“Ash v Evil Dead” S1, Ep.5 “The Host”

ash-vs-evil-dead-episode-5-the-host-review-732119Ageists, sometimes it doesn’t pay to wake up…

That’s exactly how Ash feels as he comes to from his vision quest and finds himself tied to the stake and gagged. Pablo and Uncle Brujo are discussing several very unpleasant ways to exercise him of our elusive demon, Eligos. However, what they don’t know is that the being in question isn’t inside Ash, but hiding in plain sight within Kelly.

Back on the road, Ruby and Det. Fisher are literally at the crossroads. Ruby waits for some reaction from her possessed Ash-hand to get some guidance on which way to go. Fisher remarks about the weirdness of the whole idea and the whole scenario where they find themselves. Ruby just strokes her face (very inappropriately, I might add) and gives her some mumbo jumbo about letting the chaos theory flow. Yeah, it is as bizzaro as it sounds…

The hand comes to life and gives them a hint. Off they go with the Hemi firing on all cylinders.

Back at the ranch, the Brujo is formulating a plan, leaving Kelly/Eligos and Pablo with some spare time. All of a sudden, Kelly is good to go for some R&R. Despite Ash’s plight, she/he (it?) raids the trailer for a helper to get the party started. Finding Ash’s weed stash, she sends Pablo to get something to smoke it with. As he leaves, Eligos lights Kelly’s face with a wicked grin.

In the Brujo’s chambers, his method of attack isn’t having much effect on Ash, especially as he’s not demon possessed. Finally after the head shop remedies have little effect, he decides to get serious. Maybe castration is the only way this demon will leave Ash… This gets our hero concentrating hard about getting the hell out of this situation.

Back in trailer, Kelly/Eligos seemingly didn’t wait for the bong,  as she already  is taking hits from Ash’s shotgun barrel when Pablo returns. (Legalize It?) Pablo is pretty hot and bothered by this time and Kelly seems willing to explore the possibilities. But, she wants him to take a puff from the barrel first.

In the great beyond, Peter Tosh is saying “Nah, mon. That nah what I meant with that one…”

Pablo is nervous and obviously is eager to swoop in for the score. But he decides to block himself because he gets paranoid with too much ganja. Kelly/Eligos eggs him on, giving him verbal basics from the soft core porn manual. She turns on the sex talk while loading a shell into the open barrel while Pablo is distracted. When our reluctant lover takes to long, she goes full Eligos and snaps the barrel closed.

In the Brujo’s chambers, Ash finally gets him to ungag him and listen. He’s not possessed, Kelly is! Both men hear a shot.

Picking up after the break, Ash and the Brujo break in to find Pablo holding Kelly at bay. They’ve been wasting their time.

Back at the pole, Kelly is in full Linda Blair mode, spitting pea soup, doing her death metal voice and beating her head bloody. Pablo know she can’t take much more abuse. He decides to off himself as a host for Eligos. While Ash tries to stop the devil’s bargain, the demon springs to life, crawling out of Kelly’s mouth and exposing himself.

Mayhem returns full bore. Eligos goes for the Pablo gusto, avoiding Ash’s attacks with his trademarked teleportation. He’s just too slippery to deal with, it seems. In the whirlwind of the battle, Uncle Brujo gets skewered on one of his sharper talismans.

It’s then that Ash’s sage philosophy from when he killed Kelly’s mom returns. “Shoot first, think never.” Master Po Ash-vs-Evil-Dead-Bruce-Campbell-S01E05-530x353couldn’t have said it better. Ash lures Elgos close, tries to strike him with his chainsaw hand and watches him disappear. When the demon reappears directly in front of Ash, he’s ready to give him both Boomstick barrels. When a demon dies, Ash gets his wings.

All that’s left is the awful aftermath as the Brujo get a Viking’s funeral and in a moment of psychic inspiration, passes his mantel to Pablo. Sergio Leone is smiling at this scene. Ash gets the hint that maybe he needs to return the book to the cabin where the evil began many long years before…

Kelly is rightfully confused, but soon gets up to speed. Pablo then shows Ash the fruit of his labors… A new mechanical hand is implanted on his stump. As the Nuge rocks us to the final credits, Ash can’t help up flip his new teammates a silver bird.

What do we think? Halfway through the season and it looks like we are headed back to the scene of the crime… Will we finally see an end to the Deadite Plague? Will Ruby and Fisher finally catch our heroes? Who will score first, Pablo or Ruby? Is there an Army of Darkness reference finally coming?

Be back next week and take the next magic carpet ride to the Land of the Dead with us!

 

 

 

About Jason Stewart

Jason Malcolm Stewart is a Northern California-based author, journalist and public relations/marketing professional. He holds degrees in Political Science and Comparative Religion, but can have a conversation without starting a small war. When he's not writing or reading, J. Malcolm spends his weekends talking about how to avoid being in a real-life horror movie. add blog

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