Wow! Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet was a show that was just OK in its first season—but not only does it hit its stride in the second; it becomes one of the funniest shows on TV (or streaming, or whatever).
Why? Mainly because Timothy Olyphant’s performance as mildly agitated Joe—husband to recently undead cannibal Sheila (Drew Barrymore)—has gone from slightly off to totally on. In the first episode alone, he has a solid 10 moments that are worth a laugh. He not only gets the laughs; he gets them with pitch-perfect timing. Barrymore is no slouch, either, although she’s simply continuing her great work from Season 1.
The writing on this show is done by a group of people (including Victor Fresco) who have just said, “Who gives a fuck anymore?” All the proverbial stops have been taken out. There are lines in this show that are as nasty/funny as anything you will find in your living room watching things on the rectangular doodad that spits out imagery and sounds and whatnot.
Here’s a line of dialogue for an example: “If this helps you be less murdery … that’s great. My concern is, if somebody sees you running around snatching at rabbits like a coyote in yoga pants, they might start asking questions, like ‘What the fuck is that?!’” Olyphant delivered that line with a combination of deadpan and agitation that was drop-dead funny.
This one gets super-violent, so beware of hardcore gore. As entertainment that gets an equal amount of gross-outs and laughs, this one just crossed into Evil Dead territory.
The second season of Santa Clarita Diet is now streaming on Netflix.