TV Review: Ash Vs. Evil Dead – Season 3, Episode 1 & 2

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Check out this double-bill review of the first two episodes of “Ash Vs. Evil Dead”, season three. Warning – SPOILERS!

Season 3, Episode 1: Family

SUMMARY: When the Necronomicon is dug up, Ash (Bruce Campbell) once again has to fight an army of Deadites, but now it turns out he also has a long-lost daughter.

REVIEW: Ash vs Evil Dead has gone on a lot longer, and ended up being a better show than a lot of us would have ever expected. I remember being pretty underwhelmed by the pilot a few years ago, and while the seasons have had their ups and downs (usually there’s about six good episodes and four useless filler ones per season) for the most part it’s been a lot of fun.

Last season left off with Ash having seemingly vanquished Ruby (Lucy Lawless) and evil from his Elk Grove hometown once and for all, turning the former Ashy Slashy pariah into a hometown hero. He takes over his dad’s old hardware shop with Pablo (Ray Santiago) by his side, only for some local to dig up the book and sell it to a collector who – natch – happens to be fluent in ancient Sumerian.

The big twist in season three is that Ash, our fun, and fancy-free bachelor, has actually been married all these years – he just can’t remember it. In the premiere, his wife, Candace (Katrina Barr) is done away with pretty fast, but not before she introduces him to his smart-mouthed daughter, Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill) who he has to rescue from some Deadites and an overzealous, possessed mascot.

Given that the premiere was a scant twenty-six minutes, it’s tough to say whether the addition of Brandy is a good one, but honestly – the formula needs to be shaken up to keep it from being a replay of seasons past. Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) is mostly absent, but she returns at the end with another new character, Dalton (Lindsay Ferris), a member of the Knights of Sumeria dedicated to fighting evil, and who views Ash as his master.

Like most good episodes, there are some nice, goofy character moments for Ash, such as him offering his daughter a joint in the very last scene, and a couple of good kills, such as the Harp one, which allows Campbell to work in a little nod to The Three Stooges (much beloved by the Raimi gang). It’s all over by the time it really gets going, but it’s a fast-paced reintroduction to the show that doesn’t waste much time. Early reviews that go deeper into the season have been positive, so I’m thinking this will be another good one – and as ever – Ash is a nice break from the more serious fare.

Season 3, Episode 2: Booth Three

SUMMARY: Ash (Bruce Campbell), newly confronted with the fact that he has a daughter, becomes convinced he’s got more kids out there, and takes a trip to the sperm bank.

REVIEW: It feels like the makers of “Ash vs Evil Dead” must have seen the Canadian comedy, STARBUCK, or its American remake, THE DELIVERY MAN, because this episode essentially borrows the premise of those films. The episode starts with Lucy Lawless’s Ruby giving birth to an IT’S ALIVE-style baby, who was apparently conceived with Ash’s seed, with Ruby swearing to destroy all of his other spawn, putting Arielle Carver-O’Neill’s Brandy in her crosshairs. We find out later Ruby’s been posing as a school guidance counselor in an effort to get close to her.

Turns out, Ash has been supplementing his living all these years by making regular sperm bank donations, with him possibly having dozens of kids somewhere out there, and he goes to try and get some info on them – but Deadites are already on the way to make sure this is the end of the line for ol’ Ash’s sperm.

This leads into one of the best sequences in the show’s history, where Ash, making a donation, has to contend with a porn mag centerfold trying to emerge from the pages to make him two olives short a martini, while also fighting the now possessed sperm bank nurses. It leads into a wild slapstick fight, with Ash dodging sperm, slipping in semen, and wreaking havoc. It’s inspired lunacy well-staged by director Mark Beesley.

The rest of the episode is more low-key, with new addition Dalton (Lindsay Ferris) casting a wary eye at Pablo (Ray Santiago), telling Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) it may be a kill or be killed situation with him before all is said and done. So far, this trio hasn’t done much for me, with the really interesting part of the season being Ash grappling with fatherhood, but hopefully they’ll get more to do as we go on.

Overall, like the last episode, this was a good little episode, with the sperm bank fight being one of the more off-the-wall things you’re likely to see on TV, well, at least until David Lynch starts making “Twin Peaks” again.