Ash vs. Evil Dead: An Underrated Series That Was Doomed Since The Beginning
The well known spin off TV series to a beloved franchise that was gone too soon.
The Evil Dead franchise has been a cult classic series for the past 30 years. The trilogy Sam Raimi made back in the early to late 1980s and 1990s is still considered to be the most bewildering, fun, and unique movies in the horror movie genre. Long after when Army of Darkness made its debut, people were wondering “what’s next?” Well, a television show is what’s next. But from where it was shown on the programming service Starz, was it doomed to be cancelled since the very beginning?
Ash vs. Evil Dead was released on Starz in late 2015 and it was received very well, as it deserves to be. The show is great because of how it tells a great continuous story after the end of Army of Darkness 25 years after the release of the film and it references the movies just enough to make it balance between fan service and the right amount of nostalgia, like we see in a lot of sequels and spin-offs today. Plus, the gore in this show is through the roof that you are hanging on the edge of your seat or couch or wherever you are watching it.
The story of course follows Ash Williams, played by the incredible Bruce Campbell and evil is back from The Book of the Dead after 30 years of hiding in the shadows. Ash is supported by new and charming characters like Pablo Simon Bolivar, played by Ray Santiago, and Kelly Maxwell, played by Dana DeLorenzo. Each episode is just pure fun and adventurous because of how charming and hilarious these characters are. Campbell nails the role he was born to play. It is perfect casting ever since the first Evil Dead movie.
Now you could ask how can such a highly praised series be doomed to fail? Well, when it comes to picking where the show is programmed, critical reception isn’t the only thing that comes into play, viewership does as well.
SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE BELOW
Now you could guess the show would have an epic and great conclusion as a whole right? Well not particularly. The events of the series finale end on a cliffhanger. What happens is after when Ash makes amends with his daughter and stays behind while her, Pablo, and Kelly leave with the military, he fights the monster that is trying to ruin all of humanity. He eventually saves the day and humanity but is taken to an unknown facility. We do not know how long it has been or what is happening. All we know is he is going to go on an adventure to find his daughter, Pablo, and Kelly. It ends with him saying the famous line “Groovy” as he flies away in the Delta with a woman he just met that knows what is happening.
Then, the series unfortunately got cancelled due to low viewership. It also sadly ended on a cliffhanger and didn’t get to finish the story it was going for. But that’s what happens when a series is on a service that barely anyone used at the time. Ash vs. Evil Dead then dropped on Netflix and it was immediately popular after it dropped on there.
But was it surprising that the show got cancelled? The show got low viewership because it was programmed on a service that barely anyone used at the time so that means most of the shows that was released on Starz at the time would have reached its fate eventually. But it is sad that this great show didn’t get the chance to end the way that it was going for. What’s also sad is we won’t see how it would have ended anytime soon. Season 4 will most likely not happen because Campbell has said multiple times that he is done playing Ash on screen, but did say he will still voice him in the games.
But at the end of the day, The Evil Dead franchise is not dead (no pun intended). They are making a new film that is a sequel to the 2013 remake that was directed by Fede Álvarez called Evil Dead Rises that will be directed by Lee Cronin. And although Bruce Campbell won’t be in it, it is still something to be excited for. The fans of the franchise have enjoyed the 3 seasons of Ash vs. Evil Dead. Even if the story didn’t have a conclusion, it is still enjoyable and entertaining nonetheless.
Ash vs. Evil Dead is streaming on Netflix and on Starz. Evil Dead: The Game is available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.