Ash vs. Evil Dead has been the most consistent show on television throughout its first three episodes, and it doesn’t seem to be losing any steam at all as it goes on. Let’s see what happened in this week’s episode, “Brujo.”
After the events last week, “Brujo” opens with Amanda trying to get away from the Deadite bookstore owner. Luckily, Ruby has finally caught up to her and manages to help save the day. I’m SO glad that Ruby is now going to be a really active part of the show as she’s teamed up with another character, because the first three episodes have had her primarily spending a lot of time on her own. Ruby has some of the most potential of the members of this main cast, and this should allow for more exploration of who makes her who she is.
After the opening titles, we get to see that the Deadite plague is still actively following behind Ash, and there’s a super fun scene where it seems to possess his car. The entire sequence is fun and brings some good laughs, but it also includes another use of some surprisingly mediocre CGI. As great as the practical effects on Ash vs. Evil Dead have been (and they really have been phenomenal), I find it hard to believe that the CG is this bad. It isn’t used a ton, thankfully, but it really detracts from the scene when it’s necessary. I really hope that this aspect either improves as the show goes on or that the producers find a way to solely use the practical effects that they’re so great at.
Ash, Kelly, and Pablo make it to Pablo’s uncle, who is a shaman of sorts. The uncle, the titular brujo, is angry at Pablo at first for seemingly abandoning his heritage, but he changes his tune once he realizes that his nephew may be right about Ash being a “jefe.” The brujo attempts to help Ash find his answers (after what the demon said to him a week ago) through a hallucinogenic experience that has some fun callbacks to the film franchise, and it becomes obvious that Ash’s previous experience with the Evil Dead is going to be incredibly important to the predicament that he finds himself in now.
Something that I’ve noticed about Ash vs. Evil Dead is that each episode feels like a comic book in the best possible way. Episodes are shorter than I expected them to be before I started watching, but the pacing is tremendously quick. Each episode also, for the most part, takes place in a single location, and it really feels like we’re getting a weekly comic entry into a larger story arc (which, considering it’s serialized television, makes a lot of sense). The over-the-top violence and gore also add to this feeling, and it helps it stand out among shows that we would actually characterize as a “comic book TV series.”
For the first time on this series, more jokes seemed to fall flat than succeed, but the humor on Ash vs. Evil Dead is still by-and-large better than just about any strict comedy on television today. Aside from the good balance between horror and comedy that is shown, the characters and their relationships are a huge strength on the show. Other than the budding partnership between Amanda and Ruby that I mentioned earlier, Kelly and Pablo had some really solid moments while Ash was with the brujo, and I continue to get more and more invested in this cast the more that I see them.
“Brujo” was the most flawed episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead yet, but it was still a solid entry in a great show. The comedy here was pretty hit-or-miss, but the franchise mythology continues to expand as series history starts taking a more prominent role than ever before. Even at its lows, the characters on this show save it, and I continue to be incredibly excited to see where the story goes from here.
What did you think of “Brujo”? Are you still enjoying Ash vs. Evil Dead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!
[Photo via Starz]
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