‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ Finds Its Groove (TV REVIEW)

[rating=8.00] “Books From Beyond”

Any fears I may have had last week regarding Ash vs. Evil Dead somehow losing its charm were completely negated in this week’s episode, “Books From Beyond.” This was Evil Dead in its purest, most classic form. It was hilarious, it was scary, and it was, in every way, engrossing. Even without the direction of Sam Raimi, his touch was felt in nearly every scene, fully assuaging any concerns that I, or anyone else, might have had.

The episode kicks off with Lucy Lawless’ Ruby arriving at Kelly’s parent’s farmhouse, shortly after Ash, Pablo, and Kelly took off following the events of last week. Sensing the evil, she unburies Kelly’s father who is now full deadite. She then questions and tortures the deadite for info on Ash’s whereabouts and plans, expressing a desire to get her hands on the Necronomicon. Last week, I opined that Ruby might, in fact, turn out to be this season’s big bad. This scene seems to suggest I may have been off point. Ruby, at this point, seems to be some sort of rogue fighter of evil who has no love for Ash or his bumbling successes against the deadites so far. It’ll be interesting to see how their stories intersect and in what ways the two work either with or against each other.

Ash, meanwhile, has finally succeeded in reaching Books From Beyond, the proprietor of which can translate the Necronomicon and, hopefully, push the evil back from whence it came. The only problem is that Detective Fisher has gotten there first, and she plans to throw a wrench into the entire ordeal. She attempts to arrest Ash just as the book is being examined in a fine utilization of the classic trope of cops doing the wrong thing for the right reason. Pablo hits her over the head, however, and the team handcuffs her in the basement, leaving Kelly to guard her.

Back upstairs, we’re given a more in depth history of the Necronomicon than we’ve ever heard before. Lionel, the proprietor of Books from Beyond, explains that the book was written as a gateway by creatures who existed as sort of a middle ground between humanity and demons. The flesh it’s bound in was ripped from the bodies of the damned, whose blood also served as its ink. This is mostly what we already know about the book from watching the movies, but it was fun to get a bit more information on the book’s writing and purpose.

Lionel explains that he can’t find a spell to reverse the damage done so far, but suggests that by calling a demon forth, they may be able to gain the necessary information. He says that the demon Eligos, who exists in the mindscape, should be able to give them what they need. Ash concurs, reasoning that anyone who works in the mindscape should be a huge nerd, thus assuring they’ll find their answers.

After creating a mystical trap for the demon, Lionel calls forth Eligos, who is not as talkative as anyone would have hoped. Down in the basement, Fisher convinces Kelly that if she sets her free she can help, assuring her that she’s learned her lesson and the she realizes that Ash is one of the good guys now. Kelly apparently isn’t used to police trickery and falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Fisher runs upstairs and goes right back to trying to stop Ash.

This seems weird, given the scene going on between Ash and Eligos. Eligos is, so far, the creepiest creature we’ve seen from any of the Evil Dead movies or show. How she could be so focused on Ash that she pays no mind to the demon behind the trap is beyond me, but hey. You know how cops roll. She fires her gun, frightening Ash and causing him to break the mystical seal that has so far contained the demon. No longer, all bets are off.

The demon disappears and reappears at random, attacking Ash by inserting his fingers into his head and breaking the neural connections of his brain. We’ve yet to see the effects of these attacks, but I’m sure they’ll come into play later in the season. Anyway, Lionel attempts to cast a spell to send Eligos back to hell, but the demon is having none of that. He hurls shattered glass at the book seller with his demonic powers, killing him where he stands. Pablo attempts to attack Eligos but has just as much luck as Ash did and now he too is having neural connections broken by Eligos’ demonic powers. Kelly, in a last ditch effort to stop the demon, grabs the Necronomicon and smashes Eligos over the head, causing him to disappear, permanently.

With their only hope of translating the book and ridding the world of evil now lying dead behind the counter, Pablo suggests they pay a visit to his uncle, the bruja who once prophesied the rise of El Jefe. Ash sends Kelly and Pablo to wait in the Delta while he attempts a conversation with Detective Fisher. He hopes that she understands he isn’t responsible for the deaths caused by the deadites, but Fisher merely smiles and slaps the handcuffs on Ash.

Fortunately for him, unfortunately for her, she cuffs his wooden hand which Ash slips off with ease, and then cuffs her to a railing in the store. Too bad for her, they could have been a great team. Who knows they still might? Ash and team head out to the bruja’s place, leaving the bookstore and Fisher behind them.

As Fisher stands alone in the store, wondering how she’s going to get out of this, things go from bad to worse as Lionel reanimates as a deadite. Trapped and weaponless, she watches helplessly as his tongue grows and grows, reaching out to her while he laughs demonically.

Surely, Ruby will come and save the day, but we won’t know for sure until next week’s episode. Frankly, that can’t get here soon enough. Just three episodes in and Ash vs. Evil Dead is already one of the most exciting and hilarious shows on cable right now. I almost feel bad for letting the seeds of doubt take hold in my mind last week. If the series can maintain this level of intensity throughout its run, we’re in for one groovy ride.