With Baal now risen and and Pablo apparently holding the key to stopping him, Ash vs Evil Dead is getting pretty tense. And Trapped Inside is an action packed episode filled with a tonne of violence and homages that will please Evil Dead fans.
The crew head back to Ash’s place again to make good on Ruby’s current plan: Letting Pablo’s excruciating pain go on a little longer so that the incantation needed to banish Baal will unveil itself on his skin.
But in the meantime, Baal has gotten into Sherrif Emery’s head and coerced him to lead an angry mob to Ash’s place with the intention of killing him. Kelly and Emery’s wife Linda (now completely done with her husband due to his cowardice) attempt to stave them off until it can all be figured out.
Trapped Inside executed its ambition perfectly, pitting our heroes against the most sinister enemy of all: time. And in 28 minutes, a lot of evil spanners get thrown into the works that consistently up the ante while a trifecta of situations take place concurrently.
Kelly may be at her most crazy yet, firing bullets into a crowd while warning them to stay away. (“Back off now or I will fuck your faces with bullets”). She has officially reached bat shit insane and I’m loving every minute of it.
Ruby reveals to Kelly and Pablo that she is now mortal and dread begins to set in. However Kelly wills Pablo to unveil the last passage that they need with more terrific dialogue (“There’s my powerful vagina”). I always wanted Kelly to succumb to Pablo’s adorable nature but now I just love seeing them as best buds and the show runners seem to be on the same wave length.
The episode’s creme de la creme is the return of Ash’s sister Cheryl played by her original actor Ellen Sandweiss. Despite her very violent death in 1984, Baal rigs up some trickery that turns Cheryl into a deadite. This not only results in the best one-liner yet (“It’s time to make like a tree and fuck you” referencing her bizarre death scene in Evil Dead), but the ensuing fight is not only top-notch but probably the most integral one of the series yet.
Chet (who apparently used to date Cheryl) finally gets his and it took longer than I thought it would. With his heart now punched through his chest, we can finally say goodbye to that glorious duo. But in a somewhat important way, it forces Ash to reveal how he can care for people and that he isn’t as self involved as we were all lead to believe.
Things wrap up with Ash showing the whole town that he isn’t a murderer, by letting Cheryl reveal her true nature. And boy does he completely mess up his faux-sis. Shotgunning her and sawing head off Ash earns the towns trust and debunks three decades of accusations. It’s a victory for Ash, clearing his name and gaining acceptance and it’s nice to see him rid himself of that, considering it seemed to be the only thing that bothered him.
Trapped Inside was a fantastic episode that provided fan service, hilarious dialogue and unrelenting action. It was one of those stand-out episodes that just managed to hit all the tight notes, not unlike season one’s The Killer of Killers.
Highlights:
- So many quotable lines
- Homages were great
- Important fight scene
- Action packed
Lowlights:
- Poor Chet
Review Score: FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Ash vs Evil Dead is streaming now on Stan.
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