One of the most clever and dark-humored Netflix Original Series of recent years, Santa Clarita Diet starred Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as Sheila and Joel Hammond, a husband and wife realtor team who find their lives turned upside down when Sheila suddenly becomes a zombie. With a mounting need to consume human flesh, Joel, his daughter Abby, and their neighbor Eric have to come up with inventive ways to provide her sustenance.
The series ran for three seasons to much critical acclaim, spotlighting the show’s witty writing, expressive cast, and complex storytelling. Sadly, Netflix decided to pull the plug just when the series was hitting its stride. This decision left a lot of unanswered questions, from the huge life-changing variety (is Joel a zombie too?) to the truly bizarre (what is Mr. Ball Legs, and is he friend or foe?). Read on for the ten biggest quandaries of the canceled series, and why their lack of resolution is such a tragedy.
JOEL’S ZOMBIE STATUS
By the end of season 3, Joel had finally made up his mind about Sheila’s proposal to turn him undead like her. Though the idea of killing people was hard for him, the thought of someday growing old and dying while Sheila lived forever was harder. Just as she was about to bite him and start the transformation process, her own Mr. Ball Legs crawled out of its tank and into Joel’s ear.
He fell like a 170-pound sack of handsome potatoes, before opening his eyes and giving a frightened Sheila a coy, “Hello”. But it was unclear if he’d actually been turned into a zombie (there was a suspicious lack of projectile vomit) or if Mr. Ball Legs was now in possession of Joel’s body.
WHAT MR. BALL LEGS IS
One of the remarkable things that occurred during Sheila’s transformation process into becoming undead (aside from insane amounts of vomit) was the hacking up of a small red ball. Sheila ultimately froze hers, until she discovered another undead woman, Ramona, kept hers in a reptile tank after it had grown spider legs. Ramona called hers Mr. Ball Legs, and said she felt a symbiosis with it.
As a surprise for Sheila, Joel unfroze her “Mr. Ball Legs” and put it in an old fish tank, giving Sheila her own zombie “familiar”. But what is the objective of these creatures? Do they hunger for living flesh or is it something even more sinister? Currently, Mr. Ball Legs is nesting in Joel’s head cavity so there’s that.
GARY’S FUTURE
Gary started the series as an insufferable douchebag from Sheila’s real estate company who wanted to get with her despite her loving marriage to Joel. His relentless pursuit of Sheila’s affections ended in bloodshed when he followed her home after an uncomfortable run-in at the bar and she tore him to pieces. Joel helped Sheila bury Gary in a tub out in the desert and that’s the last we thought we’d see of him.
When suspicions arose and they had to return to move the body, they discovered Gary was alive..at least his head. But that worked to their advantage because armed with a headset and an Alexa, he began to build their real estate empire from the basement. Who wouldn’t want to see how that panned out?
HOW THE UNDEAD GO FERAL
The entire three seasons take place over basically a four or five week period. By about the two-week point (early in Season 2) Sheila started to get extra bitey. Sheila either had to spend more time chained up in the basement, or she had to take a special serum formulated by a doctor specializing in the undead.
While the serum made sure to stop the progression of the virus, it also meant Sheila’s body wouldn’t deteriorate anymore (she’d already lost a toe). What the series never fully explained at that point, was why it took longer for Sheila to turn feral than anyone else subsequently bit (Ron, Morgan), and what the timeline is for the undead going feral/deteriorating.
THE MASTERMIND BEHIND POPLOVIC’S MASTERPLAN
Though Poplovic was the Big Bad in Season 3, a maniacal madman posing as a member of the Serbian Consulate in order to hunt down Sheila, it’s clear there was a bigger fish above him. During the interrogation of another undead in Serbia, he received an ominous phone call from someone looking through a camera onto the proceedings. Who is behind the camera, and are they even more demented than he is?
After he was captured for mistakenly being a zombie by Poplovic, Joel heard the entirety of his evil monologue. The black tar-like substance that was the basis of zombie blood held the key to immortality, something Poplovic would never live to experience. But whomever he served might if they sent more minions.
THE KNIGHTS OF SERBIA
After being attacked by the Knights of Serbia, the ancient order designated to protect the world from the undead, Sheila and Joel come up with a brilliant plan; Joel will join their order and, as the regional agent in Santa Clarita, send them false information claiming there’s no undead threat in the area, thereby keeping Sheila’s secret safe.
After sending in an impressive audition reel, Joel is visited by the Grand Knight Prior for his examination, which he passes and is knighted. Abby swears an oath of fealty as well, pledging to take over if anything should happen to Joel. But how extensive is the rest of the organization? Will Abby and Joel have to go on other missions in service?
ERIC AND ABBY’S RELATIONSHIP STATUS
Eric and Abby’s banter was one of the highlights of the series next to Sheila and Joel’s. Beneath their pithy dialogue was real concern for one another, an odd couple friendship that blossomed into a tentative romance. Eric’s altruism and geeky charm combined with Abby’s abrasive sarcasm and bravery made for some great comedic moments as well as some real chemistry.
With all they’ve been through together, from Joel killing Eric’s dad and Sheila eating him, to Abby and Eric blowing up a fracking facility, it wasn’t surprising they got close. But can two teenager balance school, protecting Santa Clarita, keeping Sheila’s secret, and their romance?
THE FUTURE OF HAMMOND REALTY
At the conclusion of Season 3, Joel and Sheila had struck out on their own, and with Gary’s head’s help, organized an amazing launch party that was going to bring in dozens of new clients. They had already scored a big listing away from the nefarious real estate couple Chris and Christie, and were ready to make their next move selling eco-friendly smart homes to forward-thinking buyers.
Halfway through the party Joel gets captured, forcing Sheila, ex-Knight of Serbia Tommy, and her friend Jean to save Joel from Poplovic. When they return home, Joel gets attacked by Sheila’s Mr. Ball Legs, and the series ends without any explanation about how hard it will be for 2 zombie realtors to sell homes.
WTF HAPPENED TO ANNE
When last we saw Anne, Dan’s very religious partner and Santa Clarita deputy sheriff, she was fighting the urge to declare Sheila’s secret to the world. Though Sheila admitted she wasn’t some sort of deity, just an immortal zombie who’d eaten Anne’s partner, Anne seemed unperturbed, having no problem praising Sheila as a religious martyr even though Sheila begged for her silence.
Anne leaves Santa Clarita without warning, and without telling Dan’s widow and Eric’s mom, Lisa, where she’s gone even though they’ve been dating for weeks. Was it all too much for Anne, or does she have secret ties to Poplovic and his thugs? Or has she simply gone on a religious quest to find her true purpose?
A POSSIBLE CURE
One of the keys to unraveling the mystery of how Sheila became undead was discovering that she got sick by eating bad clams at Japopo’s Italian Restaurant. The other key was deciphering an ancient Serbian volume of 16th-century literature from a fictional town called Pozica that detailed an ancient virus similar to Sheila’s.
The mysterious tome told the Hammond’s all about the illness as well as the Knights of Serbia, the ancient order pledged to rid the world of the undead if they ever arose. It didn’t explain that there was a cure, but what if there were more artifacts from Pozica that could help cure Sheila? What a waste of a potential Hammond European vacation.
