The “Ash vs Evil Dead” universe is one built around splatstick, but this season has felt very different. Sure there have been some classic one-liners, including the Nurse Ratched and Fraggle Rock behemoths in “Delusion,” but right now it’s all about where the program is headed.

I’m beginning to think of “Ash vs Evil Dead” as the original Star Wars trilogy. Much like A New Hope, the first season set the tone. Beyond a reintroduction to Ash (Bruce Campbell), we were baptized into the new world that he inhabits and given the blueprints for the direction of the series.

Earlier I’d alluded to Season 2 feeling different, when in reality it’s simply darker. Much like The Empire Strikes Back, evil has wrestled away the upper hand (points for a double pun?) and it has set the stage for what could well prove a long-standing battle with Baal (Joel Tobeck), who is “by far the most dangerous villain in Evil Dead history” according Dana DeLorenzo from an iHorror interview this past August.

Starz has already green lit a third season, so at the very least Deadite fans will get their Return of the Jedi, but for now, I want to focus on what may be lurking around the corner over this season’s final three episodes.

Much like Darth Vader, Baal has gone to work on the mind of Ash, the one he most desperately wants to turn. As Ruby (Lucy Lawless) noted in an earlier episode, Baal “doesn’t use brute force, he uses paranoia.” The argument that “Delusion” wasn’t a showcase of Baal mentally beating Ash into submission simply won’t stand, because just before the credits rolled Ash more or less asked “What is thy bidding, my master?”

Forget that Pablo (Ray Santiago) tossed the Book of the Dead into the Delta’s trunk of hell, because as it stands Pablito is the Necronomicon and Jefe is en route to put an end to not only its contents, but also his wing man and the Ghostbeaters, and subsequently doom humanity.

While I could speculate all day as to how things play out, I’d rather focus on the cryptic comments from DeLorenzo’s interview, because they are ominous.

True, it may seem like reading a bit too much into a show that’s intended to be an entertaining release from reality, but the dark tone of this season raises a question that I cannot shake — Who are we going to lose before the finale in three weeks?

DeLorenzo declared that “Everyone who gets close to Ash Williams dies. We know this. It’s just a rule.” However, she elaborated:

“Because the writers have expanded the universe and we have this very formidable opponent with Baal, there are more people who are going to die this season. It is a much higher body count than Season 1 and a lot more people get tortured. I have to be careful (laughs). Baal’s greatest weapon is torture, and that’s all I’m going to say before I give everything away and get fired from the show. Which I might already be. Who knows? I may not even make it through Season 2. I’m just saying you never know. You never know who’s gonna go. That’s all I gotta say.”

We have offered farewells to Chet (Ted Raimi) and Brock (Lee Majors), but those characters did not exist until this season began. For there to be more deaths, one would think that a main character would have to suffer an excruciatingly emotional exit much like Amanda (Jill Marie Jones) did a year ago.

Which brings us to the most chilling comment of all:

“There will be a mistake — in general, I’m not going to say who made it — that cannot be undone. Actually, I shouldn’t say a mistake because it’s not really a mistake. There will be an “action” that cannot be undone.”

The beauty of “Ash vs Evil Dead” is not only its love affair with the fans, but its innate ability to balance humor with horror and its emotional connection with the residents of that universe.

Of course we all love Ash, but the young fighters are favorites, as well, Pablo in particular. And even though Ruby was originally an enemy, she is certainly a character many would hate to see check out.

Rob Tapert and the writers have potentially set us up for something we do not want to see. In a horror comedy. That’s a testament to the skill at work behind the scenes. For instance, though it was agonizing to see Glenn and Abraham Lucille’d, this is not “The Walking Dead.” That is a drama tied a bit more closely to an apocalyptic reality where it goes without saying that viewers will be emotionally vested in the characters.

“Ash vs Evil Dead” on the other hand, is precisely what Kelly said earlier this season — “Terrible but also awesome.” AvED is supposed to make us laugh at the jokes and over the top blood spatter and revel in the creative ways Ash and the Ghostbeaters dispense of demons.

Only now, we embark on the final three episodes with a very mortal Ruby, Kelly pulling away from Ash and Pablo as the embodiment of the Necronomicon with a brainwashed King once again on a mission to bring his decades-long nightmare to an end.

“There will be an ‘action’ that cannot be undone.”

Maybe it will simply be a Star Wars / Skywalker scenario and someone will lose a hand. It wouldn’t be the first time. Lest we forget, Kelly wondered whether a flame thrower would be the weapon for her last season, so maybe that opens the door for that to become a reality. Who knows?

I’m excited to tune in each and every Sunday and don’t want the season to come to a close. I won’t lie, though, above all, I’m not ready to say goodbye to any of these characters.