Kelly and Pablo put a quick (yet not so efficient if you stop and think they have a fixed amount of ammo) stop to the fight between Ash and Clone Ash. They then, correctly, pick between Ash and Clone Ash. The real Ash is lazier than Clone Ash.
Ash sends Kelly and Pablo to lead the three hikers, Brad, Heather and Brad’s fiancé, out of the woods. Pablo discovers that someone told Heather that he has a girlfriend. Kelly’s explanation --that life is too unpredictable right now to get involved with anyone-- seems to distract Pablo from the question of whether Kelly wants him or not.
Brief kudos on the soundtrack for this episode; “Just the Two of Us” by Bill Withers plays as Ash begins to cut up Clone Ash. It’s just dorky enough to make me smile. I’m not sure why but not until these last few episodes has the soundtrack made an impression on me.
Ash being Ash, pays no attention to where the Clone Ash’s blood is going. The Book was knocked onto the floor and is soaking up Evil Clone’s blood. As all evil objects that are about to be destroyed do, The Book tries to talk Ash out of burying it under the cabin. There’s a moment where it almost works, but Ash (shockingly) is strong enough to toss The Book into the old refrigerator. It’s about then that he discovers Amanda is gone.
Ruby makes a timely entrance to save their lives. When they get back to the cabin Ruby talks Ash into doing a ritual that gives her the power of ownership over the book. First step, Ash must use Ruby’s knife to cut the face off the book. This was not a pleasant process for The Book, so I thought everything was okay. Then I saw the look on Ruby’s face and knew the truth. She wanted The Book for herself.
For a heartbeat, I thought Ash had caught onto Ruby’s deception as well, but the universe of the show remains intact. Ash didn’t suddenly become insightful. He was just wondering if he should say goodbye. After all he and The Book have been through a lot.
Ash hands over The Book, and we get the first major surprise of the episode: Ruby wrote The Book!
Until Ruby showed up I wasn’t completely engaged in the episode. There were some fun moments (like the Ashs trying to convince which one of them was the real Ash), but I wasn’t hooked. I think it’s because the characters are what makes this show worth watching. Killing Deadites every week is repetitive and Ruby’s arrival got me back to my fun place.
I did NOT expect Ruby to be the real villain of the piece. The writers did a nice job of setting me up to see her as the hero who escaped Hell to save the world. Consequently, that reveal was very successful. I really didn’t expect what happened to Pablo. I can’t wait to find out what happens there.
What about you guys? What did you think about the episode? Is Pablo’s necklace truly evil, or was it just moving Pablo into a position to discover his Brujo powers?
