The Purge was one of my favorite movies when it came out because it was original. If a movie can be original and come out and shock me, I’m probably going to be a fan. The second Purge movie went a step further and really dove into character development. It made me CARE about the people, so when they died, I was a little hurt inside. Thanks, Purge. Historically, I’m not overly into TV shows or series (I’m working on it) but when I heard The Purge was turning into a series, I knew I had to check it out.
Today, I’m going to recap the first 3 episodes – I won’t make it overly long, but I’ll give you a glimpse into what’s going on with the show in the first 3 episodes and let you know what I think thus far. If you’ve ever been a fan of my movie reviews and ratings, then you’re in for a treat. I’m changing my format slightly and giving a few more spoilers (just so I can say spoiler alert) – so reader beware!
A little background on The Purge, if you need it: The New Founding Fathers of America assumed control of the U.S. government. Ultra–right wing, they wrap themselves in patriotic iconography and boast of a thriving economy and plummeting unemployment as proof they’ve turned America around. One of the cornerstones of their government is the Purge. Every year on Purge Night all crime is legal for a 12-hour period, with a few small restrictions involving Purge-free zones like hospitals and some limitations on the weaponry those participating in the Purge can employ. Got it? Good!
The Purge series has several different plots going on and that’s how I’m going to review the first 3 episodes.
Miguel – Miguel arrives in Purge Land in search of his missing sister, Penelope. They lost their parents in a tragedy during the inaugural Purge. Miguel had promised to ALWAYS protect Penelope…except Penelope is a fucking idiot and has for some reason decided to join “The Giving” which consists of people who want to be Purged…upon? Great choice here, Penny. Miguel doesn’t know his sister is an idiot and is trying to find her. In the first three episodes, he’s thrown through a gauntlet (literally and figuratively) trying to get to her. When he finally tracks down the bus that she’s on – she had just gotten off…to be Purged. His face of frustration and angst may be because he just politely passed by the people who took her. Damnit Miguel!
Jane – Somewhere across town, Jane, a successful business woman, is forced by her (asshole) boss to work on Purge night. Don’t worry – he secured the office – he’s only slightly an asshole. Jane is trying to close a huge deal, but she seems a little pre-occupied. In fact, she actually left the safe zone and made herself Purge-able to do a little deed. We slowly find out the deed is (spoiler alert) to put a hit out on her boss who has sexually harassed her since she was hired day 1. With him out of the way, she should skyrocket to the top of the company. One other wrinkle in this situation? Two of her colleagues, Mark and Alison, low key hate the shit out of each other. They play nice, get through closing the transaction, but then both disappear. Jane later stumbles into a room and one of them has chosen to Purge the other one…in a safe zone!
Rick and Jenna – Rick and Jenna are a young, happy couple who aren’t fans of the Purge but decide to spend the night at an uppity Purge party anyway (seems smart if you’ve seen any horror movie, ever). They’re trying to get financing for their charity so they just want to get the money and go. Simple, right? Wrong. There’s some weird thing with the daughter of the hosts – like they all three hooked up once and she sort of still wants one of them? So where we leave off on episode 3 is that the host (the hook-ups father), wants them to kill, because PURGE! But they’re like “nah” so he just shoots a guy in front of them (sorry, spoiler alert). He agreed to give them money but now they’re trapped inside a Purge killing factory with Purgers and a woman who just made out with one of them, oh, AND, they’re pregnant. Cool.
But my favorite character developing in this early Purge series (through 3 episodes out of 10) is a random guy, not yet named, who is just a fucking badass. I don’t know his name, so for now I’ll call him Zeus because guy is just next-level. He goes around listening to the pro-Purge motivational speaker until he shows up at the end to … rescue a helpless woman from other Purge participants? He just walks into a random woman’s house who is being Purged and lights up the two Purgers before taking the woman with him. Clearly this guy is a wild card and we’ll be seeing more of him.
Stay tuned for more Purge news and let me know what you think thus far on the show.