The "Santa Clarita Diet" plot shows what it's like if real life zombies are more human than undead. Netflix's lighthearted foray into the zombie genre gives a different twist on how zombies are portrayed.
The zombie pop culture doesn't seem to be dying off any time soon specially with shows like "iZombie", "Z Nation" and the like. The "Santa Clarita Diet" plot alone shows that the zombie genre still manages to come up with something new. In Netflix's new show, we get a scenario that doesn't involve surviving the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Instead, we get an idea of how a zombie deals with life's daily struggles.
"Santa Clarita Diet" gives the undead formula a twist by showing that, like humans, zombies have daily problems too. Drew Barrymore plays as Sheila, a realtor who eventually ends up becoming a zombie.
A prototypical zombie is a heinous, mindless, eating machine with a seemingly endless appetite. While the zombie in "Santa Clarita Diet" is a mom, a wife and a realtor. Although Sheila still has the voracious appetite of a zombie, she also has problems any normal working mom has. She has co-workers to deal with and a family to attend to.
Of course, things won't always stay normal in a zombie's life as there's still the need to eat human meat and other undead problems. According to Insider, Sheila has the tendency to go full-on feral so it's definitely not easy to cope as a zombie. "Santa Clarita Diet" creator Victor Fresco told Entertainment Weekly that Sheila's life is going to be more "off the rails" in season 2. Who would've guessed that zombies can get as complicated as humans too?
The comedic take on the "Santa Clarita Diet" plot shows how far we've come in zombie story-telling. From mindless zombie killing to a more human-like approach to real life zombies, the undead lore always brings something fresh to the table.
