iZombie: The Complete Third Season - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

iZombie: The Complete Third Season

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

“Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Forum Post. The opinions I share are my own.”

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Movie

Written and produced by the same man behind Veronica Mars, iZombie is probably one of the most fun and entertaining police style procedurals on the market today. Most of these shows have worn a LITTLE bit thin due to market saturation, but there’s almost a “Veronica Mars of the dead” vibe that permeates the series, blending into a cop show, with a distinctly serialized method to it that makes it stand out from all the rest. There’s the cute cast members who don’t feel like your typical CW show where everyone is a stunning supermodel or pretty boy, but rather feels more human and natural, with a mix of odd characters that each have their pros and cons, and a unique flavor that comes from the graphic novel source material of the Vertigo inspired comics.

Since I didn’t review the first two seasons in either of my review responsibilities (even though I had kept up with the series on air) let me summarize. Set in Seattle, Olivia Moore (Rose McIver) is a medical resident who lives her life a bit on the cloistered side. She’s more than happy to sit at home with her fiance Major (Robert Buckley), however her life takes a turn for the strange when she decides to go out to a party (against her better judgment) only to be bumped into by a crazed guy who turns out to be carrying a virus that turns her into….dun dun dun!…..a zombie. Her new situation seems dire, but she doesn’t turn into a George Romero mindless zombie just yet and soon realizes that by eating the brains of a human she can gain part of their memories, personalities and traits. In a way allowing her to keep some of her humanity. Crushed by her new life as the undead brain muncher, She severs her upcoming nuptials and takes up a job at the local morgue. There she connects with a detective and uses her position among the undead to solve crimes and try to fit in as a zombie.

Season 3 picks up after the Max Rager incident with Liv dealing with the aftermath of a whole TON of incidents. Blaine (David Anders) is now suffering from his retrograde amnesia after taking the second cure virus (becoming human but loosing his memories in the process) and his evil past seems to be just that… in the past. However there’s a new problem. A private military contractor has come out of the wood works and decided to make Seattle the new home base for the zombie race. She’s preparing for D-day, otherwise known as the day that humankind discovers that there are actual zombies living among us. Fearing that humanity will just wipe out the undead instead of trying to understand them, she is getting locked and loaded and making sure that they don’t get caught with their pants down.

Peyton and Liv’s relationship goes to the wayside this season, and focus more on Peyton and Blaine, as well as Major trying to deal with his own “cure” on his own. Clive is now in the “know” as far as what Liv is, and that there are zombies in the world, and that brings a whole new strain on their relationship as his incredulity is now at odds with his duty as a human police officer. Not to mention the fact that we have the untold joy of watching Liv take over the personality of whomever s brains she munches on that day. We’ve got everything from an overbearing dad, to a dominatrix, to a rough and tumble soldier ready to get in the trenches. Luckily Rose McIver handles the job PERFECTLY, slipping in and out of personalities at the drop of a hat.

The concept of the show is taken from the Vertigo comic series, but only very loosely. The names and roles of certain characters are similar, but much of the comics has been changed for the TV version and I really like both of the iterations. McIver is a fantastic Liv, and her adorable chemistry with everyone of the cast members makes her a delight to watch. Especially her ability to slip in and out of characters at will when she munches on a new brain. This season is a bit “looser” than the previous ones, and focuses more on the side character relationships this season, but it’s still an incredibly fun show that plays fast and loose with the whole zombie genre, and turns it COMPLETELY on its ear. I can’t recommend the series enough as it is one of the best things that the CW has going for it right now besides the comic shows like Flash, Arrow and the rest.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

iZombie was one of the may WB shows that has been relegated to DVD for major retailers, while Warner Archive handles the Blu-ray release for fans. For a DVD the show looks quite good, and like many horror/drama shows in today’s CW world the series strikes a balance between bright daytime sequences and brightly lit indoor scenes with the occasional bout of really dark shots in the dead of night. Clarity is quite good, with sharp contrast and well balanced white levels, and detail is more than adequate. I DID notice some blocking and compression artifacts around faces and far away shots, but that also can be the problem of watching DVD content on a 120 inch screen. Blacks are deep and inky and I detected very few instances of banding. Honestly, if you’ve seen one CW show, then you’ve seen them all. A solid presentation for a modern show.






Audio:

The third season of iZombie is very much like previous seasons. It’s a show that features a lot of dialog and some modern rock inspired music to kick up the volume here and there. There’s not a whole lot of surround activity, but what is there is more than adequate about creating a decently immersive experience. Vocals are the mainstay of the track and those are anchored up front, with crisp dialog and a very even balance with the rest of the audio mix. The opening theme song (“Stop I’m already dead”) gives a grungy tone to the series, but overall this is a fairly straight forward sound track that isn’t extremely wild or crazy, but does everything well.








Extras:

• iZombie: 2016 Comic-Con Panel
• Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

iZombie: The Complete Third Season is another fantastic outing for the comic inspired show, but it comes at the price of being just a bit shaky on whether or not it will be renewed for another season. The ratings have slipped (which is a shame considering it’s one of the most unique and stylish shows the CW has), but they are known for holding onto shows with poor ratings until the bitter end, so we can only hope that the show continues on for another year or so to complete the story line (season 4 was luckily confirmed). Audio and video are quite good for being a DVD (the Blu-ray will have to be online from Warner Archive if you’d like an HD compy), but extras are the same cookie cutter deleted scenes and Comicon panel that most CW shows from WB are receiving these days. A fantastic show that must be scene to be believed. A must watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Rose McIver, Rahul Kohli, Malcolm Goodwin
Created by: Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 MPEG 2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: NR
Runtime: 572 Minutes
DVD Release Date: Own on DVD and Blu-ray on 10/3/17

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Must Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I never saw the first two seasons so will have to watch it from the start..

 

[Todd Anderson]

Fantastic cover art... (though, I'm not so sure this is one series I'll be watching).

 

[Sonnie]

I have only watched a few episodes of the first season. It has been somewhat interesting thus far, although the thought of eating brains is not the best of thoughts.

 

[Michael Scott]

not even blue colored ones with a straw?

 

[Sonnie]

Yuck... not blue, not green, not yellow.... and definitely not with a straw... nor a fork, or spoon, or even fingers. NOPE NOPE NOPE

 

[Michael Scott]

I smell a Dr. Seuss book coming on

 

[Todd Anderson]

"Blue Brains and Guts"

 

[Michael Scott]

lol, as much as its a zombie show, it's also a CW show... there's much more REFERENCES to munching brains than actually seeing anything gruesome. it's PG levels

 

[Todd Anderson]

The Walking Dead is about all I can handle in the zombie sphere... love the show, tho.