Here were are many years later, and Ash is finally finding a life for himself that he’s happy with. Granted he lives in a trailer, picks up sleazy women at bars, and works at a store where he’s despised by his boss Mr. Roper, but it’s a life he’s comfortable with at least. After hiding out for many years from the deadites, they’ve finally found him and are hell bent on destroying him and the world. And it all happened because of Ash and a pot fueled bender with a gorgeous woman one night that caused him to irresponsibly read from the Necronomicon in an effort to impress her. All roads begin to converge as Ash begins getting horrifying signs from Deadites, causing him to pick up and move his trailer once again.
Meanwhile state trooper Amanda Fisher and her partner find themselves at a crime scene that so happens to be the stomping grounds for vicious deadites. Barely surviving a confrontation with the demons, Amanda is now struggling to prove to everyone that the deadites are real and that she didn’t murder the folks that became victim to the monsters. Now the hunt for Ash, the source of this new invasion of evil, is on. As with anything coming straight from Campbell and Raimi, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” is purely a fan service series that is broad enough for new viewers to jump right in to, but will appeal to folks that have been disciples of Ash Williams for many years. The Raimi brothers, Sam and Ivan return for the pilot to deliver an episode that plays catch up for most of the run time.
Thankfully the brothers also take the time out to deliver new characters, all of whom are great, and pretty much officially a part of canon. The Raimis give Ash his very first human adversaries, as well as a female foil, and his very own fan boy. Ray Santiago is fantastic as Pablo, a friend and sidekick to Ash who follows him around and covers for him at work when he slacks off. His admiration skyrockets when he realizes evil is descending on their world, and Ash is the only person who can stop it. “Ash vs. Evil Dead” handles the duel story arc well, hitting the ground running and giving the characters various elements of the Deadites to confront.
Amanda and enigmatic character Ruby seem to be on the road to battling the more horrific aspects of the deadites, while Ash and his two new partners in crime will do a lot of the dirty work and combat. Bruce Campbell is back as Ash once more, and reclaims the role, proving he’s the only man fit to wear Ash’s shoes. He’s quick with a one-liner, self deprecating, charmingly stupid, and still looks excellent donning his boom stick and his chainsaw. “Ash vs. Evil Dead” has won me over almost immediately ensuring my attendance for its entirety with some excellent special effects, marvelous new versions of deadites, and very welcome dark humor reminiscent of “Dear by Dawn.” I can’t wait to see what the Raimis do with the series and the new avenues they’ll visit with the Deadite mythology and Ash’s persona. It promises to be groovy.