Ash vs Evil Dead 1.05 “The Host”

Aaaarrrghhhh! These half-hour episodes are killing me! I want more!

Ahem.

Okay, with that out of the way, let’s take a look at Episode 5, “The Host.” When last we left our intrepid heroes, Ash (Bruce Campbell) was tripping balls, Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) was possessed by the demon Eligos (Ben Fransham), Pablo (Ray Santiago) was seriously confused, and his uncle the Brujo (Hemky Madera) was hopeful that despite Ash’s inherent stupidity, some good might come from his spirit quest. But as we saw, Ash’s attempt to kill Eligos looked to Pablo and Brujo like Ash trying to kill Kelly. So he got his brains bashed in.

This week, we open with Ash gagged and bound as Brujo prepares to perform an exorcism, thanks to Kelly/Eligos claiming that Ash has the demon in him.

It’s pretty standard fare, but I have to admit, Ash’s running commentary (through the gag) as Kelly accused him and Brujo explained the pain that was on the way was hilarious – like a classic Popeye cartoon-type hilarious.

If I have to explain that to you, I give up.

Once the preliminaries are out of the way, we spend some time with Kelly/Eligos attempting to seduce (and murder) Pablo, plus we get another glimpse of Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) and Ruby (Lucy Lawless) on the road, tracking Ash with his hideous severed hand. Whoever is doing the music selections for this show has apparently been dipping into my CD collection, as this week we get tracks from PJ Harvey (“Down by the Water”), Alice Cooper (“Is It My Body?”), and we close the episode with “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent – fuck his politics, but this song is a classic.

A healthy part of the first half of the episode is spent on Kelly/Eligos’ seduction attempt, and to be honest, it’s a little tired. While it’s interesting to see Dana DeLorenzo getting her sexytime on, smoking Ash’s weed through the barrel of his shotgun, there’s not a lot of real tension. The back half of the episode, however, picks up after Ash convinces Brujo that Kelly’s the one who needs the exorcism.

It picks up, but “The Host” doesn’t do a lot original with the idea of the exorcism. We get self-harm, religious confusion, and some good, old-fashioned satanic projective vomiting. The direction by David Frazee never really seems to cut loose with the frenetic energy that Ash vs Evil Dead requires to really live up to its legacy, and the script by Zoe Green is functional.

The episode’s climax, on the other hand, is what I’m looking for – dodgy CG and all. Ash’s zen demon-killer moment, “Shoot first, think never!” is clever and the end of Eligos is suitably gross. Not as gross as it could – or maybe should – have been, but it does the trick and before long our heroes are back in the Delta 88 and on the road again.

Oh yeah, Ash’s new movable hand is neat – a bit silly, maybe, but neat. And he’ll finally get to use both hands again (since we can’t get his mechanical hand from Army of Darkness).

All in all, this wasn’t a great episode, but it had a really strong opening and a solid finish. Given that it was only about 26 minutes, that’s a good two-thirds of the episode that kicks ass and a third that could use some work. Not bad. Not bad at all.