As it is pretty much every week, this week’s iZombie was chock full of clever puns, pop culture references, song lyrics, movie titles and the like.
Videos by ComicBook.com
And as we (usually) do, we’re here to try and make sense of some, laugh with some, curate some and all that good stuff.
So…what did we see? What did we miss? Read on, and comment below.
ABRA CADAVER
The episode title itself has plenty of pop culture cache.
I’ll leave this one up to Wikipedia:
Abra-Cadaver, Abra Cadaver, or Abracadaver may refer to:
Literary works
Abra Cadaver (novel), a 1999 crime novel by the American writer James N. Tucker
Abra Cadaver, a supporting character from The Wizard of Id comic strip
Abracadaver, a 1972 Sergeant Cribb novel by Peter Lovesey
Music
“Abracadaver”, a song from the 1972 Bloodrock album Bloodrock U.S.A.
“Abracadaver”, a song from the 2002 The Lawrence Arms album Apathy and Exhaustion
“Abra Cadaver”, a song from the 2004 The Hives album Tyrannosaurus Hives
Television
77 sunset strip 1959 Abra-Cadaver series 1 episode 28
“Abracadaver”, a 1980 series one episode of the TV series Cribb
“Abra Cadaver”, a 1991 season three episode of the TV series Tales from the Crypt
“Boogie Frights / Abracadaver”, a 1998 season one episode of the TV series The Powerpuff Girls
“Abra-Cadaver”, a 2002 season three episode of the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
BRITNEY SPEARS
The Britney Spears joke is pretty well-timed considering the singer’s recent appearance on Jane the Virgin, also on The CW.
Weirdly, this won’t be the last time there’s a wink and a nod to another CW series in this episode…!
DOUBLE DOWN
Just a few weeks after the DC Comics villain Double Down appeared on Arrow, we see a murderer using his schtick — playing cards with blades in the edges — to murder somebody in another DC Entertainment series.
While iZombie is the only DC/CW series not produced by Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, we hope they at least let Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero borrow the trick cards.
TROMPE CARD
A play on the idea of a “trump card,” this is likely a reference to a Trompe-l’œil, a kind of art that involves tricking the eye into seeing things that aren’t actually there.
As noted in the scene, the whole murder is actually an elaborate magic trick, so acknowledgment of those illusions isn’t surprising in a show that tends to be pretty open with its self-awareness.
HELP ME, ZOMBIE-WAN KENOBI, YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE
This series loves its Star Wars references.
Loves them.
This time, though, it’s not Rahul Kohli but David Anders who gets to make the reference. That’s called “spreading the wealth,” folks.
YOUTUBE MAGIC HACKS
The YouTube “magic hacks” videos that Syd made? Those are a real thing.
I found this out on the set of iZombie, when we were talking about this episode and actor Malcolm Goodwin said he wanted Rose McIver to teach him some of the tricks she had learned in preparation for “Abra Cadaver.”
McIver: Oh, yeah. I’m not teaching you anything!
Goodwin: She’s like “No! No!”
McIver: My magic consultant would not be impressed if I went around…
Goodwin: [Laughs] …giving the secrets away.
McIver: Although you can go to YouTube now. Disappointing. But don’t!
Goodwin: I’m doing that right after this interview.
THE LADY MATERIALIZES
One of the caption cards is a pretty clear callback to the 1938 Alfred Hitchcock movie The Lady Vanishes.
On a train headed for England a group of travelers is delayed by an avalanche. Holed up in a hotel in a fictional European country, young Iris (Margaret Lockwood) befriends elderly Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty). When the train resumes, Iris suffers a bout of unconsciousness and wakes to find the old woman has disappeared. The other passengers ominously deny Miss Froy ever existed, so Iris begins to investigate with another traveler (Michael Redgrave) and, as the pair sleuth, romantic sparks fly.
STEVE GUTTENBERG
“He was still going by Steve and owned all the Police Academy movies.”
I’m not a hundred percent sure if that’s just supposed to indicate that Syd was fairly whitebread at one point, or specifically that it’s meant ot be a reference to Police Academy franchise actor Steve Guttenberg.
I choose the latter.
SMOAK AND MEERS
This one’s a twofer. Yes, it’s easy to spot the fact that instead of “Smoke and Mirrors,” they’re “Smoak and Meers,” including the Arrow-friendly spelling of that first name.
…Could this guy be Felicity’s dad? Maybe iZombie really is part of the Arrowverse after all!
Okay, well, probably not. In any event, the other bonus is that Penn and Teller, the magician-comedian duo the pair are clearly based on, also have a series on The CW: Penn & Teller: Fool Us.
Man, this episode had a lot of winks and nods to other CW shows.
TO THE BATMOBILE!
Another DC Entertainment reference — although this one’s pretty explicit.
During the interrogation of Smoak and Meers, Clive and Liv get it in their mind that they have a better suspect. When they walk away from the conversation, Meers predicts their departure with a note: “To the Batmobile!”
YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHAKRABARTI
One of Peyton’s lines to Ravi is a reference to the title of the 1967 Broadway musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!”
That’s yet another comics reference — even though Peanuts is a different KIND of comics.
That said, between last week’s reference to SPECTRE on Arrow and now a reference to Peanuts on iZombie, it seems like these shows are staying pretty zeitgeist-y. God bless those short production turnarounds.
