Don't looks so sad, zombie girl. You may be undead, but at least your production staff have a pretty good grasp on proper video game product placement.
The pilot for CW's comic book-based zombie procedural aired earlier this week, and like our friends over at io9, I was completely charmed. It might not have the supporting cast the now-canceled comic book series did (yet), but it does feature a sentient zombie who solves crimes by eating the brains of murder victims, and just being able to type that out makes me completely giddy.
Not only has showrunner Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars fame) nailed the pacing, the characterization and the mood of what sounded like an impossible piece of throwaway television fiction, he also manages to work in a video game cameo that had me nodding in appreciation instead of laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.
After months of wallowing in self-pity, undead Liv Moore (Rose McIver) decides it's time to reconcile with her estranged boyfriend, Major. Sadly it's a case of too little, too late, as her beau has found a new gaming partner to play with.
Oh man. Not only has Major moved on to another lady friend, his choice of Dying Light as date night entertainment shows obvious anti-zombie sentiment.
Still, how refreshing to see a show treat video game product placement so cleverly, without taking unrealistic liberties, like having two people playing a single-player game at...oh dammit.
Dammit Thomas, we were so close!