'Ash vs. Evil Dead' Recap: 'Last Call'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

'Look, beat it. This is my party, okay? It's for young, hip people. Not old guys that smell like soup.'
​- Ash

Perhaps the true magic of Ash vs. Evil Dead, is the fact that this is a show that could easily fall into quite a trap storytelling wise. It could follow a pretty standard formula, one that becomes outright predictable, making it easy to know exactly what is going to happen next. But thankfully this is a series that always manages to reinvent itself, and finds new ways to bring us some quality scares and splattery moments and that was never more evident than it was last week when the gross stuff came by way of the biggest ass joke ever seen on cable television and this week, that tradition of reinvention continued since quite a few stunning moments came by way of the Delta '88.

Because last night, we were treated to an outright homage to Stephen King and John Carpenter's iterations of Christine, with a surprise possession that no one saw coming, but in addition to the awesomeness that came with mixing evil and metal, this particular episode; 'Last Call', also decided to delve into some pretty intelligent storytelling as well. It seemed in many ways as though this story was the first time that any of our characters took inventory on what their lives had become since the Necronomicon started making their days difficult and to top it all off, Ash and his father Brock finally had the showdown that we had all been waiting for and well...it was simply magnificent. 

But before we delve too deeply into the more touching moments of this week's episode, let's take a moment and discuss what happened with the Delta, because man...that was just plain cool. As it turns out, the teens that stole the car had machinations to just abandon it after a short joy ride, but a curious teen named Amber reads from the book and boom...manages to get herself, and the Delta possessed and well...Ash's beloved car becomes quite the evil little murdering machine and kudos to the special effects team for making this more than a mere car out of control, this thing truly came to life. From the way the headlights gleamed red, to the fact that it spit fire and had complete control of its exterior, the Evil Dead Delta was simply a sight to behold and one of the coolest things to ever come out of this storied franchise. 

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Yet, while one could watch the Delta's rampage scenes over and over and over, and heavens knows I did, as I mentioned earlier there was quite an intelligent storyline to be uncovered as well since it's clear now our intrepid Ghostbeaters are starting to experience a little wear and tear on their souls courtesy of the wild events that have occurred in their lives over the past year. Oddly enough, this epiphany came at the strangest of times, during a grand party that Ash decided to throw in order to draw out the kids that stole the Delta, and as the night wore on, Pablo was more vocal about his deep rooted fear of his visions and poor Kelly came to realize inadvertently, she has nothing in life but her quest for revenge against the book and it led her to a moment of weakness where she made the decision to bail on Pablo and Ash and help Ruby deal with her rotten demon kids. 

As Kelly dealt with her own issues, Ash and his father at last had the showdown between the two of them that we all knew was coming. But rather than hammer out their differences and open up about one another's pain...as Pablo suggested they do, they settled it as only a Williams can, in hammy and machismo fashion by seeing who could ride a mechanical bull the longest. Brock as it turns out, won, but the display of bravado did finally lead to an emotional moment, where Brock revealed to his son the pain that the events at the cabin had caused him, and what it had cost him emotionally and well...it was heartbreaking to see. But rather than allowing their broken relationship to end with a shattered moment such as that, fate had other ideas in mind allowing for Ash to finally redeem himself and prove his worth to his dear old dad. Since shortly after their low key blowout, Brock went off with Amber, who managed to show up to the party, and she was happy to reveal what kind of creature she had become...allowing for Ash to rush in and save the day, and prove to his pop that everything that happened at the cabin was true. 

That revelation gave us perhaps the sweetest moment the show has aired to date as Brock took a moment to apologize to his son, and let him know how damn proud he is of him after all...before the Delta straight up plowed through Brock Williams, putting an end to his life...and the sappy stuff and of course leaving the episode shrouded in mystery, since Brock was about to tell Ash a big time secret he had been keeping from him. What that is, we may now never know but when all is said and done, holy cow was this an outright incredible episode. It had it all, thrills, chills, bloody spills, feels and even a dash of Ted Raimi, and you can never have enough Ted Raimi in an Evil Dead story. Either way, it should be interesting to see where we go next, since the Ghostbeaters are broken emotionally, and the book and the Delta are still on the loose...

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