Review: ‘Santa Clarita Diet’ Delicious Addition to Netflix Originals

NETFLIX | Photo Courtesy
Drew Barrymore plays Sheila Hammond, a bubbly real estate agent who suddenly develops a taste for human flesh.

Netflix has had quite a few hits in its lifetime, including “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Making a Murderer,” “Sense8” and more.

On Feb. 3, Netflix added “Santa Clarita Diet” to their growing list of must-watches.

“Santa Clarita Diet” follows bubbly real estate agents Sheila and Joel Hammond in their home Santa Clarita, California.

Sheila and Joel have an average life, until one day Sheila vomits an absurd amount and suddenly craves raw meat, including human flesh.

The couple and their daughter, Abby, enlist the help of the neighbor boy, Eric, to explain the new development in their life. Meanwhile, Sheila must keep her insatiable cravings at bay, hide her new identity from their nosy neighbors and maintain the appearance of nothing but the average, all-American zombie.

Throw in a few good f-bombs, plenty of killing mishaps and a connection to an ancient Serbian text, and Netflix has created a delightful addition to their already impressive list of original series.

In my opinion:

Going into “Santa Clarita Diet,” I was a little unsure how Netflix would blend the horror and comedy that accompanies a modern, zombie-themed show in California.

I was also expecting a lot more explanation on why, exactly, Sheila becomes a member of the dead, yet undead.

First, Sheila and Joel are so bad at killing their intended targets that hardly any shots of real death happens. However, when such instances do occur, the camera doesn’t shy away from gushing blood, flesh consumption or Sheila devouring a full-grown man.

This causes quite a contrast to the many jokes strewn throughout the series. While Sheila can quip one second, she’s chomping down on a dead baddie the next. There’s definitely no delicacy when it comes to her cravings, leading to plenty of “oh, Gods!,” “ewwws” and “grosses” from the audience.

Second, the issue of Sheila’s sudden alive-to-undead shift is never explicitly explained.

What we do know is that Sheila’s incident is not isolated and that a rare, ancient Serbian text may hold the answer. As does the mysterious and off-putting Dr. Cora Wolf, who doesn’t show up until the end of the series.

This continued mystery sets up the next season, that has yet to be announced considering the show did only premier about a week ago.

What surprised me most about this series was the lack of publicity it got beforehand. Netflix doesn’t shy away from frustrating amounts of silence about their intriguing original series, but on “Santa Clarita Diet” they were practically mute.

Especially with superstar Drew Barrymore as the main actress and guest stars Portia di Rossi and Nathan Fillion making appearances, you would think this show would receive a lot of hype.

Despite all this, “Santa Clarita Diet” is a surprisingly funny and interesting show that I would definitely recommend to anyone who appreciates a little wacky in their TV series.

While each episode asks more questions than it answers, its humor and wtf moments make it a worthwhile, entertaining original series.

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