iZombie: “Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat”

“Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat” was one of, if not the best, episode from iZombie‘s first season. This episode either toned down the silliness caused by the side effects of Liv’s brain addiction and it ramped up the horror aspect in this week’s case.

In past episodes, Liv’s personality change was funny at times, but was overused in some episodes. In this one, the writers hit the nail on the head by having her bounce back and forth between a stoner and preppy cheerleader.

But unlike previous episodes, this episode shifted away from the comedy toward more serious scenes. Specifically the last bit where a new bad guy is alluded to but not shown on camera. The audience only sees the bloody aftermath, letting our imaginations fill until their on-screen debut.

There were funny scenes in this episode, as there have been throughout the season. iZombie is good at sprinkling them in throughout an episode. Specific to this episode, there’s a scene where Major is buying black market weapons out of the trunk of some guy’s car. The salesman asks if Major has any use for a grenade. His response was a simple raise of his eyebrow as he contemplated the explosive pineapple’s use.

The episode finally gave Liv the teeth she’s been lacking up until this point. In a previous review, I chided the character for not using her full on zombie rage to get the job done. In this episode, she finally crossed that line.

Overall, “Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat” was a fun episode to watch with the right balance of horror and humor and set the tone for next week’s series finale.