TV Review: Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 1 – Episode 6

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Season 1, Episode 6: The Killer of Killers

SUMMARY: Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) finally catches up with Ash (Bruce Campbell) at a dodgy roadside diner, only to be attacked by a particularly troublesome group of Deadites.

REVIEW: Last week, I whined about one of the small problems I had with Ash vs Evil Dead – that Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) seemed to recover too quickly from her father’s Deadite death. To my surprise and relief, this week’s episode takes that issue head-on, with Ash mildly confronting her about it over pancakes, and her revealing that basically all she wants to do is slaughter as many Deadites as she can, and doesn’t care if she lives or dies. Sure enough, when the team finds itself face-to-face with a nasty group of them, Kelly proves to be the most enthusiastic (and possibly crazed) killer of them all, taking extra relish in putting one through a meat-slicer in an insanely gruesome scene that likely did EP Sam Raimi proud.

With that little issue corrected, this week’s Ash adventure is likely my favorite of them all. While short – even by Ash vs Evil Dead standards – at only twenty-four minutes with credits, from start to finish it was a ride and a half. While it’s a bit frustrating how Lucy Lawless’ Ruby was temporarily taken out of commission before she really had the chance to do anything, it seems likely she’s being saved for a big finish, with it looking now like the last bit of the season will take place in the original EVIL DEAD cabin where her and Ash will finally go mano-a-mano, with it looking like she’s in league with the Deadites as a way of guaranteeing revenge against the man she holds responsible for her parents’ deaths.

There are so many great bits here, from Ash bailing on paying the breakfast check, to him trying to hook-up with the waitress in order to save twenty-bucks, to his infatuation with Amanda, even as she tries to kill him. The eventual showdown with the Deadites is likely the best action scene we’ve had so far, with this one going even further than they did in previous episodes, with insane moments like the kid getting impaled by a ceiling fan (while Ash and Amanda, for good measure, cry out “nooo!!!”). It’s buck-wild and totally awesome, with Amanda and Ash predictably but awesomely teaming-up by the episode’s end (it should also be said, Jill Marie Jones is drop-dead gorgeous and has great chemistry with Campbell).

Pablo’s (Ray Santiago) unresolved feelings regarding Kelly also get explored this week, with her gently letting him down after getting his hopes up a bit while in possessed form. We also learn the Necronomicon hates his brujo uncle’s necklace, making it look like Pablo’s going to have an important part to play in their eventual defeat, assuming it happens at all now that this has been green-lit for a second season.

The episode ends on the usual high-note, with Styx’s kick-ass ‘Renegade’ filling the soundtrack as they high-tail it to the EVIL DEAD cabin, ending the episode on a great note. You know what would be cool? If they got to the cabin and found some of the corpses of the gang from Fede Alvarez’ EVIL DEAD remake there. Unlikely, but it would be cool. All in, this was another wicked episode, and my favorite of the series so far.