“iZombie” EP & Rose McIver Mourn the Loss of One Character and Tease the Return of Others

Fans of The CW’s brain-consuming series iZombie learned the hard way not to get too attached to some characters, as you’ll never know if or when they will get killed off.

On the Rob Thomas/Diane Ruggiero-Wright series, now nearing the premiere of its second season, the stakes are high and no one is safe. Case in point: Lowell Tracey (Bradley James).

Executive Producer Ruggiero-Wright tells OMFGTV along with several other outlets that killing off characters is essential “because if you make it too safe then there’s never any jeopardy and you’re never worried for anybody.”

When it came time to say goodbye to Bradley James’ Lowell, she admits that she’s still not over it. “We knew that we were going to kill off that character. I was a fan from Merlin and once we cast him, it was like, ‘Do we really have to?’ But like you had to, but you so didn’t want to, but it was such a balls-out move that I was excited to do it, but at the same time as a fan and as a person that likes him, it was so upsetting. It was so upsetting to see how much everybody liked him and to be like — I know how I am as a fan when someone gets killed, that is so upsetting to me. I’m glad that we did it, but I’m kind of heartbroken about it, too.”

As for Rose McIver, whose character Liv shared most of the screen time with Lowell, losing him wasn’t easy for her either. “When the Lowell character came up, I knew it would be evocative for people but it has been pretty crazy, the response that we had. All of us, we were all very emotional that night when we shot [his death scene] on the rooftop. It wasn’t a long arc but it was a very significant arc. There’s been some big shocks, big losses.”

With the loss of big characters, it presents the opportunity to introduce or even re-introduce characters. “There’s someone that we met briefly in last season that will be coming back” Ruggiero-Wright teases, “but I can’t tell you who it is. You’ve seen her before. There will be a new character that we have seen very briefly that will now play a bigger part.

“I’m excited that Jimmy the sketch artist is coming back for a couple episodes,” she continues. “He was just in an episode and he was super funny and everybody loved him and then he came back and did another episode. He’s just a guy we love and keep coming back.”

Season 2 of iZombie premieres Tuesday, October 6, at 9pm on The CW.