Ravi, Major, Blaine, and Beyond: The Unforgettable Characters of iZombie

Zombies are a genre that never truly goes out of style, but it seems they had a cultural heyday on television during the 2010s. The decade gave us AMC’s juggernaut The Walking Dead (2010–2022) and Netflix’s offbeat horror-comedy The Santa Clarita Diet (2017–2018), with horror-comedy-dramedy iZombie somewhere in the middle.

A mix of crime-solving, undead drama, and absurdist humor, iZombie aired on The CW for five seasons. It never had blockbuster appeal, but it did carve out a niche for itself thanks to clever writing, earnest performances, and a surprisingly original take on a saturated subgenre.

Created by Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero-Wright and loosely inspired by the Vertigo comic series of the same name by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, iZombie took a few liberties with the source material, but its undead heart remained.

The original comic series followed Gwen Dylan, a zombie gravedigger in Eugene, Oregon, who must eat brains every 30 days to preserve her memories and personal history. Her inner circle included a ghost and a were-terrier, a supernatural twist on the concept of friendship and lost identity. In the TV adaptation, the action moves from Oregon to Seattle, and instead of Gwen, we meet Liv Moore—a type-A medical student whose day-to-day life is turned upside down after one terrible party at sea.

Yes, that is her name, and yes, it’s on purpose.

Played by Rose McIver, Liv’s life is irrevocably changed after the Utopium experience: a new designer drug, recently synthesized in Clive Babineaux’s (Malcolm Goodwin) DEA lab, and accidentally mixed with a new energy drink called Max Rager. When she goes to a floating houseboat party with her human fiancé, Major (Robert Buckley), and roommate Peyton (Aly Michalka), chaos (including a murder) ensues. After being scratched by a zombie and subsequently waking up in a body bag, Liv joins the ranks of the undead, ends her engagement with Major, drifts apart from Peyton, and gets a job at the medical examiner’s office so she can get to brains without anyone noticing.

At least, that’s the plan until her quirkiest, kind-hearted boss, Ravi (Rahul Kohli), discovers her secret. Former CDC scientist Ravi is obsessed with finding a cure for the zombie virus that has infected people like Liv, but his meddling (despite his best intentions) means that Liv also must deal with the fact that when she eats the brains of the victims her office works on, she acquires their memories and some of their personalities.

Brains were, of course, the key ingredient to unlocking clues to help solve the murders they were investigating, and that means Liv is paired with Det. Clive Babineaux, who—at least in the beginning—has no idea she’s a zombie, but instead thinks she’s psychic. Ravi, on the other hand, is more than happy to indulge Liv’s dead behavior and revel in her stranger brain-addled personality shifts (well, almost all of them—Ravi was never thrilled when she ate the brain of a PhD scientist).

Brains, Bad Guys, and Bittersweet Goodbyes

Like every good show, there was a villain, and iZombie’s was Blaine DeBeers (David Anders)—the slick and soulless zombie who scratched Liv that night at the party. Blaine is also a former Utopium dealer who is undeniably cool, but he shifts from dealing tiny doses of tainted Utopium to being a major trafficker of stolen brains to his well-heeled undead clients. Blaine grew from petulant slacker and dealer to full-blown celebrity horror villain, thanks to his aristocratic sneer, daddy issues, and a twisted sense of charm that made him impossible to look away from.

The show also had its share of other standout side characters. Jessica Harmon’s perky FBI agent Dale Brazzio was eventually spun into her own story and paired with Clive as his FBI agent partner. Bryce Hodgson’s comedic performance as Scott E. in the season one episode “Flight of the Living Dead” was so beloved that the writers found a way to bring him back in a new role as twin brother Don E., becoming a loyal and completely bananas sidekick to Blaine. Guest roles such as Daran Norris’ sleazy weatherman Johnny Frost and Steven Weber’s CEO of Max Rager Vaughan Du Clark (and his zombie daughter Rita, played by Leanne Lapp) were the kinds of roles only these comedic actors could pull off, giving the show memorable one-offs and series-spanning threats.

The show’s final seasons were its weakest, and its finale, in particular, was a major disappointment for many fans. It was rushed and short on the emotional resolution viewers wanted. For the most part, what iZombie did do was rare for the genre: embrace the absurd and make it heartfelt. The humor was sharp and the puns were plentiful (Major Lillywhite, The Scratching Post bar, Ravi’s dog “Minor”), and while most people don’t look forward to their food recreating someone they may have known, the show’s menu of brain-based cuisine was often imaginative (braining stir-fry!) and delightfully disgusting.

It’s also hard to talk about this show without mentioning “Flight of the Living Dead,” an episode that still has fans nodding along in agreement as they remember the extended flashback in which Liv eats the brain of her dead free-spirited former sorority sister Holly (Tasya Teles), who dies in a skydiving “accident.” Holly’s devil-may-care attitude and spirit of reckless adventure temporarily give Liv the gumption to loosen up in the face of an uncertain future. The decision becomes a turning point in Liv’s emotional journey, and is just one of many reminders that iZombie was, at its heart, a story about rediscovering the strength of our humanity in the unlikeliest of places.

Sure, iZombie had zombies and murder and lots of gore. But it also had soul.