How Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet Would Have Ended If It Had Landed A Season 4

In 2017, Netflix released a freaky but uproariously funny series starring Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore. "Santa Clarita Diet" had the two stars developing an alarming appetite for comedy and claret-covered horror, and it made for a great watch — right up until it was frustratingly canceled after three seasons in 2019. Since then, there's been no sign of the happy and undead couple, the Hammonds, making a comeback, even with the cliffhanger ending fans were given at the end of season 3. According to the show's creator, Victor Fresco, he had season 4 all mapped out, which, frankly, sounded as bonkers as everything else the show had delivered up until then.

Victor Fresco posted in a now-deleted tweet in 2021 about his future plans, which, unfortunately, never materialized. "Yes, Joel is possessed by Mr. Ball Legs, who at first makes him do his bidding ... but then he and Sheila hunt bad people together and their love for each other goes on forever!" See? Bonkers.

But with such a big chapter teed up, what was Fresco's reasoning for ending on such a massive cliffhanger in the first place, if the show never returned? According to one of the show's stars, it was all a clever power play that Fresco attempted against Netflix, hoping it would persuade the streaming service to give the Hammonds their fourth season. Unfortunately, on this occasion, Netflix just wasn't in the gaming mood.

In an interview with Timothy Olyphant, which saw the actor looking back on his career and shows like "Justified" and "Deadwood," it was "Santa Clarita Diet" that left him smiling over a show that only got so far. "When Netflix said, 'hey, we] think this will be it. Season three, you guys are done.' We said, 'Oh yeah?' We're gonna write a cliffhanger, and then we'll see who's done.'" Unfortunately, in this standoff, Netflix didn't blink. "Turns out we're done, done," Olyphant recalled in an interview with GQ. He said:

"They were like, 'Yeah, go ahead. You guys wanna go out on a cliffhanger? Go out on a cliffhanger. We're Netflix. We got something else coming out the very minute this thing ends from countries all over the world. So you guys write your little show and thank you very much.'"

And with that, "Santa Clarita Diet" was done and dusted, even with all the heartbreak endured from fans that never got anything near the closure that they were hoping for. What's such a shame is that if anything, Olyphant's and so many other names on the show have only gotten bigger, with the likes of "Yellowjackets'" Liv Hewson and DCU's Jimmy Olsen, aka Skyler Gisondo, going on to greater things. It's this that could lead to "Santa Clarita Diet" drawing more attention and perhaps give the quirky, blood-drenched comedy a second chance than the one it previously got.