The CW’s DC Vertigo comic of the same name, turned the zombie apocalypse trope on its undead head. Olivia (Liv) Moore goes from an average Seattle medical resident to a brain-hungry zombie in under three minutes into the pilot episode, abruptly placing her in the lineup of some of the most interesting heroines on television.
Liv quickly learns that the cerebral snack she craves causes her to temporarily inherit the memories, personality traits, and skills of the person whose brain she ate. Liv works to use her ability for bringing criminals to justice, but eating the brains of murder victims is a blessing and a curse. While some brains have given her awesome martial arts abilities and heightened knowledge of useful topics, others have put her relationships on the line and, at times, made her an unreliable narrator. Here are five of Liv’s best brains and five of her worst.
BEST: Dungeons & Dragons Master Brain
In “Twenty-Sided, Die,” Liv eats the brain of Dungeon Master Dan Harbinson. Liv is transported into the magical realm of Dungeon & Dragons gameplay, which brings narration and a touch of whimsical fantasy to the world of iZombie.
Liv makes her friends play her D&D campaign, much to the dismay of Peyton and, especially, Clive, who thinks the game is ridiculous and just isn’t feeling it. Thanks to this brain, Clive gets some surprising character development. He becomes incredibly invested in the game and begins playing regularly with a group.
WORST: Dowager Brain
In “Blue Bloody,” Liv makes short work of Sandy Brinks’s brain after the woman takes a golf ball to the eye at high-speed. At first glance, the dowager brain may not seem so bad, but it is detrimental to Liv’s work ethic and attitude. Liv turns into a snob, complaining about everyone and everything that doesn’t satisfy her lavish expectations.
Clive suffers the most as a result of Liv absorbing Mrs. Brinks’s personality from a brain martini. She calls him “stupid,” treats him like her chauffeur (whose car smells like felon), and vocalizes that he’ll be carrying her up the stairs if there isn’t an elevator. She also drinks on the job, eavesdrops on conversations, and has no filter for her stingy, opinionated statements. This brain could not get out of Liv's system quickly enough.
BEST: Frat Boy Brain
In “Zombie Bro,” Liv consumes the brain of frat boy Chad Wolcoff. Chad’s personality and fraternity antics make for a dynamic version of Liv. She befriends the local frat boys and laughs at their jokes, even in the most inappropriate circumstances when she should seriously be focused.
While on the brain, Liv attends a frat party for work and throws “bro” into every other sentence. Frat bro Liv is entertaining, but audiences have to feel a little bad for Ravi when he wakes up with his face caked in makeup and “FART” written on his forehead.
WORST: Stalker Brain
In “The Hurt Stalker,” Liv eats the brain of an obsessive stalker named Regina Sumner. The obsessive curiosity of the brain puts many of the season’s plot points into jeopardy, including Major’s involvement with Gilda and secret deal with Max Rager. While on Regina’s brain, Liv reads Major’s texts and monitors the women viewing his Facebook page.
On top of Liv’s natural inquisitiveness, the brain goes so far as to push her into breaking into an officer’s SUV for answers about a case. The brain gets her thrown into jail. Perhaps the biggest moment of Liv on stalker brain that had audiences on the edge of their seats was when Liv demands Major to open the safe in his closet. Not knowing how Liv would react to, what viewers were led to believe was, the Chaos Killer gear was a heated moment in the episode.
BEST: Actress Brain
In “My Really Fair Lady,” Liv consumes the brain of Nellie, a stage actress with her own creative vision. Liv finds herself bursting into song and acting out dramatic renditions of scenes. Nellie could be a bit controlling at times, but this trait comes in handy for Liv.
With Nellie’s acting skills and ability to orchestrate plans, Liv arranges a heist to sneak the smuggled humans into Seattle with the help of Levon and Co. Playing the part of a lost New Zealand girl, Liv is able to distract the security guard while the rest of the group locates and rescues the humans. (Rose McIver, aka Liv, actually originates from New Zealand!)
WORST: Sniper Brain
In “Patriot Brains,” Liv eats the brain of former Afghanistan sniper Everett Adams. It’s easy to understand why this brain would be problematic for Liv. She suffers from PTSD episodes flashing back to the brain's disturbing memories.
Everett’s brain gives Liv marksmanship skills and a will to kill. Liv and Lowell plot to distract and kill Blaine, but once Liv has a clear shot and is about to snipe him, her true personality comes through and causes her to second-guess herself. The delay results in Blaine killing Lowell instead, and Liv faces the guilt of his death.
BEST: Salsa Dancer Brain
In “Five, Six, Seven, Ate!,” Liv samples the brains of two dedicated salsa dancing contestants, Nancy and Gulliver. There is never a dull moment when Liv has the mentality of a preppy competitive dancer. She’s encouraging, ambitious, and team-oriented.
In addition to salsa music, the episode provides a spontaneously charming dance montage of Clive and Liv busting moves and guiding Ravi as he struggles to learn dance steps so he can as Liv’s undercover dance partner. Liv and Ravi’s flashy outfits are worth mentioning too.
WORST: Hot Mess Brain
In “Some Like It Hot Mess,” Liv eats the brain of Yvonne Fallon. She was a grocery store clerk whose messy party girl lifestyle got her in trouble time after time. Yvonne may have been the life of the party, but her irresponsible behavior rubs off on Liv at the worst possible time. Ravi is working on perfecting his memory serum and asks Liv to pick up the ingredients. No matter how many times he asks her to complete the one very important favor, she forgets. Her voicemail is chock-full too, so he can’t call to remind her anymore.
Liv is so forgetful and irresponsible while on this brain that she prints the ingredient list and walks away without it. The serum falling into the wrong hands would cost the protagonists greatly. Liv is a hot mess on Yvonne’s brain, and the bouts of narcissism that come with it don’t make the side effects of this brain any more likable.
BEST: ive Dad Brain
In “Zombie Knows Best,” Liv eats the brain of Stanley Chen. Stanley was killed in a car accident with his teenage daughter. What makes this brain one of the best is that Major eats the daughter’s brain, so he and Liv have a tense father-daughter dynamic.
Major continuously takes selfies, gets embarrassed by Liv, and talks about body image amongst soldiers in the Fillmore Graves locker room. Meanwhile, Liv offers to change the oil in Clive’s car and tells Major to turn down “that Miley-Perry-Gomez” music. ive dad Liv and stereotypical teenage girl Major are a hilarious pairing.
WORST: Promiscuous Boss Brain
In “Looking for Mr. Goodbrain, Part 1,” Liv eats the brain of Ravi’s old boss, Katty Kupps. Liv is plagued with awkward intimate visions of Ravi and his boss that she wishes she could unsee. Katty was quite promiscuous and went home with a different man from the hotel she was staying at every night.
Liv falls into a one-night stand with the deceitful Chase Graves behind her boyfriend Justin’s back. Not only this but what happens between her and Chase causes them to miss Major’s Fillmore-Graves send-off party, which is bombed by Harley Johns, killing most of the guests. Guilt on more guilt. (Or should one say Moore guilt?)