Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 1 Tag-Team Recap – Episode 4, 5, 6: “Brujo”, “The Host”, & “The Killer of Killers”

Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead saga has made the jump to television, and we here at CHUD couldn’t be happier. Each week, Drew Dietsch and Andrew Hawkins will be discussing the current episode, and we invite you to join in the conversation in the comments below. ***SPOILERS*** for each episode will probably be part of the conversation, so make sure to watch before you read.

Episode 4: Brujo

Drew: There’s a whole bunch to unpack in this week’s episode, and we’ll certainly try to get to it all, but I’d like to start off by tipping my hat to you, Mr. Hawkins. You called Kelly’s possession last week when I was somewhat in doubt. Did you think it would be Eligos who took over Kelly?

Hawkins: I’d like to say I knew Kelly was possessed by the demon Eligos just by how the blast threw her across the room. If you haven’t, go back and watch the intro to this week’s episode and note that it really does look like the demon’s essence affects her after hitting it with the Necronomicon. Really though, the wife and I were talking and I was the one who thought Kelly would become a straight up deadite. What gets me is that this marks the first time we have seen this kind of possession in Evil Dead. It’s different, but it works.

You’re not kidding about there being a lot to unpack here. We’re over the hump with events that mirror the films and now Ash is being taken to places he’s never been and we’ve never expected him to go. This was an episode full of reveals and set-ups that will carry the show for at least the next handful of episodes. A lot is going on here with Ash, Ruby Knowby, Kelly and Pablo’s uncle who is working to unlock the power of the Jefe that lies dormant within Ash. As a Florida man, Drew, what was your whole take on this week’s acid trip to Jacksonville?

Drew: Delightful. Besides the rose-colored view of the city, I love its narrative purpose: it was the place Ash was going to go before he went out to that fateful cabin. The whole trip was pretty fun, especially with friendly companion Eli.

There were two things that I have to bring up that involve very key parts of the Evil Dead mythos. First, we have the wonderful surprise return of Ash’s possessed hand from Evil Dead II. This was never something I expected to happen and I was thoroughly pleased by its inclusion. If it means another wacky scene of Ash fighting his own possessed limb, I’ll be a happy camper.

Buuut, there was another addition this week that made me really, really perturbed: seeing what was behind the Ram-O-Cam “evilforce” point of view. That has been a mainstay of this entire franchise and what I’ve always loved is that Raimi never showed exactly what the hell that was, even though characters in the film can see and react to it. This week, in what felt like an almost off-hand and unexpected visual explanation, we see it’s a cloud of farts. This is the first time in the show so far that I have not been on board with the show’s interpretation of the Evil Dead world. Did this bug you as much as me, Hawkins? Or am I just being a dumpy fanboy about this?

Hawkins: The dust storm monster was an odd beast to see in this episode, but if I’m not mistaken, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a physical manifestation of the evil force. In Evil Dead II, Ash faces off against a form of the evil force that somewhat resembles The Engineer from Hellraiser before getting sucked into the vortex at the end of the film. This makes me think that the evil force can assume different forms and appear multiple ways.

The thing that has me the most excited from this episode is what was teased. I might be wrong here, but from what we are given it looks like Ash will probably have to fight his hand again at some point, uncover the Kanderian dagger and return to the cabin. The inclusion of Ruby is a major indicator that any one of those things could happen very soon in the series, so we’ll see.

Drew: It definitely feels like we’re building up to a return to that fateful cabin, and I’m all for it.

This was a good filler episode, pushing the show’s direction nicely. I’m very interested to see how long Kelly has to share a meatsack with Eligos and if she’ll be using the Necronomicon to summon some other demon misfits.

Episode 5: The Host

Hawkins: Well, we did get a conclusion to the possessed Kelly plot (for now at least). Eligos has been defeated and uncle Theo is dead so now we have our three member team back and ready to kick some deadite ass.

“The Host” was an episode that came and went pretty quickly and I think it may have been the most straight and to the point segment of the show we’ve seen yet. There’s not really much to delve into with this one, but I definitely did enjoy seeing actress Dana DeLorenzo play the siren role while trying to tempt Pablo. The quick “Join me.” line was a great nod to the rest of the series as well.

More than anything, this was an exorcism story and it oddly reminded me of the first few minutes of the Evil Dead remake from a couple of years ago. What gets me is the difference in appearance from when our characters are turned into deadites versus demons. It’s not that I don’t like the look of Eligos/Kelly, it’s just not familiar enough yet to associate with what we know so far. I have no qualms with the new stuff, but I wonder if we are going to see any more of it.

Drew: So, it’s obvious that we’ve been gone for a while, and I did want to take this moment to thank all the people who were inquiring where we went and that everything was okay in our world. Glad you folks are enjoying these things as we enjoy doing them!

But, because of the lapse in time, I’ll admit that episode 5 is kind of a blur for me. The things I remember most were Kelly’s shotgun seduction, Eligos getting blasted into demon goo, and Ash’s new Power Glove hand. This was definitely the most connected episode to the previous one we’ve had yet, so I’m sure that’s another reason why it’s blending together a bit. And it doesn’t help that we’ve learned that Ash has to return to the cabin, so this episode was something of a clean-up, albeit an appropriately goopy one.

And yeah, not crazy about the stereotypical “I’m possessed so my eyes are black” deal. Kelly was getting a little more deadite-y towards the end there though. Good pull on the similarity to the opening of the remake though. Unless you’ve got anything else to go with this, I say we jump right into the next one.

Episode 6: The Killer of Killers

Drew: Okay, I’m just going to get this out of the way because I need to say it: throwing a kid into a ceiling fan and making a pun about it was one of the highlights of my week. I know it won’t be kosher for many folks, but I was all about it.With that taken care of, this week’s episode was extremely fun. Any particular highlights for you, Hawkins?

Hawkins: The chaos in the Western Moose was amazing and I loved the awkward back and forth between Pablo and Kelly in this episode. The Killer of Killers was full of great moments, but before we get into all that, what the hell happened to Ruby Knowby. One second she’s fighting the reanimated burnt corpse of Uncle Theo, and the next thing we know she’s vanished in a flash when she appears to explode in the burial fire pit. I want to know what the fuck happened and why the evil force called her a “double crosser.”

Drew: It’s no secret that Lucy Lawless isn’t done for (IMDb confirms it), so you know she’s got to have some kind of immortality deal going on with the deadites. Maybe they gave her eternal life as a trade for hunting down Ash? I’ll bet even money that she’ll be opening the next episode, emerging from the flames unscathed.

As much as I love Ash vs. Evil Dead’s contained chaos, the show is revealing that its momentum comes in little spurts. Ash learned that he has to go back to the cabin, but we had to have this little pit stop in order to wrangle Amanda into the group. I won’t bemoan her joining the club (she may finally start to feel integral to the story), but that’s about all this episode amounted to in terms of progressing the story. I still wish her and ruby’s characters could have been molded into one.

Hawkins: I’m glad that we are finally past Amanda’s attempts to arrest Ash, but I am very wary of the gang going back to the cabin. Ash’s prophecy over flapjacks sounds exactly like what we are going to be expecting and if the show is going to stay true to Evil Dead form, we are going to be losing one of our main gang soon.

I gotta say it was a lot of fun seeing multiple deadites in the restaurant once the evil sets in and immediately kills the peripheral characters surrounding Ash. The blast that destroys the front of the Western Moose came out of nowhere and the multiple kid deaths in this episode were shocking and great. I laughed hard at how Ash tried to get out of paying the check and everything from crushing hard candy in water for cologne to being face down in a urinal drain had me rolling. Even though this one didn’t really move the story, I found it very entertaining.

Drew: Bruce Campbell is proving why he’s maintained such a following all these years: he is charisma incarnate. If there’s one aspect of this show I have yet to take any umbrage with, it’s Campbell’s performance. I’m glad you mentioned the candy cologne, as that’s something so ingeniously trashy that I kind of admired it.

I know there’s been an ongoing complaint about this show that I think we should use this episode to address: the CGI. A good number of people seem to be really off-put by the lesser quality of some of the digital effects, and deadite Uncle Theo seems as good an example as any to talk about this. Are you finding the non-practical effects distracting at all? As far as I’m concerned, they are by no means a deal-breaker.

Hawkins: I’m not worried about the visual effects and they have not turned me off just yet, although I will admit the face effects and design of Theo’s dead body did take me out of the action a little bit. I really liked Eligos’ movement CGI, but I can definitely understand folks having beef with the physics of some of the creatures and elements in the show. Honestly though, Ash Vs Evil Dead has way more to offer than than and you can’t deny the level of practical effects that are being used and the amount of fake blood spraying all over the place.

I’m not saying that the show should pick up the pace because I’m enjoying the ride as is, but I can definitely see how some less engaged viewers could complain that we are spending too much time spinning our wheels. What makes up for it all is the fact that we get to see Ash in his middle-aged prime continuing to fight monsters and crack wise, and really who could ask for more.

Drew: I’m right there with you, good buddy. With the team assembled and on their way to the dreaded cabin (if Pablo dies, it’s possible I will riot), the show looks to be headed to more gory good times.

Next Episode: Fire in the Hole