Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash. #timetofrysomeotherfish https://t.co/Di1aeBV0dl
— Bruce Campbell (@GroovyBruce) April 23, 2018
“Big props to fans for the effort, but I’m retired as Ash.” [Bruce Campbell on Twitter, 23th April 2018].
This message on the social networking site came in the wake of a wave of fan activity as people tried – and, it seems, failed – to convince the TV channel Starz not to cancel the Ash vs. Evil Dead series. Starz have decided to call it a day, citing poor viewing figures as the reason the show has to go. ‘Poor viewing figures’ is of course a relative term; then again, maybe I’m in a bubble here, because everyone I’ve ever heard from loved the show and watched it religiously. Regardless, Series Three is where we’re going to be leaving it, and off the back of Starz’s decision, the star of the show has confirmed that he’s now done with his most famous role for good.
Yes, this is disappointing, and yes, I feel that there are still more ideas that the Raimi brothers could have added in subsequent series, but perhaps we’re looking at it the wrong way. We might do best to see the show as an unexpected bonus. Fans of Ash vs. Evil Dead are justifiably sad that we won’t be seeing more from this extension of the ED universe, but a few short years ago, we didn’t have any idea we’d really ever see Ash taking on the Deadites in his own inimitable way again anyway.
Rumours of an Evil Dead IV have been turning up reliably every few years, but nothing concrete has ever really come along to substantiate these. Personally, I feel like it was an either/or thing with the Evil Dead remake in 2013 – and we ended up with the remake, which aside from that (rather head-scratching) Bruce Campbell cameo after the end credits, moved things in a different direction, even though it ostensibly used the same mythology. Gone was the splatstick and the one-liners which we’d left off with after Evil Dead III; we were back with an altogether grislier spin which dispensed with the comedy altogether. If this was to be our last encounter with the Necronomicon, then we’d be ending on a very different note to what we’d come to expect from Raimi and Campbell – which sat a little awkwardly with many people, myself included.
And then, seemingly out of the blue, years after the remake had come and gone, Ash was back – and back as a character, not a cameo. It was a boon. The TV show, as you might expect given the names behind it, picks up very much in the vein of Army of Darkness, and feels like an organic extension of the Evil Dead universe which is clearly at ease with itself, knowing just where to joke and where to (literally) douse the camera in blood. In effect, it’s the perfect cocktail of elements for long-term fans of the films, who have long appreciated the progression from gory, cartoonish violence in the original film to black comedy in the third. You can also see a clear line of descent from the underappreciated 2007 film My Name is Bruce, perhaps even more clearly given the ways some fans demand Campbell plays Williams and how, when it comes down to it, he has fun obliging – well, up until a point, that is. But the apparent ease and enjoyment Campbell communicates on screen, when playing a role which relates to Evil Dead, has definitely translated successfully to the small screen.
All of this helps the show to be so much damn fun to watch, but the writing itself has added a wealth of zany, but (within a world where a whole host of demonic entities shred their way into smalltown USA) plausible extensions to the 1981 screenplay. The Necronomicon is back – read from at the start of Series One in the ultimate in bad drunk decision-making – but there’s far more. Raimi adds plot elements which relate to the nature of whatever-there-is outside the limits of our world, with new demonic characters to rock the boat. Yes, there are a thousand nods to the films (hello, Linda!) but there’s more than enough new material here. Lucy Lawless as Ruby deserves a special mention for bringing the camp kick-ass she perfected in her Xena days into a world drenched with black magic and flailing innards, and she works as a great foil to Ash and his friends throughout the series. As for his friends, I think Pablo (Ray Santiago) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo) are anything but mere sidekicks, with each of them following their own path and, as things go on, getting their own plotlines too – all of which flesh out the characterisation of the show to just the right degree, never too emotional, nor two-dimensional. You feel you know these people, and you are rooting for them as they open portals and hack off Deadite heads. There isn’t a pointless character or scene written, the plot itself knows just when and how often to throw in the batshit crazy, and the jokes all land effortlessly. In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a horror spin-off more than this one. I definitely haven’t ever laughed more: the episode where Ash gets himself wedged into a man’s torso in the local morgue had me on the floor, hurt my ribs and made me chuckle for days afterwards. I’m not exaggerating. It really hurt.
So with all of that said, how come I’m not howling with indignation at the show’s cancellation? Well, part of me is, absolutely, as the tyranny of ‘viewing figures’ is only a limited measure of how a show is doing, really, if you could only wait and see. Movies which sink at the Box Office often rejuvenate on DVD and merchandise sales. But it seems pretty impossible that my indignation here would achieve anything, and now that Bruce himself has closed the door, we would be better off accepting that we’re done here. And, whilst I have confidence in Sam and Ivan Raimi – alongside the rest of the talented writers they’ve worked with on the show – you never know what market forces and other factors can throw at you; a potential universe where we’re on Series Ten and the well is running dry sounds pretty unappealing, even if not quite ‘Dark Ones walking the earth’ unappealing. The worst case scenario is a horror version of The Big Bang Theory, which at least we’re definitely being spared.
I can say, hand on heart, that in the three seasons of Ash vs. Evil Dead I have never been bored, nor felt that it was all getting too tried-and-tested. Each of the series I could happily watch over, which I will be doing, as I’m sure I will have missed one brilliant little detail or a rejoinder here and there. This may be of small consolation to the actors and writers who are now out of a job, sure, but I really hope that the show’s reputation propels them on to something else, and very soon.
Plus, you know, Ash Williams isn’t really going anywhere. Three classic films over nearly four decades, three great TV series, and a wealth of fan lit and spin-offs later, he’s going to remain one of horror’s favourite everyday guys forever. We love him because he’s normal, he’s fallible, he makes stupid decisions, but he’s also brave-to-the-point-of-stupider, fearless and funny. He has honour, he has integrity, and he’s aware of his own flaws, as well as in the next moment being dementedly self-confident. Ash is so well-loved because he’s the kind of guy you’d want to be around if the world ended. And, as Ash vs. Evil Dead has boosted that appeal in all sorts of expected and unexpected ways, we owe it a lot of credit and a big thanks too, even if it’s not sticking around as long as we’d like.