THE PURGE TV Season Two Finale “7:01am” – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Ten, “7:01am”
Written by Krystal Houghton Ziv & Nick Zigler
Directed by Tim Andrew
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two Finale, Episode Ten, “7:01am”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Ben (Joel Allen), Marcus (Derek Luke) and Michelle’s (Rochelle Aytes) storylines collide in gruesome fashion at the Triage Center.

*The Ryan Grant (Max Martini) Robbery Crew splits up after their last successful heist, and Ryan joins Esme’s quixotic quest to expose the truth about the Purge.

The Purge - Season 2 — Another Purge, another poorly organized armed gang.

EPISODE NOTES

*The “Previously on The Purge” recap is a bit misleading. Ryan Grant (Max Martini) said “Let’s get our boy” at the end of Episode Eight, “Before the Sirens“, not “Let’s get our money.”

Teaser Tidbits

“1 Week Until First Annual Purge”

In a secret room at the NFFA Surveillance Center in New Orleans, an anonymous “CCTV Manager” (Jody Thompson) meets with an equally anonymous “NFFA Official” (Brett Backer) in a secure communications room.

*Per NFFA specifications, New Orleans has PA speakers installed every 3.7 blocks. Instead of warning of tornadoes or nuclear attack, these broadcast the soon-to-be-infamous Purge Siren.

*While the siren tests freaked a few people out, most citizens think it’s some kind of stunt.

*The room WiFi and Cell phone systems are, according to anonymous NFFA Guy, “our only way of communicating with the public on Purge Night.” Pay Attention To This Plot Point!

*There’s a “room within a room” protected by 2-inch thick bulletproof laminate glass, with a cute old-timey “On Air” sign.

*The outer and inner rooms are secured by end-to-end rotating keycard encryption.

*Only only operators and managers have access to either room. Pay Attention To This Plot Point!

*When CCTV Guy’s key card won’t open the inner door, NFFA Guy threatens him. His threat that the NFFA will “take measures to replace you”, reminiscent of the consequences of failure in the old Soviet Union or today’s North Korea.

*CCTV Guy calls his contact at Sandlin Security. It’s none other than James Sandlin (Ethan Hawke) himself, who channels every annoying IT Tech support guy ever to suggest operator error.

*Considering how ineffective it was in the first Purge movie, Sandlin’s claim that “this is the same system I use to protect my family. You’ve got nothing to worry about” isn’t very reassuring.

Marcus, Michelle, and Ben Stagger Into the Medical Triage Center …

*Andre drives past some unfortunate people trapped in a wire cage set in the bed of a pickup truck. Reminds me of the Cowboy from Season One transporting victims to the Carnival of Flesh in Episode Five, “Rise Up“.

*The banner draped outside the Triage Center bears the Staff of Caduceus, familiar as a symbol of the medical profession.

*As the volunteers tend to Ben(Joel Allen), we see that Clint’s Big Pickup Truck is a Chevy Denali.

*The Center is in a current, or former, house of worship; Ben wakes up below a statue of Jesus. And then sees a small scalpel within his reach.

*Marcus readies Michelle for an emergency Theracostomy.

*The Third-Year pre-med student assisting Marcus (Hanna Hall) hasn’t taken the MCAT yet.

*Marcus send the student to find 100 mg of the anesthetic Ketamine and a bag of O Negative aka “universal donor” blood.

*This week’s gross-out moment – a double above-the-knee amputation!

*Marcus searches for Dr. Jason (Bill Martin Williams), only to find him, and several other volunteers (including the student who helped Marcus) dead in a supply closet.

*Ben closes door behind Marcus and starts monologuing. He murdered the doctors, nurses, and volunteers because they were “perverting the purpose of Purge Night, playing God … depriving Purgers of their rightful kills.” But Ben is God – or at least the God of Purge Night.

*Marcus manages to tranquilize Ben. He holds to his vow not to kill on Purge Night, choosing to dump Ben’s unconscious body outside the center.

Ryan Grant Says Farewell to the Robbery Crew

The messages displayed on Ryan’s phone include –

Avoid Canal (Boulevard) and Metarie (Road)
Reports of Class 5 Weapons (which at least at Wikipedia, includes “explosive devices such as grenades, rocket launchers, bazookas, etc., weapons of mass destruction, and viral/biological and chemical agents) in Washington Square
Super Dome Explosion
Illegal vehicle moving towards the river
Explosion at Super Dome

*Forced by road blockages, the Jackals (and the bank haul) are taking the Parkway.

*After trapping the Jackals’ truck, Ryan attaches some kind plastic explosive to the truck’s undercarriage.

*Ryan, Sara (Chelle Ramos), Doug (Jaren Mitchell), and Tommy (Jonathan Medina) use the military positioning-speak based on the 24-hour clock (“Tommy you have our six“).

*Why does the crew blow open the truck’s back doors instead of just driving it, and the entire haul, away?

*One of the “rando” Pugeres who attack the crew includes one wearing the LGBTQ-themed mask seen in the teaser for Episode Seven, “Should I Stay or Should I Go“.

*As the gang loads safe boxes onto a small boat, Ryan’s Purge app reports that Esme Carmona has been sighted at the “Dist. 2 Command Center Zones 3-11, Grid E7Q Camera 116“.

*Ryan leaves to join Esme at the NFFA Surveillance Center.

Esme’s Last Stand at the NFFA Surveillance Center

*Inside the Surveillance Center, Esme accesses the video log for Mail Truck 453 (timestamp 1:29:40:22).

*How courteous of the assassination squad to enter Olvia Hughes’s home in full tactical gear.

*Esme’s menu options for the mail truck footage – “Transfer File” “Archive” “Broadcast”.

*Why is this particular “File Not Transferable Outside System”? Wouldn’t Esme suspect or already know that a file this sensitive might be restricted?

*Esme tries and fails to film the computer monitor with her cell phone.

*The Rube Goldberg-ish/Plot Contrivance setup of the Surveillance Center system forces Esme to transfer the file to the Broadcast Room we saw in the trailer.

*Vivian (Charlotte Schweiger) agrees to swipe Curtis’s (Conner Trinneer) key card to get Esme in the Broadcast Room, even though they both know Esme will the be a “sitting duck” for the security teams.

*Vivian’s unconvincing Thank You speech to her fellow employees is odd – she thanks everyone for helping her make it through her first Purge – didn’t we see her last year (in Episode One)?

*Esme asks Curtis “What if the laws are wrong?”

*Curtis may have enough doubts to let them pass by, but not enough let them into the room. Vivian puts herself in harm’s way, gets gutshot for her bravery, and gives the key card to Esme while apparently bleeding out.

*Ryan is temporarily deafened as a shotgun fires right by his ear. This noise was highlighted earlier when the Robbery Crew covering their kids’ ears before blasting open one of the lockboxes loaded on to their boat.

*Ryan accepts that he’s not making it out of the Surveillance Center alive. He asks Esme for the key card, then leaves the room and crumples it up. Ryan will give Esme enough time to make her broadcast, then make sure she’s alive after 7 am., to be arrested instead of shot. “People need to know the truth, and you need to tell them. I’m right where I need to be.”

*Esme begins broadcasting at 6:45 am. Like an Amber Alert or Severe Weather Warning, the Olivia Huges video is pushed out to every cell phone in range.

6:57

*Esme relates the saga of Professor Adams, the Purge Night murders of Adams and the study participants and the off-purge murder of Olivia Hughes, last surviving study participant.

“The Purge doesn’t take away our anger, our hatred, our fears. It fuels them. Our system is corrupt. Start asking questions” blares over the Purge PA system; a bloodied Turner (Matt Shively) hears the broadcast.

*In a beautifully poetic scene, Ryan stops firing at the oncoming police as the sirens blare and turns to face Esme. He places his hand on the glass and locks eyes with her as his body is riddled with bullets.

*The clock turns to 7 am. Esme tells her sister Sofia “if you can hear me, I love you” in Spanish.

*SWAT team members escort Esme out of the broadcast room. The leader (Steve Mokate) speaks into his collar mic.“Sir, we’re post 7 am” “The order stands”. The SWAT leader shoots Emse between the eyes; she falls onto Ryan’s body.

*The door to the broadcast room is still open; was that exchange also broadcast? If so, is that the basis for the Resist movement built around Esme’s off-Purge murder?

Two Months After Purge Night

*Sara, Tommy, and Doug meet at the Cafe Avenida (Avenue).

*Tommy asks Sara and Doug if they agree with his proposal for Ryan’s share. All look at his empty chair and agree it’s what he would’ve wanted.

*We find out what that proposal is in the next scene. In a New Orleans loft/factory space type setup, we see people milling about, and lots of anti-Purge flyers, buttons, and other such materials. A large banner against one wall blazes the word RESIST above a Che Guevara-like portrait of Esme Carmona.

*Vivian survived her stomach wound, and on crutches, works with a Foundation hacker on getting the protocols they need to keep their backdoor access to the NFFA mainframe open.

*Darren (Denzel Whitaker) informs Vivian that Ryan’s friends have made a wire transfer (the first of many) to fund their anti-Purge outreach to rural communities and more.

*Per Darren, the NFFA is dismissing reports of Esme’s post-Purge murder as “fake news”.

*Marcus and Michelle, along with Tonya and Andre, watch Darren speak. Sofia (Marialy Tejada) heard her sister’s final message and is also part of this new “Resistance“.

*Darren -“No amount of thought, prayers, or Grief Boxes will ever be enough! Our country deserves better!”

*As Darren rallies the anti-Purge activists, we see Ben. He’s returned to the place where his true self was born on a previous Purge Night, sharpening a blade. If the final scene between Esme and Ryan was a rare moment of high romance from The Purge, Ben in his womb is a high point of dread, at least for me.

The Purge hasn’t yet been renewed for a third season on USA.

Official USA network images, articles, and other Purge related goodies can be found here.
My deep dives into Bates Motel, The Exorcist, and Seasons 1 & 2 of Channel Zero reside at SciFi4Me; Fang and Saucer is home to my deep dives into Season One of The Purge TV, and Channel Zero Seasons 3 & 4.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV Throws a “Hail Mary” S2E9 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Nine, “Hail Mary”
Written by Nina Fiore & John Herrera
Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Nine, “Hail Mary”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Marcus (Derek Luke) and Michelle (Rochelle Aytes) and Tonya (Devyn A. Tyler) and Andre (Damien D. Smith) prepare for a visit from the Homeowners Purge Association, led by Clint (Dave Maldonado).

*Ryan (Max Martini), Sara (Chelle Ramos), and Doug (Jaren Mitchell) head over to the imaginatively named “City Park”, hell-bent on saving Tommy from a Purge Night execution.

*Esme (Paola Nuñez) joins up with an all-female cybercrime crew to infiltrate the NFFA Surveillance Center.

*Ben (Joel Allen) continues his Purge Night reign of terror.

EPISODE NOTES

*The significance of the Hail Mary as a prayer of the Catholic Church was covered in the Deep Dive for S2E5, “House of Mirrors“. It’s also a last-minute, desperate, last-chance pass play in American football.

Teaser Tidbits

*This week’s teaser begins with “Ms. Lorelei’s Corner”, a bit of NFFA propaganda (notice the small NFFA seal in the lower left-hand corner), disguised as a “Mr. Rogers meets Pee Wee’s Playhouse in the Twilight Zone” children’s programming.

*The Lorelei of myth lured sailors to their death with her seductive cries; hence the term “siren song“.

*One of the children being indoctrinated – a young Ben Gardner (Carson Minniear), watches in his living room while playing with 50’s-esque toy robots.

*Ms. Lorelei (Mary K. DeVault) starts by explaing that because “Worries can be hard to talk about“, the Purge “helps people get their worries out“, and gives their parents the “freedom to accomplish things they never thought possible!”

*Lorelei’s costume – a demented neon-hued funhouse combination of red, white, and blue, along with deliberately harsh makeup – contrasts with the children’s pastel-toned Sunday School best outfits.

*A young girl named Zoe (Emily Criss Rives) asks if it’s ok to kill on Purge. Would something bad happen to her and her brother?

*Lorelei assures Zoe “you and your brother will be perfectly safe”.

*How does Lorelei know this? According to showrunners Krystal Houghton Ziv and James Roland, Purge creator set a few ground rules for the series. One of them setting 18 as the minimum age to participate in the Purge.

*Maybe the NFFA doesn’t need fancy subliminal mind control to indoctrinate the youth of America; just parent’s reliance on television as an electronic babysitter.

* Instead of the Pledge of Allegiance, Ms. Lorelei’s Corner ends with the NFFA Pledge; “Blessed be America, a nation reborn!”

Marcus and Michelle Host the Neighborhood Purge Committee Home Invasion

*Clint (Dave Maldonado) uses his big old pickup truck to tear the security screen off the Moore’s front door. WHILE MARCUS AND HIS GROUP JUST STAND IN THE FRONT HALL WATCHING.

*It seems puzzling that the group is just waiting for their neighbors to barge in instead of taking defensive positions.

*As the home invasion begins, Marcus turns to Michelle, “Promise me we won’t turn into them.”

*Turns out April Tucker (Susan G. Whittle) didn’t tell husband Sam (Jay Ali) that she Purged in college.

*Clint brought some Molotov Cocktails to “smoke out” and/or burn alive everyone in the Moore house.

*How could any company advertise their homes as “fireproof” – wouldn’t “fire-resistant” be as far as they’d go? They’d still be liable for any off-Purge fire damage caused by their falsely advertised product.

*Clint sneers at Sam’s objection to burning down the Moore’s house, calling him a “bleeding heart“.

*Since Sam gets a nasty laceration in the upper chest area when another front door security screen descends on him, it’s a fitting putdown.

*We see a bit of Marcus’s plan when he won’t Purge Sam. He had to once, and “that shit sticks with you“. Marcus insists there “has to be another way”.

*After Sam gives up Clint’s plan, Marcus swaps Sam for Clint and sits Clint down in for heart to heart to heart/man to man talk, complete with cliches including “get past this”, “violence doesn’t solve anything”, “clean slate”, and “Purging was supposed to make me feel better“.

*We find out why the resolution feels false when Clint pulls out a knife Andre’s (Damien D. Smith) pat-down/frisk missed and stabs Michelle in the chest.

*Michelle’s lung’s collapsed and she’ll die without medical care including a dedicated ”air valve”

*Good for his wife Marcus knows the location of a Purge triage center; he’s asked every year to help – and has always refused.

*Marcus takes Clint’s keys and sets out with Michelle, Tonya (Devyn A. Tyler), and Andre, leaving Clint to the dubious mercy of his former lynch mob.

Esme’s Lonely Road to Revenge

*Although Skye’s (Tyner Rushing) Secret Hacker Lair doesn’t require a secret knock, the door does have a sliding peephole – just like an old-time speakeasy.

*Is this hacker group “The Foundation”, or just allied with them?

*FINALLY we see people using Purge Night to commit some white-collar cybercrime, including revenge porn blackmail, hacking into a Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency site, and other electronic crimes.

*Even underground hackers have to keep their “event logs” current.

*Skye’s team created a “deepfake” version of Esme to lure NFFA security away from the headquarters so Esme can sneak in.

*Is Esme’s plan any more specific than a Wikileaks-type information dump?

*Skye notes the holographic version of Tupac she saw “live” in Tokyo isn’t as realistic as Esme’s deepfake. This is not far from reality, or the 2002 movie S1m0ne.

*Esme survives a crash that (apparently) kills Skye to make it back to her old job, activate the backup jammer Sara prepared, and make it into the building while the system reboots.

*During any power outages, NFFA personnel are asked to “Please proceed to the nearest safe room”.

*Esme’s plan to meet up with Vivian (Charlotte Schweiger) is delayed by a very long access ladder.

I Sure Hope This is Ben’s Last Purge Night, but …

* Ben (Joel Allen) ignores Turner’s (Matt Shively) pleas to let Scott (Peyton Wich) go.

*Ben offers Turner has two “choices” that are not choices at all; either Turner will “pop his cherry” and kill Scott, or Turner and Scott will both die

*Beb duct-tapes machete-like blade in Turner’s hands, then forces Turner to plunge the knife into Scott’s chest.

*Going with the losing virginity theme, Ben’s reaction is almost orgasmic,

*After Turner loses his innocence, Ben turns buddy-buddy and offers Turner glass of water to “stay hydrated”. They need to prepare for hunting.

*Turner may be terrified and disgusted with himself, but he does have the wherewithal to distract Ben by requesting a mak asks for a mask, then escaping the house.

*Ben follows; both encounter a “Purge Night Tours” bus, girls partying on the roof, a Purge Night version of a Mardi Gras parade float.

*Ben’s taunting call of Turner’s name – reminded me of “Warriors, come out and plaaaay” from Walter Hills 1979 movie The Warriors.

*B follows Turner into a New Orleans cemetery, with it’s famous raised burial plots, before being surrounded by a gang of Purgers wearing “his” God mask.

**I thought I heard a bell tolling 6 times in this scene, indicating one hour remaining in the Purge; yet a later scene display reads “4 hours Until End of Purge”?

*Plot threads converge when Ben escapes cemetery, only to be hit by Andre/Marcus/Tonya/Michelle’s truck. Oh, the irony – just like his late girlfriend Kelen (Danika Yarosh)!

*If Ben ends up surving Purge Night because Marcus decided to take him to the triage center, I will be very displeased, Show!

The Ryan Gets the Robbery Gang Back Together

*Ryan, Sara, and Doug join a festive crowd assembled at City Park, participants in canned hunt sponsored by the Daughters of the New Founding Fathers of America.

*As the Purge Night bus pulls into “The Most Dangerous Game” Field (oh, pardon me, I mean “City Park”) Jimmy (Jonathan Medina) convinces a few fellow prisoners to adopt “Gladiator” strategy, i.e. stick together in an organized cohort to increase chances of surviving a rigged game.

*“Daughters of the NFFA” is a pretty obvious spoof of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In 1939 the DAR refused to allow African-American opera singer Marian Anderson to sing at their Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. She later performed on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

*Accompanied by Vivaldi-esque music, waitstaff provides each guest with “weapons used by our ancesestors”; Revolutionary War-era Flintlock rifles, compound bows,, and hunting knives.

*Ryan and crew do such a bad job blending in,, it’s easy for Silas Barker (J.D. Evermore) to spot the trio who tried (he thinks) to rob his McMansion.

*Jimmy and his band are freed fairly easy by Ryan, Sara, and Doug.

*The homoerotic tone of the episode continues with Ryan and Jimmy’s suggestive, jokey banter, from Jimmy’s surprised “F*ck Me!” and Ryan’s “No, thanks” capped with Sara’s “Get a room.”

*Since Silas broke the rules of the hunt and kept a modern weapon – a tranquilizer gun that he promptly uses to immobilize Ryan.

*For some reason, Silas decides on the spur of the moment, to bury Ryan alive, a plot point that, for me, came across as silly and contrived.

*In the hours remaining, the reconstituted Ryan Grant Robbery Crew resolves to rob the Jackals who took the bank’s money from the airstrip last epsiode. Then Ryan, who also killed one of Ziv’s goons before Purge last week, needs to get out of the country.

*How would anyone else but Ryan know if he killed someone pre-Purge? Is this like the Hunger Games, where everyone has a tracker monitoring their vital signs?

The Purge Season Two, Episode Ten “7:01am” airs Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

Ethan Hawke Returns to Purge in The Purge TV Season Two Finale “7:01am”

Season Two, Episode Ten “7:01am”
Written by Nick Zigler and Krystal Houghton Ziv
Directed by Tim Andrew
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Exciting news for fans of The Purge Universe came out yesterday. Per NBC/Universal,

Ethan Hawke, star of 2013’s “The Purge,” is back as James Sandin in the second season finale of USA’s THE PURGE. James Sandin is the security system salesman the original film follows as he tries to protect his family from home invaders during a purge night gone wrong.

James is featured in the finale’s cold open, which flashes back to one week before the first national purge and the first time his high-tech security system is tested.

Titled “7:01 AM,” the finale picks up as purge night rages on and Esme, Ryan, Marcus and Ben fight for their lives and their loved ones. It will air Tuesday, December 17 at 9/8C on USA Network.

The Purge Season Two, Episode Ten “7:01am” airs Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV S2E8 – What Happens “Before the Sirens”? – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Eight, “Before the Sirens”
Written by James Roland and Lindsey Villarreal
Directed by Patrick Lussier
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Eight, “Before the Sirens”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Marcus (Derek Luke) & Michelle (Rochelle Aytes), & Tonya (Devyn A. Tyler) & Andre (Damien D. Smith) make sure Darren is safe, then prepare for the Purge Night Homeowner’s Association Home Invasion.

*The Ryan Grant (Max Martini) Robbery/Revenge Against the NFFA Crew set their Purge Night Heist in motion – with a few twists.

*Ben (Joel Allen) goes full Travis Bickle and stars in a Purge Night version of The House on Sorority Row Meets Black Christmas.

EPISODE NOTES

*Episode director Patrick Lussier has quite a resume in the horror genre, most notably with the My Bloody Valentine remake and The Poughkeepsie Tapes (both 2009). He’s also set to work with Purge guest star Dermot Mulroney in a horror thriller called Trick.

Teaser Tidbits

*The episode begins “twelve hours until the Annual Purge”.

*A trio of giggly teenage girls – Mia (Lacy Ann Hartselle), Lily (Raquel Ascension), and Scarlett (Alexa Ketchum) – play dress-up while listening to “This Baby Don’t Cry” by K. Flay (Thanks for making it easy to look up a song, Show!).

*Along with the pink tulle skirts, rhinestone-encrusted stiletto boots, bracelets, neck collars, belts and headbands festooned with lethally sharp spikes, this Girls Purge Night Out arsenal includes a barbed-wire bat, serrated-edge knives, and a chrome triple-headed flail (which may not have existed).

*If Mia’s Dad (Jason Bayle) looks familiar, that because you may have seen him as Tree’s Dad in the Happy Death Day movies, both of which were filmed in New Orleans.

*The frat bros watch the girl’s “Purge Confession” on TikTok, with “Purge!” replacing the traditional “Say Cheese”. The TikTok app has run into a fair amount of controversy lately, due it’s perceived ties to the Chinese government, and the potential to be used to monitor citizens.

The Great Purge Caper with the Ryan Grant Robbery Crew

*Ryan (Max Martini) and Esme (Paola Nuñez) both know Esme’s planning something, and both know she’s not going to tell Ryan what it is.

*The crew honors Tommy (Jonathan Medina) with their time-honored pre-heist ritual, a combination of corporate trust-building exercise, an athlete’s pregame ritual and the knife game between Bishop & Hudson in Aliens (1986, Dir. James Cameron).

*Over at NFFA Snoop Central, Curtis (Connor Trinneer) tells Vivian (Charlotte Schweiger), “This year’s tracking to be the largest Purge we’ve seen.”

*Esme calls Vivian on their burner phone system. She needs Vivian to trigger a false tag on Esme, just far enough away from the airstrip, and just soon enough before the Purge starts to draw away NFFA security block access to the planes (and the money on the planes).

*3 Hours to Annual Purge

*Vivian passes an NFFA (military ?) recruitment poster on her way to meet Esme and Ryan.

*Esme sure likes saying Ryan is a “good person”; she told Vivian exactly what she told Ryan.

*According to Esme, Ryan knows she is working with “The Foundation” hackers, but Esme has not told her lover what the “endgame” is; Ryan would try to stop her if he knew.

*There’s more eye imagery in the graffiti in the alley. In the main image above, the eye is crossed out. I didn’t see that on the eye Vivian passes on her way out of the alley.

*Is “Stay Safe” the new “I Love You” in the Purge Universe?

*I wish we’d seen a little more of Vivian’s decision to betray the NFFA. She knows the consequences, that Curtis is watching her. Did anything else, besides her admiration for Esme and an innate sense of right and wrong, prompt her choice?

*30 Minutes to Annual Purge

*Ryan glances at his trusty “Minutes to Annual Purge” app on his smartwatch, sets off the jamming device early, and (improbably) dispatches one of Ziv’s goons (Jason Dowies) via open passenger-side door collision with a truck – without losing control of his car.

*Now we see the long con Ryan’s been planning since before he gave Tommy a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo back in Episode Four, “Grief Box“.

*Ryan arranged for the Jackals, driving “Eastin Security” trucks we saw in Episode Two, “Everything Is Fine“, to drive up to the now useless planes, take out Ziv and her entire security team, and take the money.

*For Ryan, Sarah (Chelle Ramos), and Doug (Jaren Mitchell), getting a cut of the heist money is important, but not nearly as important as breaking Tommy out of NFFA custody before he’s murdered on Purge Night.

*At the episode’s end, Ryan, Sarah, and Doug follow a blue Purge Prisoner Bus in their souped-up Humvee. Tommy sees them waiting on the other side of the road, and takes a window seat. Did Ryan fill him in on the plan somewhere in that copy of Monte Cristo?

*Esme drives a motorcycle past a digital billboard offering a $500,000.00 reward for the apprehension of “Esmerelda Carmona, Domestic Terrorist, Dead or Alive”. Citizens are asked to call the New Orleans NFFA Behavioral Crimes Unit at 555-0199 with any information.

Marcus, Michelle & Darren – Tough Love & the Power of Family

*I haven’t seen anything on possible symbolism of the necklace we’ve seen Darren (Denzel Whitaker) wearing throughout the season. But would we see it in practically every scene Darren’s in if it didn’t have some significance?

*Darren tells Marcus (Derek Luke) that, because the NFFA made him wear a wire to “betray” Esme, maybe he deserves to be Purged.

*Marcus’s response illuminates his continuing political awakening. He tells Darren, “It was the system that betrayed us,” a system that expects citizens to obey laws except for 12 hours a year. Who does that serve? “Not you, not me, that’s for damn sure.”

*Darren thinks Marcus is taking him to spend Purge Night with his mother Tonya (Devyn A. Tyler) and Andre (Damien D. Smith).

*Instead, Marcus breaks Darren’s arm with a GIGANTIC wrench. Hospitals are off-limits during Purge, even to the NFFA; but only a “real injury” would get Darren admitted.

*Surprise! Tonya is in on “Operation Maim Darren for His Own Good” plan; she invites Marcus and Michelle to spend Purge Night at her house.

*A Prytania Security Solutions (“Your Solution for Purge Security”) van is parked on the street outside Tonya’s home. There is a Prytania Street in New Orleans that is home to a historic theater – but no security company I could find.

*Was “Sushi Bonanza” the “nasty” restaurant Michelle (Rochelle Aytes) and Marcus went to for their first date. Tonight, they enjoy high-end sushi, saki, and some clearing the air over their (possible) “last meal”.

*Michelle and Marcus still have a lot to learn and appreciate about each other, if they survive. Marcus remarks on Michelle’s new sense of humor; she replies, “I’ve always been funny.”

*This exchange set off a warning light for me. Many times, a series character (or couple) who resolve their family/mommy or daddy/relationship issues have a higher risk of dying before the last episode. Watch a couple seasons of LOST to see this theory in action.

*Just as the Purge announcement blares from the television, Tonya and Andre join Marcus and Michelle, because “family has to stick together”. Tonya wishes she’d reached out sooner. NFFA may be a dystopian hellhole, but Marcus, Tonya, Michelle, and Andre are a great extended/blended family.

*As the sirens fade, the bounty on Marcus vanishes from Ivory Road, just as the neighbors led by Clint (David Maldonado) arrive to finish the job themselves.

Ben: The Purge Is Coming from Inside the Fraternity House!

*Over at “Chateau Awesome”, Turner’s (Matt Shively) fraternity brothers are more interested in drinking than Purge preparation. They’re also very nervous about spending Purge Night with Ben.

*Scott (Peyton Wich), among others, warns Turner that Ben’s been acting “weirder than weird” lately. Turner channels Captian Oblivious, excusing Ben’s increasingly odd behavior as the effect of seeing so much off-Purge death.

*Ben emulates Travis Bickle coiffure in Taxi Driver, shaving his head while listening to (what sounds like) Death Metal.

*Turner accidentally on purpose snoops in Ben’s room and find finds Ben’s Notebook of Death. Among the drawings of skulls, knives, and bleeding animals heads there’s an image of Andy Tran (Lawrence Kao) bleeding out in the dorm elevator.

*Did Ben see that image later on TV? Was it described to him by someone? Since we know Ben was on another floor when Andy’s body was found, how could Ben see it firsthand? Maybe he snuck downstairs and peered through the CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS tape.

*LOVE the wacked-out, 1790’s era, Pedro Friedberg designed pop-art hand chair in Ben’s room.

*Turner’s attempt at an intervention goes spectacularly off course and ends with Ben (supposedly) locked out of the house and Turner in possession of the crossbow.

*Weird. Turner calls 911 and gets an automated message: “Police and Emergency services are suspended in anticipation of the annual Purge”. When is the cutoff time?

*Ben’s souped-up crossbow features the word “dagger” etched on the side, possibly indicating it’s a “Mission MXB Dagger” model from Mission Crossbows. According to this review, it’s good for “Small Game, Deer, Elk Hunting, Moose, Bear Hunting, Target Shooting”, and in the Purge Universe, People.

*Now locked in the house, frat brother Scott is the first to follow the Horror Movie Protocol, including “Let’s Spit Up and Die” and “Picked Off One by One” as this storyline transforms into the Purge version of Black Christmas meets And Then There Were None.

*Scott finds the second-floor windows unsecured, then, in true Slasher movie tradition, find Ben Right Behind Him.

*Turner looks for Scott, gets chocked unconscious by Ben, then awakens to find himself and Scott downstairs. They’re bound and gagged on the couch, watching frat brothers Zane (Camron Jones) and Jacob (Spencer Rayshon Stevenson) playing a deadly game of Beer Pong.

*Ben shoots Jacob in the chest (right through the yellow Dixie/Solo cup!), and slits Zane’s throat in front of Scott and Turner.

*This triggers Turner’s “Apologize and Run” instinct. He blurts “Sorry” to Scott, repeating his apology when he abandoned Ben. Ben easily catches his fleeing prey.

*Instead of killing Turner, Ben smiles and says, “I have a better idea”. I don’t think this idea is better for Turner’s odds of surviving Purge Night.

The Purge Season Two, Episode Nine, “Hail Mary” airs Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV S2E7 “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Seven “Should I Stay or Should I Go”
Written by Nick zigler
Directed by Darren Grant
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Seven, “Should I Stay or Should I Go”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Kelen (Danika Yarosh) attempts to sneak back to campus sans Ben (Joel Allen), who graciously offers to drive her back. They hit the road!

*Marcus (Derek Luke), Michelle (Rochelle Aytes), and Darren Moore (Denzel Whitaker) find out why everyone wants to kill Marcus, then they hit the road!

*Esme’s (Paola Nuñez) and Ryan Grant (Max Martini) collect information on the Jackals gang from Episode One, then – wait for it – they hit the road!

EPISODE NOTES

*The episode title refers to the classic, oft-covered and played in movies and commercials 1981 single by The Clash from their album Combat Rock. “Should I Stay or Should I Go” hit #1 on the UK charts – in 1991 when it featured in a commercial for Levi’s jeans.

Teaser Tidbits

*The Merrymakers Mask Co. sales meeting. Ian (Benjamin Nathan-Serio) demonstrates a Scarecrow-like burlap sack mask, featuring the popular “Michael Myers In Halloween Point of View” technique.

*Can’t tell if the mask’s mouth is sewn or stapled shut.

*Ian notes, “Visibility is excellent. Ventilation is greatly improved from last year.”

*Ian’s boss (Craig Welzbacher) likes that news, because “We don’t need another suffocation lawsuit. Thank God that happened on Purge.”

*Linda (Lindsey Pearlman) thinks the company should “Make a push for the LGBTQ market” Repurposed on old SKU, added spangles & LED lights in the rainbow flag colors.

*They use old inventory, look like they care, and of course, will give a portion of the proceeds to a “relevant charity”.

*Jimmy has an idea for the “Inspired by True Events” line – The Campus Killer mask. No ad budget = no problem. Since “Bad taste sells“, cable news will cover the outrage the mask generates and publicize it for Merrymakers.

*“The Merrymakers Mask Co.” Company logo is a Purge-specific variation on the comedy and tragedy masks from ancient Greek theater.

*Given the rich history of masks and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, it’s not surprising this has become a booming industry under the NFFA.

*As the episode begins, it’s “116 Days to Purge Night“.

Road Trippin’ With Ryan and Esme!

*In an abandoned building, Esme (Paola Nuñez) logs into the NFFA network during the skeleton crew shift and downloads information on the Jackals gang we met way back in Episode One.

*Ryan (Max Martini) wonders why Esme chose to trust a former cop. “You walked away from a system that betrayed you,” and Max chose not to harm the bank guards during the robbery at 1st Parish Bank.

*At this point, Vivian appears to be the NFFA team player, busy tracking Esme’s location – 652 Longview.

*It doesn’t sound like Ryan wants the Jackals information for Purge Night revenge; I suspect he’s cooking up something involving a double-cross of Capt. Ziv and her crooked cops.

*Esme uses her analytical skills to help Ryan visualize where his mom might be, based on her history and behavior patterns.

*Ryan’s mom wanders away from the care facility. Ryan has to present his real id to the cops who find her, and Esme bails as they approach Ryan’s truck.

*Alice Grant (Geraldine Singer) wonders why her son isn’t in class. Ryan tells her, “School was dismissed” – agreeing with Alzheimer’s patients’ reality instead of trying to correct them.

*Esme, walking back to Ryan’s loft, sees flyers for car sale “72,000 miles, $8,200.00 OBO (or best offer) Contact Drew Adams 1-800-555-0140“.

*Turns out Vivian (Charlotte Schweiger) arranged to have those flyers posted along dead spots on Esme’s travel patterns. Why is Vivian helping/reaching out to Esme?

*We do see Vivian asking (and getting no answers from) Curtis (Connor Trinneer) after pulling an all-nighter of keystroke analysis on Esme’s workstation before it was wiped.

*Is Vivian just as much a true believer as Curtis, but with a bedrock filled with ideas of “right and wrong” that don’t align with the NFFA?

*Interesting in the high-tech surveillance world of the NFFA, both Vivian and Esme use flip phones.

*Esme confesses to Ryan her role in sending Tommy (Doug Vargas) to jail. His fate, along with the deaths of Professor Adams and Olivia Hughes, compels her to stay.

*Of course, Ryan kicks Esme out. As she’s leaving, Esme thanks Ryan for sheltering her; instead of running and leaving someone else to sit at her desk, pushing the same buttons, she’s not going to stop until she can “blow up this whole f*cking thing”.

Road Trippin’ With Marcus, Michelle, and Darren!

*This season’s long-plotted out revenge plot centers around Marcus.

*Five years ago, grumpy neighbor Clint (David Maldonado) took his wife to the ER at Bienville. There is a Bienville Street in New Orleans, along with a Bienville Medical Center (in Arcadia, Louisiana).

*Based on partly her respiratory distress, ER doctor Marcus diagnosed atrial fibrillation, proceed to shock her heart.

*Clint’s wife died. Marcus didn’t come out to tell Clint himself. And when Marcus and Michelle moved into the neighborhood, Marcus didn’t even recognize Clint, or remember the death of Clint’s wife.

*A neighbor notes, “You barely knew any of us.” Maybe Marcus shouldn’t have skipped all those boring Home Owner Association meetings.

*Clint owns a big pickup truck – just like the one that tried to run down Marcus back in Episode Three, “Blindspots“.

*Since Clint’s not a total jerk, the HOA will “consider” canceling the bounty on Marcus – if he and Michelle leave by midnight.

*An obviously distraught Darren (Denzel Whitaker) just happens to meet up with Marcus and Michelle outside their home.

*Why does Darren go to Marcus instead of his mom? Not willing to put her in danger?

*Darren isn’t allowed past the Louisiana/Mississippi border; he’s on a “no travel list”. Did the NFFA repeal Saenz v. Roe and the Constitution’s Privileges or Immunities Clause (Amendment XIV, Section 1, Clause 2)? Is this an NFFA version of the post 9-11 “No Fly List“?

*In telling the officer, “I’m reaching for it (ID) right now” Marcus is following advice from the ACLU, “DO keep your hands on the wheel and let the officer know what you are doing (saying) “I’m going to reach for my registration now.”

*Marcus won’t abandon his son; the family turns around and returns home.

*Marcus, like Esme, reaches a point of clarity this episode. He realizes that there are guys like Clint everywhere, and “some of them are running this country.”

Road Trippin With Ben and Kelen!

*Kelen (Danika Yarosh) can’t get a ride on her phone’s Uber/Lyft app, Economy or Premium.

*Her credit card number ends in 1121.

*Ben wakes and sees the suitcase has been gone through. He insists on being a Good Boyfriend and driving Kelen back to campus.

*From this point on, Kelen and Ben play a charade of each pretending not to know what the other person knows. What does Ben’s mom (Shelly Calene-Black) know? She’s so understanding of her son; does she know Ben has done, or at least what he is capable of?

*Ben again doesn’t realize that confessing to murder with phrases like “I felt better, I felt great” tends to freak people out.

*Kelen realizes she’s a hostage, tries to fake placate Ben for confiding in her, lull him into trusting her.

*For all his deadpan demeanor, Ben plays with Kelen like a cat tormenting a mouse.

*He hands her a knife so she’ll feel “safe”, then takes her cell phone when then they stop for gas and a bathroom break.

*Kelen scrawls a message on paper toweling, leaving it in a restroom. “HELP! I’ve been kidnapped by the Campus Killer. Green Subaru Southbound on 55”

*Given how skeevy the restroom appeared, I don’t think depending on prompt restroom maintenance was the wisest course of action.

*Kelen denounces Ben as “sick”. She refuses to cut his arms and desperately attempts to escape after stabbing Ben in the leg. Kelen flees back to the highway, only to be flattened by an oncoming car.

*Ben reaches and crosses his Moral Event Horizon when he catches up to Kelen and kneels over her broken body. Kelen is mortally wounded, choking on her own blood. Ben makes a show (for himself?) of weeping over her body as he strangles her to death.

*In its moral bleakness and Ben’s affectation of weeping over Kelen as he murders her, this scene played like a cable-friendly variation on Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986).

*In effect, the Campus Killer is Ben’s true self, wearing a “Ben Gardner” mask. Oscar Wilde describes Ben’s story perfectly. “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

*”Monster (Under My Bed)” by Call Me Karizma plays over the episode-ending montage. I first mis-heard the title as “Monster (Under My Back), which makes it even creepier.

Monster, monster under my bed
Come out and play cause I need a friend
You’re so damn close that I feel your breath
You’re the only one I have left

Feel you in my bones
Shiver up my spine
You’re a master of disguise
You show up when no one’s home
Are you real or just a lie
I can feel you in my mind
And my soul
But I love when you jump in
And help me feel something

The Purge Season Two, Episode Eight, “Before the Sirens” airs Dec. at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV Has a Not-So “Happy Holidays” S2E6 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Six “Happy Holidays”
Written by Nina Fiore & John Herrera
Directed by Jen McGowan
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Six, “Happy Holidays”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Ben (Joel Allen) continues developing his sociopath skills; he dupes the cops investigating Andy’s brutal stabbing with a sob story that apparently trumps any physical evidence or lack of corroborating witness. Then Ben whisks Kelen (Danika Yarosch) off to spend Winter Break at home in update Louisiana. Also with his bloody clothes and his trusty God mask.

*Marcus (Derek Luke) dupes Sam Tucker (Jay Ali) into coming over to talk things over. Sam brings his wife, April (Rachel G. Whittle) along, Marcus brings his Colt’s Manufacturing Series 70 Competition handgun out of the gun cabinet, and Michelle provides a lovely spread of Camembert and wine.

*Esme’s (Paola Nuñez) storyline crashes into the ongoing heist planning of the Ryan Grant (Max Martini) Robbery Crew. Not that Esme has much a choice: her unsanctioned murder investigations earn her status as a fugitive, hunted down the street of New Orleans by the NFFA Security State in real-time.

EPISODE NOTES

Teaser Tidbits

* The cold open features more worldbuilding! The title card for “The Bobby Sheridan Show” appears on the screen. As an American eagle spreads its wings, an American Flag flows in the wind, accompanied by an electrified, Jimi Hendrix-esque version of “America the Beautiful”.

*A nice bit of detail. At the bottom of the Bobby Sheridan title card, we see “NFFA Approved” in small but noticeable letters.

*“Fear is the first step on the long road to respect.” Bobby Sheridan (Dermot Mulroney) puts an NFFA spin on Machiavelli’s famous quote from his 1532 masterpiece of political philosophy, The Prince (“It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.”)

*For all his love of the Purge, Bobby Sheridan sees the masked Campus Killer as a coward.

*Turns out the Anti-Purge student (Hayden Guthrie) Ben stalked at end of Episode Four, “Grief Box“, was murdered off-screen.

*Frequent guest Lena Dash (Amye Goussett) “of the NFFA” thinks the murders are “overblown” and the CCTV footage of Ben wearing the God mask could be a hoax.

*Is journalist Sydney Rivera (Hannah Alline) an “America Unplugged News” correspondent, or “America Unplugged” news correspondent?

*Sydney perceptively asks, regarding the body of the dead grifterfarmer killed by Ben in Episode Three, “Blindspots“, “How does a corpse bury itself?” and these three off-Purge murders may be the product of NFFA policies.

*Bobby reads an ad for Insta-Glue, “the only glue FDA approved to treat gunshot wounds and stabbings. Insta-Glue, the glue that clots.”

*Sydney is already unnerved by Stacy’s offer to help Syd experience the Purge “up close and personal”. Finding out she now has 201 active death threats on “The Urge to Purge” doesn’t help. Stacy brags about her app total of 1,284715 active threats, it’s been “great for her brand.”

*Bobby Sheridan gets the line of the episode: “You’re nobody in America unless somebody wants to Purge you.”

Welcome to the Ryan Grant Robbery Crew, Esme Carmona!

*Since the end of last week’s episode, Esme’s apparently gone on the lam. She’s using an old-fashioned paper map of CCTV camera placement around Olivia Hughes’s apartment.

*Esme takes photos on the same angle as the dashcam in the NFFA Mail (no USPS?) van parked in front of Olivia’s building. She thinks their system may have some clues. Given how thoroughly the NFFA wiped the Surveillance Center footage, it seems unlikely they’d forget about other sources of footage.

*The NFFA uses Darren Moore (Denzel Whitaker ) to lure Esme into the open. Drawing her into an embrace, Darren shows Esme he’s wired. Darren hands her a wad of cash and silently forms the words “I’m sorry” as they exchange misleading small talk.

*Esme escapes tazing, but her boss (Connor Trenneer) at the Surveillance Center uses temporary “Priority Access” to tap into every cell phone in her vicinity and identify her location using facial recognition technology.

*Esme flees to the area of Ryan Grant’s garage. If she knows where it is, wouldn’t her boss? Esme and Vivian (Charlotte Schweiger) tracked Ryan Grant’s movements a couple episodes back; we didn’t see Esme or Vivian deleting that data.

*According to Ryan’s fake Louisiana driver’s license information, he is Graham Dixon, DOB 12-11-1969. LIC # LA3742398, Exp. Dt. 12-11-2036

*Christine Dunford’s corrupt Captain gets ana. Andrea Ziv, same as Ryan’s partner in the articles Esme researched a few episodes back (and same last name as series Producer Krystal Houghton Ziv).

Kelen Stewart Goes on Vacay with the Campus Killer!

*Young Cop (Nicoye Banks) and Old Cop (Mike Harkins) like to brag about their skills, but are they really so gullible as to believe Ben’s story? What about stuff like “fingerprints”, “analyzing the crime scene”, and “evidence”?

*Another Level Y offense in the NFFA’s America? Underage weed purchases. Ben may be a sociopath, but he sure doesn’t want to get expelled.

*At this point in the episode, it’s “117 Days to Purge Night”.

*Turner (Matt Shively) had to his “Molly” in the tongue of his shoe to get it off-campus.

*Ben again proves he is no criminal mastermind by taking the God mask with him and making the torn lining of his suitcase he hides the mask in very obvious to anyone who might look – like his suspicious girlfriend.

*Kelen might not feel “so lucky to be staying with you” when she figures things out.

*At Gardner home, older brother Logan (Joshua Mikel) verbally needles Ben, who verbally explodes, brandishing a knife at his brother as he almost screams, “I’d love to see what the Campus Killer would do to you!”. Ben and Logan’s mom (Shelley Calene-Black), does not seem surprised at their hostility towards each other.

*How good is the economy? If NFFA manipulates crime statistics, why not “cook the books” regarding the economy? Logan has an economics degree, yet his mother tries to boost his ego by noting “you had a great interview” for a loading dock job.

*Kelen’s majoring in Art History. Surprisingly enough, there are actually jobs out there for her after college; if she survives dating Ben the Campus Killer.

*That night, Ben sneaks out of the house to burn evidence in an improvised fire pit. Too bad he saves the God mask. Kelen, of course, lets curiosity get the better of her and in searching the suitcase, finds the ripped lining – and the bloody God mask.

*Kelen has her Sleeping With the Enemy moment as Ben settles in beside her and she stares into space, at the viewer.

* To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, “Give a man a mask, and he’ll show you his true face.”

Marcus and Michelle: Who Are the People In Our Neighborhood Who Want to Kill Me?

*There weren’t quite as many F-Bombs dropped this week, but Marcus did note that Sam must’ve considered Michelle a “volcanic f*ck” if she was worth Purging over.

*It’s nice that Michelle’s first instinct after the meeting collapses is, “I’ll get the duct tape.”

*It looks to me like Marcus commits (at the least) off Purge, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Attempted Murder (slamming Sam’s face into the surface of the oven, lighting the gas), and with Michelle as an accomplice, False Imprisonment.

*After all that “persuasion”, Sam cancels his hit, but … that only reduces the bounty by $10,000.00 – to $65,000.00.

*Who put up the rest of the money? Sam turns back to Marcus and Michelle as he and April walk across the street, and spreading his arms wide, says “Look around you.”

*Suddely, Marcus and Michelle notice that their neighbor’s glances seem hostile, veiled with menace. Looks like the entire street chipped in to Purge Marcus.

The Purge Season Two, Episode Seven, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” airs Nov. 26 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV “House of Mirrors” S2E5 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Five “House of Mirrors”
Written by Lindsey Villarreal
Directed by Christoph Schrewe
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Five, “House of Mirrors”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Esme Carmona (Paola Nuñez) ditches her loyalty to the NFFA and gives Professor Adams’s data to La Resistance – oops, I mean “The Foundation”.

*Things go south in a big way for the Ryan Grant (Max Martini) Robbery Crew, thanks to inept inside man Carl (Christopher Redman).

*Marcus (Derek Luke) finds out who wants him dead – or does he?

*Ben (Joel Allen) commits his fourth murder in five episodes. Spoiler Alert – don’t get too attached to Andy (Lawrence Kao).

EPISODE NOTES

Teaser Tidbits

*Tonight’s mini-episode teaser opens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fun fact: “Rio de Janeiro” translates to “River of January” in Portuguese.

*Continuing the “Murder Tourism” first seen in The Purge: Election Year (2016), we meet Bride-to-Be Fernanda (Paula Perra) and her Maid of Honor Juliana (Luisa Morales) visiting Los Quatro Ventos, Agencia de Viages (Four Winds Travel Agency).

*Fernanda wants a Purge Bachelorette Weekend in the New Orleans, the “Big Easy“.

*The travel agent (Erik Marmo) recommends the Dirty Harry package tour; featuring six shooters, Purge approved Kevlar, and individual bodyguards for each member of the group.

*One brochure urges, “Estilo Purge Big Easy!” (Purge Big Easy Style!), other blare “Purgar Miami”, “Purgar Las Vegas”.

*After Fernanda finishes ordering her Maid of Honor to make all the arrangements and goes to visit the ladies room, Juliana asks the travel agent if refunds are available if not everyone makes it back.

Esme Carmona, Rebel With a Cause

*Esme’s still using her work PC for personal issues. Is her boss (Connor Trineer) still spying on her like last week?

*Any record of Esme’s sister Sofia (Marianly Tejada) has been wiped from the system.

*The NFFA search categories available on citizens include Report, Photo/Video, Communication, Records, and Associates.

*Ten years ago – Esme visits her father Hector (Jay Santiago) and sister. In the wake of their mother’s death, Sofia’s self-medicating to cope with their father’s physical (and sexual?) abuse. We see bruising and abrasions on Sofia’s wrists and breasts.

*Esme removes Sofia from her father’s clutches and sends her to therapy with Professor Adams. Triggered by repeated calls from their father, Sofia steals money from her sister and runs away.

*On Purge Night, Esme goes to her father’s home and locks him out in revenge for his abuse of the still-missing Sofia. Esme recites the Catholic prayer Hail Mary in Spanish as her father is beaten to death.

*In the present day, Esme unplugs all electronic devices in her apartment before welcoming in a computer hacker (Tyner Rushing) from “the Foundation”. I don’t recall hearing about this group last season, or in any of The Purge films.

*Esme gives the woman the Olivia Hughes files, along with the hard copy files Darren found regarding Professor Adams’s research “her family deserves to know the truth”.

*Turns out the NFFA used a bug in Esme’s purge to get around her anti-surveillance precautions.

*WHAT happened to convince Esme to so suddenly turn against the NFFA? At the end of E4, she’s staring at her computer monitor in shock; this week she’s inviting an anti-Purge hacker into her home and determined to bring the truth to light no matter the cost.

Situation Normal, All F*cked Up for the Ryan Grant Robbery Crew

*Ryan and Sara (Chelle Ramos) monitor via a Getac monitor and spycam pen as Carl O. (Christopher Redman) heads to the Barker plantation in Madisonville, LA. to plant an electronics-suppressing trigger in the wealthy family’s valuables before it’s loaded on a private jet on Purge Night.

*If that’s actually Carl’s own car, the window decals indicate he has a wife and two kids.

*Carl’s obsequious comment on the hunting scene hanging in the Barker’s hall (“Was the painter “En plein aire”?) doesn’t help him get access to the safe upstairs.

*Silas and Deb Barker (J.D. Evermore and Rebecca Wisocky) hand Carl an inventory and send him on his way. They go to the golf club, tailed by Doug (Jaren Mitchell).

*No access to safe means Ryan goes to Plan B. Namely, a bit of off-Purge Breaking and Entering to plant the trigger. If they’re unarmed, it’s only a Level Y offense!

*Too bad for Ryan and Sara, Carl brought a gun. Ryan takes it and ups their crime to armed breaking and entering, as well as leaving a ton of fingerprints.

*Carl takes a break from lookout duty to steal a gold pocket watch from sideboard and study that hunting scene again. As we see the hounds and riders are not chasing a fox, but a ghostly human figure, Carl’s brains splatter on the canvas. The Barkers are home!

*The Barkers lock their house down, arm themselves up and prepare to play The Most Dangerous Game, because Man is the Deadliest Animal of All.

*In the world of The Purge, do Louisiana’s Stand Your Ground/Castle Doctrine laws still exist?

*Ryan makes a deal with the devil, in the form of their old Captain (Christine Dunford), to escape the immediate danger. Her crooked cops haul Ryan and Sara away, but in return she demands cut of their score and control over any decision Ryan makes.

Ben Gardner: Full Time Student, Part-time Serial Killer

*Dear The Purge USA writing staff – WHAT happened to the anti-Purge activist (Hayden Guthrie) Ben stalked at the end of the last episode? If Ben murdered her, his body count is now up to four in the space of five episodes.

*How cute Kelen (Danika Yarosh) and Ben dressed up in matching Harry Potter costumes for Halloween.

*Andy is reading up on the NFFA classics, including “Foundations of the Experiment: Unauthorized“, allegedly written by the late Dr. May Updale (Marisa Tomei).

*Since Dr. Updale was murdered at the end of The First Purge (2018), did she even “write” this history? Both stories about her ultimate fate – she committed suicide after the First Purge (according to Kelen), or died Purging (the “true” story according to Andy), are false. Viewers of The First Purge know what these characters do not; Dr. Updale was murdered by the NFFA after suffering a “My God, What Have I Done?” moment.

*Some choice quotes from Dr. Updale’s book: “Giving in to your worst urges as a form of military service” and “humans are animals, born to hunt.”

*Kelen says talking to Andy is like listing to Bobby Sheridan, “everything is about the Purge.” The link above has some very interesting information about Bobby Sheridan, the as yet unseen radio proselytizer of the Purge. According to Producer Krystal Houghton Ziv,

“We will see one character who we only heard last year,” Ziv stated. “In Season 1, our Joe character listened to those Bobby Sheridan tapes – the motivational speaker. And we’ll get to meet that character this year. And he was voiced by Dermot Mulroney so we were super excited to get Dermot Mulroney to play Bobby Sheridan.”

*Kelen’s friend Bonnie (Ahmarie Holmes) would’ve left the Double Date from Hell, but for fear of ending up on Andy’s “Kill List”.

* Sometime later, we see Ben and Andy playing video games & drinking in Andy’s dorm room.

*Andy wonders why Ben acts ashamed of Purging, since they’re just “Doing what man was meant to do” and shouldn’t let girls guilt trip them into hiding it. MRA rhetoric? Girls make them feel ashamed; sounds like the NFFA’s borrowed rhetoric from the MRAs.

*Ben wonders why the Purge is only one day out of the year. “How can something be good one day and wrong the next?” Misreading Andy’s enthusiasm for the Purge, Ben confesses to murdering the hapless grifterfarmer who supposedly died of heatstroke.

*Both Joel Allen and Lawrence Kao (along with the editing, sound, etc.) do a great job with Andy’s pretending to accept Ben’s denial, and Ben’s dawning realization that Andy doesn’t believe Ben’s hasty walk-back.

*Ben again stabs a victim in the stomach. Repeatedly.

*While leaving DNA and fingerprints EVERYWHERE. If the NFFA was still interested in, you know, solving crime, Ben might be in some trouble.

*Ben also forgets his wallet. He manages to sneak back into the dorm, but we see –

*A wonderful contrast between Ben frozen before a set of elevators doors, watching the lights flash downwards, and the overcranked shot of students walking back to those same elevators after a false fire alarm.

*The doors open to reveal Andy’s bloody corpse. This will be hard to classify as suicide or heatstroke.

Marcus Moore Thinks He Knows Who Wants to Kill Him (Or Does He?)

*Smoothly sinister Albert (Robert Catrini) responds to Marcus’s Ivory Road posting. He’ll give Marcus the name of whoever wants him dead; instead the usual Ivory Road currency (Oxycontin), Albert places Marcus on retainer.

*Much to Marcus’s chagrin (what will the neighbors think?), Albert brings a bloody, wounded man to the Moore house.

*Marcus adapts quickly to life as a Mob Doctor, treating the man’s leg wound and his acute “CompartmentSyndrome” in a graphic dinner table surgery scene.

*Oops! Michelle comes home, and is none to please to see what’s happened to her dining table. She’s even less happy when Albert gives Marcus the name he’s seeking; Sam Tucker, a neighbor down the street Michelle was sleeping with.

*I was a bit dubious that the answer to “who tried to kill Marcus” would be something so seemingly trite as “the neighbor Michelle was having an affair with”. But since Sam Tucker (Jay Ali) appears in next week’s episode, I guess that’s the answer to the mystery.

*Or is it?

The Purge Season Two, Episode Six, “Happy Holidays” airs Nov. 19 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV “Grief Box” S2E4 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Four “Grief Box”
Written by Desta Tedros Reff
Directed by James Reynono
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue the NFFA sanctioned All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Four, “Grief Box”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Esme (Paola Nunez) continues investigating Prof. Adams’s death, using NFFA resources.

*Marcus continues investigating into who tried to kill him.

*Ryan (Max Martini), Sara (Chelle Ramos), and Doug (Jaren Mitchell) continue planning their big heist.

*And Ben (Joel Allen) continues to get away with murder due to the NFFA’s obsession with keeping crime statistics down by manipulating crime statistics and reclassifying murders as heatstroke fatalities and suicides.

EPISODE NOTES

Teaser Tidbits

This week, the teaser takes the form of an NFFA public service announcement celebrating “Remembrance Day”, celebrated on June 21, three months after the annual Purge. We follow a formally dressed man (Choppy Guillotte) delivering “Grief Boxes” to families of Purge fatalities.

*The driver/delivery man wears formal mourning clothes, with a sprig of Blue Baptisia in the buttonhole and a yellow handkerchief in the breast pocket.

*The Star-Spangled Banner plays softly in the background.

*The soothing words of the female narrator urges viewers to “Wish a safe and happy holiday to every citizen who has a loved one sacrificed for the Purge … celebrate these great martyrs who gave their lives for our county …no greater act of service than to give your life for our great nation. We celebrate the mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who made the ultimate sacrifice … it’s the American thing to do.”

*Giving one’s life for one’s country … an idea going back to Roman poet Horace. His Odes (III.2.13) exclaim,

“It is sweet and good (or right) to die for your fatherland,” wrote the poet Horace (Odes III.2.13), and echoes of this idea are seen in requiems and memorials throughout history. “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori,” translated “What joy, for fatherland to die!”

*Thanking the families of Purge Night victims can be seen as the NFFA version of thanking veterans for their service, a rote phrase often accompanied by giving veterans discounted sports tickets or a lower interest rate on their new home.

*While many things have changed in the NFFA’s America, the American Way of Death is still intimately entwined with commerce.

*The driver eventually returns to an Amazon-like warehouse where an enormous assembly line puts together Grief Boxes. Each box appears to contain some items unique to each victim, a portrait of said Purge victim, and a miniature brass urn.

*As the camera pans away from the assembly line, we see wheelbarrows toting mounds of ashes from massive containers. Are the bodies we saw picked up from the curb in Episode Two taken to industrial-scale crematoriums? Where have we seen that before in human history?

Esme Carmona, Plucky Detective

*Esme gets her jump scare quotient for the episode when Darren visits with hard copies of Prof. Adams’s test subjects. She’d deliberately misfiled them to keep them safe.

*The subjects have no names, only numerical identification. Esme plans to get around that by using NFFA facial recognition software.

*Darren said Prof. Adams was studying the addiction to violence, theorizing that those violent acts light up the pleasure centers of the brain like a drug. Which isn’t too far off the mark in real life.

*Darren speculates something the audience already knows from the Purge movies; the whole premise of the Purge is a lie. Instead of reducing crime, the Purge “makes people want to kill more, every day of the year.”

*The First Purge (2018), revealed the original Purge’s origins as a dodgy social science experiment. The Purge: Anarchy (2014) exposed the 1%’s practice of using the Purge to reduce the population of the other 99%.

*According to Esme, blowing a stop sign marks citizens as a “Level G”, and enables government tagging. Last week, we learned that Tommy’s crime marked him as a Level R offender.

*Esme learns that every test subject but one is dead. Deceased subjects include Jeremy Cain, Alex Wade, Ian Grossman, (Candace?) Remante, Sam Bogh, Dara Kurvitch, Serge Paloulian, Trent Sarreal.

*Esme finds the last test subject, Olivia Hughes, dead, and a broken window latch in the woman’s home. Detective Estrada (Gerardo Davila) is surprised. He hasn’t had a “B & E” (breaking and entering) in six years, much less a murder.”

*Back at work, Esme again uses work computers to search for video footage around Olivia’s home. Oddly, all she finds is an error message: “Media Offline: error code: 987aba468_23”.

*Det. Estrada is not pleased to get a call from Esme about this. Olivia’s death has been ruled a suicide. He understands that may upset Esme, given her sister’s troubled history.

*Except Esme didn’t tell Estrada about her sister.

*Aaaanndd her Supervisor (Connor Trinneer) is monitoring Esme’s reaction to this call – through her computer monitor.

The Ryan Grant Robbery Crew

*Ryan’s crew plots the bank/airport heist at his mother’s rest home.

*Their problem with their plan; using jamming devices to disable the money plane’s electronics would be illegal, along with putting the triggering device in the money before it’s loaded on plane.

*Visiting Tommy (Jonathan Medina) in jail gets Ryan the name of a possible bank connection.

*Tommy’s been in the clink for three months and appears to be getting beaten regularly.

*Wonder what Ryan’s gift of The Count of Monte Cristo to Tommy signifies? The future storyline for Tommy?

*Turns out you can use Grief Boxes to get free lap dances at strip clubs!

Marcus and Michelle: I Don’t Know Who Wants to Kill Me

*Turns out Marcus didn’t lose his wife Tonya (Devyn Tyler) to a Purge related event but just having different visions of life. Tonya wanted to stay in their neighborhood, Marcus wanted to move up and out to the Garden District. (Interesting. Click that link and you’ll see a house that looks very familiar from Season 1.)

*The P.I. Marcus hired last week discovered that the assassin, name of Heywood Diedrick, lived on the same street Marcus grew up on.

*14 yrs ago on Purge Night, Marcus and Tonya gathered their neighbors inside their house, with the children in the center of the room for safety. A masked Purge gang bursts in. One holds a knife to Tonya’s throat. She recognizes the teen, Eli, (Joshua Rivera), by his voice and Nike Air Force 1 shoes.

*Tonya, with help from Marcus and Andre Damien D. Smith) talks him down to put the knife down.

*Eli uses a hunting knife as his weapon of choice; an up-close and personal weapon we’ll see Ben wield fourteen years in the future.

*Present – Andre arrives at BBQ in a GMC Denali truck that tried to run Marcus over. M assaults Andre, but D points out A’s car has a Jamaica front plate cover and a roof rack with spotlights

*Marcus learns from Tonya that someone had come around last summer asking about him. Marcus goes home and again abandons Michelle (Rochelle Aytes) to rework his suspect board (aka String Theory Wall of Crazy) and visit the Ivory Road message boards.

Ben and the Really Bad Strawberry Road Trip

*Ben relives killing last week’s grifterfarmer (ops, I meant “beloved berry farmer”) as he punches a boxer’s training dummy. He’s even more relieved when Kellen shows him a news report revealing the farmer’s body was discovered. The cause of death? Heatstroke!

*Interesting NFFA news blurb on tv “NFFA Cancels Iowa Event So Level 10 Officials Can Remain With Their Loved Ones”. Is this plot-related or just Remembrance Day Weekend scheduling?

*Ben’s visit to the “Purge USA Store” “Remembrance Day Sale” is the visual highlight of this episode, featuring more of the Purge Commercial Industrial Complex.

*Along with signs advertising “New and Used Purge supplies at 20-80% Off!” we see this gem –

“Lost a Loved One?

Purged a Pal?

Present a new

Grief Box

For 25% Off!”

*Items on sale run the gamut – Chain saws, heavy-duty flashlights, along with what looks like WW2 hand grenades and Civil War minne balls. Crossbows, Throwing Stars, hunting knives with wicked serrated edges, handguns, and shotguns.

*I didn’t see semi-automatic weapons; they must be above the “Class 4 and lower” allowed during the Purge.

*Get your Purge All-Purpose Bleach in the Purge Cleanup Section, featuring products to remove “blood, urine, fecal matter, odors – Guaranteed – Natural Ingredients!”

*The store PA system announces “We Blow Out So You Can Blow ‘Em Away!”

*Ben meets a Purge True Believer at the store. Andy Tran (Lawrence Kao) loves the Purge, and loves to drink, so Ben invites him to Remembrance Day Frat Party.

*Andy would add his roomie to his Purge list, but needs him for answers to Organic Biology tests.

*Ben picks out a knife, Andy perceptively notes, “You like that up-close kind of sh*t, huh?”

*Are the hooded, bound young men at the party frat pledges, or something more sinister?

*Instead of putting his turncoat friend Turner (Matt Shively) on his Purge list (or killing him right there), Ben ends his evening stalking of the annoying Anti-Purge activist (Hayden Guthrie), wearing the blood-smeared God Mask.

The Purge Season Two, Episode Five, “House of Mirrors” airs Nov. 12 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV Struggles With “Blindspots” S2E3 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Three “Blindspots”
Written by Jeremy Robbins
Directed by Tara Nicole Weyr
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue our second season of All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Three, “Blindspots”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

*Tommy Ortiz’s (Jonathan Medina) long journey through the NFFA legal system begins.

*Ryan Grant (Max Martini) muses on his crew’s past while planning for “one last score”.

*Esme’s (Paola Nunez) detective work crosses her paths with Ryan and Darren.

*As I feared, Ben (Joel Allen) takes a flying leap off Travis Bickle Cliff straight to Taxi Driver Town.

EPISODE NOTES

Teaser Tidbits

*According to an article on Showbiz Cheatsheet, each teaser will be a self-contained mini-story. Executive Producer Krystal Houghton Ziv says Purge creator James De Monaco ok’d each episode’s teasers “all be separate little vignettes that can expand the world in some way.”

*Tommy meets his court-appointed attorney (Jay Huguley) just before entering the courtroom.

*The Court addresses Tommy as “Citizen” Thomas Adrian Ortiz, Case #20854. He’s charged with Armed Robbery and Trespass, which as a non-Purge crime gets him charged as a Level R Major Felon.

*The use of “Citizen” harkens back to the French Revolution, which abolished titles of nobility, and made the former subjects of the King all equals, at least in theory.

*After a “trial” using the NFFA CCTV footage Esme analyzed in Ep. 1, Tommy pleads guilty at the urging of his attorney. Under the authority granted by the 29th Amendment to the Constitution, the judge announces, Tommy “is hereby sentenced to death. Execution will be carried out in 356 days…”

*There are currently 27 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In The Purge Universe, the 28th established the Purge itself. While I didn’t find a source link at NFFA.org, other sites linked back to it for the text of the 28th Amendment as follows.

SECTION 1: The Annual Purge shall begin each year on June 20 at sunset, officially starting at 7PM, and ending at sunrise, June 21, at 7AM.

SECTION 2: During the time of The Purge, any and all crime, up to and including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Police, fire and hospital aid will be unavailable until The Purge concludes.

SECTION 3: The following weapons cannot be used during The Purge: weapons of mass destruction, fragment-producing explosives higher than a hazard class HC/D 1.4 and viral contagion projectiles

SECTION 4: Government officials of ranking 5 and higher have been granted immunity from The Purge and shall not be harmed.

SECTION 5: Non-compliance with any of the aforementioned rules will result in death by hanging.

*Tommy can “choose” to enter a Purge auction, which will award “5% of all payments will be awarded to (his) next of kin.” I wonder if this is like the gala auction in The Purge: Election Year (2016)?

Esme Carmona, Plucky Detective

*Esme’s works in Visual Analytics at the NFFA Surveillance Center.

*We don’t see how Esme connects Darren Moore to Professor Adams (or at least I didn’t).

*When they meet, Esme overcomes Darren’s distrust of the NFFA to at least look at the x-ray she found hidden in the Professor’s home. Darren remarks that he had no idea that Adams was conducting “live trials”, whatever THAT means.

*Ryan’s surveillance case number is 246

*The ASPH around the lens tells us Esme’s using a pretty nice Leica camera. “ASPH is an abbreviation of Aspherical Lens and is used by the manufacturer, Leica to denote lenses that contain an aspherical lens element.” And what is an aspherical lens element, you ask? This article at What Digital Camera does a better job than I ever could at expaining it. Basically, Esme’s office equipment is top of the line.

*Esme uses a directional microphone for eavesdropping on the Robbery Crew’s conversation.

*Freeze-framing the articles Esme find in researching Ryan reveals some interesting tidbits about the former policeman’s work history. He saved a child from drowning in Lake Ponchitrain in 2010 and worked with a partner named “Andrea Ziv”; a reference to writer/Executive Producer Krystal Houghton Ziv?

The Ryan Grant Robbery Crew

*Eight years ago, Tommy, Sara (Chelle Ramos), and Doug (Jaren Mitchell) joined their fellow NOPD officer Ryan on a Purge Night mission to eliminate a drug dealer. Unfortunately for them, their recent Captain (Christine Dunford) and most of the other cops in the station are on the take of the said dealer.

*Their Captain made sure all four were blacklisted from any job outside of strip club bouncer. Hence their turn to a life of Purge Night crime.

*Now, Ryan tries to talk Sara and Doug into following him on the fabled “one last job“, a robbery that will set them all for life. Where to find such a heist?

*In the sky. Ryan’s detective work last week revealed that banks keep a minimum in the vault on Purge Night, and send the rest into the sky in private jets. But if they rob the delivery vans before the planes are airborne, aren’t they committing a pre-Purge crime?

*Ryan must have a plan to remain on the good side of the law. Like the 2009 Gerard Butler/Jamie Foxx movie, Ryan assures Esme that he is “a law-abiding citizen.”

Marcus and Michelle: I Don’t Know Who Wants to Kill Me

*Looks like Michelle Moore (Rochelle Aytes) is an interior designer. She carries a book of Fabricut swatches.

*Marcus has at least one malpractice suit in his work history.

*The private investigator (Jen Korber) compared her cellphone records against her calls & the geotags “didn’t line up”.

*The PI is right, Michelle is “hiding something”, just not what Marcus suspects.

*The private investigator (Jen Korber) advises Marcus that the majority of domestic purges committed by the spouse or partner. (as we saw in the teaser last week).

*Marcus installs a fictional version of real-life GPS tracking apps called “Locale – My – Pals” on Michelle’s phone.

*Michelle’s support group meets in a very out of the way place; the back office area of an auto repair shop. Why the secrecy? Is dealing with the Purge through therapy considered disloyal, a less than total embrace of the “Nation Reborn”?

*We see an American Flag displayed in the hallway, but no NFFA flag.

*Marcus’ blindspot is pretty obvious; his obliviousness to Michelle’s distress, and the ease with which he suspects and surveils her. Michelle notes at the support group that Marcus “forgets what’s right by his side.”

*While Marcus makes amends to Michelle, he doesn’t tell her about following her, tracking her phone, or spying on her support group discussion.h.

*There are not plates (at least on the front) on the truck that tries to run Marcus over.

Ben and the Really Bad Strawberry Road Trip

*Ben is a fan of real-world New Orleans musician John “Papa” Gross.

*Ben’s girlfriend Kellen (Danika Yarosh) recommends strawberries for his sexual issues, instead of Viagra, the “little blue pill”.

*Kellen paraphrases the Las Vegas tourism slogan when she tells Ben “what happens on Purge Night stays on Purge Night.”

*Ben travels to a rural livestock farm, basically a Purge version of The Onion’s free range killing floor. Needless to say, even the most humane slaughterhouses are not petting farm pretty.

*The facility’s attendant (Lucisu Baston) has Ben sign a release against any potential injuries; after all the animals “don’t want to die.” He also requests that Ben “preserve the meat.”

*Ben chooses a basic Lizzie Borden-esque ax instead of a Lucille-like baseball bat.

*After Ben is unable to kill the adorable heifer, the attendant tells Ben, “It’s ok, kid, not everybody has the stomach for it.” Ironic, since the stomach is where Ben stabs the farmer/short change artist.Many, many, many times.

*The full-time farmer, part-time quick change artist Ben stops at sells organic garlic and Creole Tomatoes, as well as strawberries at his quaint roadside stand.

*Ben stabs the farmer repeatedly in the stomach, and smashes the side of his head with a rock. Don’t hold out too much hope for his recovery from either.

*??? Does Ben keep the knife from the crime scene? I hope his storyline will not now consist of one bloody murder after another. He’s not going to be able to escape notice for long. Did he wander into the dorm like that?

*Kellen thinks Ben confesses to his actions during the Purge, not murdering roadside produce grifters. She notices he’s had strawberries.

*Per my theory below; two great horror movies involving deadly sounds are Berberian Sound Studio (2012) and Pontypool (2009).

*Also part of my theory comes from a promotional item called The Associated News, sent out for The Purge’s first season. According to Inverse.com, it featured an “advertisement for a “best selling author and motivational speaker” named Steve Stubbins, who’s apparently on a “Purge Power Tour 2027.” That can’t be a coincidence!”

UPDATED – The radio personality Ben listens to in the car is Bobby Sheridan (voiced by Dermot Mulroney), not Steve Stubbins.

*******MY (NOT SO) CRAZY THEORY *******

*I wonder – is there a connection between Ben’s fondness for weed/weed culture, the weird visual and sound effects during his Purge Night PTSD flashbacks, and the Bobby Sheridan radio broadcast Ben’s listening to before he stops at the Roadside Stand of Death? Hear me out on this –

Sheridan asks his audience if they can commit to the Purge, embrace “the healing power of its violence” as Ben steps out of the car (a Subaru Outback station wagon, by the looks of it.)
Last season, Joe Owens (Lee Tergesen), he of the meticulous revenge plot, also listed to Sheridan.
We see Ben using weed to self-medicate after experiencing sexual performance issues.
His dorm room is decorated, wall-to-wall, with weed culture posters
Notwithstanding any real-word debates about the health effects of marijuana, WHAT IF, in the NFFA version of America, video games, drugs, audio, etc. are being used to influence behavior, all of them embedded with subliminal coding/messages to encourage thoughts of violence? Remember the audio Esme discovered; a woman’s voice saying “All I think about is violence.”

*******************

One last note for this week. I very much hope that Ben doesn’t spend the next seven episodes spiraling downwards into an every-bloodier orgy of Purge-inspired violence. If the show could depict Ben hitting bottom and crawling up from the abyss, that’d be a lot less run of the mill. Similarly, watching Marcus become more obsessed with revenge to the point that he embraces The Purge by the last episode would surprise and intrigue me.

Episode Four of The Purge Season Two, “Grief Box” airs Nov. 5 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”

THE PURGE TV Assures Citizens “Everything Is Fine” S2E2 – F&S Deep Dive

Season Two, Episode Two “Everything Is Fine”
Written by James Roland
Directed by Jessica Lowrey
[All images courtesy Alfonso Bresciani/USA Network]

Now, we continue our second season of All-American Carnage with The Purge Season Two, Episode Two, “Everything Is Fine”!

Be sure to visit Father Son Holy Gore for The Purge episode recaps, and follow FSHG for tons of in-depth TV and movie recaps, analysis, and reviews!

WARNING!

Spoilers Ahead!

Plot Threads of the Dammed

Athough Esme (Paola Nuñez), Ben (Joel Allan), and Marcus (Derek Luke) are starting to cross paths, they, along with Ryan (Max Martini), are still following their separate plot threads.

*Esme can’t let go of her suspicions regarding the death of Professor Adams (Avis-Marie Barnes), and continues her investigation despite her supervisor’s (Connor Trinneer) warning.

*Ben falls further into his post-sexual assault PTSD, despite claiming (like the episode’s title) “Everything Is Fine”.

*Marcus solves one mystery, but stumbles on another.

*Ryan hunts for clues regarding the First Parish Bank’s pre-and-post Purge money shifting strategy, along with a bit of personal business involving his mother (Geraldine Singer).

EPISODE NOTES

Teaser Tidbits

*Big thanks to James Roland, writer of this episode, for the title of the insanely catchy song playing over the Zippy Maids cleanup. It’s “On the Move” by Vinyl Pinups ft. Whissell.

*While there is a non-nightmarish 2008 country song by Josh Turner called “Everything Is Fine”, my mind went to the nightmare fuel version from David Lych’s 1977 movie Eraserhead, “In Heaven (Everything Is Fine)”. It features one surreal lyric –

“In Heaven

Everything is fine

You got your good things

And I’ve got mine”

*Much more soothing is this family’s post Purge luncheon sountrack, Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Natchmusic“, which wafts through the home while the former man of the house gets tossed to the curb with the other Purge Night trash. It’s picked up by “City of New Orleans Waste Management – Body Recovery Unit”

*The suburban McMansion serviced by the Zippy Maids features accents of NFFA blue throughout, a statue of the Virgin Mary robed in blue in the hallway, yellow roses at the curb, and, in a bit of color symbolism used through out the Purge franchise, a pot of blue flowers by the mailbox, flanked by US and NFFA flags.

*There are a surprising number of companies worldwide using the word “Zippy” for their cleaning service, but not in combination with Maids. In the US, we’ve got Maids.com, Merry Maids, and Molly Maids.

*The Zippy Maids concept resembles an NFFA version of the 2009 Amy Adams and Emily Blunt feature Sunshine Cleaning, which focused on the kind of biohazard and disaster recovery cleanup offered by ServPro. Their regular cleanup service motto? “Like It Never Even Happened“.

Esme Carmona, Plucky Detective

*The opening credits confirm it Connor Trinneer IS NFFA Surveillance Center Supervisor “Curtis”!

*Curtis reports some statistice to a distracted Esme; a 30% uptick in every district from last year’s Purge making this the “biggest Purge in city history” with “way more finish-line f*ck ups” – like Tommy’s.

*Esme wears super-sleek wireless ear buds/air pods – which tend to fall out and are not great for everyone’s ears.

*At least Esme’s boss didn’t say “have a seat” when she got the dreaded visit to your supervisor’s office.

*We learn Professor Adams supported Esme after sister Sophia’s death; Adams was “the only person who listened” to the grieving sister.

*Esme downloads the data from the Professor’s cell phone and “registered smart tv”, then takes the data with her.

*Cell phones, “smart TVs“, and “voice controlled virtual assistants” like Amazon’s Alexa all have the capability to monitor your activities. Basically, voice command features are not your friends.

*The data Esme has on her personal laptop/flash drive is property of the NFFA. In taking NFFA property off site, is Esme guilty of non Purge cybercrime? Does her boss already know? Do white-collar criminals get the same treatment as bank robbers like Tommy?

*After a couple jump scares and interruption from a real estate agent (Eric Cepeda) and home inspector (Rob Roy Cesar) duo eagerly getting the former Adams residence ready for sale, Esme uses a Purge Night sound recording to track Professor Adams’s path through her home. She takes a tan mailer envelope from a secret staircase compartment.

*Esme disables her home devices – TV unplugged, phone off, music turned on – and examines the envelope’s contents, a CT scan transparency and microcassette recorder.

*The xray presents two views of a cranium, with “Englarged P. Cent.” written in yellow, alongside a circled section of brain.

*We (and Esme) hear the following –

Professor Adams voice: July 5 9:03 test subject 83
PA: Do you think about violence?
Voice: All I think about violence.
PA: Aare you thinking about it now?
V: Yes.

*If “Enlarged P. Cert.” means what I think it does, we’re in for some Lovecraftian Pineal Gland madness! For the uninitiated, Stuart Gordon’s 1986 epic From Beyond is a WTF exploration of, as TV Tropes calls it, Pineal Weirdness.

The Ryan Grant Robbery Crew

*Are the “ladies” Ryan walks past on the street some of the Matron Saints we met last year in S1E4, “Release the Beast“?

*The camera pans up from Ryan to showcase a wide shot the post Purge New Orleans downtown with skyscrapers on fire and a voice over warning citizens to not touch corpses.

*Sara (Chelle Ramos) gave Doug (Jaren Mitchell) codeine to numb the pain of his injuries. For Sara and Doug the high risk of the Purge is no longer work the declining reward; she has amortgage, and Doug has kids.

*Ryan persuades Sara and Doug to hold off on quitting. His share of the bank robbery haul is enough to pay for his dementia-afflicted mother Alice (Geraldine Singer) to live at the Layfayette Assisted Care facility. Good thing they accept cash payment in bricks of one dollar bills.

*Ryan wonders if he faces any good choices anymore (aka a “Hobson’s Choice“).

*Tommy Ortiz (Jonathan Medina) arrives at the rendezvous point, only to give himself up to the police who show up a few minutes later.NOPD cops viciously beat Tommy as they read him his Miranda rights.

*Why do they bother? According to Ryan Tommy won’t be bound over for trial; “They’ll hold him over until the next Purge, then kill him.” What is the Judicial system under the NFFA like? Are all prisoners tagged with “finish-line f*ck ups” (aka major felonies) just murdered at the next Purge? Are they sold to the wealthy for Purge Parties?

*Ryan tracks the 1st Parish Bank’s money post Purge. First transported by Eastin Protective Services to a warehouse, then delivered by General Laundry Service truck to a private jet at an airport.

Marcus and Michelle: Purge Night and Chill

*Marcus begins his morning after Purge Night with some fresh French Press coffee – and another jump scare.

*Marcus notes that “the Cartwrights” hired someone to track whoever targeted them on Purge Night and “returned the favor” the next Purge Night.

*As Marcus arrives at work, we learn two things: Marcus works as an emergency room physician, and healthcare rationing still exists under the NFFA.

*Marcus and the other E.R. staff have to make spilt-second decision regarding triage treatment for amputations, lacerations, stab wounds, fingers blown off, and more in a facility crowded with patients desperate for care. This is one of the more graphic scenes in any Purge story, movie or television.

*The hospital is out or running low on Type O Negative blood; According to the American Red Corss, “Type O negative is the universal blood type”, present in only 7% of the population, and vital for emergency room medicine.

*Marcus uses Narcan to temporarily revive the Scarred Hand Man who tried to kill him Purge Night and pump him for information.

*Scarred Hand Man says “Ivory Road” before dying in the ER. Marcus, armed with that phrase and the dead man’s cell phone, goes to see his tech-savvy son Darren (Denzel Whitaker).

*Darren Moore is, like Ben, a student at Cooke University and Professor Adams was his thesis advisor. He isn’t hostile towards Marcus, but their interaction makes it clear their relationship is polite but distant.

*Darren not only knows what “Ivory Road” refers to, he can unlock the disguised Ivory Road icon on the dead man’s phone, AND show his Dad the $75,000.00 bounty for Marcus’s life that’s active on the Dark Web site, and will be until it’s fulfilled.

*The Purge’s Ivory Road is an obvious Purge themed version of the real life Dark Web marketplace Silk Road; the Dark Web browser Tor exists in this universe as it does in ours.

Ben and the Very Bad, No Good, Rotten Day After Purge Night

*Ben’s behaviors after Purge Night reflect Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms experienced by victims of violence and sexual assault.

Flat Affect – Emotionlessly telling his girlfriend Kelly (Danika Yaroh) “I’m fine” before taking a shower fully clothed while flashing back to the assault by God Mask. Later, Ben’s only reaction to Professor Adam’s death is wondering if they’ll have class this week.
Self Harm – Gouging his palm with a penknife during another flashback.

*All the storylines so far are interesting, but Ben’s has captured my interest the most. I’m concerned that instead of a series-long exploration of the effects of his Purge Night trauma, Ben will take a flying leap off Travis Bickle Cliff to Taxi Driver Town.

Eyes, Eyes Everywhere

*There are sets of eyes graffitied outside the bank and the warehouse Ryan cases while following the bank’s money to the airport. Last week Ryan asked Tommy if he’d avoided the “eyes in the sky” on his way to their rendezvous point. Tommy claimed he’d crossed three “dead zones” to avoid detection.

*When Ben plays a Purge themed first person shoot VR game, the man complaining about the wait outside wears a t-shirt festooned with sets of eyes.

Episode Three, “Blindspots” airs Oct. 29 at 9/8c on USA.

Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”