Ash vs Evil Dead S01E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Wow, tough crowd. I'm still enjoying Ash vs Evil Dead. It's what I expected for Evil Dead translated to a 30 minute television show. I'm glad there's no origin stories or hand-holding to bog the show down. It's leagues better than the Walking Dead and a lot of other shows on TV right now.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Damn... This episode was pretty bad. The writing, the dialogue, the "humor", the acting, directing and editing were all astonishingly bad. It just plain sucked all around. After the last couple of episodes I figured the show had reached sort of a plateau of quality and it would stay there, but I guess it can get worse. Much worse. Sorry, but I couldn't find much to like in this episode at all. I kinda liked the way Ash figured out Eligos was trying to trick him into killing Kelly and the way Ash defeated Eligos. I could see a little of the old Ash in there during those moments. I also kinda liked Pablo's power walk (even though his pep talk with his dead uncle was cheesy as hell), but that was it for me. Other than those moments, it was kinda painful to watch. I was groaning and rolling my eyes for a good portion of the first 15 minutes or so. I'm glad the new hand looks better than I thought it would, but I still could do without it.

After the slight improvement on the second episode over the first I thought the people who said the show would go downhill after the pilot were full of it, but now I think they were actually being honest. The show's been getting worse with each consecutive episode and the preview for the next one doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that it's gonna get any better. I still have hopes for the final three episodes just because of the setting, but at this point I sincerely wouldn't mind if this is the only season they make. If they do get to make a second season, they'll need a major overhaul in the concept, approach and talent involved to salvage this thing. Some good ideas pop up here and there, but the execution needs a lot of improvement. DiGregorio needs to figure out what the hell he's doing already and hire some better writers. 

I could go into more detail about this episode, but KingRob, eViL DeAdiTe and MaidOfKandar have already summed up my feelings pretty well about this episode and the show in general. I guess I'll only share my ratings for the episodes so far, since this is the midway point in the season. To me it goes like this:

1. Bait - 3.5/5
2. El Jefe - 2.5/5
3. Books From Beyond - 2/5
4. Brujo - 1.5/5
5. The Host - 1/5
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

New thought - in this day and age, should we be upset about how the character of Kelly has been treated in the last few episodes? She went from a potentially interesting, self-reliant female character in the pilot to what basically boils down to "sexy girl to titillate male fans and give the male characters someone to save and/or desire" in this one. Even when we get to meet her parents, we never really get a lot of character building out of that - just the knowledge that she has parents.

I really hope we get to see a return to her original character (plus the emotional baggage of the show's events) sooner rather than later.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

She was possessed by Eligos and made to do things in order to catch Pablo off guard. It made perfect sense.  I'm not sure why anyone would nitpick that.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Kain said:
Wow, tough crowd.  I'm still enjoying Ash vs Evil Dead. It's what I expected for Evil Dead translated to a 30 minute television show. I'm glad there's no origin stories or hand-holding to bog the show down. It's leagues better than the Walking Dead and a lot of other shows on TV right now.
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I agree, and hadn't watched much tv in recent memory which Ash vs Evil Dead changed... and the show really is the best thing going. I find myself making plans to stay home on the Saturdays so that I could tune in like the old days of Xena and Hercules. The show will only get better, and with that and working I actually look forward to future weekends.


/To each his, or her own.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

@KingRob - I think that's just an unintended result of a much deeper problem. Most of this episode felt like it was written and directed by a 13 year old. It was immature to the point of being embarrassing. The scene where Keligos tries to seduce Pablo and his reaction to everything, the Ruby/Amanda exchange in the car, the way it abused melodramatic cliches, the obvious gags, the horribly written dialogue... And then it ends with Ash flippin' the bird with his new hand and everybody joking around. Seriously? This whole episode felt like half-baked fan fiction. Add to that their decision to purposefully keep character development to a minimum and we get to the problems you've been having with Kelly's character. I don't think they actually intended to diminish her character, I just think that's an impression you get from all those other problems.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Its interesting how the show splits opinion so much, here on Deadites and with reviewers. Some have said the running time helps, some say it hurts. Some say the character work is genius, some say its non-existent. With The Host, I've lost a lot of faith in the show, or maybe I just need to adjust my expectations. Its not fair to expect a TV show to be as wild as the trilogy, right? (never mind that in recent years quite a few shows have better writing and acting than cinema with some amazing world-building to boot.) I really missed Raimi this time. The directing in the show has NEVER been bad, but imagine how Raimi could have elevated a slower, possession-cliché-jammed episode like The Host. I applauded AvED for not playing other (better?) shows like Walking Dead and The Strain at their own game, but seeing how unscathed Pablo and Kelly are at the end of The Host, no way. Ash vs Evil Dead writing team, fuck these guys up! lol. I should say, the use of CGI has become better as the show has gone on. Funnily enough, it was Sam Raimi that was the worse offender. He seems to think CGI is the same whether you're playing with a Spider-Man budget or $50. Bummer.

Anyhoo, I'm very glad Bruce picked up the chainsaw again. AvED beats the hell out of My Name is Bruce. To me its not Evil Dead, (and what IS Evil Dead, right? Evil Dead is as different to Evil Dead 2 as ED 2 is to Army...) but more of a gonzo Buffy with F-Bombs. (which sounds entertaining enough, right? I will say the bit in the car with deadite Mr. Roper felt VERY legit...) Evil Dead led the pack in wild, cult cinema for decades, this TV show gets compared to Supernatural. Ash vs Evil Dead is a mixed blessing.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

@Kain - it makes perfect sense for Kelly to do things out of character, but which things is up to the writers, and they went for weed and sex. Which would have made sense if Eligos were a demon of said vices, but they don't go into that much detail. So the end result is the writers deciding to use the female character as "sexy girl in trouble" rather than something more harrowing or interesting. I personally would have liked to see her do some real damage - maybe to herself, in order to keep the others at bay? Then once the demon is exorcised, the characters would have to deal with lasting repercussions, and the overall stakes for the show would be upped.

@Gut - I'll give you that there's definitely deeper issues, but the treatment of characters is pretty up-front. But yes - it's just one one symptom of a much larger issue.

That said, I also think a lot of folks on here have a point - the show is what it is, and if it wants to stay campy and poorly-written, maybe we just need to embrace that. I can't say I'd be sad to see the show turn into a slew of situations where recognizable guest-stars get murdered every episode... it just wouldn't be what I came to see. And that's okay - the show is what it is. I just think a lot of us are in fan-shock over seeing something almost unrecognizable, and a near-total departure from what came before.

...But the writing still needs work.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

@kingrob I think you're overly nitpicking just to nitpick. Weed and sex have been themes of the show since the beginning. Heck weed and sex is why Ash got into this mess in the first place and now trying to fix it. It doesn't matter if Eligos wasn't portrayed as the demon of weed and sex. It would be really cheesy if the writers did that. He was simply using Pablo's ultimate desire for Kelly to trick him into shooting himself with the shotgun. Pretty straight forward. If Kelly injured herself she would be bogging the group down the rest of the season. Ash vs Evil Dead doesn't need Walking Dead style storytelling. Now that show has some seriously awful writers.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Personally, if it doesn't get any better moving forward, I think I'd rather have nothing. I can't just embrace it if I'm not enjoying it. I won't keep tuning in week after week just to get disappointed and frustrated by what they're doing to something I love. I don't have a problem with the show going campy. AoD is campy and cartoony as hell and it's still great, with good directing, good writing and good characters. The problem here is just that it's unoriginal, poorly written and oddly enough, doesn't have much of an Evil Dead vibe to me. It honestly feels like they aren't even trying, and if they don't care about what they're doing, why should I care about watching it? I don't want a poorly written Supernatural/Buffy rip-off with Ash in it. I want Evil Dead/Army of Darkness. I want the show to be solid, consistent and to live up to its potential. Like I said before, I'll keep watching this season and hoping for the best, since I honestly think the final three episodes have a chance of actually delivering what we always wanted from this. I'll even give a chance to a second season, to see what they do with it. But if it doesn't get any better than this, as much as it pains me to give up on Bruce as Ash, that's exactly what I'll do. I'm just gonna go back to the films and ignore the show completely. For me, Ash's story will end when he woke up in post-apocalyptic England after sleeping too long. More power to the people who are enjoying the show. I'm glad you are enjoying it as much as you are and I hope you get to keep enjoying it. Unfortunately, as it stands right now, it isn't what I wanted, it isn't a good substitute to what I wanted and it just isn't good enough. That's just how I feel about it... And it really sucks to feel like this.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Don't wanna get Anyone's hopes up but...

looks like ash will be heading up to the cabin by himself judging from this promo package from virgin media. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIL7blrDs54
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Joem1k said:
Don't wanna get Anyone's hopes up but...

looks like ash will be heading up to the cabin by himself judging from this promo package from virgin media. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIL7blrDs54
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I think it's just the editing in the promo that makes it seem like he's there by himself. I really doubt they would just leave all of the side characters out of the finale. But if it is what it seems to be and he really goes to the cabin all alone, I would lose my s**t. That would be awesome.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Gut0nez said:
Joem1k said:
Don't wanna get Anyone's hopes up but...

looks like ash will be heading up to the cabin by himself judging from this promo package from virgin media. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIL7blrDs54
Click to expand...

I think it's just the editing in the promo that makes it seem like he's there by himself. I really doubt they would just leave all of the side characters out of the finale. But if it is what it seems to be and he really goes to the cabin all alone, I would lose my s**t. That would be awesome.
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I'm thinking this is when they first arrive  at the cabin for the first episode of the cabin ARC,(we got three episodes for eligos, i think we will be getting three for the cabin judging by the last three episode descriptions) and i bet he tell's them to stay back and basically says "i don't want you getting killed" or something along those lines and heads up to the cabin by himself and that would be the episode of him at the cabin and probably a couple scenes of them getting worried about him being up there alone doing it. And i bet for the final two will be the sidekicks and ruby at the cabin with him. Plus if you look closely he has a duffle bag with him full of his weapons and no one is there with him or around him.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

If season 2 is the last season, do you guys think they'll all going to hell?
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Kain said:
If season 2 is the last season, do you guys think they'll all going to hell?
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We'll have to wait and see were they will going for season 2 after the finale, but i bet the dark ones will be playing major roles in the next season.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Kain said:
If season 2 is the last season, do you guys think they'll all going to hell?
Click to expand...

I would like that very much, actually. In my opinion, each "chapter" of the story should end with Ash finding himself in a worse situation than before. By the end of the first film, Ash discovers that he didn't actually get rid of the force and is taken by it. By the end of Evil Dead 2, Ash finds himself in medieval times with no idea how to get back home. That's one of the reasons I like the original ending for AoD a lot better than the theatrical ending. I always saw it as sort of a curse. No matter what Ash does, he's screwed and things just keep getting worse. It would be nice if the show would follow that path and leave the characters with an even bigger problem, possibly in a place that's completely unknown to them. It would be a nice nod to the ending of ED2 and the original ending of AoD. I would actually like it very much if each new season of the show took place in a completely different setting than the previous one (but I know it isn't feasible due to budgetary restraints).
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Joem1k said:
Kain said:
They are returning to the cabin
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F**k yes  :D, glad they saved the best for the last half, plus they picked a good point to cut that clip off cause i have a feeling what ash might say next.
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Yup. That's what I've been waiting for. If there's any chance they could turn this around for me, this is it. I agree they've probably been saving the best for last. I'm very excited about it. All I want is four episodes of classic Evil Dead goodness.
 
RE: Ash vs Evil Dead S01 E05: The Host Discussion [SPOILERS]

Gut0nez said:
Joem1k said:
Kain said:
They are returning to the cabin
Click to expand...

F**k yes  :D, glad they saved the best for the last half, plus they picked a good point to cut that clip off cause i have a feeling what ash might say next.
Click to expand...

Yup. That's what I've been waiting for. If there's any chance they could turn this around for me, this is it. I agree they've probably been saving the best for last. I'm very excited about it. All I want is four episodes of classic Evil Dead goodness.
Click to expand...

Some solo Bruce action is just what the doctor ordered!  :D
 
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