*Spoilers Ahead*
Death comes for everyone on this week’s episode as Ash returns to the cabin that started it all and suffers for it.
With the season winding down, it was nice to see the writers not waste anymore time waiting on the return to the cabin and boy does it pay off. Ash may have gotten older but the cabin hasn’t changed one bit and despite his attempts to leave his crew behind he ends up being followed by Fisher. Ash begrudgingly accepts her help but he was right when he referred to the place as a “cruel, cruel bitch.”
This episode is rough in the way it torments both Ash and Amanda. Ash gets locked in the shed and is mocked by the head of his ex-girlfriend, Linda, which manages to be both a nice callback and suitably creepy. While Ash is busy with his beheaded ex, Amanda has to deal with another missing limb, specifically Ash’s hand, which manages to conjure up a whole ‘nother Ash to torture Amanda.
The return of Evil Ash is a nice twist and while Amanda manages to finally put an end to Ash’s hand she doesn’t fare as well against the rest of Evil Ash. The evil twin bashes her head in the fridge door, sticks a cleaver in her neck and watches her get impaled on deer antlers, just like her partner.
Fisher’s death escalates the conflict in the cabin by showing just how fearsome the place is. However, her death is ultimately a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, Fisher has never managed to be a compelling character, while everyone else in the cast has found their rhythm she’s remained uninteresting, even once she joined Ash and crew. On the other hand, it seems unfair to decide to kill her before giving her a chance to grow. Instead, I’m willing to believe that the writers have plans for Fisher post-death and I’m not just talking about her as a Deadite. We’ll see on that note, for now though, her death sends a big message and makes me worry all the more for Pablo and Kelly.
Speaking of those two, they’ve also made their way to the cabin but got lost in the woods. While there they discover a trio of hikers who look like they stepped out of a completely different horror movie. The hikers show Pablo and Kelly the way to the cabin and head off for almost certain doom. Pablo and Kelly get back just in time to see our Ash cradling the body of Amanda and are more than a little skeptical when Ash claims it’s another version of him that killed her. Ash eventually confronts his evil self and the episode ends with the two strangling each other.
Things have gotten bleak but with two Ashes around, both missing hands, thing can only get more confusing and it won’t be long before Fisher comes back for a piece of the action too.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- No Ruby this week but I’ll be pretty surprised if she doesn’t finally meet Ash next week. My guess, she’s the one who kills Evil Ash after Pablo and Kelly can’t distinguish the two.
- I imagine those hikers will be coming back into play, most likely as Deadites, next week too.
- “Man, I really hope they don’t end up dead.” “They have pepper spray.”
Jesse Swanson is a would-be writer, podcaster and funny guy who covers TV shows of all shapes and sizes. You can find him on Twitter @JesseSwanson