Izzy Lisko

"*Who here is tired of being lied to by adults? Tired of being talked down to, all because we're, what, too young to understand? Who's tired of hearing that-that you don't know what you're talking about? You know, they say "what do you know about climate change or injustice?" Yeah, well, I'll tell you what we know. We know what we see. We're young, but we are not stupid, and we are paying attention. So take this article, written and researched by my very annoying sister, Hilde Lisko. Strata shut down her website but they cannot stop her from speaking the truth. So do you me a favor, okay? Take this article take--take a picture of it and text it to your parents, your neighbors, your friends, okay? Because Strata made a decision a long time ago that profits were more important than people. They jeopardized the safety of everyone in this town. And if we don't do something, they'll do it again. No more lies!*"
—Izzy[src]

**Isabelle "Izzy" Lisko** is a character featured in *Home Before Dark*. She is portrayed by Kylie Rogers.

Izzy is the older sister of Hilde and must navigate the backlash of her sister's penchant for truth-telling and investigative work.

## Biography

Isabelle was born to the investigative reporter Matthew Lisko and his wife, the public defender Bridget Jensen. She is the older sister of Hilde and Ginny. When Matt was fired from his job, he wanted to work on a fiction novel, while Bridget longed for a break from the city. With the decline in Matt's father's mental health and the Lisko's financial troubles, it seemed like the perfect time to move their family to Erie Harbor, Washington. Hilde wasn't happy with the move as she didn't want to give up reporting despite Izzy's hopes the move to a small town would make for a quieter life.

## Series

### Season 2

In "*Not Giving Up*", it's been nearly a year since Richie Fife's van was pulled out of the lake, and things have begun to level out at the Lisko household. Now, it's time for school to start back up again. At breakfast, Hilde asks if anyone heard a loud explosion or saw a bright light around two in the morning. Izzy quips that it’s Hilde o’clock while Matt and Bridget are excited for school starting back up again. Hilde scolds her father for writing about the clambake and not something more serious. Matt explains they need the extra stories now that Sylvester is moving in with them for good. Hilde wants to go back to Portland and figure out who paid the kidnapper. He iterates that they spent eight months looking for answers and following every lead but nothing panned out. Bridget applauds Hilde for doing a great job but they’ve come up with an executive decision - the Richie Fife case is closed. Matt understands it means a lot to Hilde and everyone has read about it, including Richie if he’s out there. He thinks maybe Richie doesn’t want to be found. Izzy quips that her theory might be wrong and Richie’s dead - she spells out the word dead. Ginny chimed in asking if the fish ate his body, spelling out the word body to prove she understands what they are talking about. Matt tells Hilde to cover new stories by taking a break and doing normal kid stuff. He explains that Sylvester moving in will be a big change and things will be different. They make sure the girls don’t have any questions.

At school, Izzy walks past a group of girls who are talking. Jessica Fife asks Izzy where she went on break, and Izzy admits they stayed in town and couldn’t go anywhere because her grandfather is sick. The other girls snicker at the idea, so Izzy quickly adds that they go to cool places too. She then walks away. That night, Sylvester moves into the Lisko house and is happily greeted by his granddaughters. Sylvester doesn’t recognize Ginny, so Izzy takes her upstairs while Bridget, Matt, and Hilde show him to his new room.

The next day, Izzy eats alone in a classroom at lunch. Hilde finds her and asks what she’s doing. Izzy claims she’s studying but Hilde knows she isn’t. She gets Izzy to admit she’s lying and asks if her sister is hiding from someone. Izzy admits it feels weird being there without Ethan, but Hilde doesn’t understand. Izzy is realizing how many friends she doesn’t have. Jessica Fife is trolling her as she keeps messaging Izzy. Hilde thinks Jessica wants to be friends with Izzy, but Izzy doesn’t believe that. She calls Hilde bad at people. Hilde thinks her sister is the best, coolest, smartest, sister in the whole world. Anyone would be lucky to be friends with her. When she’s nervous she puts her head down and works. It makes her feel better to know that no matter what, she’s a journalist. No one gave it to her so no one can take it away. Izzy also has her as a friend. Izzy thanks her and the sister’s hug. The bell rings so they leave the classroom.

Izzy is finishing class when Jessica sits at the desk in front of Izzy. She wants to confront Izzy about ignoring her. Jessica was trying to invite Izzy to her sixteenth birthday party, but now she has to do it in person. Izzy is confused as to why Jessica would want her there. Jessica admits that the Lisko’s did a lot for her family. She also admits that she felt threatened by Izzy when she first arrived, as Jessica thought Izzy thought she was better than everyone else just because she’s from Brooklyn. Jessica adds that she’s always wanted to go to New York. The girls exchange small talk and smiles. Jessica’s friends watch her from the door so she leaves, promising to see Izzy later.

After school, Izzy and Hilde go shopping for the sweet sixteen. Hilde points out that the idea was invented so girls could find rich husbands. Izzy is looking for something an Instagram model would post. She explains what Coachella is and Hilde points out she was right about Jessica wanting to be friends. The party is taking place at the Woodruff mansion, so Hilde asks for her phone to text Donny.

Afterward, Izzy enters the Lisko kitchen just Hilde mentions going to a party that night Donne and Spoon. Hilde tries to disguise her intentions by leaving. Izzy shows her mom the outfit she got which is hideous, but Izzy likes it for some reason. Matt laughs at how ugly it is while Bridget scolds him. She decides to *Pretty in Pink* the outfit, a reference that Izzy doesn’t understand. She shows Izzy the movie as they work on altering the outfit.

That night, Matt drops Izzy off at the party. He tells her not to drink anything she doesn’t pour herself, then clarifies that she shouldn’t drink anything at all. He tells her to remain dehydrated at all times. She notices he’s more nervous than she is but he makes her promise to call him no matter what. She reminds him that they used to live in Brooklyn and she rode the bus alone at 13. She promises she’ll be okay and asks him to drop her off at the side of the mansion. Bridget’s voice chimes in wishing her luck, and Izzy realizes with great horror that her mom has been on speakerphone the entire time. Bridget tells her to make good choices. Izzy quickly leaves the truck as Matt shouts after her with his love and how he’ll teach her to kill anyone who looks at her because she’s a strong and powerful woman.

She enters the party and sees her sister across the room just as Jessica walks over to Izzy to say hello. Izzy apologizes for Hilde being there but Jessica tells her it’s okay. Jessica grabs her friend and they go to the trio and ask for a photo from Hilde, while Izzy watches with a smile. Jessica tells them to have fun and walks off. The trio scampers off to do their work, while Jessica pulls Izzy onto the dance floor.

In "*I Believe You*", A storm rages outside but Izzy and Hilde are awake in their room. Hilde isn’t sure which is weirder - a whole flock of birds is dead or that it wasn’t on the news. Izzy thinks it’s weird Jessica was nice to her. She wonders if everything is related but it’s weird. Izzy thinks Jessica, a junior, should be hanging out with seniors by now since she can drive her car. Hilde continues to wonder if the weather impacted the birds, especially since Erie Harbor has been having weird weather lately. Izzy can’t believe she had fun in Erie Harbor. Hilde looks up something online but the power goes out. Izzy sits on her bed and they use the computer for light. Ginny runs into the girl’s room and screams as she’s scared. Izzy pulls Ginny onto her lap and tells her everything is okay. They hear a crash and run downstairs while screaming for their dad.

Matt and Bridget are standing by the window where a tree has crashed through it. They tell the girls to go back to bed as there’s glass everywhere. Sylvester gets out of bed but Matt tells him not to worry as he’s going to clean it up. Bridget goes to take Izzy and Ginny upstairs, but they are distracted when Hilde hears a noise. She advances to the tree with Matt warning her to be careful. She picks up an injured bird and soothes it. She promises nothing bad will happen to it.

The next morning, Matt is boarding up the broken window while Hilde hopes she can stay home from school to look after the baby bird. She and Izzy debate about how to feed the bird. Hilde wants to ask Birdman his opinion on the dead birds and Walter Cronkite, a former TV journalist who was the most trusted man in America. Matt drops the boards and Izzy wonders if they should help him, but Bridget explains that Matt believes he’s “handy”. Hilde states he’s not and references the attic incident. Bridget knows how Hilde feels about the truth but it isn’t always the best thing. She’s about to explain something about men to them, then decides to cheer Matt on instead. Izzy and Hilde join in. Hilde then asks Bridget about the Wott Management company. Izzy thinks she should write an article about the bird and tree instead. Hilde knows a lot about Wott Management and its founder. Hilde is worried about her bird and tells her dad she has to take him to Birdman. Matt reminds her that his name isn’t Birdman anymore, but Mr. Wergeles. Bridget gets the girls ready for school.

Bridget drives Izzy to school and they bicker about the phone charger as they both need it. Izzy wants to call Ethan but can’t because of the power outage leaving her phone dead. She explains they are supposed to call each other before school and wish one another a good day. It's their ritual. Bridget tells her to enjoy the feeling of disconnection for a while. They pull up to the school to find a mob of people. They learn that because of the power outage and a fallen tree, school is canceled for the day. Izzy greets Jessica and tells her about school being canceled. Jessica’s plans to go to the pier then invites Izzy to join. Jessica’s friends walk over and agree to come with them to the pier. Jessica introduces Izzy to Emma, a new kid who just moved to Erie Harbor. She used to live in Virginia until her mom got transferred. The group starts to leave and Izzy is left behind until Jessica asks if she needs a ride. Izzy has to tell her mom where she’s going first, and Jessica forgets she’s fourteen sometimes because she takes upper-level classes. She quickly corrects that she means it as a compliment. Izzy decides to text her instead and the girls leave.

After the pier, Izzy comes home to ask if she can sleep at Jessica’s. Her parents are skeptical, especially since Jessica tormented Izzy all of last year. Izzy is defensive of Jessica and wants to give her a second chance, but Bridget isn’t convinced. Izzy is persistent that she's almost an adult. Bridget agrees so long as if the power comes back on Izzy comes back by morning and doesn’t complain about being tired.

At Jessica’s, Lucy tells the girls to help themselves to the kitchen if they get hungry. When Lucy is gone, Jessica decides to get something to drink and adds shots of tequila to everyone’s drinks but Izzy's.

Izzy FaceTime's Ethan from the Fife house which surprises him. She assures him Jessica is better than she was last year. He thinks it’s great she’s not drinking unlike the other girls. He likes San Francisco but hates that she’s not there. He misses her a lot. A drunk teen ambushes the call so they have to hang up. She returns to the other girls and they start discussing Ethan, commenting that Izzy is "out of sight out of mind". Jessica asks if he’s said I love you yet but neither of them has. Emma knows it's because Izzy is afraid to say it because Ethan might not say it back. Izzy starts to get emotional as she misses him and wishes he’d stayed in Erie Harbor. Jessica comforts her with a side hug while the other girls assure her it's okay. Izzy decides she needs a drink but Emma doesn’t think it’s a good idea since she’s a freshman. Izzy is sure she wants some and they all toast. Emma then tells Izzy quietly that she shouldn’t let the other girls get inside her head when it comes to Ethan. They don’t know him but Izzy does. The girls begin to dance and sing.

Izzy, now hungover and exhausted, stumbles into the Lisko house that morning. Meanwhile, Bridget tells the girls that school is back open today. Izzy comes in and tries to avoid her parents but they are persistent she stop to talk with them. Matt notes that she smells like a frat house. Bridget tells Ginny and Hilde to go upstairs. Izzy just wants her bed but Bridget refuses as they have to talk first. Izzy admits she was drinking but her parent's already knew that. Bridget won't let her go to bed as they made a deal. She makes Izzy get ready for school. Matt gives her a glass of water and tells her to hydrate thoroughly so they can talk when she’s feeling better. Izzy storms off while the parent’s exchange sighs.

In "*Fighting His Ghost*",

## Personality

Izzy is a smart, poised, and focused young teenager who wants her life to be normal. She navigates the world around her based on situations that her sister usually puts her in, and sought to distance herself from Hilde at school. She is capable of making friends quickly and finding a group of people to hang out with, showing that she can make meaningful connections. Her desire to fit in is also coupled with her desire to be liked by the popular kids, though this fades when she meets Ethan, a boy who nudges her out of her comfort zone. She is strong-willed and stubborn, both traits which were present when she didn't immediately forgive Ethan for not checking on her when Hilde was missing. Izzy can be single minded and resistant to change, prone to moodiness which is to be expected from her adolescence, and displays a sharp tact when it comes to those around her. Despite her resentment towards Hilde for ruining her date with Ethan, Izzy knew it was wrong that the other kids were smoking pot and felt remorseful for snapping at Hilde. She also showed a fierce protective nature for Hilde when Alpha Jessica threatened her, and a maternal side towards Ginny when she babysits.

## Physical Appearance

Izzy is a fourteen-year-old girl with golden blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a heart-shaped face. She wears her hair in curls or pulled back. She is slender and graceful, wearing fashionable, yet relaxed, attire.