With talk of gun control all over the news lately, ‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ shows us just how vital a well-regulated militia truly is toward protecting our nation from the undead. This is surely exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind.

In the wake of the diner disaster, Ash and the team head out to find the militia camp that Ash’s buddy Lem had told them about, figuring that it would be a good place to stock up on weapons for their upcoming fight against evil. Kelly says that she wants a flamethrower. As should be expected, however, they find the place a wreck with half the militiamen slaughtered. The survivors surround the group and take them captive. They’re very suspicious and distrustful, especially after Ash tells them that he’s a friend of Lem. Of course, it was Lem – or the Deadite that’s taken over his body – who did this to them.

When one of his flunkies recognizes Amanda as a cop, the conspiracy theorist nutbag in charge of the militia believes that they’re part of an evil government plot to control their minds. He handcuffs Ash and Amanda together and tosses them inside a locked bunker. Kelly and Pablo make a break for it and hide in the woods.

The bunker is particularly large and spacious, but very poorly lit. While they search for a way out, Ash relentlessly hits on Amanda. She finds him amusing. She also tells him about Ruby.

Speaking of which, Ruby is of course still alive. Covered in ash (symbolism!), she rises up from the embers of the fire she fell into, apparently unharmed – though missing all her clothes. She finds some to put on, then follows Ash’s trailer to the diner and takes back her car. (Or was it Amanda’s car? I’m not sure.)

Ash and Amanda discover that Lem is in the bunker with them. He dumps a bunch of kerosene around in order to start a fire and stalks them through the bunker, taunting Ash.

Pablo and Kelly get caught and tossed into a pickup truck when the militia guys are attacked and killed by a former member turned Deadite. Pablo finds the keys to the truck and is able to hit the Deadite and ram it into a tree. Thinking it dead, Kelly tells Pablo to grab the gas mask it’s wearing. Obviously, it’s not dead. It grabs Pablo, and Kelly has to shoot it with an M-16… a lot. Pablo gets drenched in blood, as seems to happen to him a lot.

Ash and Amanda work together and eventually kill Lem with a pick axe to the face. They share a moment and nearly kiss when Kelly and Pablo open the bunker. The group tie up the remaining militiamen and take their weapons, but prove that they’re not evil government agents by blowing off a Deadite’s head and letting the militia go.

As Kelly, Pablo and Amanda gear up for the showdown at the cabin, Ash slips away and abandons them, because he believes that’s the only way to keep them safe. In his experience, everyone he cares about dies.

As a final teaser, we see Ash’s severed hand crawling to the cabin.

Episode Verdict

The satirical parts of this episode involving the redneck doofuses in the militia are pretty amusing, but I really don’t buy Amanda falling for Ash. She’s way out of his league. The stalk-and-chase stuff in the bunker also feels kind of tired and half-hearted.

On the whole, this episode falls somewhere in the middle of the pack for those we’ve seen so far. It’s not the best of the season (it’s not anywhere near in contention for that), but I still liked it better than the one with Ash’s drug trip.