Santa Clarita Diet Season 4

Girl Talk

As Joel came down the stairs, he saw Sheila chatting with the woman who lived next to the other side of their house.

"You have to see my pelvic floor therapist," Alondra said. "I was so -- loose! -- after the baby was born, it was embarrassing. But now I'm tighter than ever. And the sex is amazing."

"Is that like Tantric?" Sheila responded. "Because we've tried that."

"Not quite."

As the women talked, Joel wondered if medical advice was even relevant to Sheila anymore. Though he usually tuned out conversations like this, he found it interesting today. Not the words, but Sheila's actions, Sheila's act. Something had technically killed her, but her socialization was so ingrained that she carried on regardless, like a chicken missing its head.

Joel wondered if his socialization was as strong. He didn't care about real estate as much as Sheila did, had only done it because she was doing it. He was surprised to notice that his personality hadn't changed as much as he'd seen in others. Perhaps he was already uninhibited?

As Joel mentally reviewed his recent behavior, he concluded that the only unusual thing he'd done was Lisa. Though the idea had occurred to him the moment they became neighbors, he'd never seriously considered doing it until he did it. One inhibition gone. Thank goodness this zombie shit wasn't an STD. Or had Eric just gotten lucky with Ramona?

Joel had thought if he ever cheated on Sheila, he'd be wracked by guilt, confess to Sheila, and their marriage would be finished. But he couldn't find an ounce of regret within himself. Unless Lisa blabbed, Sheila would never know.

The doorbell rang. It was Rick with a fussy infant in his arms. He looked over Joel's shoulder and yelled, "Alondra, the baby is hungry. Should I give him the bottle?"

"Oh no, baby needs momma boob," Alondra said as she took the infant and walked back to her house.

Rick awkwardly hung back on the porch. Then it hit Joel: guilt. Not for anything he'd done since turning, but for shutting out Rick from the truth of the zombie apocalypse. Rick who was legally obligated to arrest murderers, but that warning voice in Joel's head was barely audible.

Joel nodded in the direction of Alondra and said, "Well, it's nice that she got John Legend out of her system."

"One local show, one weekend trip to San Francisco, and she got bored," Rick said. "I knew she would. You get a crazy idea like that, doesn't take long to see the downside."

Joel realized he wanted Rick to keep talking, to sit down with him like old times, old times being less than two weeks ago. He asked, "Want to have a smoke?"