Ash Vs. The Evil Dead

Eh, I dunno didn't much care for this episode. Some throwbacks to Evil Dead 2, but it kinda felt hackneyed and lazy. Or maybe I'm just saying that because goddamn, man. Really?

I really liked the sense of dread hanging over everything. The greasy yellow light in the beginning, the fact that the Cabin has been slowly killing things for the past thirty years, that Mood Whiplash with the bird, Ash's struggle with his internal self-loathing.

Regarding Amanda's death. I kinda figured she'd be the first to go, because she was the outsider, but I didn't think it would be this way. I expected Ruby to literally backstab Amanda right at the critical moment or something like that. The whole "chopped in the throat and impaled" thing was a lot harder to watch.

The more I think about how Amanda dies, the more it annoys me. First, they split up. Understandable, but foolish. Second, she puts down her gun- not holster it, she puts it down on a table in the haunted Cabin while she turns her back on the door. That's just dumb. I can believe her getting tricked by Hand!Ash- he was surprisingly subtle. I was expecting either a rage monster or Bad Ash 2.0. Instead we got a quietly murderous Evil Twin. At least she killed the Hand. Still, she shouldn't have been taken by surprise so easily.

I also think it's a mistake to kill Amanda off before we get to see her and the rest of the team interact. She's both the only trained professional, and the most classically heroic of the five main characters. Ash is all over the Anti-Hero scale. Kelly wants revenge. Pablo means well, but he's more about supporting the others instead of calling shots or fighting. No one knows what's the deal with Ruby. But I think that even if Amanda's partner hadn't been killed and she wasn't hunted by Deadites, Amanda would still join the quest because it's the right thing to do. Her morality and professionalism would have made a good contrast to Ash's pragmatism and general penchant for mayhem.

edited 23rd Dec '15 7:39:11 PM by JBC31187

And on a lighter note, here's a preview of the next episode!

I love this show.

Is this out on DVD or streaming somewhere? I'd like to watch it, but no cable, and I'd prefer to support it rather than pirate.

The Blu-ray release date is August 23rd.

It looks like Army of Darkness is still in the backstory after all.

Season 2 premieres on October 2nd at 8:00 PM

Ash and co. salute the flag. Yes, even the lizard.

So... the "they can't reference Army Of Darkness for rights reasons" that's all over the tropes pages... should that go now?

Incidentally, I have a trial subscription to Starz now, which means I can legally stream the show on my phone. Should be caught up by labor day.

What are the odds that Ruby isn't a reference to Ruby from Supernatural? Morally ambiguous semi-sixth who starts out being a potential Sixth Ranger who turns out to be much less noble than she seems, has a knife that somehow is able to hurt the demonic enemies, and, well, is named Ruby.

I mean, that's just waaaaaaay too many similarities to call a coincidence.

edited 1st Sep '16 1:11:16 PM by Larkmarn

Season 2 premieres tonight at 8 PM E/P.

Or if you can't wait and have Xfinity the episode is On Demand currently.

Starz announced at New York Comic Con today that it has been renewed for a 3rd season

So, one thing to be said about the Deadites and Demons: they're amazingly evil. Like, Count Olaf grade evil. Petty and manipulative and sadistic in an extremely silly way. Like, they barely have any subtlety to them. They're not like Cenobites, or like the Joker, or like Slasher villains. And I think it's because you can tell they don't have a big plan, they're not trying to prove a point, no specific type of insanity, they'll just say and do whatever they can to hurt you the most.

They're very Love to Hate, almost endearing in their straightforwardness.

They bugged me for a bit because I just kept thinking "man, it's just so convenient for the plot that they choose to reveal themselves at the last moment rather than just going for the kill." Eventually I came to see it as a feature, not a bug because they consistently do it. It's not poor writing, it's consistent Stupid Evil. They're petty and dumb and they just sort of act. They could easily do so much more damage if they were smarter but that's the thing, they're just genuinely not that smart.

It improved my enjoyment of the series immensely.

It does, doesn't it? They're mean and manipulative, but they're really dumb, and, most importantly, they seldom possess the living, so Exorcist drama is pretty rare. Even when they do, despite the striking similarities, there's some key differences that make them funny instead of just heart-crushing. Though I can't put my finger on them...