TV Review: Ash Vs. Evil Dead – Season 2, Episode 7

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Season 2, Episode 7: Delusion

SUMMARY: Ash (Bruce Campbell) wakes up in an asylum, where a doctor (Joel Tobeck) tries to convince him his battle with the deadites is all a delusion.

REVIEW: What a surprise! After a thoroughly mediocre episode last week, “Ash vs Evil Dead” is back in high-style with one of the best episode’s ever. Opening with a flashback to the original EVIL DEAD, in a twist, Ash wakes up in an insane asylum, with his doctor (obviously Baal in disguise) claiming he’s suffering from delusions, and that he’s been in an asylum for thirty years.

While this is clearly a mind-game played by Baal, it’s an interesting twist. I mean, Ash has always seemed a little nuts, hasn’t he? Maybe it is just insanity after all! Yeah, no, but it’s a fun episode watching Ash work his way through the asylum. Pablo (Ray Santiago) winds-up being an abusive orderly, Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) a troubled patient, and, natch, Ruby (Lucy Lawless) is a Nurse Ratchet-type.

Ash goes full McMurphy in this episode, being subjected to shock therapy (which he enjoys), beatings, and most troubling of all, therapy with a puppet named “Ashy-Slashy”. Campbell and the whole cast seem to relish the chance to do something a little different this week, with the episode mostly free of deadites. That’s not to say there’s no gore though, as Slashy has a thing for ripping out jawbones, and Ash’s dentures take a beating in the pre-credits bit.

While the show-runners may be treading water a bit, drawing out the season with a story-line that will probably max-out at one more episode, it’s fun to see them take a bit of a risk. In some ways, it reminds me of what the crew behind this show used to do every once in awhile on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”, where you’d occasionally get a mock behind the scenes episode (with Campbell involved somehow). This isn’t quite as radical or goofy as that, but it’s not a total stretch to imagine Ash being nuts, and having a few episodes dedicated to this theory is fun.

However, this could all go south if the “insanity” plot is drawn out too much. Before long they’ll have to get back to the main plot, but given how fast paced the show is I can’t imagine that will be long. As a one-off, this is a great episode and one of the season’s best. Hopefully once they get back to the proper story-line they’ll be able to keep it chockful of fresh ideas, as this episode shows they’re not afraid to take some risks and have a little fun with their audience.

TV Review: Ash Vs. Evil Dead – Season 2, Episode 7

GREAT

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