‘Ash vs Evil Dead 2×02’ Review
With the strong start of Ash vs Evil Dead, attention now turns to the second episode to see if it delivers. With most of the action taking place in a morgue, Bruce Campbell is given the chance to show he still has it when it comes to slapstick comedy.
Ruby is back (Lucy Lawless) and has asked Ash (Bruce Campbell) for help. In the search for the Necronomicon he finds himself alone in the morgue looking for the book, while his father Brock (Lee Majors) has a date night at home.
In my review of the season opener I did hint at the morgue scene, and it is one that you do have to have a strong stomach for. The main comedy piece is something that you can see coming, and when you see it, it is as disgusting as you expect. The payoff after this scene is fitting as typically for Ash, the answer to his problem was much more sensible than his first plan. At least the way he does things we get to see much more gore.
In this episode of Ash vs Evil Dead we get to see the continuing vendetta of Sheriff Thomas Emery (Stephen Lovatt) against Ash, though his scenes are mostly with Kelly (Dana Delorenzo). This is another chance for the character of Kelly to shine, and Delorenzo plays her well. Her no-nonsense attitude towards human, Deadite, and even vending machines is marking her out as one of the best characters of not only this episode but the show too.
When it comes to Lee Majors it’s nice to see his character become even more fleshed out. His date with a face from Ash’s past further continues their strained relationship and proves that Ash really does take after his father. In many ways this character is becoming reminiscent of Barnard Hughes’ Grandpa character in The Lost Boys. I get the feeling we’ll be seeing Majors kicking some Deadite ass in the not too distant future.
While the focus may be on the trip to the morgue we also get to see Ruby and Pablo (Ray Santiago) deal with their shared past. With hints that the Necronomicon still has some hold over Pablo, it will be interesting to see what comes of this. The fact that Ruby is trying to be part of the “team” and even help Pablo at this point is undermined by what Pablo appears to be prophesying. We also see a nice hint as to who the “Big Bad” could be for this season.
Based on this episode of Ash vs Evil Dead and the season opener, the show has come back as strong as ever. Knowing that Ted Raimi will also be debuting soon just keeps the anticipation for future episodes high. It is fair to say that the morgue scene is going to stick in people’s minds for a long time, it is definitely one that is hard to forget. With scenes like that though it is evident that Ash vs Evil Dead is just getting better and better.
***** 5/5
Ash vs Evil Dead: Season 2 is available in the UK on Virgin Media TV.
