Ash vs Evil Dead - The Dark One - Review

I was almost completely satisfied with the season finale. The action was great. Kelly was on fire. Unfortunately, the ending felt much too rushed for me.

I was worried that the attack in the shed had damaged whatever mechanism it is Ash uses to attach his, um, appendages, but the chainsaw attached just fine. Ash used it to finally remove Amanda from the show’s canvas. The show has reveled in Ash’s sense of self-preservation, so it was a nice change to see him so determined to head into the basement to rescue Pablo. He was even willing to go alone to protect Kelly. Heather’s attempts to see herself counted among the people to be saved had me chuckling, especially when Ash made it clear that, that would only happen if she stayed close to Kelly. Kelly once again proved how smart she is by refusing to let him go alone.

Unfortunately, The Cabin had other ideas. It separated Ash and Kelly pretty easily. Kelly did everything she could to get to Ash and Pablo. (Does anyone have any idea where Kelly got the extra ammo to shoot at the door?) The taped recording that Amanda had been listening to before she died began to play again, and I thought that we were getting a clue to how Ash was going to win this battle.

But before we could really tune into what the recording was saying, The Cabin stepped into the fight. (The roaches climbing out of Heather’s shorts almost sent me screaming into the night.) The Cabin tossed Kelly out on her backside, but she didn’t give up.

Even after The Cabin chowed down on Heather and spit her out, Kelly kept fighting. She was awesome. Kelly actually forced The Cabin to surrender and let her back in.

She immediately grabbed an axe and stormed into the basement to help Ash rescue Pablo.

Ruby’s first gambit is to get rid of her only real opposition. She decides to take advantage of Ash’s shortcomings by trying hard to convince him to walk away and let her rule the world. She offers him whatever he wants...including Jacksonville; as long as it doesn’t include $10,000.

Ash rejects the offer and continues his quest to save Pablo. My heart was breaking for Pablo. He sounded so desperate and so tortured. What’s being done to Pablo stops Ash in his tracks. Stopped me too.

Pablo’s necklace was definitely not from his uncle. Or if it was, The Evil took control of it. With The Book’s face attached to Pablo’s face, Ruby was able to use him to birth demons….through his mouth. A definite WTF moment that proved, once again, that the effects people on this show are incredibly talented and may possibly have some freaky nightmares.

Ash and Ruby finally go mano a mano and it’s a pretty awesome fight. Ash puts her down with the Boomstick, but she uses Pablo as a proxy while she heals. Pablo can’t stop himself, not even when she sends him after Kelly. Pablo begs Ash to kill him, but Ash can’t. For a moment it seems like Ash will have to kill Pablo to save himself. Ash is saved when the chainsaw runs out of gas.

Ruby decides that she needs a new face for her book, and Ash is a great candidate. In the best use of a non-sequitur I have ever witnessed, Ash turns the tables and grabs the knife. The knife hurts Ruby and can, actually, kill her.

Ash is a heart beat from winning and saving the world. Then the story, basically, just stopped. Ruby claims that if Ash kills her, The Evil will still kill Pablo and Kelly. Ash didn’t even consider whether she was bluffing. It felt like someone told the writer to stop writing immediately and tack on any old ending because they had to start shooting right away.

I can see the logic of this story decision, and I think all the pieces are there to explain why the only way to save Pablo and Kelly was to make the deal. But I think a transition was missing. That omission left me feeling unsatisfied with the ending. If Ash had tried to resist that outcome, even a little bit, I wouldn’t have found it so jarring.

Nearly all of the episode worked really well for me. It took way too long to kill off Heather, but I loved watching Kelly, the hero, fight to save everyone. Watching Kelly cheer when the cabin caught fire was awesome. I also really enjoyed Ash’s fight sequences once he got down into the basement. The little demons were creepy and effective.

Did you guys enjoy the finale? What do you think of the set up for season two? Any theories on how the gang will be drawn back into this war?

About the Author - Prpleight

Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now.

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