Note: there will be spoilers below!
Recap
Picks up immediately where the first episode ended, in Ash’s trailer after he fought a couple of Deadites. Kelly wants to stop by her dad’s but Ash’s main priority is to get the Necronomicon translated to figure out how to stop all this. Kelly leaves on Pablo’s bike. He tells Ash Kelly took the book. This means Ash has to take Pablo since he knows where Kelly's dad’s place is. Their road trip is interrupted by their boss, who was turned into a Deadite, hiding in the backseat.
At the trailer park, Amanda shows up trying to get a lead on what’s going on. A neighbor mentions Ash bringing a skank around with wrist tattoos so she starts to make a connection. She also finds the business card for the book store Ash needs to go to, on the ground.
Ash and Pablo arrive at Kelly’s dad’s place. They bust in to see Kelly is sitting around with her parents. Kelly whispers to them that her mom had amnesia and was living in a shelter. Her memory just started coming back. Pablo confesses to Ash that he took the book. He figured that was the only way he’d agree to help and check on Kelly. Ash isn’t happy but figures Kelly could be used as bait. They were invited for dinner and Pablo sees it as a chance to impress her parents. Ash is pushing and grilling Kelly’s mom. When Kelly gets mad at all the questions, Ash agrees to stop and punches her mom which sends her flying across the floor. Kelly is outraged but her mom gets up as a Deadite. She stabs her dad in the eye with a fork and the fighting begins.
The chase is on. Kelly’s mom tries tricking her into believing she’s still her mom. The fight continues in Kelly’s room. Eventually Ash manages to chop off her head which results in lots and lots of blood. Kelly hates the evil that took her mom and tricked her into thinking she was alive as well as killing her dad. Kelly agrees to join them in their fight. Ash says she shouldn’t be alone and she’s kind of like a young him--Deadites ruined her life plus she’s hot as hell.
Amanda arrives at Books From Beyond as the episode ends.
Thoughts
More and more we see how having Pablo and Kelly as part of the cast adds to the show. As great as seeing Bruce Campbell deliver his one-liners, it all just works better having others to talk to and interact with. Now everyone has a reason to join Ash in the fight. We're also seeing how things won't go as easily as he might hope with Amanda looking for him.
As with the first episode, there's plenty of what we want from the Evil Dead franchise. We get plenty of insane and over the top action accompanied by just the right amount of humor and horror. The effects, as before, are a mix in terms of quality. The show pushes things forward but still remembers the glorious cheesiness we all have been embracing. When the blood starts flying, it goes at a ridiculous rate. That's exactly what we have come to expect.
The half hour format is really working. While we would love to have, at least, hour long episodes, there is plenty happening in the story to work at this pace. Each episode contains enough of a story to be the focus of its own episode while also continuing the overall story set up in the premiere. It's possible if we got too much at once, the jokes and action might become a little too much. Each episode does a great job in leaving you hungry for the next episode.
Ash vs Evil Dead continues to deliver. Taking the action on the road, we find out more about the supporting characters and get plenty of what we want--humor, action and suspense, and plenty of blood. With a basic plot that's been used a couple times before (the book unleashes the evil and the evil must be stopped), there's still so much to enjoy about the show. Bruce Campbell is still the king and Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo have really come into their roles. With each new episode, it feels like we're getting spoiled. You'll find yourself counting down the days until the next episode as soon as you finish watching.