iZombie stars Rose McIver (Masters of Sex) as Liv Moore, a physician who is turned into a zombie and decides to solves murders by eating the victims’ brains and absorbing their memories. Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright, the creative minds of Veronica Mars, based the hour-long procedural on the Vertigo comic book of the same name. iZombie premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. on The CW. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“As it stands right now, much like Liv, iZombie is searching for its own identity. That’s why telling a different story from the comics is the best possible thing Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright could have done. While this series has similarities to their past work, it’s not shackled to getting the show ‘right’ for the comic source material. [...] iZombie is another win for The CW.”
—LaToya Ferguson, A.V. Club
“Now all iZombie needs to do is define itself a little bit more, carve out an identity that seems less like a little sister. A lot of the strong moments on the show resonated because of how much they reminded me of stronger moments on stronger shows [...] Defining itself in three episodes is not something I really expected iZombie — or any show — to do; I'm just impatient for it to do so. Let me love you better, iZombie.”
—Margaret Lyons, Vulture
“CW already has enjoyed an inordinately strong year thanks to The Flash (which will be this new hour’s lead-in) and Jane the Virgin, but with its constant narration and not-very-suspenseful murder of the week, iZombie feels like just another way to do a youth-oriented cop show, even if it’s garnished with flourishes like comicbook captions. So while the concept and source material should spark some curiosity, let’s just say Liv isn’t the only one likely to be left feeling hungry for more brains.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety
“The show is moderately entertaining, mostly because of the appeal of the three leads. There is a bit of gore, but it’s several notches below the rotting flesh of The Walking Dead. In fact, the iZombie gore is fairly cartoonish. But that’s only fitting for the show’s target audience, which is probably only a year or so beyond SpongeBob.”
—David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle
“The show probably doesn’t need to resort to voice-overs as often as it does, but it’s generally pretty smart, witty and well acted, and not afraid to turn dark on occasion. If it delves deeper into the stresses of being a law-abiding zombie as it goes along, while keeping its sense of humor, the ride will be pretty enjoyable.”
—Neil Genzlinger, New York Times
“On the bright side, in a TV universe that leans to the grim, there's a nice, light approach at work here. Despite the brain eating, producers have imbued the opening episodes with a sly sense of humor, a blend of sarcasm and bemusement, that McIver sells well. And they've avoided the sense of hopelessness the concept could have provoked by dangling the promise of a cure and by allowing Liv to find a new purpose for her life. May it be a long and entertaining one.”
—Robert Bianco, USA Today
“If this sounds like a comic book, it was, and a very good one, created by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred. Now it’s a very good TV series from Rob Thomas, a clever riff on the detective genre not dissimilar to his Veronica Mars. Strong heroine with identity crisis. Witty narration and popreferencing banter. Knotty, naughty mysteries. It’s as if iZombie swallowed Veronica and took on her much-missed spirit.”
—Jeff Jensen, Entertainment Weekly
