Ash is back! The show nobody believed would actually happen and still couldn’t believe when it actually did has revved up the chainsaw and loaded up the boomstick for a sophomore season—and it’s done it without missing a beat. The series continues to hit its stride, picking up a short amount of time from the ending of last season.
Against the wishes and better judgment of his friends Pablo and Kelly, Ash makes a truce with Ruby and her new breed of Deadites to save their lives so they can all finally live in peace in Jacksonville. Of course, this being Ash, absolutely nothing goes according to plan.
Now Ash has to dust off the chainsaw and get back into action after the truce with Ruby and her evil dead minions turns sour. That’s the basic premise. But my favorite thing about the whole hook of the second season is that it sees Ash returning to his hometown.
As it turns out, while he may not have gotten life in prison for the crime, people certainly didn’t believe that all of his friends were possessed by ancient demons and he was forced to chop them to bits. Of course they didn’t believe that. So, to most people, he’s Ashy Slashy. He’s the local serial killer, the black mark on their town. He doesn’t want to go back home and it’s clear that the locals don’t want him there anymore.
This is a great move now that Evil Dead has made the leap to the small screen because this is something you could never have covered in the films. It also manages to turn the presence of Ash’s dad into something more than stunt casting. He needs to be there. This season is about Ash, well, kind of facing his own demons. That much is clear just from the first two episodes.
Just seeing Ash’s home town and the way people interact with him already contextualizes so much of his personality and the dead end lifestyle we found him in at the beginning of the show. He’s a guy who can’t go home and can’t make too much of himself because he carries around this very unsavory reputation. His personality remains so over-the-top because he’s a guy who just doesn’t deal with anything.
Obviously I can’t go into too many specifics about the way in which Ash interacts with the locals and with people from his past, but it’s going to prove to be interesting. There are a couple of great interactions in the first two episodes with, I suspect, many more to come.
I think season two will see Ash having to own up to a lot of things he refuses to talk about. It was made abundantly clear at the end of season one that he keeps everything that happened at the cabin pretty much bottled up inside, but I think a lot of that is going to come out this season whether he likes it or not. Particularly the death of his sister, Cheryl.
Of course, Ash vs. Evil Dead is primarily a comedy series, which is why the half hour format remains a suitable fit. Because the overall plot is somewhat darker, the sight gags and comedic moments are almost over-the-top, even compared to season one. There’s a scene that involves Ash and a corpse in the second episode that will be sure to have people gagging between laughs.
The overall plot manages to become clearer in the second episode in regards to what these demons actually want. Of course, I can’t tell you what it is. You’re going to have to wait until the premiere to check it out. But I think you’ll find it to be worth the wait.
Overall, this series remains at the top of its game. People who were nervous about a sophomore slump need not worry, at least not yet. Rest assured, season two is off to a groovy start.
WICKED RATING: 8/10
