Ash vs Evil Dead: “Ashes to Ashes” Review

Cabin Fever.

We returned to the classic forbidden place where it all started this week in “Ashes to Ashes,” as our (now less-buffoonish) hero headed back to the famed cabin in the woods – harrowing home of the original Deadite dimensional invasion.

While containing some crazy, gory moments this week, “Ashes to Ashes” still felt like a byproduct of the show’s odd pacing. It’s the third to last episode of the season and we’re already in the cabin. Ash is already facing his past demons and being confronted by the traumatic moments he endured during Evil Dead II. And on top of this, the episode closed out with another “awww, we were just getting started” moment as Ash and Evil Ash (a newer version, born from the old rotting hand, not the AoD guy) were in the middle of a brutal fight. So there are still elements to these half-hour chapters that lack true momentum. Perhaps a five hour-long episode season would have been worked to make the story flow better.

Things just felt out of sorts. In the middle of this one, Amanda was battling Bad Ash – in a life or death struggle – while Ash comically dealt with flying buzzsaws and chomping bear traps in the shed. All while trapped by a single stuck door. It just felt like Ash’s dilemma – despite being confronted by the evil, demented head of Linda (played by Rebekkah Farrell here) – shouldn’t have been enough to stop him from saving Amanda from getting freaking killed. Because little did we all know the stakes would be so high for her in this episode. Right when she started teaming with Ash. Again, a momentum buster. Amanda taken out of the game almost immediately. After we spent so much time with her on her journey of discovery.

I should mention though, that from a “shock” standpoint, her death was notable. I was not expecting Evil Ash to land that cleaver (“cleavage”) shot on her. I mean, part of my disbelief came from the fact that, admittedly, I just never know how dangerous a random Deadite/demon really is since there’s never been any established hierarchy. But it was still a big “WTF?” moment. Yes, she was brawling with an Ash clone, but nothing prepared me for the fact that we’d be losing one of the show’s main characters here.

Granted, there are still two episodes to go and a lot can happen on a show with very loose rules when it comes to good and evil and the magic both sides possess. We may not have seen the last of Amanda, nor does it seem like Ash has done his last ogling of her ample bosom. A lot of this episode had to do with the fact that Ash was, essentially, denied a happy, normal “Jacksonville” future because of the cabin and the Necronomicon. And then Amanda’s death seemed to hammer that messaging home. To the point though where now, perhaps, he is due for a retirement and romance.

Speaking of romance, Kelly may not want anything to do with Pablo at the moment, but she also doesn’t want any other girl putting the moves on him. The Ghostbeaters arrived at the cabin by the end of the episode, but before that they were wandering around in the woods and getting directions from some random hikers. And Kelly lied about Pablo having a girlfriend in order to fend off the single girl of the trio (Samara Weaving, Hugo Weaving’s niece).

So yes, some of “Ashes to Ashes” didn’t quite feel right. But there were a couple of knock-down/drag-out fights that were pretty damned exciting. One, sadly, led to Amanda’s gruesome demise. The other involved Ash fighting himself (perhaps the show’s biggest nod so far to AoD, given that they can’t show footage or acknowledge story) – knowing all the trick knees and bum shoulders that his doppelgänger possessed in order to take him down.

Still, many Ash vs Evil Dead episodes end on what frustratingly feel like an abrupt notes. This one was probably the worst of the batch so far. Mid-fight, as mentioned earlier. That’s no way to take us out.