Ash vs Evil Dead: The Morgue

October 9, 2016 7:56 PM - Season 2, Episode 2

Ash and Kelly go to the morgue to find the Necronomicon, Ruby and Pablo have an enlightening conversation in Ash's old bedroom, and Brock's hot date is not so hot.

AV Club recap - Ash Vs. Evil Dead gets ugly real fast at the morgue

posted by oh yeah! (11 comments total)

I watched this episode before the debate, so my tension level was probably higher than optimal for full AvsED enjoyment, and now I'm too fried to go back and find the funny lines to quote. But whoever decided to put a piercing on that corpse's penis deserves an extra beer, that morgue set-piece was something else.
posted by oh yeah! at 8:11 PM on October 9, 2016

I watched this right after the 2nd debate, so I'm looking for a laugh but still suffering from residual "analyticalitis."

Loved the old-school-looking effects, mixed with modern CG, but then - LSD ?!

I hate how LSD is so wrongly portrayed in media.

But;

"Wait, your children? Those things came out of me."

"Relax, you're not their father, just the portal for their rebirth."

"Are you saying Pablo is a Vagina?"
posted by porpoise at 9:21 PM on October 9, 2016

The thing is, I feel that the Ash/Campbell outrageousness is showing why "locker room" stuff* is unacceptable and doesn't belong in modern respectable discourse.

It's old and outdated, the people who think it's cool are no longer so, and it's stupid. And it's creepy.

*re: recent political struggle in the USA
posted by porpoise at 9:29 PM on October 9, 2016

I don't think Ash would grab a woman by the genitalia without her consent. Unless she was a Deadite and grabbing her genitalia was necessary to effectively dismember her. Ash says some rude stuff, and he's surely a Trump voter (if he's ever voted, which I doubt), but he's not that bad.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 7:35 AM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

Call me a conservative reactionary but that morgue scene pushed the envelope a little too far for my liking. Pushed the envelope and then stuffed its head inside the envelope and flailed around with the envelope on its head for longer than was strictly necessary.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:18 PM on October 10, 2016

(The mammoth dick piercing was gold, though.)
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:18 PM on October 10, 2016

I respectfully disagree. I'm like ... 65% sure that Ash in the morgue is the best thing I've ever seen on television. The whole scene was just such wonderful gross-out horror. For me, it balanced on the knife-edge of too-much but never quite teetered over.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:49 PM on October 10, 2016 [1 favorite]

The whole scene was just such wonderful gross-out horror. For me, it balanced on the knife-edge of too-much but never quite teetered over.

I considered using just "I'm in the butt! I'm in the butt!" as the above-the-fold episode summary, but that's technically a spoiler. I think it may have been too much for me, but I'm hoping that the memory will fade given more time. Still, I have to admire the commitment and talent involved in creating that sequence. The bastards.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:28 PM on October 10, 2016

This show is spending a lot of money on Deadite effects when I'd be just as happy watching Ash and crew vs. the population of Ash's hometown.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 8:56 PM on October 10, 2016

I thought the asshole/poop thing was a little... cruder than necessary (esp with the big ol' Prince Albert piercing, I expect that there is unaired footage of Campbell swallowing a big old prop), but they doubled down and edged it into the realm of the absurd.

But, yeah, Ash's chirp after he'd butchered/desecrated/disrespected a dozen dead bodies before finding the obvious one last is bit a declasse.

To clarify an above statement, Ash-type archetypes are now signifiers for unacceptable behaviour. AND Ash would never "grab a pussy" without consent. Or grab one in any other situation than being explicitly asked to do so.
posted by porpoise at 10:35 PM on October 10, 2016

Gosh, I was laughing quite a bit as Ash frantically started screaming when he realized he was headed for the anus. It was a great play against Ash's hyperactive masculinity.

The fight with the large intestine was also, in my opinion, a classic Evil Dead trope of the inanimate becoming alive through evil to try and kill Ash.
posted by Atreides at 8:30 AM on November 2, 2016