History Series / SantaClaritaDiet

Ran for three seasons before being cancelled by Netflix in 2019.

* AcceptableTargets: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sheila and Joel. When they realize that they have no choice but to kill people so the now-undead Sheila can [[IAmAHumanitarian eat]], they vow to only kill people who they consider bad and who deserve it. Throughout the series, this includes convicted felons, Nazis, dirty cops, sexual predators, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and one guy with really bad road rage]].

* {{Freudian Trio}}: Sheila is the Id. Like all zombies, she is driven by the desires she repressed while she was human. Abby represents Ego; she's a snarky teenager with a heart of gold. She also has a strong sense of justice, but at the same time she's not above using the unique circumstances she's in to justify her own less-savory aspects. Joel is the Superego; he's the most rational (if neurotic) person in the cast, who wants everything to go back to the "normal" life before the zombification.

** [[spoiler: when trying to determine if Ed Thune was undead, Joel checks his freezer to see if he had any human parts. While there was none, the supposedly vegan Thune did have shrimp, foreshadowing that he was lying]]

'''Man:''' Ooh, keep talking, [[ADateWithRosiePalms I'm almost finished]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: Aside from having an IQ of 172, Dr. Cora Wolf appears to have minor mood swings, lacks some social skills (she appears to not even understand how to hug someone properly), prefers to use words like "act of passion" instead of "sex", cannot understand sarcasm, and has no trouble piercing a woman's neck with a pen when there are other people watching.

* AcceptableTargets: {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sheila and Joel. When they realize that they have no choice but to kill people so the now-undead Sheila can [[IAmAHumanitarian eat]], they vow to only kill people who they consider bad and whom deserve it. Throughout the series, this includes convicted felons, Nazis, dirty cops, sexual predators, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and one guy with really bad road rage]].

* AmbiguousDisorder: Aside from having an IQ of 172, Dr. Cora Wolf appears to have minor mood swings, lacks some social skills (she appears to not even understand how to hug someone properly), prefers to use words like "act of passion" instead of "sex", cannot understand sarcasm and has no trouble piercing a woman's neck with a pen when there are other people watching.

* AssholeVictim: Pretty much all the people Sheila kills impulsively have it coming in some way or another. Then there's [[spoiler:Dan, who Joel kills with a shovel after being blackmailed by him]].

* BigEater: By the time Joel discovers Sheila eating Gary, she was worked her way through quite a bit of his abdomen. After eating his entire leg. Apparently including the very numerous and very large bones normally found inside legs.

* TheBigDamnKiss: Between Abby and Eric [[spoiler:when Abby thinks her family are going to have to flee Santa Clarita.]] [[spoiler:When it turns out they don't have to leave she refuses to discuss it.]]

* BlameGame: Inverted in late season 2. Sheila and Joel both start discussing whose fault is it that Sheila became a zombie [[spoiler:by eating the red clams]], with both revealing a bit more about that night and trying to [[ItsAllMyFault push the guilty to themselves]], including that [[spoiler:Joel didn't spent the day working, he spent the day high, which is why he didn't had time to get dinner ready, while Sheila knew there was something wrong with the clams, but couldn't bring herself to ask for something else]]. Ultimately, they decide they could keep looking for who to blame, but it's pointless, and accept it's an unfortunate accident that is no one's fault.

** The cheap phones. [[spoiler:Turns out that the phones are so cheap, that they don't save deleted recordings, which ends Anne's investigations before it can reaches any relevant point]].

** Chris and Christa act as a less scruplous, skeezier version of Joel and Sheila, but their acts are limited to the real estate business rather than the more dangerous zombie world. Their son [[spoiler: Christian]] also acts as a foil to Abby, being just as impulsive and self-serving, but at more harm to innocent people.

* OverlyLongGag: Abby ''really'' wants to get Dr. Wolf back for relegating her to shopping duty, and repeatedly pretends the experimental cure is giving her convulsions. Wolf and Eric both get just as exasperated as the audience.

* SerialKillerKiller: It looked like Dan was setting them up to be this [[spoiler: until it was revealed that the drug dealer and killer Loki was blackmailing him and the human trafficker was just having an affair with his wife and really was a pediatrician, proving he just wanted his neighbours to do his dirty work for him]].

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Increasingly between Abby and Eric. Eric has had a crush on Abby for years but Abby only really starts to develop feelings for Eric in season 2, admitting that there was "a 3% chance of them eventually becoming lovers", and the two of them sharing some awkward [[HeldGaze Held Gazes]]. [[spoiler:When Abby thinks her family might have to flee Santa Clarita her first thought is that she and Eric ought to kiss, which Abby then refuses to discuss when it turns out they don't have to leave.]]

* MoralDissonance:
** When it's discovered that [[spoiler: Ramona]] is also undead and is attacking random joggers, the only issue made of this is that she might attract attention. When she decides to move to Seattle, everyone is fine with the implied spree of completely indiscriminate murders that she will carry out there presumably for years, decades, or even more, although she is encouraged to be more discrete about her kills. At no point does anyone try to convince her to adopt Joel and Sheila's philosophy of trying to kill only people they think deserve it.
** After the Hammonds discover that Gary's still alive (albeit as a severed head) and seems to have [[TookALevelInKindness turned over a new leaf]], very little is made of the fact that he effectively tried to rape Sheila, even by Sheila herself.

* {{Fainting}}:
** Joel and Abby do this when they see Sheila's "blood", which has turned thick and almost black from decomposition.

* FamilyThemedNaming: Joel and Sheila's real estate rivals are Chris and Christa. It also serves as foreshadowing [[spoiler: that Christian is their son.]]

** At one point Abby drops an f-bomb in conversation with her dad, then casually says, "Oh, yeah, I'm gonna to be swearing in front of you guys now." Joel admits that seems fair enough, considering.