Santa Clarita Diet Co-Stars Are Couple Goals

STARRING: Drew Barrymore, Timothy Olyphant, Liv Hewson, Skyler Gisondo

STUDIO: Netflix

DIRECTED BY: Victor Fresco

FORMAT: Half-hour horror-comedy

START DATE: February 2017- March 2019, 30 episodes

The Hammonds are back for a third season that released Friday, March 29 on Netflix. Premiering in February 2017, Santa Clarita diet is the first of its kind. A zombie sitcom, or “zomcom” as fans say, following Sheila (Drew Barrymore) and Joel Hammond (Timothy Olyphant) – married real estate agents in sunny Santa Clarita California with their daughter, Abby (Liv Hewson). After they find themselves in a bit of a rut, they head out for a date night to a local restaurant. Sheila experiences a violent vomit fit after eating the clams, dies, and comes back a vibrant and sexually charged super zombie, very hungry for human flesh.

The hilarious banter between husband and wife duo, Joel and Sheila are enough to keep fans wanting more. The plot follows a linear path throughout the course of three seasons: keep Sheila “alive.” To do so requires human flesh. With a hard-pressed police officer as a neighbor and daughter who wants to be involved in all things illegal, this proves more difficult than they imagined. The show’s hilarious and fresh premise coupled with appealing performances by co-stars Barrymore and Olyphant make Santa Clarita Diet a must-watch on Netflix.

Zombie series have hit primetime television and streaming services by storm. The success of The Walking Dead sparked an epidemic enticing a large number of people. While Santa Clarita Diet has little in common with The Walking Dead besides the zombie aspect, iZombie is certainly leading the new wave of zombie comedy dramas. iZombie is a supernatural crime procedural comic series adaptation that follows a medical student turned zombie named Liv who takes a job at a coroner’s office to reluctantly access human brains. While the show is popular amongst viewers, a whopping 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, it lacks the light-hearted and relatable characters that Santa Clarita Diet delivers extraordinarily well.

Unlike how iZombie’s main character, Liv, takes on a low-energy, depressed state post change, Sheila in Santa Clarita Diet undergoes a revitalization that any middle-aged parent dreams of. The logistics of a suburban wife turned zombie mom play out seamlessly throughout each episode from her frozen flesh smoothies that she takes on power walks with her neighbors to seducing her husband at house showings with her enhanced sex drive.

Santa Clarita Diet also does an astonishing job at situating the dynamic of Sheila and Joel’s marriage. They are goal driven and work together throughout each issue that arises in the series from fighting the Knights of Serbia, an old-age order hellbent on destroying the undead, to discipling their daughter Abby after she gets suspended from school. Sheila and Joel are a power couple – a duo to aspire to but also one that viewers can relate to even if Sheila kills and eats people. They struggle with being involved in their teenager’s life and have a rivalry with another husband-wife realtor team. Their marital issues are tested further when Sheila turns into a zombie, but even though viewers don’t have the exact same issue in their relationships, the deeper dynamic of trust and partnership within the problem they face are analogous for audience members.

Theme and plot aside, zombie series alike have set the bar high with special effects. Santa Clarita Diet is no exception. Each time Sheila devours her victim, namely murderers and neo-Nazis, the scenes are detailed and don’t shy away from the fact that she’s ripping a human body apart with her teeth. The graphic display is balanced by Sheila’s lighthearted “oops, sorry honey, that one got away from me” face as she stands up covered in blood.  

With such spot-on performances by Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant and an extremely relatable plot, it’s a shock to viewers that Netflix has nixed the series. After three seasons (10 episodes each), Netflix announced yesterday that the show would not return for the anticipated fourth season. This has left their audience bewildered and prompted them to take to social media in protest. Hopefully after attention regarding the cancellation becomes more widespread, Netflix will consider bringing the show back. The show certainly set itself up for a fourth season after season 3 left viewers hanging from a cliff. What will the world do without power couple Joel and Sheila Hammond showing us that in spite of Serbian clams causing an outbreak of the undead and an angsty teenage daughter cutting class, communication and trust is the key to any partnership.