iZombie Review: Zombie Bro (Season 2 Episode 2)

“Beer Pong. Time to get your balls wet, bro!”

iZombie entertains us with stereotypical college humor, general degradation of females, and excessive drinking in this week’s episode titled “Zombie Bro.” It’s a comforting idea that washes over you, making you feel like you understand the episode, before punching you with the feelings these characters are battling with everyday. (Oh those pesky feelings.)

So let’s dive into a world where “bro, knob, & totally” are integral parts of Liv’s vocabulary, your choices set the stage for your life, and utopium ripples through our gang with unexpected results.

Champion of the Bro-lympics

Rose McIver how do you do it? How do you transform yourself into a grumpy old man one week and a slang loving fraternity brother in the next? It’s incredible and shows the strength of your acting capabilities.

Let’s get back on track.

Every week it looks like she gets to practice being someone new, maybe someone that this actor will never be. In this episode, she’s a champion at beer pong and flip cup, she loves beer more than anything else, and she falls into a new collection of people within the blink of an eye.

McIver’s ability to seamlessly slip into new personalities only works because she goes all the way. She’s gross, she’s loud, she’s in the center stage. She’s anything she wants to be, and we’re along for the ride!

Bros Just Wanna Have Fun

Ravi and Major are slowly climbing up the ladder of epic BroTps. They live together, laugh together, and go to clubs to score the drug that started the zombie uprising together. They have this easy chemistry that allows them to trust each other even when they don’t know every secret the other hides. They also respect each other and the ease of the bond they share with Liv, one an ex-fiance and the other a best friend. This fact is proven when after finding out that Ravi knew about Liv’s condition, Major didn’t draw back and not confide in his roommate anymore. It’s only brought them closer.

We’re looking forward to what’s in store next for these BFF’s!

Blaine vs Mr. Boss

Oh, Blaine, we knew it wouldn’t take you long to get back up on your feet. If anything your aspirations have grown!

He’s on the fast lane to take over his father’s company (because of course he turned his father). There’s no love lost there and we’ll take bets that he did it in the most malicious way possible. He’s also on the tail of someone called Mr. Boss. For some reason this man has his fingers in everything that goes on in town. And Blaine wants that. He wants the power that his Team Z life has provided for him so he decks himself out in white makeup to give himself the illusion of just that.

You big faker! Pretending to be a zombie to continue rolling with your elite brain ordering business. Guess human life isn’t as glamorous as he teased Liv before. Let’s take bets on how long before he gets scratched again. Or how long until someone finds out the truth, strips him off all he has, and becomes a power hungry, utopium pushing, head honcho.

Drifting Away in His Guilt

Major is drowning in this episode. He’s compromising who he is because he doesn’t want to get caught by the police and he doesn’t want Liv to be killed. He has no other choice but to bide his time and do what Max Rager wants. So he wallows in his misery, in his guilt, until he’s led into the loving arms of utopium. It’s not the right way to deal with his pain and he knows it. If not he would have opened the door when Liv came knocking. He’s forgetting that his friends are there for him through thick,thin, and the oh so wonderful world of zombies.

It’s going to get worse before it gets better. And before you know it Liv and Ravi will find out about his extracurricular activities. Even worse, they might get hurt because of it.

MVP of the Week: Rahul Kohli

Dr. Ravi is the shining star of the night. He looks fabulous in his pink and purple makeup. He kills it on the dance floor with the lucky ladies that surround him. He is also the hilarious and ever serious counterweight to the butt of Liv’s frat boy jokes. Sure, he’s got “Fart” written across his forehead, and he just took a shot of the drug that turned a bunch of people into zombies, but it’s all in the name of science and friendship!

Plus we’ll never forget these epic lines:

“I’m lagging. I’m so swagging. I’m high on the wagon the shit tracking.”

“Major, you know what we need for the house? Velvet!”

It’s all fun and laughs now, because the stakes haven’t been raised for Ravi, but that moment is coming. He’s going to be tested and unlike others, he’s going to strive and do well. He’s a man who values the people in his life, zombie or human.

Liv & Major: Awwwww Moment on the Bathroom Floor

Major hates Liv for what she did to him. How she changed his life. But that’s nothing to how much he loves her. He’s angry right now, lashing out because that’s the only thing he knows how to do. He doesn’t really understand how his life has changed. He’s no longer a regular guy working to help better foster youth, he’s a zombie hunter who briefly avoided becoming one himself. He’s a man who’s in love with a zombie who he keeps pushing away. And he’s a man stuck in between his need to protect himself and the woman he loves, Liv.

The scene in the bathroom is an awwwwww moment where you hold your breath and hope what you’re seeing is real. Heck, maybe even pinch yourself! Major is totally out of it, high off utopium, and he asks her to stay. In his time of need she is his comfort. He even goes as far as to lay his head on her lap and promise:

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Liv doesn’t know the significance of his words. She doesn’t know how far he’s willing to go because he’s played the illusion that he’s not ready to bring her back into his life. And he is. He’s just scared. He pushes her away later on when she comes to get her phone, but the need to be with her is still strong. They both know what would happen if they sit down and talk about everything that’s happened. They’d choose to deal with this together.

But both are scared, guilty, and afraid to jump back into what they had pre-zombie outbreak.

Other Observations:

• The blooper reel is going to be hilarious. Know it.
• Rahul Kohli is definitely not Jamaican.
• Blaine’s father (Robert Knepper) guest starred on Arrow and The Flash as the Clock King.

If you’re looking for laugh’s, a good time, and an emotional depth that you wouldn’t expect from a zombie show, then this is for you!

iZombie continues to astound with it’s balance of laughs and emotional depth of characters. We’d love to hear if which characters you think are bound for the biggest challenges and obstacles this season. Leave a comment below!

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iZombie airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.