Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Books from Beyond

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Oh wow. 

If you guys thought the last episode felt like it was short, you must have been pounding your head into your pillows as the credits rolled on Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 Episode 3!

These 30 minute installments definitely feel like appetizers, right?! Outside of that, they are such a good time, and I'm imagining when the Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 is over, I'll be binging the entire thing so I can get a feel for it as a seamless endeavor. 

Inside Books from Beyond - Ash vs Evil Dead

Ash is no longer an alone wolf. 

Pablo and Kelly are really freakin' cool characters. That they are smarter than Ash, yet still look up to him was an interesting choice.

Ash: OK, look, if we get this done quick enough, we might have time to stop for churros. That's not a racist thing, Pablo. That's just a great dessert.
Pablo: OK. You know I'm not Mexican, right?
Ash: That's the spirit. Sit tight, watch the wheels, be back in jif.

They never hold his ignorance against him, which I cannot say would be an easy task. Such as when Ash tried assuring Pablo that letting out another demon from the book would be like spilling more paint onto a painting. Not a problem because it already has paint on it. Um...that's definitely not how that works. 

But instead of pushing the issue, Pablo decided to support Ash and stand there while a demon came out of the symbol on the ground.

Was it just me, or did that demon look a lot like a naked dude with his underwear pulled down over his face? 

And while I understand there has to be a foil to the trio, does Amanda have to be such a raging pain in the ass? Yes, there were murders in Ash's motor home park, and yes, he moved his motor home right afterward, but how does she equate what happened with her partner to Ash?

There is nothing that happened to her while in that house that screams ASH! Stories about cops with a vendetta who have no evidence but a raging desire to get their man are annoying. 

With Amanda cuffed to the shelves and deadite Lionel movin' and groovin' toward her, it's my guess Ruby is a couple steps behind and on her way to the bookstore. HOW she might have gotten that information from Kelly's deadite dad? Who knows, but what's the alternative?

It seems highly doubtful that Amanda is going to bite the dust this early into the season. She's likely to be an annoying throughout. Maybe she'll link up with Ruby, somehow imagining she's a good guy. Which I seriously doubt, despite her reaching out to her in the diner.

Why didn't she recognize that shooting at Ash caused the circle to be broken and almost got him killed? Not gonna lie. I won't be sorry if Lionel takes off a chunk of her flesh before she's rescued.

HOWEVER!

If she hadn't been a dumbass and screwed up the whole circle thing, we wouldn't have been able to see those awesome special effects when the demon held onto Ash and Pablo. Loved that! The X-ray vision that cut right through their flesh down to their bone by the layer? Very cool.

Also, I'm assuming it really wasn't as easy as smashing the demon in the head with the book. If it was, why not summon them all and start smashing away?

Eh...who cares?!

We don't WANT the deadites stopped or the evil to get sucked back into the book, dammit! That will ruin our appetizer's worth of fun each Saturday and seriously dip into our binge watch after the season is over. 

Up next? Pablo's uncle's place. The great shaman! Somehow I trust that he probably really is a shaman. Unless...Pablo's recollection of him from childhood is pretty messed up. We'll soon find out!

Books from Beyond Review

Editor Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.4 / 5.0 (31 Votes)

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

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Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 Episode 3 Quotes

Ash: OK, look, if we get this done quick enough, we might have time to stop for churros. That's not a racist thing, Pablo. That's just a great dessert.
Pablo: OK. You know I'm not Mexican, right?
Ash: That's the spirit. Sit tight, watch the wheels, be back in jif.

Hello? Guy with a very special book. Looking to save the world with it!

Ash