A spoiler warning for those who have yet to watch the episode, because this story is extra groovy.

Forget Evil Dead 4, this is even better. The second season of Starz’s “Ash vs Evil Dead” just rewarded us for all of our patience and has turned into a full blown prequel to Sam Raimi’s 1981 The Evil Dead and 1987’s Evil Dead II. Yes, the way you watch those movies will be forever changed after viewing tonight’s episode of “Ash vs Evil Dead”, which sets the stage for next Sunday’s season finale.

The promotional trailer for tonight episode, “Home Again”, revealed that Ash would be time traveling to stop himself from reading from the Necronomicon, but I was not expecting what would come next – and it’s the most fulfilling Evil Dead related story since Army of Darkness in 1992. Speaking of…

Before “Ash vs Evil Dead” turns into a prequel to The Evil Dead, there’s a delicious reference to Army of Darkness, which brings the series full circle and cements it in-canon. The references continue as this episode starts off as a heavy-handed homage to the slapstick comedy sequel, which isn’t allowed to be directly referenced (because of rights issues). What happens is that Ash again becomes possessed by a Deadite. Here, he teases the audience by threatening to lop off his leg (holy shit), but instead sucks out the demon venom, like with a snake bite. The madness continues when he realizes there’s a little demon brewing inside him, like in the insane Army of Darkness sequence with tiny Ashs playing a game of “Gulliver’s Travels” with the chainsaw-handed antihero. The nods continue as Ash swallows a tin of cinnamon, ingests a vile of hot sauce, and then helps it down with a heaping gulp of hot water. Out pops a demon that he smashes with a pan, but not before it can tell Ash to go fuck himself.

Here’s an exclusive online look!

This is when shit hits the fan, though, as Ash is forced back into the cellar that he knows only causes him pain. Deep in the cellar is the big reveal… Henrietta Knowby, the wife of Prof. Raymond Knowby, who brought the Necronomicon to the cabin, and the mother of Annie and (allegedly) Ruby (source). She’s chained to the wall and claims Raymond has gone crazy. Ash doesn’t believe her, joking that he’s onto the Deadite tricks. Before they can finish, they’re interrupted as Raymond returns to the cabin with a young girl, who is coming to help him decipher the Necronomicon. In the cellar, he traps her, forcing Ash to let Henrietta out of the shackles. This is when Raymond reveals his plan, to get the demon out of Henrietta and into this girl. Yes, Ash just fucked up again and hilarity ensues.

Ending on a cliffhanger (check out our exclusive clip below!), this sets the stage for the finale. But even if this were the end of Season 2 I would feel like I got everything I’ve ever dreamed of from it. While Season 1 felt like it was trying to find an identity, Season 2 has zeroed in on it and pushed it to the extreme. There’s fan service and then there’s this, a set up that could leave us Evil Dead fans drooling in ecstasy.

What did you guys think?!