Entering into the season 1 finale, I was positive that there would be a sense of closure with Ash’s full circle back to the Michigan cabin. After all, they filmed the entirety of season 1 before Starz officially announced the greenlight for Season 2. With almost breakneck speed, the conclusion picks up directly after Ruby’s confession that she wrote the Necronomicon and she plans on unleashing its inhabitants upon the world.

Ash’s chainsaw has never been wielded against him which is fitting irony for Amanda, his ex-sweetheart turned foe. She reversed his affection against his foolish heart. Additionally, Ash is coerced into actually saving someone close to him like Pablo who has recently been suckled facially by the book like Jim Carrey in The Mask. It raises the stakes for Ash who is usually a hapless bystander and completely inept when it comes to others’ salvation.

It would be deus ex machina if Ash’s dream about the Armageddon’s beginnings was a viable way to stop the forces. Thankfully it was just a ruse for a truce. Like Mephistos trying to persuade an unsuspecting nonbeliever, Ash somehow resists the temptation…until he resorts back to his usual idiocy by the last frame. On a sidenote, I have to agree on Ash’s contrarian assessment on The Godfather (“Too long and boring and not enough boobies”) and his penchant for Charles Bronson’s Death Wish.

It’s safe to say that Kelly is a full-fledged Apache warrior. No longer the meek new employee. She is the female counterpoint to Ash: intrepid, savvy and capable. When she slaps the dental hygienist into submission, we applaud her metamorphosis into an Ellen Ripley in Sam Raimi’s brainchild. With flashes of Evil Dead 2 stock footage and the Knowby-excavation tape recordings, I was tingling with familiarity.

The creepy birthing scene of a Deadite demon from Pablo’s mouth smacked distinctly of Poltergeist II’s tequila worm and the embedding nails were nods to the needlessly gory 2009 remake. Horror fans can scrawl a list of odes and none of it feels borrowed or secondhand. This season capper never ceased with energy but it wasn’t the least bit exhausting or repetitive. Of course, Evil Dead wouldn’t be complete without another error in Ash’s judgment with a emergency broadcast signal alerting us that his victory and gatekeeper deal with Ruby was short-lived.

Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with the end result: it was relentlessly paced, enormously fun and most of all, verifiable proof that Campbell deserved to be more than a debonair gunslinger like Jan Michael Vincent and Joe Don Baker in the 80’s (the gas money negotiation with stupidly hilarious).

Rating: 5 out of 5

For my Christmas gifts this year, I received a lot of special and deluxe editions of my favorite TV shows and movies (Scream Factory’s release of Ghost Story, The X-Files: Season 1 blu-ray, Caligula: The Imperial Edition, etc.). But the most apropos present may have been the 25th anniversary edition of Evil Dead 2. The timing couldn’t be better to watch the gonzo roots of the franchise and then dive headfirst into the penultimate episode of its TV counterpart.

In a recap, Ash’s love interest, Amanda, was bid a bittersweet farewell in the last episode by Evil Ash. And now Ash must mightily contend with his most esoteric foe: himself. To prove that Ash is actually who he says he is, Ash shouts racial epithets towards Asian babies. The quirkiest indication of Ash’s laissez-faire attitude is when he extrapolates that Kelly and Pablo shoot them both in order to conclusively end all of the Deadite contretemps. Clearly, Ash would suggest this because he always prefers “the easiest way out.”

Ash might be a clueless ignoramus however he has the clairvoyance to hastily julienne his clone (“Just the Two of Us” is an exuberantly funny touch) and Amanda before they return to reanimated terror. He also guides the backpackers away from the cabin before they are victimized by the airborne virus.

As per usual, Amanda isn’t anatomized in time and her Deadite alter-ego might be my favorite as she puppeteers the corpses into a taunting dialectic about Pablo and Kelly’s murky relationship. Finally, Ruby poisons the minds of Ash’s sidekicks with the revelation that Ash might be inadvertently culpable for the death toll as long as he still possesses the Necronomicon.

Just when the audience is certain that she isn’t the antagonist that we envisioned earlier, Ruby’s incantations begin to cause the dark-and-stormy pyrotechnics to swarm outside. The final line is an enormously breathtaking cliffhanger for who the ultimate ringleader is. The Kandorian dagger is obviously an impressive weapon against the Deadites and flaying the skin off the binding is a decadently gooey visual effect.

For Ash, the 30-plus years fighting the book still conjures some sentimental value for the lummox. The book’s statement that Ash will cease being a superhuman and just retrogress back to being a mundane stockboy isn’t a far-fetched prognosis. Until next week, the viewers will eagerly wonder how Ash can possibly save both Pablo and vanquish the remaining Knowby descendant.

Rating: 4 out of 5

If people can pry themselves away from the Star Wars lollapalooza this weekend, they’ll realize that another franchise was revived with effortless efficacy too. We’re about to round third base with Ash vs. Evil Dead and it’s showing no loss of vital signs (excluding Ash’s beloved Tweety bird).

The atmosphere is crisp with the haunting homecoming of Ash as he walks towards the immortal cabin. The lead-up to his re-entrance is phenomenal with faint callbacks to Linda’s dialogue at his makeshift cross. Whoever redressed the set to juxtapose it next to the original must’ve been very meticulous with every detail from the deer’s taxidermied head to the boarded windows looking painstakingly recreated.

“You’d never gotten laid here” states Amanda in a matter-of-fact deconstruction of Ash’s womanizing delusions. Shivers travel up and down our spines when Ash points to the chained basement hatch. I’d be surprised if fanboys didn’t convulse into cardiac arrest from diabetic recognition.

Split up from Ash and Amanda, Kelly and Pablo encounter new fodder for the slasher spirits in the woods. The Australian backpackers are actually pretty charismatic but I’m pretty cocksure that their fates are sealed with only a flare gun and pepper spray to ward off Deadites. Naturally, Ash abhors responsibility and it’s a monumental insight into his character that he wants to settle down with someone he cares about and forget about the Necronomicon altogether.

Fans’ favorite part of the Evil Dead franchise was the unhinged doppelganger of Ash and it’s delirious to see Campbell tap back into his nefarious side. Campbell’s hammy acting style has always been his most endearing quality and the split-screen fight between twin Ashes is tremendous fun when they are targeting each other’s weak joints (glancing at his stump, “look at the time”). Shades of misbegotten emotion in Ash’s vacant skull resonate loudly in this episode and it is the pinnacle of the series so far.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5

Last week’s episode was a mid-season finale of sorts with Ash and his young subordinates riding off into the sunset. Only difference is the eternal wait between episodes is nonexistent. Hot on the trail blazed by the trio are Ruby and Amanda who arrive literally moments after the camper can continued on its road to salvation.

The episode fires on all cylinders from the beginning when Ruby vanishes into a fire pit after she is attacked by a demon (who is truthfully very synthetic due to the date F/X used to create it). Obviously Ruby is still a red herring who could be swaying on the fence between mankind and damnation. Although this was a conveniently expedient way to explain her absence for the next few episodes.

It was long suspected that the end game for Ash has been circumnavigating back to the cabin from Evil Dead which is stunningly fawning to the original trilogy and a perfect loop for the series to end on. Ash has always been prideful and when he insists that the cabin should be a solo affair, Pablo and Kelly are vehement that they deserve vengeance against this plague. Pablo’s obsequious streak to Ash even extends beyond death (“If I was a Deadite, I’d be honored to have you chop my head off”).

It’s encouraging that the several successors to Sam Raimi have flawlessly replicated his kamikaze lunacy with the low-angle dolly shots. Against those odds, the massacre at the Moose diner has been my favorite white-knuckle set piece so far with a rotary meat slicer and a tenderizing mallet as the unconventional tools wielded by Deadites, Pablo and an anger-ventilating Kelly who goes a little overboard on the possessed waitress. The seismic blast through the windows is a great kick-off and it only escalates to the point where political correctness is casually jettisoned when a hiding preteen is catapulted into a ceiling fan.

Ash has been so omnipotent with slaying lately that we almost forgot about what clueless womanizer he is. It was heartening to hear his “stringing the racket” monologue to the waitress to reconfirm that Campbell is still a studly, froward hoot and he might be smitten with Amanda.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Gagging Bruce Campbell neuters his most powerful weapon: his silver tongue. But his muttering of obscenities is quite funny before it loses its luster. With Ash strung up against a post for an exorcism and possible castration, this episode is a two-hander for the romantic sprouts between Pablo and Kelly. Kelly couldn’t be more coquettish when she is smoking weed out of a shotgun with her legs akimbo and unfortunately the incorrigible Pablo is taking the bait.

Truth be told with the fireworks of the prior episodes, this one is a mellow comedown from the high. The speed of the demon extraction and Kelly’s recovery is a bit disappointing. They should’ve further teased Pablo’s blind faith in Kelly and denial of her Regan MacNeil possession. Admittedly, the projectile leech vomiting is the ickiest effect so far. Between that and Kelly’s cascading urine, Dana DeLorenzo isn’t apprehensive about looking unattractive.

It would be heartless for Ash to fling catchphrases during this bout when Kelly’s mortality is in jeopardy and El Brujo is tragically impaled. This was the most linear episode of the show with a quintessential arc and zero outrageous tangents except for Ash’s decomposed hand as a compass on the dashboard of Ruby’s car.

We’re at the midpoint of the season and Ash is finally showing some remorse over his man-child antics. The power glove should ensure that next few episodes will include some Deadite-punching brute force. While it’s the runt of the litter, I was still satisfied with the horizons for where Ash and his merry sidekicks can go.

Rating: 3 out of 5

For all we knew Ash was the only mortal capable of slicing and dicing Deadites with the greatest of ease. We were mistaken as Lucy Lawless skewers the bookstore owner like an undead shish kabob. I anticipate future interactions between her and Ash resembling the bickering of Han and Leia. However, with her family’s history with the cabin and Ash, it’s not inconceivable that she bares a grudge.

Its uncanny how congruous the musical choices are for the material. Between this and The Devil’s Rejects, Midnight Rider is a sublime song for horror carnage. Unlike the corporeal Deadites in the previous three episodes, the “drafter” hailstorm is a cheesy Galactus foe for Ash to outpace with his ineffective nitrous oxide boost.

Consequently, the pagan ritualism is a loony venue for the Evil Dead playground and Ash’s ayahuasca vision quest is a trippy collage of 80’s opo culture referenda (wrestling matches, the slogan “Just Say No”, etc.). Thankfully, showrunner Craig DiGregorio hasn’t forsaken the self-deprecating humor that Raimi prided himself on ala Ash’s preliminary slogan “When evil shows up, it blows up”.

I love the callback to Ruby preserving Ash’s sentient, severed hand and Pablo’s plan to refashion him a new one with video game components. Likewise, episode writer James E. Eagan gratifies the fanbase by sketching in the gaps before the original movie with Ash rhapsodizing about Jacksonville, Florida which was his vacation spot before he went to the cabin.

It’s a shame that Kelly is already displaying signs of demonic influence. The next episode promises a somber midpoint with Kelly’s potential sacrifice to the dark side. Let’s hope they don’t neglect the congenial vein of camaraderie the shows have been coasting on.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

By now, it’s apparent that Ash vs. Evil Dead is not a vestigial capitalization on the Sam Raimi IP. It’s a brisk, nauseatingly funny horror-comedy which honors the legacy. In this third episode, Ash requires answers to quelling the unleashed hordes of Deadites forever with incantations from the Necronomicon. Of course, the logical next step would be visiting the Books From Beyond bookstore where he came into possessing the book.

The Flight of the Valkyrie score is a soaring song to ignite the fuse this powder keg. Up until now, Lucy Lawless’ Ruby Knowby has been a red herring only briefly showing up in a diner. However, her painful interrogation of the paternal Deadite shows that she is clearly an invaluable warrior with the same dispatching spirit as Ash if not more lethal in her methods.

Ash’s uncouth racism is hysterical when he suggests to Pablo (who is not Mexican) that they devour churros after their misadventures. Evil Dead has been fickle with the folklore behind the demon-summoning literature but this is the first time we’ve been treated to some of the hieroglyphic origins of the Necronomicon. It was a gateway devised by the Dark Ones with inscriptions written on the flayed back skin of their condemned cohorts.

Once again Ash cluelessly misconstrues that they should conjure a “wimpy” demon to contravene on the already present Deadites. Thankfully, Michigan state trooper Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) doesn’t harbor her suspicion of Ashs for long. Now she is a cog in the wheel against the entities. The ceremonial whirlwind when the portal is opened reminds one of Raimi’s own Drag Me to Hell only its mitigated by Ash’s flinty quips (“First of all, you look nothing like your photo. Might want to update that.”).

The creature itself is a gnarled, gummy Silent Hill villain but it definitely wreaks havoc in its few minutes on screen. This is a monster-of-the-week standalone episode but it provides vital background on what the Necronomicon was. It also concludes on a cliffhanger as to what Amanda’s fate will be. But frankly, she is less pivotal than the trio of Ash, Pablo and Kelly so she is expendable.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Sadly, Sam Raimi is a sought-after commodities and he can’t be directly involved in every episode of his brainchild. Yet the show isn’t beholden to him for stylishly offbeat direction. Episode 2 begins immediately after Ash’s decapitation of his elderly neighbor and Ash hasn’t lost his way with a post-slaying quip (“I’d say it’s a gift from God but that would be giving the man upstairs too much credit. It’s all me, baby.”).

A payoff from episode 1 is Ash repeatedly gouging his verbally abusive boss, Mr. Roper (Damien Garvey), with a broken bottle. The geysers of karyo-syrup blood are giddily excessive. For all the wanton gore on display, it never feels like revolting exploitation and I don’t think it would traumatize anyone with squeamish sensibilities. It’s a bouncy live-action cartoon.

If there was any doubt about Campbell slipping back into Ash’s blowhard colloquialisms all you need to hear is him proudly say “Let the boomstick do the talking” and you’ll feel like you’re in the most blissful time warp. He is a square-jawed Daffy Duck. This episode revolves around Ash’s germane suspicion around Suzy Maxwell (Mimi Rogers) who was formerly surmised to be deceased.

His Deadite interrogation is warily hilarious (“What are you waiting for? You know you want a piece of this.”). When the truth is revealed, Michael J. Bassett might actually surpass Raimi during the ensuing mayhem with the shotgun-mounted camerawork and adrenaline-surging violence. No computer-mongrelized effects this time around. It’s au naturale.

Typically I hate when extremely ambidextrous heroes are saddled with sidekicks for comic relief (Justin Long in Live Free or Die Hard, Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Beal in Blade Trinity, etc.). But the formula finally works in this since both of the second bananas (Pablo and Kelly) don’t overshadow the main attraction of Campbell and they aren’t blithely tossing one-liners. After all, that’s Ash’s job.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 

In many ways, Sam Raimi has rectified the tonal problems of Army of Darkness and glum period piece atmosphere with this extraordinarily decadent, riotously funny and rollicking beginning of what I hope is going to be a long-running series. Of course, Ash Williams would be a vainglorious elder statesman who resides in a trailer at this point of his life. Ash was a stoic, but unremarkable hero in the first Evil Dead and with the advent of his affable haplessness in Evil Dead 2, he became an indelible creation.

Our introduction to a girdle-cincturing Bruce Campbell reminds me of Rocky in Rocky Balboa. It’s a familiar face with a few visible signs of aging- no camaraderie outside of a pet (a lizard), stranded in a cocoon of the past and still relishing life despite the setbacks (a rosewood hand prosthetic). But just like Rocky, we are overjoyed to see Campbell cavorting in the role again. In signature Raimi olive-black humor, Ash is a Lothario who fabricates a story about rescuing a boy from a speeding train in order to have sex with a gullible barfly.

Once again Ash is a clown who unwittingly unleashes the hounds of Hell when he recites passages from the Necronomicon while intoxicated. Raimi hasn’t lost any of his contagious anarchy. The Dutch angles and low camera dollies through the woods are back with a vengeance. For a Starz original series, it is very cinematic and the demonic-possession attacks might be more operatic than before. I love how a revolver bullet’s exit wounds shed light from them. In this day and age, the CGI blood sprays are the norm but luckily they are brief interruptions when squibs aren’t available.

Pablo (Ray Santiago) is a perfectly sycophantic sidekick to Ash who idolizes his Value Stop elder’s seemingly impossible tales of grandeur. Sometimes the minuscule details elicit laughs like the fact that the middle-aged Ash’s title on his nametag is stockboy. Campbell’s penchant for Three Stooges physical comedy is evident when he drops a box of light bulbs on the sales floor and cluelessly attempts to sweep them under pallets. He might be lark during the workday but he is a “groovy” gunslinger when the unstoppable forces are on his trailer’s doorstep.

For fans of the lore, the reprise of the chainsaw is a canny allusion to King Arthur and Excalibur. Fans of the Evil Dead needn’t worry about renewal of the show though. With the gangbusters reception for the lightning-paced pilot, Ash will return for Season 2.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5