Last Saturday’s episode was a blast from the past, Ash and the crew revisit the legendary haunted cabin from The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 movies. Also having enjoyed watching The Force Awakens on Friday, this was just an overload of everything I love. What a great weekend for entertainment.
The show’s overall pacing made getting to this point really exciting, although I’m surprised we’re here at the cabin already in the first season. The design of the cabin is spot on, every little detail from the original setting is here. The exterior, interior and the work-shed are nearly exactly how the setting looked in the Evil Dead movies. From the placing of shelves, to the clock on the wall and the as yet unvisited door to the fruit cellar.
This episode also features the first appearance of Evil Ash, Ash Williams’ evil twin. Evil Ash appeared almost out of nowhere and it wasn’t obvious that he had stepped into Ash’s place. His dialogue was still typical of Ash, but with a sinister edge. Only after some time does Amanda realize, however, that she isn’t dealing with the Ash that she knows. Obscurous Lupa & Phelous noted in their podcast review of this episode that Evil Ash’s scenes may have been more effective and frightening if he spoke a little less, leaving some moments of brooding silence. I think that silence would have made it too obvious to determine that it wasn’t the real Ash. He’s always fast talking, so the dialogue served to keep me guessing about what was happening with Ash’s personality.
Unexpectedly, Amanda dies in this episode, much to the disappointment of myself and other fans. She actually had a unique experience with the forces of the Necronomicon in the first episode, but she really could have used some more development. If history is any indication in this series, however, people who die in that cabin don’t stay dead for very long, so I’m fairly sure we’ll be seeing her again in a whole new way.
Ash’s girlfriend, Linda from Evil Dead 2, appears in the episode. She has a scene where Ash is tormented by her ghost, another great moment in the series so far. Evil Dead has been a bit silly so far, but the attitude in this episode definitely seems to be turning in a new direction. Silliness aside though, each episode has great moments, but I feel that there’s a lot of moments that lack relevance to the series progression. On the other hand, Bruce Campbell is so entertaining as Ash Williams that it really doesn’t matter much to me.
This show is so much fun to watch, thank you to everyone involved in the series for breathing new life into The Evil Dead. It’s amazing.