MovieChat Forums > Santa Clarita Diet (2017) Discussion > Here's how season 4 would have wrapped i...

Here's how season 4 would have wrapped it up.

posted 3 years ago by ryanaz (1)
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When a show get's canceled, I like to write my own short version of how another season might have concluded the story. Sharing it here in case anyone would like to know how it ended.

Season 4 episode 1:

The Hammonds are quite surprised to find that after being bitten by Sheila, Joel still has a heartbeat and eats food. Hmm, maybe Mr Ball Legs (who never came back out of his ear) saved him. Even stranger, he keeps noticing how much strength and energy he has, and is worried that his hair is going less grey.

Meanwhile, it turns out the Serbians who went on a killing spree at the end of season 3 also bit several people but only ate a finger, an ear, an arm, etc. So there is a rash of new undead in Santa Clarita, and as the Knight of Serbia, Joel and his family head off to try to stop the spread. They catch up to one of these undead, and just as Joel is sneaking up behind him, he spins around with a machete and cuts Joel’s head off.

The final seconds of the episode has Sheila killing the guy then running to Joel’s dead head, whose eyes pop open and he declares some funny good line about how strange that was (using at least 3 f bombs for effect). End episode.

Season 4 episode 2:

Anne (the daughter), always thinking more clearly, grabs dad’s head and comically duct tapes it to his body. Throughout the episode while chasing undead, it gets knocked off, knocked backwards, etc several times and then corrected.

Throughout the episode they also keep trying to make yesterday’s dead undead guy’s spider go in Sheila’s ear, no success.

As the episode ends, we see that escaped spider sneak downstairs and into bodiless Gary’s ear.

Season 4 episode 3:

The next day the Hammonds are surprised to go downstairs and find Gary looking halfway back to his old self. Gary gets the idea and talks them into decapitating a Nazi and putting Gary’s head on the Nazi. They go, Gary gets picky a few times about which body he wants, and eventually settles on one. It works, and now we get Nathan Fillion with swastika tattoos.

Season 4 episode 4:

Gary is now a healthy full bodied guy with a pulse and a craving for fancy food and house sales. He joins the Hammonds in realty, being the guy actually keeping the realty business thriving while the others are busy hunting undead.

Joel’s psych ward friend Ron and Sheila’s old lady friend Jean from meals on wheels, both undead, exchange their Mr Ball Legs spiders. After some experimentation and prompting, they get them to go into their ears, and they get their pulse back and their ability to eat non cannibal food.

Season 4 episodes 5-9

Hammond Realty, the new #1 realtor in Santa Clarita, becomes a front for hunting zombies. The realtor couple they really hate finds out something incriminating about them (but not the whole story) and blackmails them into hiring them into their successful company. They now have someone in the company they have to hide truth from. Insert comedy. The little brother from “My Name Is Earl” works for them as well, as does Ramona, the emotionless undead girl who started out as a Walgreens worker. This of course brings up an uncomfortable love triangle between her, Anne, and next door neighbor Eric, who Anne is now dating.

They continue to hunt undead and their spiders, and pair undead up so that their spiders can heal each other into living breathing immortals. Still no spider willing to go into Sheila’s ear. They also continue to kill bad guys who come along in order to feed Sheila and keep the show gross.

Series Finale episode 10

Joel is having stomach pain. He throws up, and out comes his own Mr Ball Legs. It scurries over to Sheila and climbs in her ear. Her heart starts beating and she finally becomes one of the living immortals. She can eat regular food, but unlike the others she continues to crave and prefer the Santa Clarita Diet. Eric and Anne decide they love each other, but they look too young right now to get respect. In a few years, they will get themselves bitten, and exchange spiders.

It feels anti-climactic to all of them as they save the last undead person in Santa Clarita, and they go weeks with the unexciting life of real estate only. But then they see a news report with some unexplainable footage from LA. They look at each other, smile and say “we’re back, baby”.

[–] Ace_Spade (9544) 2 years ago

I don't know about that. It feels unfocused, with a lot of plotlines largely untouched. Ron and Jean would have to have been in it more, the Knights of Serbia would need to be more involved (especially with Joel having joined up), and the Mr. Ball Legs Exchange Program feels too "easy" a solution.

While I like the idea of a cure, it feels like the Hammonds finding an "equilibrium" where they have a handle on their situation and have a "new normal" is more hard-won. With that said, I do like that you found a solution to Joel's fate at the end of season three. I really hated that particular development and it made me kinda dread season four. To be honest, the cancellation was almost a relief to me - much as I love the show.

I think that the final season would need Knights of Serbia as the big bad guys, more Chris and Krista, and more attention paid to the kids. Eric and Abby (not Anne) were always much more prominently featured.

To your credit, I think the idea of "recapitating" Gary is very funny, although I also feel like there would be a whole episode devoted to body shopping (rejecting the Nazi body for the tattoos, for instance, wanting to be more in-shape, etc.)