In This Case, I Would Look Away: Episode 1-3 of the Santa Clarita Diet

WARNING: The review you are about to read has unmarked spoilers and gore. If you wish to have a sunshiny rest of the day, DO NOT READ!
     The Santa Clarita Diet is another watchable show viewable on Netflix, a service without pesky commercial breaks. I say watchable in that your bog standard viewer won’t be able to take his or her’s eyes off their screen while it is on, though this may be from sheer horror rather than pure enjoyment. The TV-MA rating is well earned for intense language, sexual situations (though only very much implied) and gore, which I feel is simply gratuitous. For the most part, the sex and language usage are waved away by Shelia's disease, saying it causes her to be ruled by her id. In reality, I feel this is the equivalent of a young child swearing; it is to masquerade maturity and intelligence but fails miserably. Instead, we get a show whose only hue is off color.
     Now I am a firm believer of giving credit where credit is due and I would like to compliment the set designer. Every element in every set feels perfectly in place in the average American town, down to the dull color palette of interiors. However, even though this was done well, not everything else was.
     The gore is another element that is over done. While I am no doctor, nor would I ever pretend to be one, I don’t believe that the amounts and pressures of blood shown are believable. For example, here is a couple of volunteers showing 6 quarts, or the amount of blood in a human body:

http://www.laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/farm/antique-blue-green-glass-mason-jar-old-zinc-lid-2-qt-fruit-jar-1858-patent-date-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-m69175.htm
And this is the amount of blood in the first victim:

Adapted from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/757167756071807073/

https://hiddenremote.com/2017/02/05/5-things-can-never-unsee-santa-clarita-diet/
     Now that looks like a heck of a lot more than 6 quarts to me. I am usually a supporter of shock humor, a phrase which here means humor that is unexpected, usually bloody or vulgar. However, I feel like The Santa Clarita Diet goes a little overboard on this front. Though it is possible I don’t quite have the measure of either show, I feel that iZombie is more tasteful here, by showing a mostly clean brain and very few gory elements.
     An element that is not over-the-top are the performances, which I think is a pity. I think the show could use a great actor, one like that wonderful Neil Patrick Harris in another certain Netflix show. A performance such as this would reduce the apathy the audience after such unfortunate events. As it is, the characters in the show never seem to react in disgust with all of the grotesque events happening around them. While so may feel that this is a comment on the nature of suburbia, I think it is just jarring. If I am to relate to these characters, I expect the emotions they display to match my own. If they don’t seem to care that they are burying a body, I, as a viewer, won’t care. Maybe you will care more than I do, but maybe not.