Season 2 of Santa Clarita Diet arrives today on Netflix, and that means the return of our favourite undead suburban Mum and the rest of the Hammond family. Thanks to the fine people over at Netflix, I was able to get access to the entire season before it went live (don’t hate the player hate the game) and promptly binged all 10 episodes of the new season all so that I could put together my thoughts for you all to read. So, here goes nothing…
If you’ve not watched Santa Clarita Diet’s first season, then you should definitely go back and watch the first season before heading into season 2. There is a recap available prior to Episode 1 but that should only be used as a refresher not to get yourself up to speed.
In Season 2 Sheila (played by the lovely Drew Barrymore) is still very much in a state of advanced undeadness, chained up in the basement to stop her from going nuts and killing another not-so-nice person. Of course, that was never going to last, and before long Sheila is back out there satiating her hunger for human flesh. Poor Joel (played by Timothy Olyphant) once again finds himself cleaning up Sheila’s mess (literally at times) as he struggles to keep the world from finding out Sheila’s deep dark secret, and his desire to have at least one semi-normal day without some poor fool becoming Sheila’s dinner.
The support cast was a strong part of Season 1 and it’s no different. Liv Hewson is excellent as the angsty teen daughter Abby, who is trying to deal with Sheila’s undead state in a way only she knows how: with well-timed jibes at her parents when they inevitably try to keep the full goings on from her but fail… again. Skyler Gisondo is a fantastic comedic talent, portraying Eric the teen next-door neighbour who wants to be a badass, but will always be the lovable nerd awkwardly attempting to win Abby’s heart, and finding himself trying to help out the Hammond’s and discover how Sheila became undead.
As the season progresses, many of the questions from season 1 start to get answered. Where did the virus come from? I know, but I sure as hell ain’t gonna spoil the season; last thing I need is a whole bunch of hate mail from Santa Clarita fans. Rest assured the BIG question will be answered, all while the Hammond’s are trying to keep the noisy Sheriff’s deputy, Anne Garcia, off the trail of why the Hammonds, and particularly Joel are constantly acting strange. Expect lots of hilarious shenanigans once again, as Sheila and Joel try to convince themselves that Sheila’s hunger for flesh is actually a good thing by ridding the world of bad people, and that their exploits to try and find the cause is actually going to be them saving the world.
Santa Clarita Diet isn’t going to be for everyone, but given that we’re at Season 2 I’m pretty sure most people know what they are getting themselves in for. The gory-horror is a well written Netflix Original, with a stellar cast and impeccable timing. Seeing Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant playing the husband and wife realtors (or is that real-a-tors?) is a joy to watch, and they play off each other really well. If you enjoyed the first season, you’ll thoroughly enjoy Season 2, and I guarantee there will be plenty of laugh out loud moments. You may even see the return of someone special from Season 1…
Season 2 of Santa Clarita Diet is available exclusively on Netflix now.