The best brains eaten on ‘iZombie’: All the best versions of Liv
Get that hot sauce ready! The final season of iZombie started in May 2nd, just in time for Zombie Awareness Month, and enjoyed our bite of the brains. iZombie had some amazing mind cuisine on the menu to reshape the personalities of the gang in weird & wonderful ways.
With S5’s professional wrestlers and a romantic comedy fan rolling through the Seattle Police Department morgue, this season contained plenty of brain-changing fun. To celebrate, here’s a ranking of the ten best brains devoured on iZombie’s previous seasons.
10. Vigilante crime-fighter brains
Season two, episode nine: “Cape Town”
Liv (Rose McIver) momentarily becomes a caped-crusader called “The Fog”, giving the show an opportunity to riff on superhero tropes with lashings of ironic humor. In doing so, the episode also proved Liv is basically an undead hero in her own right – with or without a cape to prove it.
9. Grumpy old man brains
Season two, episode one: “Grumpy Old Liv”
When Liv dishes up the curmudgeonly brain matter of old-timer Wendell Gordon Gale, she becomes world weary, suspicious of local youths, and just a little bit racist. This makes her interactions with Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) and Ravi (Rahul Kohli) all the more embarrassing (and hilarious) for the whole episode.
8. Teenage idol brains
Season two, episode ten: “Method Head”
Liv’s favorite star of a teen show called Zombie High has been murdered on set and she gobbles up his teenage brains to investigate. The episode plays around with some meta jokes about zombie shows while adding sly commentary concerning supernatural teen dramas. But ultimately, Liv is an absolute treat as she plays up the thespian diva qualities of an otherwise mediocre actor.
7. Drama-queen DJ brains
Season three, episode six: “Some Like it Hot Mess”
After a party-loving, self-absorbed DJ is murdered, Liv devours the brains and becomes the obnoxious boozehound with a love for drama. The moment that makes this specific brain so special? Taking a selfie to commemorate her goodbye to Major (Robert Buckley) in what should have otherwise been a deeply emotional moment.
6. Conspiracy theorist brains
Season three, episode eleven: “Conspiracy Weary”
Giving us three for one, this episode sees Liv, Blaine (David Anders), and Don (Bryce Hodgson) living off the brains of a guy who was basically two conspiracy theories short of a tin foil hat. The three characters encouraging each others’ paranoia by discussing conspiracies like the deaths of Tupac and Biggie or Tom Cruise being a zombie is absolute gold.
5. Real Housewife brains
Season two, episode three: “Real Dead Housewife of Seattle”
There’s always fun to be had whenever Liv eats a brain as full of drama as this one, and the moment where she throws water in the face of an enemy is delightful proof of that. However, the real genius of this episode is in how the brain highlights Liv’s own emotional arc. “Lunching on a lady who lunches” serves Liv’s overcompensation for her own isolation and loneliness, leading to a heart-wrenching finale.
4. Fraternity-bro brains
Season two, episode two: “Zombie Bro”
May we never stop laughing at the moment Ravi wakes up from a nap to discover Liv – riding high on the goofy brains of a hard-partying frat boy – has given him a face full of make up and written “fart” on his head. So dumb, but oh-so funny.
3. Dominatrix brains
Season three, episode five: “Spanking the Zombie”
As well as featuring a covert cameo from Kristen Bell (The Good Place), this episode also benefits from Liv really living the spank-happy highs of some dominatrix brains. She swaggers around in leather ensembles and whips just about everything in sight, which (as you might imagine) is bewitching & terrifying to most of the Seattle Police Department witnessing it.
2. Father & daughter brains
Season three, episode two: “Zombie Knows Best”
Satisfying as it was to see Liv as a nervous, overprotective father, the real joy of the episode comes courtesy of Major who has devoured the brain of a teenage girl. As well as apologizing for being “so super bitchy” to Ravi and feeling insecure about his abs, Major also enjoys an emotional sing-a-long to a Katy Perry track. Needless to say, it’s pure magic.
1. D&D master brains
Season three, episode nine: “Twenty Sided, Die”
When a Dungeons & Dragons master is potentially murdered by some Russian spies, Liv steps into his world (and his brains) to investigate. The brains push Liv to narrate most of her life as she lives it, but crucially the episode also gives us one of the funniest scenes in iZombie history as the gang are forced to play Dungeons & Dragons together. Clive really gets into it, further establishing his character as a secret fantasy nerd behind his “cool detective” persona.
