TV Review: Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 1 – Episode 3

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Season 1, Episode 3: Books From Beyond

SUMMARY:  Ash tries to have the Necronomicon translated in order to stop the plague of Deadites, but lets himself get talked into unleashing a demon instead. Oops.

REVIEW:

Ash Vs Evil Dead is turning out to be such a fun little ride. Last week’s episode proved that the show still had lots of mileage left in it despite EVIL DEAD mastermind Sam Raimi having only directed the pilot. While many of us worried that his successors might lose the manic, comedy edge Raimi brought to the material, episode two didn’t lose a step and happily, episode three proves that was no fluke.

 

SOLOMON KANE director Michael J. Bassett is back behind the camera for episode three, which follows Ash (Bruce Campbell), Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana Delorenzo) as they seek the help of a rare book dealer to translate the Necronomicon. I guess “klaatu barada nikto” doesn’t do the trick anymore. As usual for Ash, this winds up being a horrible idea as he unwittingly unleashes a dangerous demon that proves to be almost too much for him and the gang to handle. Almost.

One area the show has aced so far is the delicate balance between horror and comedy. So far, the show is a lot more like EVIL DEAD 2 than ARMY OF DARKNESS in that regard, with sympathetic characters like Kelly’s parents being killed-off, giving her and Ash an unlikely bond as survivors that’s proving to be surprisingly effective. Thus, it has real stakes. But, at the same time the show is still friggin’ hilarious, with so much great humor being wrung-out of the material, from Ash’s un-PC stereotyping of the hero-worshiping Pablo, to Campbell’s slapstick like pratfalls.

The gore is also pretty damn extreme, with tons of practical gore effects that are reminiscent of the original series. In fact, the only bad part of this episode comes from the main demon, which is disappointingly a CGI-creation and not an especially impressive one at that. Even still, the three-way battle to get it back inside the book is excellent, with Kelly and Pablo starting to come into their own as Deadite killers.

 

Significantly, this episode gives Ash his first face-to-face with Trooper Amanda Fisher (Jill Marie Jones) who – naturally – he immediately makes a pass at. While there’s no doubt she’ll be teaming up with Ash at some point, for now they’re adversaries (the way Ash outsmarts her at the end is inspired). Notably, we also get a look at Lucy Lawless, although her character is still a mystery. She seems to be feared by the Deadites and keen on finding Ash, but is she good, or is she bad? Other than a few quick glimpses of her driving we don’t see much of her beyond the teaser, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.

At three episodes-in, Ash Vs Evil Dead is proving to be the perfect piece of serialized horror, and a far more ideal continuation of the Evil Dead series than any of us expected. Here’s hoping they maintain the momentum next week, when director Bassett hands over the reigns to someone else.