iZombie
Season 1 Episode 12: “Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat”
Directed by Mairzee Almas
Written by Diane Ruggiero-Wright
Created by Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero-Wright
Starring Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders, Aly Michalka
The CW
Air Date: Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015, 9:00pm

Last week on iZombie, a mental patient friend of Major (Robert Buckley) commits suicide, but as is the case on this show, there is more to this than meets the eye. Liv (Rose McIver) eats mental patient brains, and Liv (as well as the audience), loses all sense of reality. The writers did a great job making us feel like we were crazy too. Was I the only one who really believed the weather guy was real, and that Liv confessed her zombie-ness to Major?

iZombie 1.12 “Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat” review: Guest alerts! Rhys Ward (The Returned) and Bex Taylor-Klaus (Arrow) are in this episode as two of the three members of the local band, Asshat (I know!). The three of them plus a cheerleader, reenact a scene from I Know What You Did Last Summer (and the show acknowledges that). Except, instead of a fisherman, it’s the Max Rager guy that Liv (Rose McIver) killed. I guess she must have scratched him.

Oh god, oh god, oh god… Major did a fake health inspection on Blaine’s (David Anders) shop, then bought guns from the back of a car. He’s going to die, or become a zombie, and it will be all Liv’s fault. I will definitely blame her. It’s a suicide mission. It ends as you expect, plus with another bonus innocent getting caught up in it.

A non-zombie character finds out about Liv being a zombie, and the reaction is exactly as we (and Liv) expected. Liv is utterly devastated.

This episode was dark, much darker than the others. The two bits of levity was Liv acting like a cheerleader straight out of Buffy 1.3 “Witch,” when Buffy gets extra cheery in the Sunnydale High cheerleading uniform. And when Liv then eats stoner brains, complete with stereotypical behavior. I love Rose McIver.

The rat goes through more changes, hence the title.

Things are coming to a head, setting us up for the finale next week. I already bit all my nails off.

The iZombie finale (called Blaine’s World) airs Tuesday, June 9th at 9pm ET on The CW.

The CW’s press release:

Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat (Ep# 112)
HIGH SCHOOL REDUX — A group of drunken teenagers take a late night joyride with disasters consequences. As they cover up the accident, the man mysteriously comes back to life and attacks one of the girls. After Liv (Rose McIver) consumes the girl’s brain, she is taken back to high school as she and Clive (Malcolm Goodwin) investigate the case. A surprise death of one of the victim’s friends raises some serious questions about the case. Major (Robert Buckley) believes Blaine’s (David Anders) deli is not all it seems to be. Rahul Kohli also stars. Mairzee Almas directed the episode written by Diane Ruggiero-Wright (#112). Original airdate 6/2/2015.

Videos

iZombie | Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat Trailer | The CW

Blaine will stop at nothing to get his brains back on Tuesday’s iZombie at 9/8c.

iZombie | Inside: Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat | The CW

Executive Producers Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright preview Tuesday’s new iZombie, which is “sort of inspired by” I Know What You Did Last Summer.

iZombie | Dead Rat, Live Rat, Brown Rat, White Rat Clip | The CW

Liv relives high school after consuming cheerleader brains on Tuesday’s iZombie at 9/8c.