"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.
Plot
Pablo and Ash help Kelly who is worried about a strange call from her father and the sudden return of her lost mother, who was feared dead months ago. Ash remains suspicious of the mother believing she's a Deadite impostor. Meanwhile Amanda follows leads that Ash is behind the recent deaths and strange happenings around town and decides to track him down. Ash and Pablo arrive at Kelly's father's house to find Kelly's mother acting normal. However, after being provoked at the dinner table by Ash, Kelly's mother reveals herself as a Deadite and kills Kelly's father with a fork. After a madcap fight between her and Ash, the Deadite tries to convince Kelly that she's fine now, but shows herself again and Ash kills her. After burying the two bodies, Kelly agrees to accompany Ash and Pablo and the three drive away.
Summary
Ash looks down at the severed head of his neighbor Vivian, and puts away his chainsaw. Kelly figures that if what her father saw is a Deadite then he's in danger, and Ash says that they have to focus on getting the Necronomicon translated and seal the Deadites away again. Pablo suggests that they stop at Kelly's place on the way to the bookstore, but Ash says that he has to focus on saving the world. He goes outside to duct-tape the bullet holes and prepare to drive off. A Deadite possessed Mr. Roper is lurking in the shadows, but retreats when Kelly drives off on Pablo's motorcycle. Pablo comes out and tells Ash that Kelly took the Necronomicon with her. He offers to take Ash to Kelly's dad's place, and Ash agrees.
As Ash and Pablo drive to the house, Ash drinks another beer and figures that he'll have to decapitate Kelly's possessed mother Suzy. He assures Pablo that he did fine in his first fight against a Deadite, just as Roper leaps over the back seat. The car swings back and forth on the road, and Ash wrestles with Roper while Pablo tries to steer. Pablo finally stabs Roper in the head with a beer bottle, but the Deadite is unaffected. It slams Pablo into the dashboard, and Ash grabs the broken beer bottle and stabs it into Roper's neck repeatedly. Pablo brakes the car to a halt, and Ash shoves the Deadite's head out the window so a passing car can decapitate it. The two men keep driving and Pablo admits that he thinks Ash is cool. Ash gives him a towelette to wipe the blood off with.
Elsewhere Amanda hears a report of shots fired at the trailer park and goes to investigate. Ash's neighbors Phil and June come over and admit that they're not sure what Ash's name was, but he was pretty much of an asshole. Amanda sees Vivian's severed hand pointing to a card for the bookstore Books From Beyond. June mentions that one of the whores that Ash brought back had a tattoo on her wrist, and they chanted weird stuff. Amanda recognizes the description as matching the Deadite girl she and Carson fought.
Ash and Pablo arrive at the Maxwell house, and the nearby windmill speeds up ominously despite the lack of wind. Ash says that they'll fight their way in, grab the Necronomicon, and get out. They psych themselves up and charge into the house... and find Kelly chatting with Suzy and her father. Pablo explains that they're friends from work. Ash explains why they're covered in blood, they hit a deer, and it exploded. Kelly talks to them privately and explains that her mother is alive after all, and she has been living in a homeless shelter with a case of amnesia since the accident. Ash doesn't believe it and asks for the Necronomicon back.
Kelly's parents come over and Kelly does the introductions. She tries to get rid of Ash and Pablo, but Suzy insists on having them stay for dinner. Ash demands the book and Pablo hastily says that they'll stay for dinner and takes Ash to the trailer to clean up.
At the trailer park, Lieutenant Boyle is working with a sketch artist to get a picture of Ash. Amanda comes over and takes a look at the picture, and wonders if he's the one behind everything that she's experienced. Boyle comes over and reminds her that she's on leave pending an investigation into Carson's death, Amanda agrees to leave and walks away.
At the Maxwell house, Pablo finally tells Ash that he lied to him. Kelly didn't take the Necronomicon like he said, he just wanted Ash to come with him to Kelly's house. Pablo figures no harm, no foul, and at least they're getting a free meal. Ash insists that Suzy and her husband are Deadites, and warns that the Deadites can disguise themselves as humans, take someone by surprise, and kill them. He figures that the Deadites are using Kelly as bait to lure him in. Pablo isn't convinced and wants to impress Kelly, so asks Ash to stay polite.
Inside, everyone sits down to dinner and Suzy serves rare roast beef. Ash insists on bringing his shotgun to the dinner table while his chainsaw sits nearby. He spars verbally with Suzy, asking what her plans are now that she's back. Her stomach grumbles and blood from the roast beef drips from her mouth, but no one else notices. Ash finally calls Suzy out, and Kelly complains that he's ruining her mom time. Pablo insists that she is right and Ash is wrong, but Ash punches Suzy in the face. While Kelly punches Ash, Suzy gets to her feet with the Deadite in full control. When her husband reaches out to her, the Deadite stabs him in the eye with a fork and tosses him away.
Ash grabs his shotgun and chainsaw, and the Deadite leaps out of the way and crawls across the ceiling. When he stops to reload, the Deadite throws the table at him and ducks out in the confusion. The two men realize that Kelly is also gone.
Kelly runs to her room and finds Suzy there, chanting a nursery rhyme. Suzy begs her daughter to help her and breaks into tears, and says that she just blacked out. She asks Kelly to help her beat the Deadite possession, just as Ash and Pablo break in. Kelly insists that they can save Suzy, but Ash warns that it's too late. Suzy hugs Kelly and the Deadite reveals itself, saying that Suzy killed herself to get away from her daughter.
The Deadite throws Kelly across the room, and Ash attacks it. He manages to embed his chainsaw in the wall, and the Deadite tries to force his shotgun barrel up under his chin. Ash yanks it away just in time and throws it to the floor, and Pablo stabs it in the head with a butcher's knife from the kitchen. It advances on him, yanking the knife out of its skull. Ash gets his chainsaw going, pulls it out of the wall, and rams it into the Deadite's chest. Once it goes down, he decapitates it as blood flies everywhere.
The next day, Ash gives the Jewish couple a Christian burial. Kelly vows revenge on the evil that killed her parents and tortured her, and Ash admits that Pablo was right to trick him into coming because he needed a reminder of his place in the universe. Pablo asks Kelly to come with them to take the fight to the Deadites, and she agrees. As they drive away, the windmill spins ominously.
Meanwhile Amanda arrives at Books From Beyond and goes inside.
Cast
|
Starring
|
Guest starring
|
Gallery
Still photography
Videos
Trivia
- When Kelly and Suzy Maxwell are in Kelly's bedroom, Deadite Suzy sings the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby", the same lullaby that Deadite Henrietta Knowby sang to her daughter Annie Knowby in Evil Dead II. Annie also sang the lullaby later in Evil Dead II to distract her Deadite mother while Ash cut her up.
- At the beginning of the episode, Ash mentions having to "Duct-tape some big-ass bullet holes" before he heads out. In later episodes of the season, various spots inside the trailer have duct-tape covering the holes Ash created from his fight inside the trailer in the first episode.
- Ash makes two crosses to mark Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell's graves in the front yard of their home. This is a reference to The Evil Dead (and later in the recap scene of Evil Dead II), where Ash makes a similar looking cross to mark Linda's grave.
- Suzy Maxwell mentions her favorite book is The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. It's possible that this is a reference to A Farewell To Arms, also written by Hemingway, appearing in Evil Dead II.