Courtesy of STARZ
After last week’s ho-hum episode, 1×06 ‘The Killer Of Killers’ gets back to basics with a bad stopover at a diner. Let’s bitch it out…
Sorry for the lack of review last week. Admittedly I wouldn’t have had much to say about ‘The Host’, which turns out to be the second half of the story that began in 1×04 ‘Brujo’, but drags out Kelly’s (Dana DeLorenzo) possession by Eligos for pretty much the entire runtime.
Thankfully ‘The Killer Of Killers’ rectifies this situation by getting back to basics. In several ways it resembles the first three episodes of the series in terms of structure: the calm before the storm, followed by a sudden outburst of violence. It’s not an original format, but it is one that seems to be working for the series.
The sojourn to the Western Moose provides a reset after the first half of the season. By this point both Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly have suffered family losses and are more tied to Ash’s (Bruce Campbell) quest than ever before. Thankfully this is the episode when Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) finally comes around. Ordinarily I would complain that her allegiance with Ash could/should have happened following the events at the bookstore, but I’m prepared to just go along with it if it means that Marie Jones will get a new angle to play. It’s unclear whether Amanda is really on-board with Ash, but I’m hopeful that the writers use this opportunity to move the character along. Anything other than sticking her in the role of unbecoming antagonist.
Courtesy of STARZ
Other Observations:
- In the cold open, Ruby (Lucy Lawless) and Amanda battle a Deadite Brujo who, when confronted, tells Ruby that she is a double-crosser and will never get her hands on the book. This is a new angle on Lucy’s backstory; previously it was insinuated that she was only interested in revenge for her father’s death. Now it appears that she’s wants far more than that.
- As for the fact that Ruby seemingly burns up in Brujo’s funeral pyre, I don’t believe for one second that she’s actually dead and neither should you.
- I appreciate that Pablo and Kelly spend some time discussing their romantic relationship after the events of ‘The Host’, which saw the girl try to sleep with and murder her travelling companion. For the record, Kelly’s repeated refrains that she doesn’t remember what she did under Eligos’ influence sounds like an excuse. Does she really remember nothing or is she just compensating for her embarrassment? She’s already lying about how she isn’t driven by an insatiable need for revenge, but the vigour with which she goes to town on a Deadite when provided the opportunity suggests she’s lying to others (and maybe herself).
- Poor Nancy (Rachel Blampied) the waitress. First she has to endure Ash’s uncomfortable come-ons in an effort to cover the $22.89 cheque, then her place of employment is attacked by Deadites, then she’s killed, has her scalp thinly sliced off and her head crushed by a beef tenderizer. Nancy is definitely the goriest – and best – kill of the episode.
- Speaking of good kills, can we talk about how Ash vs Evil Dead breaks one of the biggest horror taboos in North America without blinking an eye? I’m talking, of course, about the murder of the little boy. The murder of a child rarely, if ever, occurring in Hollywood output. Here it seems certain that the boy will meet his end in the bathroom when Ash and Amanda struggle for the gun, or that he will emerge with the weapon in hand and shoot Amanda’s colleague, Lieutenant Boyle (Andrew Grainger). Instead the boy simply gets smacked into a ceiling fan and spends the rest of the fight as a slowly rotating corpse. It’s unexpected and no attempts are made to make it more significant or sad than any of the other deaths, which is kinda impressive.
- Ash meets up unexpectedly with an old acquaintance before the shit hits the fan. Lem’s (Peter Feeney) eventual demise in the woods is fairly predictable, but it is his phone call to the militia he has recently joined which is significant. The call all but promises that a bunch of morons with guns will show up in the future. That should complicate things.
- Finally, is the inside of the trailer getting bigger or is it just me? The scene of Pablo and Kelly sitting on the bed makes it look like that thing is the size of a house.
Best Lines:
- Pablo (reassuring Ash that they can continue to accompany him): “Besides we knew what we were getting into when we joined up with you. Well, no we didn’t. Not even a little bit.”
- Lem (discussing his recent decision to join the militia): “‘Always be stockipiling’. That’s our motto.”
- Pablo (telling Kelly that she tried to f*ck him when she was possessed): “Oh yeah, you were in full-on bone-mode.”
- Kelly (when Pablo warns her about revenge): “Did you just Yoda-quote me?” Pablo: “Yeah”
Your turn: what did you think of last week’s episode, ‘The Host’? Did you enjoy our stopover at the Western Moose? Are you happy that Amanda has seemingly come around? Do you think the militia are now involved? Is Ruby still alive or is she now a Deadite? And where does the series go next? Sound off below.
Ash vs Evil Dead airs Saturdays at 9pm EST on STARZ