Ash vs. Evil Dead Review: Enter The Morgue

The season premiere of Ash vs. Evil Dead brought more fun and gore than almost the entire first season as a whole, and it left you eagerly anticipating the next entry. Let’s take a look at this week’s new episode, “The Morgue.”

The episode opens with the whole gang shacking up in Brock’s house, much to the chagrin of Ash’s estranged father. As good as it is to see Bruce Campbell and Lee Majors interacting, Majors and Lucy Lawless have some pretty flawless chemistry that I am so happy gets some brief exploration in the series. Something else that I’m happy about is the fact that we’re starting to get more of a look into Ash’s lingering guilt over his sister’s death all the way back in the films. It’s obvious throughout the series, but every now and then we get an extremely strong use of the franchise’s rich history that adds a completely new level to the story of Ash vs. Evil Dead. There’s a reason that this franchise is loved so extensively by audiences, and it’s important for the tv series, while being its own thing, to draw from that history when necessary.

“The Morgue” brings Deadites around Elk Grove in a huge way as the gang has to find the Necronomicon again.. The setting of Ash’s (and Kelly’s) confrontation with the Evil Dead is, somewhat appropriately, a morgue, and the nature of the location opens up so much potential for horror/comedy fun. It blows me away how often this series is able to bring new absurdity to the table, but each episode surprises me more and more. I also love the way that Kelly keeps being used more and more as time goes on, and it’s clear that this show has figured out what an asset they have in Dana DeLorenzo.

Also, “The Morgue” uses the phrase “not up the butt” in simultaneously the cleverest and most disgusting way that I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and I don’t have any idea what to think about that.

Lee Majors gets some great material in the episode, and the pseudo-bonding between Ruby and Pablo has a lot of potential to be a gamechanger on this series. I love that we’re finally spending a lot more time with Ruby after rarely seeing much of her last season, and Lucy Lawless continues to show exactly why she was cast in this role. Her fight at the end of the episode is one of the series’ best so far.

I really can’t believe that “The Morgue” went there, but the absolute bonkers nature of the horror and comedy blend in this episode shows that Ash vs. Evil Dead knows where its sweet spot is. It shouldn’t do this every episode (and please never go back there, Ash), but this series may never run out of ideas for ways to surprise us and deliver on all fronts.

What did you think of this week’s new episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

[Photo Credit: Starz]