"Ash vs. Evil Dead" Recap: "Brujo"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

"When Evil shows up, it blows up."
- Ash

When you think about the Evil Dead franchise as a whole, there's one big question after all this time that we have never had answered, specifically, what do we really know about Ash Williams? I mean, we do know the man is a badass through and through and a monster killer extraordinaire annnnnnnd he's also a dumbass. But outside of those basic facts, we know little about the man, about what drives him and what I love about Ash vs. Evil Dead is the fact that we are finally getting to know him. 

Our first real glimpse of the man behind the chainsaw was given to us in the pilot episode where we saw the fear in his heart over the evil he faced so many years ago, and how reluctant a hero he truly is until the chips are down and he has no other choice but to kick some ass. But that was all we initially enjoyed before the story moved us along...that is until last night. The fourth episode of this epic series brought the story back to our favorite hero by giving us the most in depth look at Ash that we have ever seen, but before we get into what we learned about Ash, we do need to take a moment and talk about the two other awesome discoveries from last night. 

First and foremost, after four freaking films we finally saw what the Evil looks like when it's chasing people down via the Ram Cam we are so used to. Turns out it looks just like a tornado rushing toward you, and well, I rather liked that touch because sometimes simpler is better. The other little nugget of awesomeness is that now we know the identity of Lucy Lawless' character Ruby. While she didn't say the last name out right it's obvious she is Ruby Knowby and if that name sounds familiar, it should. This was the family involved in much of the events of Evil Dead II and Ruby's sister Annie was the gal who found herself stabbed in the back before finishing the spell to send the Evil into the portal. So now we know how Ruby got her hands on that familiar dagger and she also has Ash's evil hand, yet her purpose in the story is still unknown. We just know now that she thinks Ash killed her family and is out for blood.

Speaking of Ash, it turns out that he may indeed be the Jefe that Pablo thinks he is, but Pablo's Brujo uncle only sees flashes of brilliance in the man and uses a little medicinal magic to send Ash deep within himself to discover the answer to the problem that is the Evil unleashed. It is here we discover that Ash is a deeply traumatized man, who is frozen in and haunted by that fateful night and has moved from place to place, always hoping for a chance to visit the one place he was supposed to go after that weekend trip at the cabin, Jacksonville. But as we learn all of this, we also find out that there is indeed a solution to the problem...the book must be returned to its original place and buried deep. But getting there fast and efficiently may be something of a problem however, because the demon Eligos; the one we thought Kelly banished back to the book...is still with them. 

He jumped inside Kelly's mind at Books From Beyond and is now taking control, making Ash look like the bad guy since Brujo and Pablo found Ash in a trance choking Eligos/Kelly before knocking our hero out and that's where we leave the story this go round and seriously...what a fantastic episode. I love the fact we are learning more about Ash bit by bit and it finally allows for him to not just be a one dimensional character and that's something the character has been owed for quite some time. As always, I cannot wait for next week because I'm dying to learn more about Ruby since we all know there's something villainous about her...heck the Lionel-Deadite even started to say something important about her before she lopped its head off and I can't wait to see how Ash gets out of this one and gets Eligos out of Kelly's mind so they can save the world. Until next time.

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