Ash vs Evil Dead: “Books from Beyond” Review

Viva la Ghost Beaters!

In my review of last week’s Ash vs Evil dead episode, “Bait,” I mentioned that the franchise would be slightly tested when new creative folk – meaning those other than Sam Raimi – got behind the driver’s wheel. And “Bait” was directed by Michael J. Bassett and written by Dominic Dierkes (wikipedia had it erroneously penned by Raimi, I now notice).

This week’s chapter, “Books from Beyond,” was written by Workaholics’ Sean Clements. I bring this topic up again not because the show is failing in any way, or not gelling due to new voices contributing to the story, but because “Books from Beyond” took the series in a very new direction, demon-wise.

The mind-attack “total nerd” demon that our heroes went to war with this week (Elagos?) was more Hellraiser Cenobite than Kandarian demon. He looked very different than what we’re used to in this series. It almost felt like the Evil Dead world was stepping away from some of its trademark schlockiness and getting into somewhat more sinister-looking horror. Granted, despite the look and battle tactics of the demon, things still got a bit Three Stooges whenever he’d hold Ash by face and zap his brain (will there be any lasting effects from this?), but I’d still insist that the inclusion of this a new type of demon (along with the idea that the Necronomicon can actually function like a Monster Manual) is a big deal.

Jill Marie Jones as Amanda in Ash vs Evil Dead.

Lucy Lawless’s Ruby still remains a mystery, though now we know she’s determined to track down Ash (impaling/torturing Kelly’s undead dad with a special dagger and then racing through the night while Giuseppe Verdi’s requiem piece from Battle Royale/the Fury Road trailer played). Meanwhile, Amanda did cross paths with Ash and company down at the book shop. Though instead of joining in on the crusade to vanquish evil she pretty much messed everything up by lying to Kelly and then making Ash break the seal on the demon trap. Yes, even though Ash’s idea to summon up a “lesser” demon (who Ash all-but accused of catfishing him based on the puny book illustration) was rather reckless, it was Amanda who ultimately screwed up here.

Which, in a way, caused Ash, Kelly, and Pablo – aka Team Ghost Beaters (“that’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever heard”) – to bond more than ever. Because as much as they went through back in “Bait,” no one except Pablo was really ready and willing to form a formal team. Ash got all “alone wolf” on them right before he thought the occult book store would quickly solve his Deadite problems so the fact that they all had to throw down with a new type of demon (one that couldn’t be chainsawed into glop) aided them in their Ghost Beater transformation. Now…WHO WANTS CHURROS???

Ash vs Evil Dead episodes run hot and quick. As we’ve now seen, there’s rarely enough time for more than one central location (Kelly’s house, the book store, etc) but this helps give each installment a more focused comic book feel, I think. As in, this week Ash is doing this, and not much else. So answers lie within Ash? Did that demon really get killed after being hit with the book or is it just hiding? Was there really too much “yappenin'” and not enough “happenin’?” All these questions and more to be answered…