dimanche 27 décembre 2015
samedi 26 décembre 2015
Ash vs Evil Dead: "Bound in Flesh" Review
Reader meet author.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Now that was a damn, fine episode of "Ash vs. Evil Dead." The best since the premiere. Better than the premiere, in some ways. Sure, a few weeks ago "The Killer of Killers" also brought back the wit and perverse charm of the pilot for a uniquely gruesome bottle episode set in a diner, but "Bound in Flesh," to date, felt the most Raimi-ish of the non-Raimi episodes. Writer and co-executive producer Rob Wright did a fine job of giving us the most familiar Ash since the guy who got stoned and unleashed hell on Earth.
Because, let's face it. The season's been uneven. This Starz series marks the first time we've seen Ash written and directed by people other than the original creator. And so he's felt different on certain episodes. "Off," even. Yes, it's expected that Ash would mature a bit as the show progressed, as he'd learn to love and respect his new cohorts, but occasionally - like with "The Host" and "Ashes to Ashes" - he's felt almost too mature. Too changed in his ways. So the Ash here in the uber-bloody penultimate Season 1 episode was a return to form. Even if he doesn't exactly line up with some of the more earnest Ashes from episodes past.
But crass, un-PC, overtly-boneheaded Ash helped make this episode really freakin' funny. Some past episodes were kind of humorous. You could tell that an attempt was being made at a certain quirky tone. But this one nailed it. Legit laughs. Some very funny dialogue from Ash, Kelly, and Pablo. Right from the get-go even, in the opening bit featuring the two Ashes. When one of them tried to confirm his quasi-racism by admitting "Asian babies creep me out."
But even from there, just Ash saying "My a***hole hand came back and grew another me" was amazing. As was, later on, his proclamation "Hey, evil. Why don't you eat my butt!" This was just a very cleverly-done dumb Ash. Again, very different from the sentimental guy in last week's episode who genuinely seemed to mourn the loss of Amanda. This week, some of the grief was still there but it came with a "Oh well, gotta chop her up" attitude that was more befitting of Ash. As was the smirking intent to - most likely - peek at her dead boobs while doing it.
So there is some incongruity in tone going from last week's chapter to this one. But - hey - I'm choosing to invest more in this Ash than the previous. It's the penultimate Season 1 episode, after all. It was exciting. It was gross. Ruby finally arrived on the scene. Pablo got to get closer to Heather while also suspecting Kelly might have her own feeling for him. Hikers got treated like ventriloquist dummies after Deadite Amanda plowed her fists into their skulls. It had a lot going for it. Twisted, gory, and hilarious.
And so how about Ruby, huh? Finally, some answers. Sort of. I mean, we knew she was a Knowby (as in, the cabin Professor's daughter), but then we also knew she was probably up to no good. After her run-in with that one demon at the Brujo camp. Also, there was the time she reanimated herself back from the ashes of death. But did we all know enough not to trust her with that book? Because, honestly, she had a good point about Ash always causing more harm than good. And creating huge messes that need to get cleaned up. Still though, something was amiss.
By the end of the episode, I can't say that I know for sure what Ruby's intentions are, but the reveal that she wrote the Necronomicon was a cool twist. I'm not sure what it means, but it sounds damn important. Did Ruby somehow create it? Or is she possessed by something ancient that created it? The latter, of course, makes the most sense, but I'm not ready to put an official stamp on anything.
The Verdict
There've been other episodes that have made an earnest, determined run at Ash. That have tried their best to give us the funny, endlessly quotable, idiot hero from Army of Darkness. But "Bound in Flesh" nailed it. And it was also the perfect balance of Ash too, given his journey the show. A guy who can care about his team and still be a giant jackass. This one just cooked.
Editors' Choice
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NASA Engineer Schools You on How to Build a Death Star
That's no moon.
Maybe building the Death Star from scratch wasn't the best idea after all.
According to Brian Muirhead, chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a Death Star shouldn't be constructed with parts launched off of a planet like it was in the Star Wars universe. Instead, one should be built using an asteroid.
An already-existing asteroid would provide "all the building blocks you would need to build your family Death Star," says Muirhead, in a Wired video that you can watch below. These building blocks include metals, organic compounds, and water.
Muirhead is currently working on an asteroid redirect mission, which will land on an asteroid, pick up a bolder from its surface, and put it in orbit around our moon. NASA will then go visit the bolder on a crewed mission to collect and bring back samples. The landing is scheduled for 2023.
In the video, Muirhead also describes what NASA and Star Wars' spacecrafts have in common. The technology behind dodging asteroids is ion propulsion, a key component to spacecraft in the Star Wars series and one that the Millennium Falcon uses to its advantage. The asteroid redirect mission uses four ion engines, although the technology is still very low thrust.
"If you wanted to start going to the stars, you'd need much more advanced power," said Muirhead. "So that's where you start talking about fission and then fusion. That's really one of the power systems that Star Wars used."
Could the United States ever build a planet destroyer? Well, according to the White House, who was petitioned to build a Death Star in 2013, the answer is no. The Obama administration estimated the cost to be around $850,000,000,000,000,000. A total that's a bit too much of a burden to put on taxpayers.
Michael Passalacqua is a freelance writer for IGN. Chat with him about Fallout 4 and the New York Giants on Twitter @mikepass20
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