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"Bait" is the second episode of the first season of Ash vs Evil Dead, and the second overall episode in the series. It was directed by Michael J. Bassett and written by Dominic Dierkes. It premiered on STARZ on November 7, 2015

Plot Synopsis[]

Having successfully taken down the Deadite Vivian inside the trailer, Kelly Maxwell tells Ash Williams that maybe they should go investigate her mother's sudden return at the Maxwell homestead, believing her father to be in danger. Despite Kelly and Pablo's pleading, Ash is adamant that he needs to take the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis to someone who can find and translate an incantation to lock evil back up as soon as possible. Williams ventures outside to hook-up his trailer to his Oldsmobile, noticing a shift in the night air, though completely unaware that he is being observed by his former ValueStop boss, Mr. Roper (now turned into a Deadite). As Roper slowly crawls towards Ash, Kelly steals Pablo's motorcycle and takes off for her family's house. When Ash asks Pablo what's going on, Pablo tells him that Kelly took the Necronomicon, believing it might help her with whatever is going on.

Ash and Pablo give chase in the Oldsmobile, and begin to discuss tips for fighting the Deadites, but as Ash adjusts the rear-view mirror, the Deadite Mr. Roper suddenly jumps up from the back seat and grabs Ash. Pablo grabs the steering wheel as the Delta begins to swerve all over the narrow road. While Ash fends off Roper, Pablo picks up an empty beer bottle from the floor of the car and smacks his possessed boss in the face, though it does nothing but irritate Roper. Pablo takes the steering wheel again as Ash reaches down and grabs the broken beer bottle, and begins to repeatedly stab Roper in the throat. The Delta comes to a screeching halt on the road, and Roper tells Ash that he's a "sad old failure" who will never defeat evil. Ash tells him "thanks for the head's up", and sticks Roper's head out the Oldmobile's window and directly into the path of an oncoming car, decapitating the Deadite. With Roper dealt with, the two wipe the blood off their faces as they continue to drive into the night.

Back at the Mossy Haven Trailer Park, Amanda Fisher examines the site where Ash Williams had set up his trailer. While talking with Ash's neighbors, Amanda notices a severed arm in the leaves piled up on the ground, pointing to a business card for a shop called Books From Beyond.

The Oldsmobile pulls up to the Maxwell home, where Ash and Pablo devise their plan of attack once they've entered the house, where Ash says he'll do most of the fighting, while Pablo can defend himself with the broken beer bottle. Hyped up and ready to fight, the two barge into the house with shotgun and chainsaw at the ready... only to find the seemingly normal Maxwell family alive and well sitting in their den. The Maxwells are startled by the two bloody men barging into their home, but Kelly explains that she knows them from work. Kelly explains to them that her mother Suzy claims to have been living in a homeless shelter in Ohio, having lost her memory in the car-crash that "killed" her, and came home right away upon gaining her memories back. Suzy offers for Pablo and Ash to stay for dinner, though Ash demands to know where the Ex-Mortis is. Pablo is quick to respond that they'd love to stay for dinner, and go back out to Ash's trailer to clean themselves up.

Meanwhile at the trailer park, a police sketch artist finishes a drawing of Ash using information gathered from his former neighbors. As Amanda goes to examine the sketch, she's chastised by Lieutenant Boyle for being at this crime scene, and kindly asks her to leave, though she tries to explain she thinks there might be some connection between this scene and the incident that got her partner Carson killed.

Inside Ash's trailer, Pablo confesses that he hid the Necronomicon, figuring that Ash wouldn't help Kelly unless he thought she had it. Though Ash is irritated for a moment, he's quick to change the subject back to Suzy Maxwell's story about having amnesia, and believes her to be using Kelly as bait to catch him. Pablo still believes Kelly's parents to be perfectly normal, and asks Ash to be polite so he can make a good impression with them.

With dinner ready, Ash and Pablo take a seat at the kitchen table, with Kelly telling Pablo that she's happy to have her mom back. As the group begins to eat, Ash begins to interrogate Suzy with a series of rapid-fire questions. Kelly grows irritated with Ash's questioning, and when Suzy asks if Ash has any more question, he says "just one more", and punches Suzy directly in the face, knocking her out of her chair and onto the floor. Suzy rises from the ground, finally revealing her true nature as a Deadite. When her husband tries to approach her, Suzy slams Mr. Maxwell's eye directly onto a fork on the table, causing Kelly to scream in horror. Ash grabs his chainsaw and Boomstick and fires several shots as Suzy dashes through the kitchen and crawls along the walls. As Ash goes to reload, both Suzy and Kelly have seemingly disappeared.

Kelly runs up to the safety of her old bedroom, where she finds her mother already inside and singing a nursery rhyme. Emerging from the shadows, Suzy appears human once more, and begins to weep when Kelly tells her that she killed her husband. Suzy steps closer to Kelly, saying that she can help her beat this evil inside her. Ash and Pablo charge into the room, and Kelly begs them not to hurt her mom. Suzy embraces her daughter and tells her that there was no car accident, that she had driven off the bridge on purpose to get away from her family. Ash takes a swing at the Deadite Suzy with his chainsaw, only to get the blade stuck in the wall. With Ash stuck, Pablo runs up behind the Deadite and stabs Suzy in the head with a kitchen knife. This distraction gives Ash enough time to get his chainsaw started again, just as Suzy removes the knife from her skull and steps closer to the cornered Kelly and Pablo. After stabbing her in the stomach with his saw, Ash grabs Suzy by the head and decapitates her, sending blood and gore onto the horrified Pablo and Kelly.

As the sun rises on a new day, Ash puts the finishing touches on the graves of Kelly's parents in the front yard of their home. Kelly stands at the graves, stating that she hates the evil forces which had made her think her mom was alive and killed her dad. Pablo tells Ash that he isn't sorry that he tricked Ash into coming to the house, and Ash responds that he isn't mad and that sometimes "the whale needs his bait fish to remind him of where he is in the ocean." Pablo and Ash invite Kelly to join them on their mission to stop evil once and for all, and Kelly accepts their offer, not knowing what else she would want to do. After letting Kelly have a moment alone with her parents, the trio get into the Oldsmobile and drive off to the bookstore.

Meanwhile, Amanda Fisher, holding the business card she found at the trailer park, steps inside Books From Beyond...

Cast[]

Starring

Guest Starring

Gallery[]

Soundtrack[]

Trivia[]

  • References to The Evil Dead:
    • Ash marks the graves with wooden crosses identical to the ones made by Scotty and him to mark Shelly and Linda's graves outside the cabin in The Evil Dead.
  • References to Evil Dead II:
    • The Deadite Suzy is heard singing "Hush, Little Baby" while inside Kelly's bedroom. The lullaby was previously heard in Evil Dead II, when the Deadite Henrietta Knowby was trying to convince Annie Knowby to release her from the cellar.
  • References to Army of Darkness:
    • When Ash and Pablo are discussing their plan of attack upon arriving at the Maxwell homestead, Ash says to "let the Boomstick do the talking." Ash gave his shotgun the nickname of "the Boomstick" in Army of Darkness.
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