Ash vs Evil Dead S03E08: Rifting Apart Discussion [SPOILERS]

[waifugenerator]

Evil Ruby's (disregarding S2) characterization has been all over the place in general. In S1, she had human qualities despite being evil. I saw her more as a neutral party. S3 paints her as a completely amoral demoness. Neither are bad and I think she remains an interesting and badass figure throughout, but it's inconsistent

 

[DyD]

Evil Ruby's (disregarding S2) characterization has been all over the place in general. In S1, she had human qualities despite being evil. I saw her more as a neutral party. S3 paints her as a completely amoral demoness. Neither are bad and I think she remains an interesting and badass figure throughout, but it's inconsistent

The messy characterization is the one thing that really gets in the way of making her the compelling villain they want her to be. It's almost as if she's been 4 completely different characters since the show started and we still don't know exactly who she is, what she is, where she came from, what she wants or why she wants whatever it is that she wants. We only got superficial, slightly contradictory hints and I'm honestly worried the show will end and we still won't get any definitive, satisfying answers.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

I believe she tells them off-screen when they went hiking back to the cabin in s1, pablo mentions to ash very quickly when they come back. "She's a knowby!"

She tells them her name after Pablo and Kelly catch up with Ash at the cabin and they all meet up, I think, before Ash chops up Amanda.

To make it even more confusing, THIS Ruby didn't actually pose as a Knowby to chase Ash around for years.

They actually reestablished that this version of Ruby's been doing that in episode 5, even though we knew that fact and none of it's really informed her character.

(I really wish brandy's character came in sooner rather then later, but what can you do at this point. But imagine what the show would've been like to have had this character at the beginning of this show with pablo and kelly, and just had it built around those 4 characters with the mythology for those first two seasons and better characterization for ruby. That would've been interesting to watch and see play out.)

This is going to be my lamentation forever, especially because there was so much free plot real estate that could've been developed using this idea that got wasted with Linda B/the sheriff/Lacey last season. A lot of this was probably due to Craig's plan to make the kid Kelly and put Linda B in the role that the KOS is filling.

And it's SO EASY to fix the show in hindsight with these characters on deck. Like: Have Ash as an average workaday schmoe, happy with his lot in life, still living with his scars (he dates around, but keeps the memory of Linda paramount in his mind) working at S-Mart/Value Stop with Kelly and Pablo. He gets a legal notice, and it turns out the daughter he's been supporting from a distance (poorly; maybe he sees her once a year, maybe his financial support means he can only give his ex a couple of hundred a month) needs a guardian, because his ex-wife's died tragically/suddenly of an illness. He drives back to his hometown and finds Brandy in the care of Ruby, who's working undercover for the state and has already established a rappaport with Brandy. Ash takes Brandy home with him (Maybe a freshly-retired Brock arrives determined to look after the kid because he thinks his son'd be a lousy dad) but she has a bad time fitting in and adjusting. Determined to prove her coolness to her peers, she finds the Nec among Ash's things and reads a passage out loud, awakening the evil. Ash and Brandy flee in the motor home, dragging along Pablo (who's been denying his brujo heritage in an attempt at Americanizing himself) and Kelly (who, heck, let's go with it, has been training with the Knights of Sumeria since she was a teenager because her parents died. She thought they were just doomsday preppers!) with Ruby in pursuit because she doesn't want Ash to hurt Brandy the way he hurt/killed her sister (if you want her to be good) or because she needs Brandy to dethrone Ash and rule the world (if you want her to be bad). Oh well.

ETA: apparently Episode 8 was writer Bryan Hill's first attempt at writing for a series and he's been very grateful for the positive reviews this has gotten on Twitter. I thought that was nice!

 

[Joem1k]

@MaidOfKandar
Well hey, at least we can say we got a proper and well executed papa ash story line then nothing at all, even if it was for only one season,arielle and bruce have knocked it out of the park with the material given to them. Damn shame they didn't jump on this story line sooner rather then later.

I knew bryan hill would do a splendid job, i read some of his work he did on postal and it was pretty good. Plus his been a fan of the franchise for a long time so i knew he would fit in nicely with the new writers, very humble writer overall, good to hear his been getting a positive response to his episode.

 

[Guy]

They actually reestablished that this version of Ruby's been doing that in episode 5, even though we knew that fact and none of it's really informed her character.

Wait, I remember Ash finding the photos and stating that she's been following him from a distance, but they never re-established that she was posing as a Knowby did they?

The original Ruby used that name whilst trying to find Ash after the (original) cabin visit, but never found him until Season 1. This new Ruby knew Ash since the second season time travel to the eighties and has been watching him from a distance for a few years.

...right?

 

[Joem1k]

@Guy
Sure, we'll go with that and i wouldn't say a few years, more like a decade of stalking him.

At this point the mere thought of discussing the timeline just gives me a migraine.

 

[DyD]

The original Ruby used that name whilst trying to find Ash after the (original) cabin visit, but never found him until Season 1. This new Ruby knew Ash since the second season time travel to the eighties and has been watching him from a distance for a few years.

That makes me think about something that I never really thought about until now... Why, exactly, was original Ruby posing as a Knowby? What did that accomplish? How did it help her get what she wanted? How did it help her find Ash? What was the advantage in posing as a Knowby? Maybe it helped her in getting the Kandarian dagger back (just a theory of mine), but it makes no sense whatsoever for Ruby to continue "disguising" herself as a Knowby while tracking Ash. It would only draw more attention to her. After she got whatever she needed from the Knowby estate or whatever (that's truly the only reason I can come up with for her even taking on the name in the first place), it would probably be a lot smarter to just use a common fake name and actually keep changing that name every once in a while. Also, what did all of that amount to in the actual narrative of the show? She tells the characters herself that she's a Knowby. God knows why, since that makes no difference to any of them or to the story and it doesn't help her advance her plan in any way. She then reveals herself to be only posing as a Knowby. Again, that other reveal still makes no difference to any of the characters or alters the course of the story in any way. Her whole "I was only pretending to be a Knowby, mwah-ha-ha-ha!" schtick didn't actually lead to anything. There wasn't any point to it. That's another thing that makes me believe the character was meant to be an actual second Knowby sibling when the show started and that they only came up with the "only posing as a Knowby" shenanigans as an afterthought to explain the inconsistencies away when they decided to completely reboot the character as something else halfway through the season.

 

[Joem1k]

Spoiler

I can't wait for her character to be out of the picture at this point, i hope whatever happens the dark ones give her a very special send off to the pits.

 

[Sutter Cane]

She tells them her name after Pablo and Kelly catch up with Ash at the cabin and they all meet up, I think, before Ash chops up Amanda.



They actually reestablished that this version of Ruby's been doing that in episode 5, even though we knew that fact and none of it's really informed her character.



This is going to be my lamentation forever, especially because there was so much free plot real estate that could've been developed using this idea that got wasted with Linda B/the sheriff/Lacey last season. A lot of this was probably due to Craig's plan to make the kid Kelly and put Linda B in the role that the KOS is filling.

And it's SO EASY to fix the show in hindsight with these characters on deck. Like: Have Ash as an average workaday schmoe, happy with his lot in life, still living with his scars (he dates around, but keeps the memory of Linda paramount in his mind) working at S-Mart/Value Stop with Kelly and Pablo. He gets a legal notice, and it turns out the daughter he's been supporting from a distance (poorly; maybe he sees her once a year, maybe his financial support means he can only give his ex a couple of hundred a month) needs a guardian, because his ex-wife's died tragically/suddenly of an illness. He drives back to his hometown and finds Brandy in the care of Ruby, who's working undercover for the state and has already established a rappaport with Brandy. Ash takes Brandy home with him (Maybe a freshly-retired Brock arrives determined to look after the kid because he thinks his son'd be a lousy dad) but she has a bad time fitting in and adjusting. Determined to prove her coolness to her peers, she finds the Nec among Ash's things and reads a passage out loud, awakening the evil. Ash and Brandy flee in the motor home, dragging along Pablo (who's been denying his brujo heritage in an attempt at Americanizing himself) and Kelly (who, heck, let's go with it, has been training with the Knights of Sumeria since she was a teenager because her parents died. She thought they were just doomsday preppers!) with Ruby in pursuit because she doesn't want Ash to hurt Brandy the way he hurt/killed her sister (if you want her to be good) or because she needs Brandy to dethrone Ash and rule the world (if you want her to be bad). Oh well.

ETA: apparently Episode 8 was writer Bryan Hill's first attempt at writing for a series and he's been very grateful for the positive reviews this has gotten on Twitter. I thought that was nice!

A lot of the goods idea they bring in Season 3 should have been done in S2. Even S1. The whole KoS should have been hints somewhere in Season 1. I mean it could have been interesting to see Ruby chasing Ash, then the KoS chasing Ruby. then Ash eventually looking for the KoS. This could had lead to some interesting hunt one after the other.

As i already said in a previous post, The KoS could have bring a lot more mythology and explanation very easily. Because they have the knowledge. This could have help the series a lot. The proof is the few things they bring in S3 as information was gold.

I was against the daughter idea but the actress who play Brandy is great. They should have bring her earlier in the series.

Despite many things I won't bring back on the table. So far, Mark did a better job than Craig on Many level, bringing more mythology and reference on previous chapters. Also a more human interaction between characters. Many of you know my position on the series right now, but this at least, the positive things I can say about it.

If one spin off of Evil Dead could see the light of day. I definitively would like to see a Knights of the Sumerian series.

 

[MaidOfKandar]

Well hey, at least we can say we got a proper and well executed papa ash story line then nothing at all, even if it was for only one season,arielle and bruce have knocked it out of the park with the material given to them. Damn shame they didn't jump on this story line sooner rather then later.

Ugh, same.

I'm pretty sure they made her a Knowby in an attempt to get fandom excited about the lore and into her character. The problem is the constant pursuit of new, exciting twists (and likely backstage friction with Craig) resulted in her developing in S2 and then the undo button being pressed one more time.

Joe is right, they established that Ruby had been stalking Ash from a distance at least since Brandy was conceived, which was sometime in the 2000s or so if she's supposed to be sixteen/seventeen now.

The original Ruby used that name whilst trying to find Ash after the (original) cabin visit, but never found him until Season 1. This new Ruby knew Ash since the second season time travel to the eighties and has been watching him from a distance for a few years.

...right?

She mentions in season 1 that she's always been a couple of steps behind him, and there were hints she'd been watching him. Basically, rebooting Ruby this way made everything:

 

[Guy]

That makes me think about something that I never really thought about until now... Why, exactly, was original Ruby posing as a Knowby? What did that accomplish? How did it help her get what she wanted? How did it help her find Ash? What was the advantage in posing as a Knowby? Maybe it helped her in getting the Kandarian dagger back (just a theory of mine), but it makes no sense whatsoever for Ruby to continue "disguising" herself as a Knowby while tracking Ash. It would only draw more attention to her. After she got whatever she needed from the Knowby estate or whatever (that's truly the only reason I can come up with for her even taking on the name in the first place), it would probably be a lot smarter to just use a common fake name and actually keep changing that name every once in a while. Also, what did all of that amount to in the actual narrative of the show? She tells the characters herself that she's a Knowby. God knows why, since that makes no difference to any of them or to the story and it doesn't help her advance her plan in any way. She then reveals herself to be only posing as a Knowby. Again, that other reveal still makes no difference to any of the characters or alters the course of the story in any way. Her whole "I was only pretending to be a Knowby, mwah-ha-ha-ha!" schtick didn't actually lead to anything. There wasn't any point to it. That's another thing that makes me believe the character was meant to be an actual second Knowby sibling when the show started and that they only came up with the "only posing as a Knowby" shenanigans as an afterthought to explain the inconsistencies away when they decided to completely reboot the character as something else halfway through the season.

This was my major issue with Ruby from the get-go. I said a lot of this in Season 1 after the 'reveal'.

Is she a Knowby? Were the Knowby's always linked to the book? Were they ancestors of Ruby and that's why THEY were the people to find it? Was she just posing as a Knowby so that she could get information from the police, etc?

...oh...we're just never bringing that up again then...oh OK.

 

[Muzzlehatch]

That makes me think about something that I never really thought about until now... Why, exactly, was original Ruby posing as a Knowby? What did that accomplish? How did it help her get what she wanted? How did it help her find Ash? What was the advantage in posing as a Knowby? Maybe it helped her in getting the Kandarian dagger back (just a theory of mine), but it makes no sense whatsoever for Ruby to continue "disguising" herself as a Knowby while tracking Ash. It would only draw more attention to her. After she got whatever she needed from the Knowby estate or whatever (that's truly the only reason I can come up with for her even taking on the name in the first place), it would probably be a lot smarter to just use a common fake name and actually keep changing that name every once in a while. Also, what did all of that amount to in the actual narrative of the show? She tells the characters herself that she's a Knowby. God knows why, since that makes no difference to any of them or to the story and it doesn't help her advance her plan in any way. She then reveals herself to be only posing as a Knowby. Again, that other reveal still makes no difference to any of the characters or alters the course of the story in any way. Her whole "I was only pretending to be a Knowby, mwah-ha-ha-ha!" schtick didn't actually lead to anything. There wasn't any point to it. That's another thing that makes me believe the character was meant to be an actual second Knowby sibling when the show started and that they only came up with the "only posing as a Knowby" shenanigans as an afterthought to explain the inconsistencies away when they decided to completely reboot the character as something else halfway through the season.

The only plot explanation could be that she used the Knowby identity to legitimize her pursuit of Ash in front of Amanda. But in reality of course everything you say is right. The revelation was simply a very very forced plot twist. And personally I found the mortal Ruby Knowby who somehow accomplished to become even more competent and elegant in dealing with demons than Ash much more interesting than this vague godmother of demons stuff. Especially because in wanting revenge for her dead Family she would have a simpler, but much clearer motivation. With a real Knowby family member the show could also expand in a more interesting way on the background of Prof. Knowby, his and Annie's work and the whole mythology.

 

[DyD]

And personally I found the mortal Ruby Knowby who somehow accomplished to become even more competent and elegant in dealing with demons than Ash much more interesting than this vague godmother of demons stuff. Especially because in wanting revenge for her dead Family she would have a simpler, but much clearer motivation. With a real Knowby family member the show could also expand in a more interesting way on the background of Prof. Knowby, his and Annie's work and the whole mythology.

I'm 100% with you on that.

 

[DeathLivesAgain]

Did anyone notice that this episode was a different aspect ratio? Wider (2.35:1) instead of the usual 1.85:1. Or did I have an unusual copy?