iZombie Season 3 Episode 1 Review: Heaven Just Got a Little Bit Smoother
Jasmine Blu
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Team Z is back and s#!t got real!
One conclusion that I came to after watching iZombie Season 3 Episode 1, is that it's going to be a hell of a season.
There were so many directions that the show could have gone in and so many ways that they could've handled the Max Ranger massacre, but iZombie gets kudos for using that one incident to kickstart a whole new chapter of the show.
Is it just me, or did the show somehow get darker? It certainly felt that way. There were still those witty quips and fun dialogue. We had more than one scene of Blaine rocking out to eighties music and giving a tribute to Rob Thomas (R.I.P. Rob Thomas, I was a huge fan, man). There were light moments.
For the most part, though, the premiere was kind of heavy. It was still good.
The best thing about everything that had transpired in iZombie Season 2 Episode 19, was that none of it was swept under the rug, well, cover-ups notwithstanding. There are after effects to everything that happened in that awesome season finale.
I didn't get too many details. I was in a rush to get out of the building before it blew up.
Liv
Trying to keep what really happened at that party under wraps is going to be difficult and it's going to be something that will continue for the rest of the season. They're not sure if there are any other witnesses out there. There's always a chance that someone lived to tell the tale.
They shut down the security guard during that radio interview with the conspiracy theorist, but for how long? The impact of that interview, even if they view the guy as a crackpot, has already had deadly consequences.
It takes next to nothing to make people paranoid and afraid. It has already started.
Bullet to the back of the head and he's missing three fingernails from his right hand.
Ravi
In that sense, it sets Vivian Stoll and Fillmore Graves HQ up to be in this gray area of not quite being the "big bad" but not quite being good either. You can totally see both sides to this situation and there's an argument for her being both.
There are things like, harboring kid zombies and this zombie militia she has just in case they need to protect themselves after Discovery Day. She's being prepared because she knows that when humans are afraid, panicked, or facing something that is different from them, they can be at their most dangerous.
Clive: They were killed because they were zombies. It's a warning shot. All those people on the radio talking--
Liv: Humans aren't ready for zombies, Clive. Zombies need protection.
She's not wrong. We've seen that time and time again in many situations, haven't we?
On the flip side, in building a zombie army and trying to turn the entire city of Seattle into this beacon for zombies, how can humans not be absolutely terrified? Wouldn't you be?
For the most part, zombies have the bigger advantage, they easily can be categorized as the predators. They live off of human brains and can turn someone with a scratch. Humans have every reason to be absolutely petrified.
Both sides preparing for run-ins with each other "just in case" makes both sides huge threats to the other. All it takes is a radical from either side to cause all hell to break loose. Again, no different than any opposing or different forces in real life. We have our pick of scenarios that this brewing Human vs. Zombies war could be a metaphor for.
Clive is going to be the character to watch this season. That much is already clear from the first hour of the season.
It's so awesome that he's finally in Z club, and in the know. The possibilities are endless with the things he can get into now that he knows what's out there.
Ignorance is one of those frustrating tropes that most shows overuse to the point of it being ridiculous. There is only so long you can keep one of your protagonists in the dark, especially when they're better off and safer being in the know.
Liv: I downloaded Major and Clive on what you told me. About Seattle being a zombie homeland
Vivian: Huh.
Clive: I'm guessing I'm the only non-zombie in the group?
Clive is in the interesting position of being one of the only humans in this crime fighting group. As a cop, he looks at the zombie apocalypse differently than Ravi and Peyton. It's literally his job to think of public safety.
So, of course, he was wary of Vivian and all of her talk of making Seattle a zombie homeland, and her building a zombie island in the event that the truth of their existence gets out.
I can't say I blame him. Would isolating zombies make humans any safer? Probably not. How do you force all zombies to stay on this island? There are so many questions.
He'll have to learn that there is a price to pay for zombie on zombie crime.
Vivian
It seems like an idealistic dream, but it also doesn't feel...real. Does it to you? There is more to Vivian and I don't trust her motives. There is something about her that doesn't feel honest or genuine.
She definitely has ulterior motives that we are not privy to just yet.
As a human, Clive has every right to be concerned. He just watched Vivian clean up a zombie massacre and pretend as if it never even happened. She's arming a zombie militia. She's building an entire zombie community.
She poses a threat. It's terrifying to think about the fact that if she so chooses, she could unleash an actual zombie apocalypse because she has everything at her disposal to do just that.
Humans are at the mercy of Vivian and they don't even know it. You can't protect yourself from a threat that you 're not even certain exists.
That's changing. I'm so glad they didn't actually show Wally's body because I probably would have lost it.
Just like that, a little bit of fear and panic led to Wally and his mother being killed in their home. What do you want to bet it was the guy on the radio who said he suspected his neighbors of being zombies?
This opens the door for a straight up zombie-hunt. Anyone who is suspected of being a zombie can be killed just based on a suspicion.
If enough suspicion is out there, it won't be long before humans build up their own zombie-fighting task forces or the government gets involved. Think about how this could spin from here? Zombie bans and anti-zombie laws in effect.
It reminds me of the early days of True Blood. Izombie is already amazing, so I'm genuinely excited about the prospect of them taking a similar approach (with better and funnier execution).
Zombies are on the cusp of being some minority group who will face discrimination and bigotry. This could be interesting.
After the death of Wally, it was just enough to make Clive really think about what's at stake. His friends are zombies. He lost a kid who was like a son to him, and he was a zombie.
We'll solve it on our own time. Someone's going to pay for this. That I promise.
Clive
He knows now that humans aren't the only ones whose lives are in danger. His friends could face hate crimes with fatal results, too.
He's going to investigate the murders on his own time, and the others are going to support him. I suppose this means that this will be the one ongoing case of the season, much like the chaos killer etc.
Speaking of which, I'm also thrilled that the show didn't just drop the fact that Major is viewed as a murderer.
So often you watch a show and the very next episode, the effects of a huge plot are just dropped. That's not the case here and it's so refreshing.
Major and Ravi's house being vandalized was heartbreaking. So was Major's cup having "Chaos Killer" written on it. Major is such a nice guy that it's awful seeing the public view him differently than the audience does.
All Major ever really wants to do is help people, and he keeps losing all the jobs that allow him to do that. No surprise that Vivian's views appeal to him. I could see Major joining her army of mercenaries a mile away. Couldn't you?
Also on the heartbreaking front? This love triangle between Ravi, Peyton, and Blaine. Clive's observation was so damn awkward.
Ravi: I'm spiraling and I can't break out of it.
Liv: Spiraling about what?
Ravi: Peyton...and Blaine.
Poor Ravi.
I love Ravi and Peyton, but I can't even lie, the idea of Peyton and Blaine is so appealing. They have great chemistry too.
Peyton knows this herself. She found herself gravitating to Blaine more than once in the episode. I mean, if she knew Ravi was feeling some kind of way about her relationship with Blaine, immediately going to him when Ravi didn't pick up was not going to help matters.
Additional Notes:
- Liv coming down from that mercenary brain was crushing. Now she has to deal with the fact that she had to kill Drake. I loved her scenes with Clive. He's the best friend ever.
- Ravi giving Clive a crash course on the cure and how doomed Major is gave me chills.
- I need to know what kind of blow dryer can defrost an actual body. I need to know this for reasons that don't relate to corpses. I promise.
- Blaine singing is the best. We got it twice. Yay!
- Blaine better watch his back. I like this development with his father.
What did you think of the premiere? Did the tone feel darker to you? Are you loving this brewing zombie vs. human plot? Hit up the comments below and let us know what you think.
You can watch iZombie online here via TV Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.
