In terms of bang for your buck, you'd be hard-pressed to find another horror franchise that delivers the goods as consistently as Evil Dead. Starting with Sam Raimi's iconic original film, through his increasingly comedic (and deranged) sequels, Fede Alvarez's grisly remake, and the long-awaited return of Bruce Campbell's chainsaw-wielding hero in the Starz original series Ash vs. Evil Dead, the horror franchise has proven as elastic as it is enduring, able to mold to the specific demands of each new iteration without losing that delirious double shot of zany personality that defines it.
However, if the Evil Dead movies have burned bright and fast, Ash vs. Evil Dead is facing new territory -- not just endurance, but abundance -- delivering ten half-hour episodes per year. That’s more Ash in three years than we’ve seen in the previous three decades, and lucky us while we’re on the topic, but that also means these three seasons of television have demanded a whole lot more linear narrative and mythological world-building than the franchise has ever had to support before. That demand has led to hit or miss results over the first two seasons, including some exciting expansions of the mythology and timeline, some less exciting additions (ahem, Baal), and regular returns to the cabin in the woods that started it all. Likewise, Season 3 is a mixed bag, more good than bad, that hits new highs, but also one very specific disappointing narrative low.
Season 3 is an easy pickup from last year's finale that finds things more or less where we left them (Except Linda, who has seemingly vanished. But hey, you know how Ash is with the ladies...) Ash is now running his dad’s hardware store in Elk Grove, where he’s living large as the newly redeemed town hero. Pablo (Ray Santiago) is ever loyal at his side, helping out in the store -- unpaid, of course -- and living his modest dream as the owner of Pablito’s Fish and Chips. Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) has headed off on her own to carry on the Deadite fight, teaming up with Dalton (Lindsay Farris); descendant of the so-called Knights of Sumeria, an ancient bloodline devoted to defeating the forces of evil. When the Necronomicon pops up on an Antiques Roadshow-esque TV show, Kelly witnesses a massacre that could only be Ruby’s handiwork and heads back to Elk Grove to reunite the Ghostbeaters and stop Ruby for good.
Unfortunately, evil moves fast, and before Kelly can sound the alarm, the Deadite scourge makes its way to the local high school, where Ash’s newly introduced daughter Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill) comes face-to-face with the forces of evil -- and her brash, blood-soaked father -- for the first time. This is where Ash vs. Evil Dead’s third season threatens to drop the ball, because everything about Brandy feels like rehashing old material. Given the grisly details of how they meet, and all the viscera-soaked torment unleashed on Brandy in the episodes that follow, it’s easy enough to understand why she hates her dad, but that doesn’t make it any less tiresome.We spent all of Season 2 watching Ash clear his name as a hero and win over the town of Elk Grove, so it’s frustrating to have to do it all over again with a character who, frankly, is willfully stupid in her refusal to accept the things happening in front of her eyes. But we’ve also already done the daughter thing -- not biologically, but Kelly has always been Ash’s heir apparent. In fact, departed showrunner Craig DiGregorio intended to make her Ash’s actual daughter in the timey-wimey Season 2 finale, which means that relationship was very carefully and intentionally established. We’ve already watched Kelly make the journey from the blood-soaked young woman who can’t believe her eyes to the hardened Deadite fighter, and we’ve already put in the work to build her mutual respect and unorthodox camaraderie with Ash, so the abrupt turn away from that dynamic in favor of a newly introduced character is jarring.
The good news is that Ash vs. Evil Dead is a series that tears through storyline and mythology like it tears through bodies, so there’s not a lot of time to get hung up on frustration. It’s all far too fun. The first episode comes out of the gate unsteady because the show has to redirect course to catch up with the new narrative, but the next four episodes provided for review handle the transition better, zipping from one splatstick set-piece to the next and improving with each half-hour installment. By Episodes 4 and 5, Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 3 is cooking on a full rollicking boil, utterly unhinged with all the signature splatter gore, gag-worthy gags, and low-brow humor that has made Evil Dead the benchmark of horror comedy.
The slapstick bits are reliably a) hilarious and b) disgusting this season, conjuring up all the fluids of the human body for new giggly grotesqueries. There’s a clever, extra-icky bit set at a semen collection facility that’s sure to delight fans of Ash vs. Evil Dead’s more scatological humor, but it’s a later sequence involving a corpse, a baby, and some bowling balls that had me wide-eyed in shock and howling with laughter. Credit to the folks at Starz; they continue to allow the creative minds behind their shows to push the envelope as far as possible, and the folks at Ash vs. Evil Dead sure do love pushing envelopes. The comedic dialogue is also especially snappy this season, and Campbell is ever-reliable with the delivery, dropping zingers and one-liners like he’s the chosen one of snark. It's a hoot.
Fortunately, just because Kelly's been shoved out of the role of surrogate daughter, that doesn't mean she isn't still fulfilling her role as Ash's heir apparent and kicking Deadite ass all over the place. Kelly and Pablo get a standout mid-season set-piece that goes light on the comedy in favor of the action-horror, and it feels more like classic Evil Dead than anything else on the series that wasn't directed by Raimi. It's a thrilling sequence, clever and creative, and like all the best stuff on Ash vs. Evil Dead, it plays with the legacy and rules we know while bringing something new to the table. And of course, it's got kick ass practical effects. Because Ash is wrapped up in the drama of his offspring and Ruby's new sinister plan, he's largely separated from his lovable sidekick duo, but that doesn't stop them from shining on their own.
Ultimately, the first five episodes of Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 3 may stumble getting off the ground, but once they find their footing, they take off fast with some of the most insane, satisfying and laugh-out-loud funny beats we've seen on the show so far. The classic Evil Dead flourish is on full display, the creative team never seems to run out of screwball visions of hell on earth, and Campbell continues to give life to a horror icon. Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 3 is a little sloppy, but Ash has always left a big mess and the bonkers ride is well worth the narrative whiplash.
Rating: ★★★★
Ash vs. Evil Dead Season 3 premieres on Starz on Sunday, February 25th at 9pm ET/PT.