Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Trapped Inside
Steve Ford
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Rest in peace Chet. We hardly knew ye.
On Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 6, we bid farewell to Ash's old buddy, Chet, and Ash also wrestled with his demons, both literally and figuratively.
The Evil Dead franchise has been spot on at nailing that perfect balance between horror, comedy and slapstick. Kudos to the writers, who have been able maintain that mix and flow through one and half seasons.
If Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 5 paid tribute to the cult film The Thing, then this week's episode was a clever nod to Assault on Precinct 13. Of course, I'm talking about the original 1976 film (another Carpenter classic, but underrated), and not the crummy 2005 remake.
The standoff between Ash's group and the angry mob, led by and influenced sheriff Thomas, made for some great moments. However, this was actually a bit darker of an episode compared to previous installments.
There was still humor and the always terrific zingers from Ash, but the episode as whole had a much darker tone to it. It's not that I disliked the tonal shift, but it was definitely noticeable.
Chet was in full on creep mode when Ash caught him in Cheryl's room with her dress laid out and holding her headshot.
I can't say I'm all that surprised Chet has been sneaking into Cheryl's room for posthumous rendezvous. The man has issues. This is the same guy who picked up a tranny prostitute on "Confinement."
I'm not sure what is more disturbing though: what Chet was doing in Cheryl's room or how long he has been doing it.
It was great having Ellen Sandweiss reprise her role as Cheryl from the original Evil Dead film. Ash recounting the events of Cheryl's demise to his sister was hysterical.
Cheryl, you're not supposed to be here. You died when you got branch banged by a demon tree about thirty years ago.
Ash
Ash just has a way with words, doesn't he?
The transformation into Deadite Cheryl was fantastic, especially the creepy giggling and keeping the bandaged forehead look from the original film. That was a nice touch and callback.
I was very surprised that we lost Chet this week. It's exactly the reason Ash didn't want his friend involved in the first place and shut him down back on Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 4. I would have much preferred Chet had lived and just periodically popped into episodes here and there, but it wasn't meant to be.
Poor Chet, his heart was in the right place, but thanks to Cheryl, it's now...out of place.
Pablo was left in rough shape this week as well. Ruby revealed that Pablo is becoming one with the Necronomicon, and it was a very unpleasant transition for Pablo.
Since they no longer have the actual book, Ruby used an incantation to speed up Pablo's transformation, just enough to the point to where the spell to send Baal back to hell manifested.
Being that Ruby was able to speed the process up, there has to be a way to slow it down, and possibly reverse it altogether right? At the very least, maybe buy the team some time to stop Baal and find a way to cure Pablo's condition. In any event, Pablo at least has a cool new tatted up look. Lacey will probably dig it.
Ruby also had no choice but to fess up to Kelly that she is completely human now.
Could that be the "deal" that Baal had mentioned to Ruby on Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2 Episode 5? Was the cost of raising her children from hell, giving up her immortality?
That's a one sided compromise if I ever heard one. And now her children are dead and she is still without her power.
Someone wasn't planning ahead.
At first, I thought Baal may have been controlling all of the townsfolk that were after Ash, but it appears Baal was only influencing sheriff Thomas to lead the mob. Now it seems our pal Ash is going to be influenced by Baal as well. Could we be seeing an evil Ash in the near future?
Kelly: Okay, so I just fired a gun at a crowd of civilians.
Ash: Yeah, that's like a felony.
The Ash vs Evil Ash scenario on Ash vs Evil Dead Season 1 Episode 8 was beautifully done, and watching Bruce Campbell play the mischievous mirror image of his character was something else to behold.
We won't be getting another doppelganger duel like that this season. However, if the ending of this episode was any indication, we could still be getting a malicious Ash under Baal's influence for at least an episode or two.
I also have to point out the wonderful song choice of "They're coming to take me away" during the closing credits. It was a nice somber way to close out the episode.
I am not a fan of the decision to kill off Chet, as I felt he added something special to the show, and was also caught off guard slightly by the darker tone of the episode. Regardless, it was still another fun 30 minutes of Ash and friends.
What did you think of the episode? What do you believe Baal's plan is for Ash? Were you sad to see Chet go? Hit the comments below and sound off!
You can watch Ash vs Evil Dead online right here at TV Fanatic!
Ash vs Evil Dead returns with a new episode next Sunday, November 13th, at 8/7C on Starz.
