Santa Clarita Diet’s biggest fan is Drew Barrymore. It could be me, but it’s probably Drew Barrymore. In what I could best describe as a zombie-mom sitcom, Drew Barrymore plays Sheila Hammond: a career woman and mother searching for a sense of boldness and passion, who turns into a zombie. The show handles this transition a bit smoother, but you get the gist. Now a zombie career woman and mother acting completely of her id, Sheila is transformed into a confident, bold and badass zombie-mommie.
The show is bad. Not so bad you can’t watch it, but bad in a way that you enjoy it. It was recently announced that the Netflix original series would be renewed for a second season, because of course it was. The paradox of Santa Clarita Diet is that everybody watched it and nobody knows how they feel about it. I mean, if I hated it wouldn’t have watched it in its entirety within the span of two days, right? I don’t hate it, but I know that it’s bad and I need everyone to know that I know that it’s bad.
The dialogue is bad. The concept is tired. I mean, what’s the one thing more cliché than vampires? Zombies. I won’t even get into the fact that the show is basically a more successful iZombie. The narrative is all over the place. And the characters are mediocre. So what does Santa Clarita Diet have the iZombie doesn’t? Drew.
What makes AND breaks Santa Clarita Diet is Drew Barrymore. Why does she think she’s so edgy in this show? Why did she even take this role? She’s technically a movie star. A niche awkward-rom-com movie star, sure, but still a movie star for all intents and purposes.
The truth is, this role is actually a departure for her, and I think what draws me to this show so much is that it doesn’t work. Somehow she is still intensely awkward, the character feels forced, the acting is rough, and every time she says “fucking shit!!!” or any other ill-placed curse word you cringe because you know how cool she feels saying it. It feels like Drew Barrymore playing Drew Barrymore playing Sheila Hammond. And I can’t get enough of it.
So please, do yourself a favor and go watch this horrible show. If not for me, do it for Drew. I can’t promise you won’t regret it, but I can promise you will enjoy every minute of it.