Ash vs Evil Dead
Episode 3.7 “Twist and Shout”
Directed by Mark Beesley
Written by Caitlin Meares
Created by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Tom Spezialy
Starring Bruce Campbell, Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo, Lucy Lawless, Joel Tobeck, Katrina Hobbs, Lindsay Farris, Arielle Carver-O’Neill
Starz
Air date: Saturday, April 7, 2018

“Well for starters there’s a very handsome, but demented version of me running around here so if you see I give you permission to break his face.”

Warning: spoilers ahead…

If you were waiting for Season 3 of Ash vs Evil Dead on STARZ to get REALLY bloody”¦ first off, what’s wrong with you?!?! But secondly, holy crap this is the episode for you! Last week we got the crazy Kelly vs. Ruby brawl that led to Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) being killed in a moment that shook the AvED universe. Ruby (Lucy Lawless) used her body as a vessel to bring Kaya back from the Rift, a place on the other side where Kelly now resides. Meanwhile, Ash (Bruce Campbell) and Pablo (Ray Santiago) accidentally opened the Rift in the hardware store basement leading to a bloody confrontation with demonized Knights of Sumeria. This week, Ruby puts her plan in motion to stop Ash once and for all.

Poor Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill) is caught in the middle of a deadly game where Kelly (Kaya) is manipulating her to meet with Ruby at a school dance. Ruby’s demon spawn is all grown up and wouldn’t you know it, he looks very familiar, with a certain pronounced chin and chainsaw appendage. This is an immediate callback to Army of Darkness where Ash spent most of the film in Medieval Times fighting “Evil Ash” leading to many ridiculously great slapstick scenes. As good Ash tries to sneak into the school through the backdoor, demon Ash goes in hacking and while it’s a fairly obvious homage, Carrie got nuthin’ on Ash Williams. Oh yes, there will be blood!

Once again we get to see the actors flex their muscles as Pablo saw visions of Kelly in the Rift and thus looks like a boss when he calls Kaya-Kelly out on her flirty advances.

“Yeah, that’s right, I hit you. Because the real Kelly and I did kiss, and it was freaking awesome!” – I popped for that line.

Ray Santiago has been put through so much physical hell on this show, I’m so glad he’s getting to kick some major ass now, channeling his powers as El Brujo Especial. This comes into play later when he encounters Evil Ash. And Dana DeLorenzo seamlessly transitions from kickass Kelly Maxwell into the exploitive Kaya with a smooth British accent to boot.

The real stars for me in this episode were Campbell and Carver-O’Neill. In just 7 episodes with not that much screen time together, I totally buy the chemistry between them as father and daughter and the final third of this episode features some great acting and typical laugh out loud AvED one-liners. When Evil Ash appears in view and Brandy realizes what’s going on, we get this line from Campbell:

“Ruby went to Candarian Kinko’s and this asshole popped out.”

This show is so goddamn awesome this season! Whereas the last few episodes were focused heavily on Pablo’s journey to becoming El Brujo Especial and Kelly’s path of revenge against Ruby, Ash finally got the spotlight here and Campbell dominated in a way only he can. He shows a very different side to Ash when Brandy is involved and as a father of a daughter myself, I can’t lie and say I wasn’t a little teary-eyed near the end of this episode. Everyone in the cast buys into the craziness and thus even the most ludicrous scenes come off as genuine. I loved this episode from beginning to end as much as any.

Ash vs Evil Dead needs your help, though. With three episodes left building towards an epic finale and seemingly unstoppable evil, the show once again is in danger of not being renewed. If you love the show you have to support it by ordering STARZ, and downloading the STARZ app. You get a free trial when you subscribe. Aside from AvED, STARZ also features American Gods, Black Sails, and Outlander as well as a slew of new and classic movies. It is worth the money, I promise!

Ash vs Evil Dead is on Sunday nights at 9:00 pm on STARZ, but since I order STARZ through Amazon Prime I can watch it the second the clock strikes midnight and Saturday turns to Sunday. Watch and shout the show out on social media using the hashtags #AshvsEvilDead and #BringBackBoomstick. Also check out my reaction videos on the free Stardust app @DrZaiusGod.

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