Collection Recommendation: Ash vs Evil Dead

In recommending "Ash vs Evil Dead", I'm in truth promoting the entirety of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" franchise, but I've come to realize that not every Deadite fan (or should I say, foe?) has had access to Starz's revival of the bumptious Ash Williams. (Premium channels don't come cheaply.) Still, with all episodes now queued on affordable Blu-Ray and DVD (Season 3 hit shelves on Aug 21), there's no longer reason to evade one's demon-cleansing calling.

Along with Campbell's eponymous character, the rowdy spree stars Dana DeLorenzo as Kelly Maxwell; Ray Santiago as Pablo Bolivar; Arielle Carver-O'Neill as Ash's daughter, Brandy; and genre heroine, Lucy Lawless as the series' perplexing protagonist, Ruby Knowby. Along for the ride is Lee Majors as Brock, Ash's pop; Ellen Sandweiss as Cheryl, Ash's sis (who costarred in the original flick); and Ted Raimi (Henrietta Knowby from "Dead by Dawn") as school chum, Chet Kaminski. Their accompanying, supporting roster is, however, as top-notch, with each performer, each character pushing the shenanigans to unexpected and outlandish levels: reason enough to have granted the series greater longevity. 

I can only speculate why "Ash vs Evil Dead" didn't go beyond its three jaunts. I doubt it was a matter of low ratings. Considering the dewdrop/SJW climate these days (i.e., the way adolescents are quick to condemn Bond, Deadpool, Rambo and Tarzan), I can only presume that "Ash vs Evil Dead" triggered more than a few negative responses from those sanctimonious pissants who probably caught (at most) preview clips of the show.

This is a damn shame, since "Ash vs Evil Dead" does hold mass appeal for a significant part of the population. It's an everyman (mis)adventure, with Ash representing those of us who (for better or worse) aren't afraid to slap a little Clubman on our cheeks, engage in a little womanizing...and then plunge full, boomstickin' force into some big, Necronomicon-spawned job. 

And boy, did those demonized outings ever get super-gory, eclipsing even the theatrical films' carnage count. One could argue that these half-hour Grand Guignol segments became exaggerated to the point of moralistic self-parody, but then that would also place them on a par with the Brothers Grimm and EC's gruesome fables. Yep, there's always a life lesson to be disinterred from Ash's exploits (which sometimes graze time-travel and alternate-reality fringes), but that our hero tries at all costs to do what's right is what matters. (He also cares about his friends, and because of his forthright nature, they care about him. Sweet...)

Though Campbell claims he won't play Ash again, his recent television return is destined to become as much a classic as the movies that inspired it. Grab this three-season frolic today (or wait for that inevitable, right-around-the-bend "complete series" release). "Ash vs Evil Dead" is the sort of gut-gougin' cheer that'll make one feel like a regular, Deadite fightin' champ, regardless of one's fruitless, drab or politically correct entrapment.