iZombie, the cult CW series about a zombie woman who solves crimes by eating brains, is now streaming for free on YouTube. The entire five-season run is available starting Aug. 1.
The Show That Never Found a Wider Audience
iZombie premiered in 2015, making it one of the last proper CW shows. The series followed Liv Moore, a medical resident in Seattle who turned into a zombie after crashing a party overrun by the undead. She woke up with pale skin, white hair, and a hunger for human brains.
Liv’s New Job at the Morgue
Liv’s transformation forced her to isolate herself from friends and family. She ended her engagement to her perfect fiancé and took a radical career shift, moving from hospital resident to morgue worker. Her family and friends don’t know it, but the morgue is the only place where she can get the brains she needs without raising suspicion.
Eating Brains Becomes a Crime-Solving Tool
The show’s central gimmick is that when Liv eats a human brain, she absorbs the person’s memories and skills. This makes her a medium of sorts, and a useful tool for solving crimes. The pilot sets up the tone quickly, blending playful irreverence with dark humor.
Dark Humor Anchors the Twists
One episode sees Liv eat a murdered woman’s brain to track down the killer. She also inherits the woman’s kleptomania, and struggles to control her urge to steal meaningless objects in the most inconvenient places. The show is chirpy and quippy, but the humor is grounded in genuine darkness.
A Cast Built Around Liv
Rose McIver plays Liv with the right mix of humor and detachment. She moves between a well-rounded cast of supporting characters, including her boss Ravi, played by Rahul Kohli, a morbidly curious zombie ally on the hunt for a cure. Malcolm Goodwin plays Clive, Liv’s detective partner, who is consistently puzzled by her unexplained intuition but always comes back because she makes his job easier.
The Story Moves Beyond the Morgue
As the seasons progress, the show shifts from a contained crime-of-the-week format to a wider conspiracy involving a zombie outbreak and its societal consequences. Creator Rob Thomas discussed this evolution when the project was first announced in 2014.
“We want there to be a real zombie mythology and zombie storylines. I would say in Veronica Mars there was always a big murder case that encompassed the season. In iZombie, there’s a big zombie storyline that will sort of serve as the same role,” Thomas told Gizmodo.
Why iZombie Stays Fresh
Despite the shift in tone, iZombie retains its romcom essence and quirky charm. One of the series’ most memorable stylistic motifs involves Liv preparing the perfect plate of brains, cooking them with different condiments and sauces in sequences that are funny, disturbing, and entrancing at the same time.
A Show That Proves Zombies Can Be Main Characters
Finding a series as specific as iZombie felt special a decade ago. The show blends a will-they-or-won’t-they romance, an addictive serial procedural, and a zombie main character who innocently enjoys the perfect serving of brains. Zombies are huge pop culture figures, but they rarely get the main character treatment. iZombie proves it’s possible to grab the concept of the brain-eating undead and shape it into something fresh.
What to Watch First
If you’re jumping in, the pilot is the obvious starting point. It sets up the premise, introduces the characters, and establishes the tone. From there, the show rewards watching in order.
The show’s cooking motif recalls Hannibal in a family-friendly way, and the humor stays consistent throughout. iZombie is a smart, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt show that deserves a second look.
| Season | Available on YouTube |
|---|---|
| 1 | Starting Aug. 1 |
| 2 | Starting Aug. 1 |
| 3 | Starting Aug. 1 |
| 4 | Starting Aug. 1 |
| 5 | Starting Aug. 1 |
- Watch the pilot to set up the premise.
- Follow the crime-of-the-week format in the early seasons.
- See the conspiracy build across the final two seasons.
- Finish with the series finale.
The show is a cult classic for a reason. It’s clever, funny, and surprisingly touching. Give it a try.
See the video the story is built around at Polygon.
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