*Spoilers Ahead*
Ash Williams and his crew of Ghost Beaters have returned for a second season of ass-kicking, boomstick blasting, chainsaw wielding fun and it’s clear from the get-go that the insanity has just started for our heroes.
The end of last season saw Ash make a short-sighted, ill-advised agreement with Lucy Lawless’ Ruby to give over the Necronomicon in exchange for Deadite-free life in Jacksonville. A decision that only Ash seems to be enjoying as he’s become a local figure who has no trouble getting ladies or booze while Kelly and Pablo are stuck literally cleaning up around him.
Ash’s new life is torn apart within the first five minutes of “Home” and the show wastes no time at all getting into the blood, guts, and severed limbs we’ve all come to expect from the show. If there’s been a budget increase at all this season it has clearly gone towards larger buckets of the red stuff as Ash’s first encounter with the Deadites this season is a gory spectacle that fills the screen with viscera.
That isn’t to say the crew settle for just splattering the cast in fake blood and calling it a day. There’s the horrifying hallucination Pablo has of being possessed by the Necronomicon and ripping his face off, in gory detail. It’s akin to something from a Troma film yet gives a real sense of the effects Pablo’s possession had on him.
Pablo isn’t the only one having to deal with demons, both literal and figurative, clouding his thoughts. Ruby’s own demon spawn have seemingly betrayed her and, despite Ash’s mistrust, she needs his help to take care of them. Kelly is struggling with unrest at continuing to be the sidekick and Ash…well, Ash has a whole lot of issues left to deal with.
Because, for the time being, it looks like the forces of evil have set up shop in Ash’s old hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan. In Elk Grove, a near ghost town in which everyone seems to despise Ash for his perceived insanity, the show and it’s writers find valuable material that can be mined for episodes to come. If the first season involved Ash dealing with his past in the cabin then it only makes sense to dig deeper into that past, to go to the town that birthed him and rejected him for his previous actions.
That brings us to the show’s first major cast addition, pun very much intended. The Six Million Dollar Man himself, Lee Majors, shows up as Ash’s father, Brock and the parallels are immediately apparent. It’s not clear exactly where the show is gonna go with the tease of Brock being an older, more bitter version of our hero but the back and forth between Campbell and Majors is one of the episodes best bits (complete with a “better, stronger, faster” reference.)
Ultimately, that’s what makes this season premiere so entertaining, nothing is clear yet. We don’t know exactly what is going on with Ruby and her children, what significance Elk Grove has beyond Ash and what exactly is up with Pablo and Kelly. Regardless of where the show takes us this year it’s clear from “Home” that the blood, dismemberment, and disemboweling will all follow and the audience wouldn’t want it any other way.
Bits ‘n Pieces
- The people in Ash’s hometown refer to him as “Ashy Slashly” because of the people, including his sister, he hacked up in the cabin. I’m looking forward to seeing where the show goes with this taunting phrase.
- Another cool effect, Kelly almost drowning when blood starts pouring out of the walls.
- “Oh, those damn radar eyes. Do I save her cause I should, or cause she’s hot?” This goes a long way towards explaining a lot of Ash’s decision making.
Jesse Swanson is a would-be writer, podcaster and funny guy who covers TV shows of all shapes and sizes. You can find him on Twitter @JesseSwanson