The CW’s Near-Perfect Supernatural Series Is Streaming for Free for the First Time

Good news for zombie fans: The CW’s iZombie is coming to Pluto TV, where it will be streaming for free for the first time. On Aug. 1, Paramount’s free streaming service will welcome a whole slew of hit TV shows, with the popular supernatural zombie series among them.

Pluto TV announced today that it is expanding its offering, adding several fan favorites to its streaming library. In addition to iZombie, viewers will be able to stream Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Awkward, Rein and Faking It. Audiences will be able to stream all of those shows for free beginning Aug. 1.

What Is iZombie About?

Liv Moore (Rose McIver) is talking with Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli) as they prepare to examine a body in iZombie, a CW show.

iZombie is based on the comic of the same name. The supernatural crime drama about a medical resident who gets turned into a zombie ran for five seasons, 71 episodes total, from March 2015 to August 2019.

Rose McIver (The Lovely Bones) played Olivia “Liv” Moore, a Seattle medical resident who gets turned into a zombie while attending a party on a boat. She retains her identity and intelligence but gives up her career and breaks up with her fiancé as she grows an appetite for brains. Liv soon discovers that if she doesn’t continually satisfy that appetite, she turns into a stereotypical brain-dead, homicidal zombie. The only problem is, Liv doesn’t want to kill innocent people to get to their brains. So instead, she takes a job at the morgue and eats the brains of corpses.

Liv quickly realizes that she can absorb the experiences of the people whose brains she eats. With the help of her boss, Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti, played by Rahul Kohli (The Fall of the House of Usher), Liv begins solving the murders of the victims coming into the morgue, but soon discovers she isn’t the only zombie in Seattle.

Critics and Fans Loved the Supernatural Dramedy

iZombie currently has a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Hollywood Reporter’s 2015 review of the show reads, “McIver is a great, unlikely heroine,” adding, “the show’s dialogue is consistently amusing.” ScreenRant’s Hannah Shaw-Williams says that the show’s “combination of case-of-the-week crime solving, sincere drama and dry, witty humor makes for an addictive blend.”

CBR writers have also been fans of the show, putting iZombie on different “best of” lists over the years, including Best TV Horror Comedies, Best CW Shows and Supernatural TV Shows That Changed the Game. CBR writer Jenna Margolis wrote in 2022, “[iZombie] stands out from the likes of The Walking Dead or Z Nation for its nuanced, funny, and poignant take on the zombie apocalypse. iZombie even paved the way for shows like Santa Clarita Diet.”

iZombie and Other Shows Coming to Pluto TV Are Curated For Younger Adults

Pluto TV’s fastest-growing audience is adults aged 18 to 34, and with this incoming slate of TV shows, the streamer intends to cater directly to that demographic. Recent popular shows on Pluto TV include Hart of Dixie, Arrow, and The 100.

Will Gurman, who works in Content Partnerships & Programming for Pluto TV, said, “We are seeing something bigger than nostalgia […] Viewers are looking for stories they can live with for more than a weekend. While fewer of those series are being produced today, the appetite for them is stronger than ever.”

iZombie is currently available for purchase with PVOD. Beginning on Aug. 1, all episodes will be available to stream for free on Pluto TV.