7 Reasons Ash vs. Evil Dead Is Worth Giving Your Right Hand to Buy Starz
4) Ash’s Companions Are Great
Starz
While the movies can squeak by with putting the focus solely on Ash, a television series can’t. Every great show from Game of Thrones to Breaking Bad and Mad Men is great not because of any one character, but because of the sum of its parts. We don’t love Walt nearly as much as we love watching Walt and Jessie work together. The same can also be said of a pairing such as Tyrion Lannister and, well, anyone in Westeros.
In the case of Ash, the man’s new companions of Kelly and Pablo are pitch perfect. One’s a true believer in the events taking place (Pablo) while the other just wants to write the whole thing off as a singular f****d up experience that will never take place again (Kelly). They’re basically a deadite-fighting version of Mulder and Scully. Together, they make for a great counter to Ash’s cynicism as someone that’s played the Necronomicon game before. Also, someone’s gotta hold the wooden hand when Ash is doing his whole chainsaw thing, right?
5) Bruce Campbell Is at His Best in Years
Starz
Not since the early days of Burn Notice (where he basically played Ash on a Miami beach) has Bruce Campbell been this enjoyable. Sure, he did a lovely job in his guest appearances on the likes of Psych and 1600 Penn, but Ash vs. Evil Dead is really putting a version of Campbell on screen we haven’t seen in a while: that of the man that knows he’s too old to be playing the game but will do so anyway out of a sense of righteous obligation.
Even when Ash is at his most depraved (that moment being the previously mentioned opening scene where he lies about how he lost his hand in order to get some nookie), we still find him somewhat endearing because Campbell walks the line between likeable and asshole perfectly. In the episodes to comes, it will be fascinating to watch this version of Ash achieve some lever of self-awareness by season’s end – assuming it’s going that way. If this is the way Bruce plans on playing the character over the next several years, then there will be very good reason to keep tuning in… as well as for his girdle aided physique, of course.
6) The Evil Dead World Is Being Expanded
Starz
Perhaps the most important reason to keep watching Ash vs. Evil Dead on a weekly basis comes out of a single line spoken to Amanda during her first deadite encounter: “We know who you are.” There are many ways to read this line, but the most important thing to take note of is the fact that the “evil” seems to be aware of Amanda – which may explain why it attacked her in the first place while on the hunt for Ash. There are just so many ways it could play out.
From the trailers, we already know the women Amanda meets in the diner (played by Lucy Lawless) is someone who seems to already know of the deadites, but if that’s the case, does it mean there are other people in the world beyond Ash that have faced the evil before? If so, it’s going to take the franchise’s universe in a whole new direction that’s quite exciting. Of course, we should probably hope it also doesn’t lead to some form of Deadites Take Manhattan.
7) Bruce Campbell Beats up an Old Lady
Starz
Really, this one’s pretty self explanatory. If one needs to explain how far Ash vs. Evil Dead pushes things into the ridiculous, they need look no further than the final fight between Ash and… a sweet old lady that just happens to also be a deadite now. It really is a wonderful moment because it’s not even really much a fight. It’s more like the granny throws Ash aside, goes after the kids and then Ash cuts her head off with a chainsaw. The whole thing goes down in a matter of two minutes, but it’s two of the best minutes broadcast to television screens this year.
Grannies should know better than to take on a chainsaw wielding Bruce Campbell.
Overall, Ash vs. Evil Dead is a wonderful show that’s only going to get better with age. Already, the promise of what episode two’s bringing to the table thanks to the director working behind the scenes (Strike Back’s Michael J. Bassett) is making us want to tune in. But, the fact that the first episode is quite simply this good really gives little doubt to the idea that Ash vs. Evil Dead is going to be something special…and must-watch in the years to come (a second season has already been greenlit).
Previously by Merrill Barr:
7 Things CBS’ Limitless Needs To Do To Stay Awesome
7 Reasons Why Mr. Robot Is Better Than True Detective, Hannibal and Every Other Show This Summer
