The CW was well known for its fleet of DC Comics-themed properties, with fare like Smallville and The Flash introducing DC’s characters to a new collection of fans. But one comic-based show might have flown under people’s radars: iZombie. Based on the Vertigo comic series by Chris Robertson and Michael Allred, iZombie is the story of Olivia “Liv” Moore (Rose McIver), a medical resident who’s transformed into a zombie. She slowly acclimates to life…or rather, what passes for life as a member of the undead, by working in a morgue. With the help of her boss, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), she solves crimes while also managing to satisfy her hunger for brains due to having a fresh supply of corpses.
iZombie was a witty, scary, and truly unique show – and a large part of that is due to Rose McIver’s performance. She’s a snarky, clever heroine in the mold of Veronica Mars – which makes a lot of sense, given that Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas helped develop the series. That, combined with the high concept pitch, would scream for a TV revival…but McIver recently shot that idea down and for a very good reason.
Rose McIver Played All the Characters She Needed to on ‘iZombie’
McIver recently was a guest on Michael Rosenbaum‘s Inside of Us podcast, where she discussed her time on iZombie. When Rosenbaum asked if she’d be game to do an iZombie reboot, McIver gave a brief explanation as to why that might not be in the cards: despite airing on the CW at the peak of its comic book TV era, iZombie didn’t quite have the numbers that other shows did. On top of that, McIver faced a different kind of acting challenge. “Part of it is that I had to play a different character every time I ate a brain, and I must have done about like 50-something, I think…I was probably running pretty low by the end in terms of what I had left in my arsenal,” she said.
McIver’s reference to “50-something” characters highlights what made iZombie‘s zombies stand out from other members of the undead. Every time Liv consumes a brain, she gains that person’s memories – and their personality traits, as well. A great example comes in the Season 3 episode “Twenty-Sided, Die,” where Liv eats the brain of a man who was a Dungeons & Dragons fanatic; as a result, she becomes immersed in the game and even convinces her friends to play it. While this is a genuinely unique plot development, it also meant that McIver had to pull off multiple impressions over the course of five seasons. She succeeded, but it’s no surprise that she said her arsenal was running dry as there’s only so far you can take a premise.
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The ‘iZombie’ Series Finale Wrapped Up All of the Show’s Loose Threads
Even if McIver wasn’t running low on character impressions, a iZombie revival wouldn’t make much sense due to the Season 5 finale, “All’s Well That Ends Well”, tying up every loose thread. Toward the back half of iZombie‘s run, Seattle effectively becomes a zombie haven, until Ravi finds a cure that averts a full on human/zombie war. The show then leaps forward 10 years to reveal that everyone has a happy ending: Ravi is head of the CDC, Seattle detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) is still happily married to his wife Dale (Jessica Harmon), and Liv managed to finally reunite with her fiance Major (Robert Buckley). Rob Thomas, when discussing the iZombie finale with Entertainment Weekly, also cast his doubts on a potential continuation:
I don’t think it’s going to happen for iZombie. Though if in the future there is a call for more iZombie, I love this group of actors so much, I would be game to work with them any time, anywhere. Obviously, if we never do another iZombie I predict that you will see these actors in future projects of mine. I just adore them all.
Doing a series revival is a tricky thing; sometimes everything works out for the best (see iCarly‘s revival, which managed to last for three whole seasons) and sometimes it doesn’t (the less said about Paramount+’s attempt to bring back Fraiser, the better). iZombie is one of those rare shows that managed to tell the story it wanted to tell, and ended on a perfect note – bringing it back would only sour said note.
iZombie is available to rent from Prime Video.
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