Ash vs Evil Dead spends an uneven episode playing with its own rules, to mixed effect.
Here’s our review.
This review contains spoilers.
How does possession work?
And how does Ash create those things?
I used to be like you, Ruby answers.
I used to think everything had to be orderly.
Life should make sense the way I thought it should make sense.
Ad content continues below
So you dont believe that things should make sense?
Agent Fisher asks incredulously.
Ruby brings up respiration to illustrate her point.
When you were a baby, did you understand it?
Of course not, because you werent concerned about the logic of things.
You just kept on breathing.
Thats what I want you to do just keep on breathing.
No, notArmy of Darknesssilly.
We have to pace ourselves here (season four, maybe?).
But silly enough to warrant a few eye-rolls from the uninitiated and several quizzical looking emojis from the experts.
This is both a blessing and a curse.
Blessing, because it can be fertile ground for creating stories that fly in the face of stale conventions.
Curse, because based on what weve seen thus far, Im not quite sure theyll let it be.
Which this show actually is, deep down.
Its ironic that The Host starts off with Ash bound and gagged.
Maybe we did, maybe we didnt.
Thankfully, the Kelly/Eligos storyline was ultimately resolved in this episode.
That said, I think the episode falls apart somewhere during her exorcism sequence.
It made the third act feel like a checklist of your typical exorcist tropes.
Unfortunately, there had to be a sacrifice.
No, the sacrificial lamb this time around is Brujo, believe it or not.
Nothing more than that.
Well, thats not entirely true.
His powers are awakening now, so he can be more than just a plucky sidekick.
He can be a magic plucky sidekick.
More respectable, even.
And here we come back to…the new hand.
Pablo gives it to Ash at the end, and guess what?
I guess his missing iron gauntlet couldnt do that.
It doesnt want you to think about the logic of things.
It wants you to watch just keep on watching.
Can you spare another scene just?
So Pablo really does have a crush on Kelly.
I dont see them ever getting together, but I like that they played it for comedic effect.
Kelly throwing up Eligos pretty awesome.
Eligos sloppy death = yumminess.
THE NOT-SO GROOVY
Seriously, we needed some more Ash time in this episode.
He was only there for reaction shots and one-liners.
Why treat Brujos death like a tragedy when you wont treat his character like a person?
That last shot of the trailer driving off was curiously long.
I thought something was about to happen.
Maybe they came up short and needed to fill in a few extra seconds?
THE TUNES
Down by the Water by PJ Harvey
Stranglehold by Ted Nugent
Rating:
3 out of 5
