s the same name of the comic book series from which the show is based, but it’s nothing close to The Walking Dead , Night of the Living Dead or any other kind of post-apocalyptic film where hoards of the undead lunge down empty, rubbish filled streets while filthy flesh rots off their mutilated bones.
The zombies in iZombie are functioning members of society (most of the time) and instead of looking like rotting corpses, they are actually extremely attractive.
iZombie centers on Olivia “Liv” Moore (played by Rose McIver), a Seattle medical resident who lives a very well-ordered life.
She’s a doctor who excels in her high pressure job (where she is a perfectionist workaholic), has a group of close friends and is engaged to one of those “perfect” guys you only find in movies that star either Reese Witherspoon or Drew Barrymore.
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One night, in order to be a bit more adventurous and to try and make friends with her medical colleagues, Liv attends a boat party and, literally, all hell breaks lose.
In this case, “hell” is a whole bunch of flesh-devouring zombies who are unleashed on the party-yacht and promptly set about chowing down on the guests, including Liv.
Hours later, after the sun has come up and police and ambulance offices are attending to the disaster scene, Liv wakes up inside a body-bag strewn on a nearby beach to find herself not-quite-alive, her hair turning white and feeling a ravenous hunger for human brains.
This is obviously a less-than-ideal situation, and it completely turns Liv’s life upside down.
She breaks up with her fiancé, stops speaking to her family, quits her promising medical career and moves in with her best friend Peyton (Aly Michalka) without actually telling her that she is technically no longer alive, which begins to ruin their friendship.
However, she still needs cash for rent and a fresh supply of human brains in order to avoid losing her mind and going full zombie, so she pulls off a pretty resourceful move and gets a job as a coroner’s assistant for the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Her boss, head medical examiner Ravi (Rahul Kohli) quickly figures out her secret and together the two of them begin to help the Seattle Police Department solve the murders of the people who are brought into the morgue. All thanks to the fact that after Liv eats a human brain she temporarily takes on the personality of that person and has flashes of their memories leading up to the moment they died.
As much fun as it is watching Liv slice, dice and cook up her brains in different ways (she’s a pro at whipping up delicious brain sushi, brain pasta, brain pizza and brain salads) you’re probably wondering where the rom-com element of this series come from.
And the answer to that is from Liv and her ex-fiancé Major’s (Robert Buckley) ongoing will they/won’t they relationship.
These kids are head over heels in love with each other, but their road back to full-time coupledom is a very long one and having to keep secrets of the zombie-variety from each other leads to a few romantic but very awkward moments. Especially with Liv’s brain filled personality switches. One day she could be a sweet primary school teacher, the next, a sex-crazed murderer.
It’s the kind of situation that could keep any couple on their toes.
Speaking of couples kept apart by supernatural sources, there’s also a squeal-inducing long-term lusty sub-plot between Ravi and Peyton.
Who says monsters and mayhem can’t lead to romantic TV moments?
Despite the name and the subject matter, iZombie is a smart, funny show that's all about good characters facing impossible odds and falling in love along the way.
And if you need more incentive to watch this Stan series, which has three seasons ready and waiting for you to devour right now, you should also know that it's created by Rob Thomas, the same man who created the incredible series Veronica Mars (which is also available to watch in full on Stan right now), and co-creator of the revamped version of 90210, which ran from 2008–2013.
So, make the right life decision and sink your teeth into iZombie. You'll feel like you've died and gone to heaven.
The fourth season of iZombie will premiere on Stan on Tuesday February 27. New episodes will then drop every Tuesday from then.
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