Stan Against Evil
Episode 1.8 “Level Boss”
Directed by Justin Njim & Jack Bishop
Written by Dana Gould & Jessica Conrad
Starring John C. McGinley, Deborah Baker Jr., Janet Varney, Nate Mooney
IFC
Air date: Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016, 10pm

IFC aired the two-part Season 1 finale last Wednesday for Stan Against Evil. Check out my full review of the first part, Episode 1.7.

Spoilers below for Episode 8, the second part of the Season 1 finale of Stan Against Evil:

We open with a girl streaking out onto the highway and causing a massive car accident leaving Stan pinned under the car and Evie takes out her frustrations by shooting the girl”¦

Earlier in the day, Evie blew a tire and needed a pickup. Stan is content watching a rattlesnake show, but Denise’s determination to start a teeth cleaning business (WTF) out of the house leads him to escape and help Evie out. After getting Evie, the girl in white jumps out and Stan hits her with his car and BOOM”¦ we’re in Groundhog Day territory as Evie is back in the car and her tire pops. I half expect Sonny and Cher to play. Like Bill Murray, Evie keeps getting killed in horrific ways, and waking back up in her cruiser. Finally she learns to stay alive long enough to KO a demon, but Stan gets himself beheaded! She meets a stranger in the woods and he tells her she has to kill Constable Eccles, “a man dead for over 400 years.”

We keep skipping back to Denise who’s having problems starting up her teeth cleaning service, “White power teeth cleaning” as a name may be a good place to start finding out what’s wrong. These scenes are just hilarious.

In order to stop the loop she must go to graveyard with the 172 witch graves and dig up the 173rd”¦ Eccles’ body, and remove the eyes. Evie restarts the loop and calls Stan; this time with a favor”¦ dig up Eccles’ body. He recruits Kevin, the caretaker of the cemetery to dig up the body and take the head”¦ Kevin is played by show creator Dana Gould. Evie runs off to finish her mission, but it was a trap all along, as the stranger in the woods WAS Eccles and now he has her in his time, ready to burn her at the stake for witchcraft. Back in our time, Stan sits watching TV, knowing that something just doesn’t feel right…

And that’s that. Stan Against Evil ends with Evie maybe dead in the past and present, but Stan knows something is up and will likely have to use Claire’s demon book and weapons to rescue her come Season 2. If you’re looking for a show to binge, you can’t find better than Stan Against Evil. It breezes by, 25-30 minute episodes and only 8 for the season. Stan is complex, moody, sarcastic, but strangely sympathetic and you will laugh awkwardly with Denise throughout.

For the horror freaks like me, there are some great demons, the pig-demon and spider demons were particularly awesome. Stan Against Evil will hopefully return to IFC in 2017.