In the age of superhero movies and nostalgic revamps/remakes/revisits, maybe Ash Vs. Evil Dead wasn’t the hero show audiences deserved but definitely the hero show we needed—to save us from the same old shit.
Ash Williams isn’t military trained nor an eccentric multi-billionaire but rather a one-handed ValueStop stockboy from Elk Grove, Michigan who unwittingly unleashes the Kandarian Demon while stoned in his trailer. He is more like your father, if your father was the kind of guy that would spend Christmas Eve drinking with friends and the day after Christmas waiting for his wife to bail him out of jail with his kids’ money they got as a gift. So maybe Ash isn’t the kind of hero whose action figure your kiddies are going to be clamoring for… or if they are, your parenting skills might need to be re-evaluated… but maybe your husband or boyfriend/wife or girlfriend might.
Most heroes fight for a cause that is greater than one’s self. Ash’s cause (before going Campbellian Monomyth in Season 3) was himself. When the villain gave Ash the choice between giving her the Necronomicon so she can unleash evil on Earth while Ash lives peacefully in Jacksonville, Florida or killing the villain but living with the responsibilities of the prophetized Chosen One, Ash chose **spoiler warning** Jacksonville. Because he “always wanted to spend some time in a city so nice they named it Jacksonville.”
Starz put out 3 seasons before cancelling it. It was a fun show while it lasted. I thought it was a shame that the show was cancelled, but it was 15 hours of comedy, horror, one-liners, and gallons and gallons of blood book-ended by Space Truckin’ and the word “groovy,” so I won’t complain.
Good people, Evil Dead fans everywhere, I bid you a heartfelt farewell playing Ash – the character I took acting lessons with for 39 years.
I am hereby retiring from that portrayal. It’s time. I followed Ash from his formative years thru his mid-life crisis and decline. What a thrill! What a privilege!
We had a great resurgence with the help of Starz (kudos not jeers, folks). They made it possible for 15 more hours of Evil Dead-ness in your life – the equivalent of 10 more features!
Is Ash dead? Never. Ash is as much a concept as a person. Where there is evil in this world, there must be one to counter – man or woman, it matters not.
Thanks for watching.
Love,
Written At Large 