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Santa Clarita Diet
We don’t talk about dependable these days. A car, a sweater, a TV show: the things that run how they’re supposed to, that serve their function, that get the job done: we take them for granted. The dependable things aren’t gushed about or complained about. They exist, they’re nice, that’s it. Until they don’t anymore.
Santa Clarita Diet was dependable as all hell. The Netflix sitcom lasted three seasons, and what a glorious three seasons with Joel and Sheila Hammond they were. Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore starred in the series created by Victor Fresco, as the epitome of #couplegoals (oh my god and #hairgoals while we’re at it) and the only TV characters I would ever want to sell me real estate. Joined by their incredibly bright teenage daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) and her best pal Eric (Skyler Gisondo), this show is the rare kind that only got better with time. But, you know, dependably so.
The thing about Santa Clarita Diet was that it was consistently nice and fun and enjoyable, but it wasn’t the kind of show that people would have arguments about or declare their MIND BLOWN. There was no threat of spoilers if you didn’t watch it the day it dropped. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon and then move on with your life with a smile on your face. But there doesn’t seem to be room for those types of delightful shows on the Netflix roster much more (see: One Day at a Time) and perhaps that’s why they pulled the plug on it. However, that was definitely the wrong move here.
Santa Clarita Diet settled into itself so well, and even improved each season. The supporting cast was stacked with total gems such as Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Natalie Morales, Joel McHale doing that snark he does so well. And overall, it gave us the best married couple anywhere on TV.
Sure, the premise might sound strange to some: gorgeous Sheila becomes a…zombie? But instead of leaning into the blood and guts of it all (though that’s still there for sure because a girl’s gotta eat), SCD explored what this new Sheila meant to her marriage, to her role as a mother, and to her desire to kill Nazis (oh yeah, this show’s got that too!). Joel and Sheila worked through issues, hunger and otherwise, together. They were an actual dream team. It was a marriage that was never filled with eye rolls or condescension or boredom, which was reflected in the fact that this show was an excellent binge-watch. It was so easy to roll from one episode right into the next, and the mix of action, adventure, and so, so much comedy was all coated in love. Nothing about this show was coming from a hateful or even unnecessarily provocative place. It was a show about people that loved and helped each other, like we couldn’t use one of those right now.
It’s not that this show needed to live for another 1000 years like Sheila. But a shortened final season or even a wrap-up movie would’ve been really nice, and a considerate nod to appreciating the quality of this series. Plus, with the way the story was going, it’s likely that they could’ve come to a sufficient ending in like, 60-90 minutes even. And while the cancellation was a bummer, the cast’s reactions to the news were so funny it only made the news harder to accept. This project gave us Barrymore at her best and brightest and Olyphant at his funniest. What a gift!
It’s easy to say a show has heart, but this one really and truly did — and often quite literally. Santa Clarita Diet was absurd and silly and ridiculous and suspenseful, and it always cared about its characters and made them interesting along the way. I wasn’t even the biggest fan of all the Serbian storyline stuff, but I enjoyed the show so much I surely would’ve watched another season of it. But it turns out in the world of streaming, you can never depend on being dependable.
