Previously on Ash Vs. Evil Dead, mystery woman Ruby (Lucy Lawless) became Agent Fisher’s (Jill Marie Jones) new best friend, Ash (Bruce Campbell) hallucinated after taking ayahuasca under Brujo’s (Hemky Madera) watchful eye, and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) was possessed by Eligos (Ben Fransham). A drugged-out Ash tried to strangle Kelligos, only to be knocked out by Pablo (Ray Santiago). Will the Ghostbeaters discover Kelly’s secret? Read on:
Director David Frazee returns in another solid outing that’s a little light compared to the head-trip of last week’s trip inside Ash’s head. When “The Host” opens, Ash is bound and gagged, and Kelly tells Brujo and Pablo that Ash is possessed by Eligos. Ash tries to protest through the gag, but it mostly comes out as muffled gibberish (though you can hear him every time he says Kelly is “a fucking liar”). He mutters away while Brujo tells Pablo to get a knife; Brujo might have to cut Ash’s balls off to get rid of Eligos. Kelly deadpans, “Oh, no.”
While Pablo goes to the trailer and Brujo prepares to exorcise the demon, Kelligos basically tells Ash he will swallow Ash’s soul. Ash protests, but no one listens. Well, no one really listens when he’s not gagged, so this isn’t that much different.
Kelligos gets to the trailer before Pablo and sits seductively waiting for him, but he’s too busy chattering about exorcisms to notice her. They search for a knife, and Kelly finds Ash’s “man girdle,” condoms, and weed. She seductively tells Pablo to find them a pipe. Pablo still doesn’t notice. Ash sure does have a lot of condoms, by the way. At least we know he’s safe in some respects.
Meanwhile, Ruby, Agent Fisher, and Ash’s old hand roar down the road in her Charger listening to “Down By The Water” by PJ Harvey. Fisher wants to know more about possessions. Ruby tries to keep Fisher calm, stroking her cheek with her gloved hand. It’s kind of hot. That’s all we see of the new best friends this week. I’m getting a little impatient for them to get to the Deadite factory already.
Back in the trailer, Kelligos gets high using Ash’s boomstick as a bong. She again tries to seduce Pablo, but he says weed makes him paranoid and that a Mountain Dew will get him buzzed enough. Pablo, finally getting the big hints Kelligos is throwing at him, tells Kelly he wants to get close to her; she blows rings of marijuana smoke toward him. If he only knew!
Brujo thinks he’s exorcising Eligos from Ash, but Ash has no reaction to the sanctified charms Brujo waves in his face. Brujo decides it’s time for a blood sacrifice. Ash’s balls probably shriveled a little.
Pablo says some sweet things to Kelly about wanting to get to know her inside and out, to which she ominously says, “What’s inside of me cannot wait to tear you up.” She has a shotgun shell tucked in her boot and hands Pablo the boomstick bong. Pablo remains hesitant, but Kelligos pushes. She puts the shell in the gun while trying to get him to take a hit. Eligos finally gets impatient with Pablo’s shy resistance, and makes himself known as he pulls the trigger on the shotgun.
Back at exorcism central, Ash gets free and warns Brujo about Kelly just as a shotgun blast is heard. They rush to the trailer and save Pablo, who managed to push the boomstick away from his chin before it went off. Ash seems more annoyed about the new hole in the trailer’s roof.
Brujo tries to exorcise Kelly the same way he did Ash, but it doesn’t work, so Ash taunts Eligos to come out. That also does not work—Eligos is one tough mouse demon. Brujo makes Kelly eat leeches; Eligos seems to enjoy them, then spews them all over Ash’s leg. “When you get back to Hell, work on your aim,” he says.
Brujo then tries waterboarding Eligos with holy water. Eligos simply pees it out of Kelly’s body. Ash sympathetically says, “Well, we’ve all been there.” Ash isn’t prominent in this episode, but he does manage to get in the best lines.
Eligos starts hurting Kelly’s body by bashing her head against the post she’s tied to. Pablo pleads for her to fight; Brujo takes Pablo outside and Pablo apologizes to Brujo for leaving their faith. Brujo tries to inspire Pablo, telling him the light of the Jefe is in Ash, “deep, so deep” yet Pablo saw it. Inside, Kelly asks Ash to kill her. He levels the boomstick at her head, but when Kelly asks for a cross for her grave, Ash realizes he’s being played.
Outside, Brujo tells Pablo they need to finish Kelly quickly or the demon will tear her apart slowly. Pablo volunteers to be the new host. He rushes inside and commands Eligos to take him instead. Eligos climbs out of Kelly’s mouth (that’s gotta hurt!), attacks Brujo, and impales him on a conveniently angled post. One of Brujo’s hanging masks sheds a bloody tear. Eligos then does his disappear/reappear trick while Ash struggles to kill him.
Ash calms himself long enough to recall his own “Shoot first, think never” advice and gets a gleam in his eye. He throws the boomstick up and tries to slash Eligos with the chainsaw; Eligos disappears, the boomstick comes down just as Eligos reappears, and Ash blows Eligos into a gooey blue mess. Kelly is saved!
The Ghostbeaters burn Brujo’s body on a pyre. Brujo speaks from beyond the grave as his necklace falls from the pyre in front of Pablo, who picks it up. It’s still very hot, causing Pablo to exclaim, “Ow, fucking shit! I mean, thank you!” All of Brujo’s talismans outside burst into flames.
Kelly doesn’t remember what happened, and Ash won’t tell her (he’s capable of showing empathy for others every so often). He also feels responsible for Brujo’s death and every bad thing that’s happened with the Deadites. Pablo says no, Ash isn’t responsible, and Kelly says Ash is 100% (and probably more) responsible because Kelly is the best. Pablo then gifts Ash with the new hand he made and it’s pretty dope. It’s like Ash’s medieval hand, only electronic. Ash is pleased. Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” plays as our trio once again hits the road.
Though we hardly get any Ruby and Fisher, and not as much Ash as normal since he’s tied up for a bit (yet hilarious in that he won’t shut up while gagged), the episode did a good job of advancing the main plot. I do appreciate that the show revealed Kelly’s possession right away instead of dragging it out over several eps, especially as the show is short enough as it is and we only get 10 episodes a season. I also liked Eligos’ possession of Kelly being different than a typical Deadite possession. She’s been too much fun to lose so quickly, as her deadpan attitude is a perfect foil for Ash’s general goofiness. I would really like to see Ruby and Fisher catch up with our group, though. Xena and Autolycus reunion for the win, please!
This week in Ash (and other) one-liners (plus other stuff I liked):
“I’m gonna shove this right up some Deadite’s ass!” – Ash about his new hand
“What about right there? Boop!” – Pablo as he touches Kelly’s forehead as the first place he’d like to kiss. He’s a blood-covered sweetie pie!
Every muffled thing that came out of Ash’s gagged mouth (including copious use of the F-word)
Ash putting on his new hand the way he did the medieval one in Army of Darkness. AvsED may not be able to directly reference AoD, but it does a good job of not letting us forget everything in that movie happened.
