Stan Against Evil Review: The Destruction of Willards Mill
Carissa Pavlica
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Shows like this are too rare.
We got treated to another hour of silly and laugh-out-loud humor with Stan Against Evil Season 3 Episode 3, which introduced Willards Mill's version of Mothra and Stan Against Evil Season 3 Episode 4, on which we realized how easily our titular hero could get sidetracked by easy conversation and a beer.
If you haven't tuned into this gem as of yet, you need to think long and hard about what's keeping you from watching.
A lot of comedies work so hard stuffing into their shows the relevant topics of the day that they forget the point of comedy.
It's to make you laugh.
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That doesn't mean that every once and again a serious topic can't be broached on a funny show, but a dramatic #MeToo story on Will & Grace, the continuous pounding of political distance between people on Murphy Brown, and even the well-done relationship issues on black-ish add up.
Suddenly, your enjoyable entertainment is forcing you to think, and the escapism you need from everyday life is gone. When does your brain get a rest? Not a rest from thinking, but feeling pain?
You can rest right here when you turn on Stan Against Evil.
No matter how bad -- or serious -- things get, Stan and Evie (thank you John C. McGinley and Janet Varney) find the humor in what's before them. Creator Dana Gould uses throwbacks from the past to remind viewers of crazy pop culture moments and spins them beautifully into his Evil world.
The situations encountered in Willards Mill, while naturally evil(ish), are always bordering on nonsensical but make a lot of sense in context.
So let me get this straight. In your America, a fake gorilla and a mailbox can't get together. Good to know. Good to know.
Lenny
Take "Larva My Life," featuring the return of David Koechner as Kenny, Evie's ex-husband. Ostensibly arriving for Grace's birthday party, his gift was a key to a storage unit in Maine, code for he didn't get a gift at all.
Kenny was at the heart of my favorite Stan Against Evil Season 2 episode, "The Curse of the Werepony." It's all kinds of perfect his absentmindedness led him to become the Willards Mill Mothra.
Anyway, your ex-husband is here again, and he's turning into a caterpillar. No, that's it, hasta luego.
Stan [on phone with Evie]
The plot was ridiculously simple, but from it, there was so much joy.
Mothra-Kenny doing battle with the town's gorilla inside a miniature Willards Mill was brilliant. When I first saw the trailers, I expected mini-WM to be regular WM but without spending the money for ruining the town. Destroying a verified miniature version was better than imagined.
Why in the hell would Leon have two super soakers in his backseat full of spoiled milk? For no reason whatsoever other than to use to make Kenny vomit up the relic. Isn't that fantastic? No more explanation is necessary because it's Leon, and this is Stan Against Evil.
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The Kenny/Lenny battle of the monsters left such an impression on Kenny that he sparked Lenny's career again in being the Birthday Gorilla.
Who knows, maybe Denise will get a gig singing at the 'do, too.
While Stan is in his element when he's full of snark and putting down those he loves, he always gives props to his daughter, no matter how wacky her ideas might be. That's about as real as it gets on Stan Against Evil.
Because Denise was feeding the sewer birds again, and Stan has given up on telling her they don't exist, he has to call a plumber clear the pipes.
Scott Adsit is Bill the plumber aka Bill the Demon.
Sometimes the one-off characters on Stan click, and Bill clicked in a big way, both demonically and personally. Adsit did a fantastic job bringing home the manipulating demon who knew exactly how to trick Stan and all of his friends.
It should have seemed more surprising to Stan that Bill the Demon had so little upper body strength. Demons should be able to summon up something to toss around a human. But Stan was reveling in his win.
Stan offered his new pal a beer, they got to chatting, and Bill was offering up all the information he had on Horace. The odds on that happening are fairly slim, but what do we know?
Evie arrived with news that Denise and Kevin had a close call with a demon of their own (the two of them confronting a dead man for rudely staring was top notch), and lo and behold; Bill knew all about that guy. What a coincidence!
Aw, take it easy. Bill's good people. It's not his fault he's a demon, right Bill?
Stan
Evie is far more skeptical than Stan, but their relationship has progressed to the point she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Bad move.
OK, confession time. The spell you just recited is, well, basically you just condemned yourselves to hell. I know. I conned you. I'm sorry. [chuckles]. Actually, I'm not sorry. I'm sorry I'm not sorry. Can you be that? I think I'm that!
Bill
Bill the Demon lost his head after tricking the entire group and being fooled himself. He was as comfortable in his demon-hood as Stan was earlier in his living room chugging back a beer.
Billy Ray Tidmire was the Collector of Souls, a plain ol' mental institution escapee. A strong sucker, for sure, if he could rip the head off of a demon with merely a twist.
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But they were both dead by the end of the hour. Billy isn't a loss. Bill the Demon will be missed. He had that same something Kenny ads to the scene. Sure, a demon isn't quite as useful to the group overall, especially one who is willing to turn on a dime (and is so good at it!). But he was highly entertaining.
Two solid episodes full of enjoyable lines delivered flawlessly, as always. If you're looking for fun and escapism, look no further than Stan Against Evil. You won't regret it!
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.
