Ash Vs Evil Dead - General Discussion

[nodorothyparker]

This is easily the fastest 30 minutes (or 40 in the case of the premier) on television right now.

 

Sawing deadite mom's head off felt like it took forever, but everything else was clipping along at a fantastic pace.  The 2 on 1 fight in the car was a terrific set piece, as was Pablo acknowledging Ash's cheesy one liner.  The dinner party set up was the most hilariously awkward thing ever, from busting down the door with chain saw blaring and covered in blood, "This is Ash, a person I never thought would ever be in my home," to the increasingly hostile conversation that led to deadite mom taking a punch in the face. "Oh good, I was starting to feel like a real dick."

 

Now if only we can get Lucy Lawless on screen and and bring her and the detective's stories together.

[Morrigan2575]

I'm a bit confused though - in the films didn't people's decapitated heads remain animated, and bites/injuries inflicted by the deadites open up the victims to possession? It seems as if the rules have changed somewhat.

I don't remember about the decapitated heads but yes bites left people open to possession that's how Ash lost his evil hand.

I don't recall anyone in this episode being bitten, the closest I saw was the Deadite store manager biting Ash's wooden arm.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Morrigan2575

[heisenberg]

"Mom, dad this is my friend Pablo!"

 

Boobs from beyond...  :-)

 

Loved it again.  The neighbors at the trailer park were also amazing.

[Humbugged]

Are we going to have the whole of Machine Head playing as the opener throughout the season ?

 

And hey DeaditeMom was Mimi Rogers (aka the OG Mrs Tom Cruise)

[Bruinsfan]

I don't recall anyone in this episode being bitten, the closest I saw was the Deadite store manager biting Ash's wooden arm.

Nope, but Pablo and Kelly's dad got injured by deadite-held weapons, and that resulted in someone turning in the first movie. Since this is a spiritual contagion rather than a physical one I don't think it plays by traditional zombie infection rules (hell, it dug Mrs. Maxwell out of wherever her body had been rotting for 6 months!).

[Hollysdower]

Nope, but Pablo and Kelly's dad got injured by deadite-held weapons, and that resulted in someone turning in the first movie. Since this is a spiritual contagion rather than a physical one I don't think it plays by traditional zombie infection rules (hell, it dug Mrs. Maxwell out of wherever her body had been rotting for 6 months!).

 

I did wonder about that, because we didn't see them take Kelly's dad's head off, we just saw them buried.

 

This cast is just so great. Every one of them has impeccable comic timing. This show is just knocking it out of the park. And who knew Mimi Rogers could do her own stunts? Can't wait to see how Xena and Detective Fisher fit into the plot next week.

[heisenberg]

Are we going to have the whole of Machine Head playing as the opener throughout the season ?

 

And hey DeaditeMom was Mimi Rogers (aka the OG Mrs Tom Cruise)

 

Emerson Lake and Palmer at the end was also pretty good!

[tennisgurl]

This show is everything I had hoped for and more! Ridiculous, over the top, and full of Ash and his chain saw arm. 

 

The mom singing to Kelly was a nice call back to the Deadite mom in Evil Dead 2. 

 

"We have a lot in common. Our lives have been ruined by the Deadites, and we're both super hot."

 

Hail to the King baby. 

[Morrigan2575]

Having just watched Evil Dead 2, it seems like that's from AoD so doubtful (which is sad).

Oh sad, that's one of my favorite lines.

[Ronin Jackson]

Is this show in the same universe as Army Of Darkness? Ash only talked about ED2.

 

Continuity was always a little loose in this franchise. ED2 had a bit of a mini-reboot where the events of the first film were retold and condensed (with fewer characters) in the opening moments. Also Army of Darkness had a couple of different endings... Raimi and Campbell liked the one where Ash ends up in a post apocalyptic future but he does end up working in a very similar kind of store that he works in this episode in the theatrical version (which is included in the other versions).

[Morrigan2575]

Oh that's wonderful because the ratings haven't been stellar

[Maleficent]

I love this show!  I just saw the musical again and though that is way over the top camp, I love how the show has equal parts camp/horror/drama.  Someone did something very right with this show.

[Skyfall]

Episode likely online now given the past 2 weeks. My DVR is packed so I haven't had a chance to check yet.

[Morrigan2575]

Best episode so far. The demon was extremely creepy and very well done story wise. Although, I was a little worried about Kelly after she hit the demon with the book. The way the smoke lingered made me wonder if the demon was possessing her.

I also love that the father was in fact a Deadite now. We had this discussion after last week's episode, it was nice to see that they didn't forget/drop that plot from the movies or do some lame retcon. Ash was just being an idiot :)

Glad Fisher finally caught up to the Ghostbeater crew but it sucks that they're once again in diverging stories. Hopefully Lucy Lawless will get to the bookstore soon and we'll have 2 teams working on a fix (assuming Lucy isn't evil).

[Jack Kerouac]

Ash: That's not racist, that's just a great dessert.

Pablo: Okay. You know I'm not Mexican, right?

Ash: That's the spirit!

Holy shit, that was awesome. The episodes just get better and better.

[CabotCove]

Great episode opener.

Oh this  one episode felt a little too short, I know its only 30 mins but this time it went by so fast.

[Cthulhudrew]

The vfx in this show just amaze me. I wouldn't have thought they had a terribly huge budget or anything, compared to similar shows, but either they have a lot more than I thought, or else they're just very, very good at doing what they do on a limited budget. That demon they summoned looked really good, and the slight blurring effect they gave it made it suitably otherworldly. 

 

I thought after the ending last week that Kelly might possibly be a Deadite biding her time, but if so, that means a lot of her interactions this episode (notably with the cop) wouldn't really be in character. Perhaps she's possessed and doesn't know it? (Or maybe I'm way off base.) 

 

Glad that Lucy Lawless' character is finally getting close; she seems to have some kind of Deadite detection ability ("Deady-sense?"). 

[heisenberg]

"Well perfect, sounds like a total nerd!"
 
I love this show!

[bbolto]

Yeah, this one had a lot of really funny lines and the best demon I've seen onscreen in a while.

 

Also liked Lucy's ride! Can't wait to see her character and Ash interact.

[AzureOwl]

Now, I used a little google-fu, and I found out that the demon they summon is actually mentioned in real world demonology and it's actually a demon who know secrets things. But...

 

Eligos (also Abigor or Eligor) is a Great Duke of Hell, ruling 60 legions of demons. He discovers hidden things and knows the future of wars and how soldiers should meet. He also attracts the favor of lords, knights and other important persons.

 

So, did the writers decide to give Eligos a demotion, did Lionel screw up, or did he intentionally summon a higher demon because he was so eager to try the book? 

[Bruinsfan]

The expert never actually said that Eligos was a minor demon, did he? Just that its specialty was secret knowledge rather than mindless brutality or what have you.

EDIT: He did, I was remembering wrong. Oh well, I'm still impressed that they did the research to come up with an actual folkloric demon and its sphere of influence. That's probably more accuracy than they ever managed on Xena.

 

Best episode so far. The demon was extremely creepy and very well done story wise. Although, I was a little worried about Kelly after she hit the demon with the book. The way the smoke lingered made me wonder if the demon was possessing her.

I also love that the father was in fact a Deadite now. We had this discussion after last week's episode, it was nice to see that they didn't forget/drop that plot from the movies or do some lame retcon. Ash was just being an idiot :)

I cheered at Kelly's dad popping out of the grave. And agreed, Eligos was awesome. It was nice that they depicted a different demon properly summoned as having a different method of manifestation, different powers from the evil force at the cabin, and so forth. I'm a bit confused about Hawkins rising as a deadite after the broken glass facial, though. I thought all the deadites were being animated by the demon(s?) that Ash summoned up with unknowing recitations from the Necronomicon. If Eligos was actually banished back to the underworld, what is it that's inside Hawkins reanimating him?

Edited November 16, 2015 by Bruinsfan

[Pixel]

I don't think Eligos was banished.  

We see him in the previews for the next episode, unless that's supposed to be a flashback.

 Not sure if previews are considered spoilers here. They weren't at TWOP, but every site is a little different.

 

This show just keeps getting better and better. I love Ash's one liners just like in the original movie.  Are interview topics considered spoilers? I heard an interview with Lucy Lawless where she explains who her character is, but I won't post it here if it's going to freak anyone out.

[ganesh]

You could just post the interview in the media thread. I don't want to know ahead of time about LL's character. 

[nodorothyparker]

I love that they thought summoning a demon to tell them how to get rid of everything else was actually a good idea until it clearly wasn't.  Someone very stupid indeed.  The visual effects of all of that were really nicely done.  I'm hoping Lucy Lawless is finally about to catch up with them, but whether she does or not she's looking absolutely luminescent.

 

I am going to need both Kelly and especially Fisher to get smarter.  After everything she's seen to pull a gun on Ash not once but twice when he's clearly dealing with Something Very Bad?  Just no.

[Arynm]

"I'm an alone wolf" made me laugh so hard I had to pause the show. This season has been top notch so far.

[Pixel]

My only complaint about this show is that it's not an hour long.

[Morrigan2575]

My only complaint about this show is that it's not an hour long.

And not enough Lucy Lawless, although I think she was partially lying about Ash. I think she's got more going on than just revenge. That was too convenient of a story to tell the cop who is probably looking for a little vengeance/someone to blame for what happened to her partner.

I love that this show is so tightly planned. So far nothing that happens is an accident or oops.

Last week it was the reveal that Kelly's Daddy was a Deadite. This week they followed up on the hint that Kelly was in fact possessed by the demon she "vanquished" last week.

[nodorothyparker]

I love how the hallucinatory trip to find the answers inside himself only confirmed how hilariously vapid Ash and his life have been.  It was cheesy in the best kind of way that this franchise does so well while throwing in a nice bit of sadness that his life has never really progressed at all since the cabin.  It's all just been a series of Value Stops across Michigan and dreaming no bigger than the same dream of Jacksonville he's had for nearly 30 years but never doing anything to make even that dream a reality.

 

Now that we know how Lucy Lawless's Ruby ties into this, I hope we don't have to wait until the end of the season to see the inevitable showdown with Ash.  I'm amused that she's apparently been carting around his severed hand since the mid '80s on the off chance of ever finding him. Deadite possession appears to be a hell of a preservative.

 

I guess the lesson from the trip about needing to go back to where it all began means we're going to see the cabin again at some point.  And it will probably go horribly wrong there too.

[Bruinsfan]

It might be the hand re-animating in some display case at home that set her off on this quest to find Ash. Though the familiarity with which the demons speak to her (and the fact that she's confident and not at all freaked out fighting deadites) leads me to believe she may have been experimenting with Necronomicon lore from secondary sources and is mainly concerned with the book rather than Ash himself.

 

Interesting that Eligos was able to breach the brujo's protective wards inside Kelly when they worked quite well against the destructo-cloud. Maybe being in a still-living host body let it slip by without triggering them? It seems much weaker now, in any event.

[Jack Kerouac]

Kudos to everyone who thought Kelly would be possessed.

 

Any bets on how long it is until Ash is reunited with his hand?

[ganesh]

It was only a blink and you'll miss it, but LL had a hilarious, "hey, check me out!" look on her face when she rammed the stake into the bookstore owner.

You've got BC and LL who know who to have fun with this, probably more than anyone else, and working with TPTBs that they've known their whole professional lives and more. I don't think the show should be 60 minutes because it would be too hard, but 35-40 could work. 

[Pixel]

It was only a blink and you'll miss it, but LL had a hilarious, "hey, check me out!" look on her face when she rammed the stake into the bookstore owner.

You've got BC and LL who know who to have fun with this, probably more than anyone else, and working with TPTBs that they've known their whole professional lives and more. I don't think the show should be 60 minutes because it would be too hard, but 35-40 could work.

Oh yeah, I agree. When I said an hour, I meant a TV hour. Not a real hour.

[Skyfall]

I may be weird but Kelly tied up this episode was hot. Okay back to normal episodic conversations!

[Morrigan2575]

Excellent episode, really enjoyed everything. The exorcism was very creepy and that was probably the best demon possession I've seen in awhile (on TV).

I do feel that the whole Ruby/Andrea story is dragging but hopefully there will be a face to face real soon. I'm dying for Lucy/Bruce to have a scene together

[Ronin Jackson]

Sorry to see the Brujo go... I hope it's an Obi Wan type deal.  It's a bit of an adjustment to get used to a serialized show like this being only half an hour long... and I think that's a reason why the Ruby/Amanda thing seems like it's dragging a bit. 

[MrWhyt]

Shoot first. Ask questions never. = my new motto

[nodorothyparker]

I wouldn't have thought I would have enjoyed watching a fairly lengthy (at least for this show) possession but this oddly worked for me.  I've been okay with Dana DeLorenzo although not particularly wowed by her up through this episode but she managed to get quite the range in here, from luminescent to sexy to scary to just horrible.  I love that Bruce Campbell manages to enunciate clearly enough that we could understand most of what he was saying even with a gag in his mouth, and both actors did a really nice job with the scene of possessed Kelly asking Ash to kill her.  Ash has clearly had enough of having kill people who matter to him because of this thing and he really sold that.

 

Sorry to see the actor playing the Brujo go because he was doing a nice job but this was Pablo's step up from the clueless but well meaning sidekick moment, so I suppose the Obi Wan style death was inevitable.  I love the evil hand GPS, but they're going to need to catch Fisher and Ruby up to our main group soon.  I need to see Bruce Campbell and Lucy Lawless in scenes together.

[Darian]

Ash has clearly had enough of having kill people who matter to him because of this thing and he really sold that.

 

 

I so agree. That moment, when he just looked down, was subtle and powerful. I love touches like that among all the camp and gore. It's a better show than I expected. The movies were not my thing at all, but I gave the show a chance. Glad I did. 

[placate]

Anyone know what the brujo said before the necklace was picked up?

[ganesh]

I think we all want LL and BC to get in scenes together, and they all know it too. 

I forgot about the mecha-hand from last week! 

 

I have to say that demon is one of the coolest concepts. Is it all cgi? Or is there a person in there, and then they add the effects in post production?

This show is so much *fun*. Even though we are in an era of so much original content year round, and I think that's great. I really like digging around to find new shows, I think sometimes, most times, TPTBs forget to have fun and worry too much about Making A Show. *coughWalkingDeadcoughcoughcoughGameOfThronescough*

[Kel Varnsen]

Watched it last night and I was pretty impressed. It was a tiny bit slow setting up all the new characters and the situation. But Bruce Campbell is still awesome, and I loved the mix of CG effects and practical effects. The scene with the doll was awesome and imagining that Bruce would have been flailing around by himself on camera before computers added the doll was hilarious.

 

Having just watched Evil Dead 2, it seems like that's from AoD so doubtful (which is sad).

Would the rights to AoD really extend as far as catch phrases? I didn't realize that IP law was that strict. I mean I have heard people on other shows say things like "D'oh" or "I'm Rich James Bitch" or "Is that your final answer" without obviously getting into trouble (hell in Army of Darkness the magic phrase was Klaatu Barada Nikto from The Day the Earth Stood Still). Why couldn't Ash say "hail to the king baby" (because in his own way he is king).

 

"Deadite" is first used at the end of Evil Dead 2, when Ash is sent back in time. In fact, assuming the issue is legalities over the rights to AOD, there isn't much to worry about in regard to referencing AOD, with the exception of S-Mart.

 

If they can use anything from Evil Dead / Evil Dead 2, we already see Ash get sent back in time and be predicted to be their savior...After ash shoots the demon in the past, they say "Hail he who has come from the skies to deliver us from the terrors of the deadites!". So as long as they don't say any proper names (Duke Henry, Sheila, S-Mart), they should be able to reference basically what happened in AOD.

Interesting about the rights. I remember from reading Bruce's autobiography (which was awesome everyone needs to read it right now) that for the first ED they basically had to shop around the script to everyone they knew to get investors. Then once it was made they basically sold the distribution rights country by country so there are who knows how many people/companies that have some sort of claim to the movie. That is why for ED 2 they couldn't use any footage of the first movie and how basically the first 20 minutes of ED 2 is a reshot recap of the first movie. 

[Guest]

Anyone know what the brujo said before the necklace was picked up?

 

I want to know this too.  I came here right after I watched to see.

 

Also, the kick-ass music that used to be on Supernatural?  Now I know where it went.  I L.O.V.E. this show.

[Jack Kerouac]

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. First time I haven't hated the cop. Also, what's up with Lucy Lawless? Has she been lying to the cop? Very much liked the interactions between Kelly and Pablo as well. I'm rootin' for that crazy twosome!

[Ronin Jackson]

So Lucy Lawless is a renegade deadite (or so it seems). They're not messing around with the gore and carnage on this show... I was surprised how much they focused on that kid in the stall only to unceremoniously throw him into the fan blades.

[ganesh]

The fan club line killed me. One of the high school kids took an ice skate to the head too. That last action sequence was fantastic. So cool.

 

I guess LL has her own deal going on.

[Valny]

 I was surprised how much they focused on that kid in the stall only to unceremoniously throw him into the fan blades.

That was one of the best kills this season so far!  And also when Kelly put the waitress' head in the meat slicer. Glad we didn't get another angle.

[Kel Varnsen]

My only complaint about this show is that it's not an hour long.

I think the half hour is about perfect. The show is really efficient as far as writing goes and every minute is really well used. I would worry if they made the episodes longer it might drag a bit. I found the pilot was a bit slow for being longer, although part of that was just regular pilot stuff they had to power through.

 

The whole dream sequence was hilarious and amazing. Loved how when Ash realized he had two hands the first thing he thought of was that he needed two beers. And I would like to imagine that when he was in the grave getting dirt dumped on him, it was Sam Raimi doing the shoveling (since according to Bruce's book and the DVD commentaries anytime something hurts Bruce it is usually Sam doing, like when Evil Ash got buried in AoD, it was Sam doing the shoveling).

 

The hand coming back was a surprise. Interesting that 30 years have mellowed it out, since the hand tried to kill Ash, and killed Lucy Lawless's sister.

[Jack Kerouac]

I liked the whole dialogue around the possession. "You tried to fuck me and then kill me ... You tried to make me smoke weed out of a shotgun. That sounds like a fun party!" Heh.

[Cthulhudrew]

I thought it was pretty clear that Lucy's character had something going on besides just revenge for "her sister" before this; at least one of the deadites they'd encountered before (the bookstore guy?) had mentioned that he recognized her. That plus the fact that she has Ash's old hand, knows so much about deadites, etc. I'm just not entirely clear what the relationship is; and I'm guessing she got pulled into some kind of deadite portal to the beyond? I can't believe they'd just kill her off like that, when she's barely been a presence and there is backstory yet to explain.

 

Still don't care for the cop; she just doesn't fit in at all- the way she's written, the way she acts. I just don't feel at all invested in her.

[nodorothyparker]

Everything in the diner started out feeling very much like it was going to be just amusing filler and turned into something else entirely.  That was a lot of old-school gore that was well sequenced and managed to at least partially merge two storylines (I still don't know whether I like Fisher or what she really adds to the story, but it's amusing that Ash's first impulse is to be that old guy hitting on a woman who's now pulled on gun on him on two separate occasions and slammed his head into a urinal.) and set up where they go from there.

 

Pablo and Kelly are really growing on me.  I wasn't initially all that excited about either out of the gate as I went into this wanting it to be all Ash all the time with a generous side of Lucy Lawless, but they've really filled out nicely as a characters.  They both have believable motivations now for being part of the gang now rather than just being along for the ride.

 

I'm still really anxious to find out what exactly the deal is with Ruby.  This episode made it pretty obvious if it wasn't already that she's more than just a surviving family member looking for revenge.