6 Questions We Need Answered In Season 2 Of 'Santa Clarita Diet'

This should go without saying, but Netflix has once again succeeded in delivering quality television directly to our homes without the hassle of commercials or weekly episode debuts. The latest hit series to debut on Netflix is also an original series, #SantaClaritaDiet.

Brief Recap Of 'Santa Clarita Diet'

Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore star in the new series, Santa Clarita Diet, which follows two mild-mannered real estate brokers who also happen to be married. Their lives seem average until Sheila (Barrymore) vomits up a mysterious-looking red ball. The object looks like an organ but is too small to be one. Sheila and Joel (Olyphant) brush off the situation until Sheila grows an appetite — one that isn't satiated too easily.

Sheila develops an insatiable appetite for all kinds of meat. Nothing seems to satisfy her cravings until she discovers a particular kind of meat. Shortly after developing these cravings, Sheila runs into her overly aggressive coworker who won't stop making sexual advances toward her. After Gary goes one step too far, Sheila's anger reaches a boiling point and she snaps. She then proceeds to bite Gary's fingers off and starts chowing down on the rest of him.

Sheila only stops when her husband walks in on the bloody scene. Expecting Joel to call her a monster and call the police, Sheila's surprised to hear Joel say he'll help her cover up the murder. Joel and Sheila then proceed to dispose of Gary's body and the majority of Season 1 follows suit.

To sum it up: Sheila's a sophisticated zombie and Joel is just trying to make life work with his undead wife, even if he has to kill for her.

Questions We Need Answered In Season 2

Season 1 concluded with Joel and Sheila separated, not by their own wishes, but the last episode definitely left an open ending for Sheila and Joel to be reunited in Season 2. While Netflix hasn't officially renewed Santa Clarita Diet for a second season, there's a very good chance the series will continue considering its growing popularity. If and when Santa Clarita Diet is renewed for a second season, here are a few of the most important questions we need answered in Season 2.

6. Will Sheila Get The Cure In Time?

Season 1 concluded with Sheila chained up in the basement of her home. After she attacked Joel and attempted to eat him, it was decided that it would be best for her to be locked up until the cure could be found. Dr. Nora Wolf attempted to synthesize a cure for Sheila but she ran out of time. Dr. Wolf left Abby in charge of completing the cure, but that's easier said than done.

It'll be up to Abby and Eric to get the last ingredient: Mrs. Bakavic's vomit. Her vomit contains bile that is a critical component in the cure for the zombie disease. Joel attempted to get the vomit but was arrested and taken to a psychiatric hospital. With Joel out of the pictures, it's up to Abby and Eric.

It's possible Abby and Eric will be forced to ask Eric's mom for help in retrieving the vomit they need. Eric's mom, Lisa, isn't aware of what's going on with Sheila but she'll probably be on board to help if she hears the trouble Sheila is going through. Although, with Sheila feasting on more than one person closer to her, it's likely that Lisa may become another unsuspecting victim to Shelia's hunger.

5. What Will Happen If Sheila Goes Feral?

If Season 2 returns and Sheila isn't given the cure in time, she'll regress into a feral state, one that'll force Joel to bash her brains in. Once Sheila goes completely feral, there'll be no coming back for her character. If that were to happen, it's possible Season 2 will see Joel look for a new wife or become infected himself. Personally, I think the latter will take place.

Shelia's current situation looks grim, and the disintegration of Sheila's body in Season 1 seemed to hint at an eventual collapse of her entire anatomy. When that happens, there'll be no one left with the zombie virus, which would make Joel an ideal candidate to carry on the virus.

4. Will Joel Ever Let Sheila Bite Him?

However, if Joel and Sheila do get over their current rough patch and get Sheila the cure, the next step in their relationship could shake things up a bit too much.

When we look at how Sheila's personality has changed over the progression of Season 1, it seemed as though she wanted Joel to truly connect with her. The only way for him to do that is to become a zombie like Sheila. Sheila dabbled in connecting with fellow zombie Loki but that didn't turn out as expected. However, now that Sheila knows her connection with fellow zombies flows deeper than the connections she shares with the living, she may want Joel to join her.

There's a good chance Sheila will ask Joel to join her in undead marriage. His response to that request is up in the air at the moment. Joel has shown both resistance to his wife's recent changes, as well as support for her as she deals with his unexpected change in her life, so his answer to that question could go either way.

The first season of Santa Clarita Diet seemed to emphasize marriage as an undertone in almost every scene. Joel may not be too happy with the decision at first but it's one he'll probably make to keep his marriage alive — so to speak.

3. Will Joel Divorce / Kill Sheila?

Moving beyond Sheila's need for a cure, it's possible the zombie virus inside her will progress anyway. When it does, Sheila will likely experience unexpected outbursts, resulting in Joel questioning if he can still truly trust his wife.

When this reality begins to sink in, Joel will likely be faced with the important decision of either waiting for Sheila to turn so feral that she eats him alive or ending Sheila's undead life before she can accidentally kill Abby or himself.

In the latter scenario, Joel may decide to remarry, but it seems much more probable for the series to continue to develop the relationship between Sheila and Joel, even if one of them is a zombie.

2. What Turned Sheila Into A Zombie?

Another important question we need answered in Season 2 is what was the cause of the zombie virus and how did it get into Sheila's body? The origin of the virus was insinuated to have originated from an animal species but no specific answer was given or how Sheila got infected with it. Personally, I think Sheila contracted the virus from a vegetable she included in her health-conscious smoothies.

Before Sheila became a zombie, she was extremely health conscious and kept up a hard tradition of having a healthy smoothie every morning. If one of the ingredients in Sheila's smoothie had been contaminated, Sheila could have infected herself without having the slightest clue.

1. What Is The Small Red Ball Sheila Vomited Up?

Something else of interest was the small red ball vomited up by Sheila and Loki. Sheila and Loki were the only zombies in Season 1 and both vomited up a small red ball. The ball appears to be an organ but was deemed too small to be one.

It's possible the small red ball vomited up by Sheila was her heart. Joel tried to test Shelia when he couldn't hear her heartbeat, but there was nothing audible. Sheila's chest hasn't been opened up to see if her heart's still there but it's possible Sheila has no heartbeat because she has no heart.

Any Other Questions Left Unanswered

Those were just some of the questions we were left with at the conclusion of Santa Clarita Diet's first season. Were there any other pending questions you had about Season 1? Did Sheila or Joel do something significant that didn't stand out to most of us?