‘The Purge’ Recap: ‘The Urge to Purge’

Last week, The Purge propelled into the beginning hours of the night’s events to help maintain stability in the United States. This week, viewers learned more about the characters we’ve been introduced to these past two weeks of almost character-centric episodes.

Viewers were thrust back into the thick of events, picking up where we left off last week with Lila and Jenna. How no one conveniently walked in on them making out is beyond me. The deeper connection between these two women is obvious to viewers, but even more so when Lila apologizes. Upon attempting to explain herself further Jenna blurts out what I have suspected for the past two weeks – she’s pregnant! Obviously, this is not the news that Lila wanted to hear and while she obviously is not happy about the turn of events she tells this woman from her past congratulations anyway. Considering the fast-paced manner Lila leaves the area I continue to wonder if she will destroy the deal that Jenna and Rick are attempting to make with her father. This moment might possibly be the catalyst that Lila needs to move forward.

At the same time, Good Leader Travis insists that she warned the group that the violence would be horrible and hard to watch. She stands apart as the Good Leader because she will never participate. She asks for Penelope to speak to them all and talks about how Melissa is now free. She gave her life so that others could heal. That’s their power. We walk arm and arm toward peace and love, for united, we can conquer all. For the first time in the series, Penelope appears shaken. The flashback provides a memory to cast doubt on Penelope for the first time. Miguel is still attempting to talk with Pete, but since he doesn’t do anything for free, Miguel will need a bargaining chip.

We do get a taste of good news as Jane announces that the deal is complete before practically jumping out of her skin at the sound of a bottle popping as she goes to check her phone. No news is not good news in this scenario. However, in Rick’s case, no news might have been better news. After all, Jenna immediately lies to Rick about how well the talk went between her and Lila. To make matters worse is Jenna’s wording upon Rick voicing his concerns about how Lila is essentially a wildcard in regard to their chances of getting funding for the evening. Jenna insists, “She wouldn’t do that to me,” before quickly correcting herself and saying “us”.

I think she had it right the first time around. I do not think that Lila has any qualms about destroying Rick. He might be the person she wants to purge for the evening. In time we will know, but for now, we get to sit in on Mr. Stanton’s meeting with Rick who leaves Jenna alone at the party yet again.

With Pete’s lack of compassion, Miguel shows Penelope’s photograph to the other patrons. Pete then learns that Miguel has survived The Gauntlet and knows that the car he spoke of earlier in the evening as a trade could be one of his dreams. Realizing that Miguel is not going to let go of his desire to find his sister, Pete mentions that he’s persistent before finally lending a helping hand. Upon hearing Miguel’s story, Pete confirms it’s the cult and that it’s the same route every year and he should be able to give him the next stop on their tour. Viewers learned that when Good Leader Travis said the bus had a treasured OMF (Original Martyr Family) that Miguel and Penelope’s parents stayed on Staten Island, playing on the recent film The First Purge through a flashback. Without a shadow of a doubt, Miguel agrees to make the trade-off with Pete if it means finding his sister.

As we cut to Stanton and Rick’s talk, Stanton insists that Jenna is in the talk as well. Initially this lead me to wonder if Stanton knew more than meets the eye, but we soon learn this is merely because he felt both people who benefit from this deal should be present. As the talk comes to a close, they settle on $75 million with a seat on the board and 35% ownership of the company. However, the couple realizes that to attain this money they have to take part in events other than merely talking about the benefits of joining the NNFA later. Stanton immediately wants to celebrate and does so by bringing in a past employee.

We then discover that the employee worked for Stanton for ten years. He said the good thing about purge night is that he can punish those and not get tied up in legislation. He apologizes for putting them in a place where he wanted them to kill someone but proceeds to shoot the guy for stealing copper wire from his construction site and reselling it on the market. Jenna is visibly shaken and wants to get out. Nothing is okay because they just saw a man get shot right in front of them. She no longer wants to take his money because they are essentially taking blood money. This makes me wonder…if Jenna comes between him and the money will Rick purge Jenna? This is an extremely morbid thought considering what we know now, but it does lend itself to a potential scene that lies ahead where Lila will somehow have to save Jenna or sacrifice herself to save Jenna.

By the time we arrive back at the office with Jane, we’ve realized she the is victim of the pinwheel of death. Jane’s feed is buffering which I’ve decided might be the worst case of buffering ever. Mark sucks up a little bit and he continues to make nice with Alison after the incoming call from Ryker. Someone is at his door and he claims to be right back, which leads me to believe at first that Ryker is Jane’s intended target. Also, I would NEVER answer the door on purge night. Ryker reappearing at all afterward is shocking, which now leads me to believe that Jane’s target is actually Anya. Joking that his visitor was the pizza guy, Ryker insists on the employees stuck working to enjoy themselves. As the phone call ends, Jane appears to have something to reveal to Ryker before exiting the boardroom to her office.

Meanwhile, Jane realizes that someone has passed through the area and makes it her mission to discover what has taken place. After finally bothering to turn on the hallway light, she follows the noises down the hallway. Alongside Jane, we learn that Alison has killed Mark despite Mark’s words earlier in the episode where he is willing to wait for his promotion because Alison is more deserving. Considering this was supposed to be a purge free zone on that evening, we are left wondering what will happen to Alison now. This might be the first mishap to occur in an area where death is off limits.

Two freelance journalists pick up Miguel on his continued journey to locate Penelope. He reveals a bit more about his family but insists that the purge gets worse every year that it continues. His point is quickly proven when they view a person essentially electrocuting another man on top of a car. The van stops near the location of the bus and lets Miguel out. As Miguel makes his way in the bus’s direction, we watch a guy get gunned down before seeing a car engulfed in flames as Miguel runs to find his sister. The purge bus pulls up to its designated area and Good Leader Travis remarks that she’s so glad that Penelope will be rejoining her parents. Whatever doubts Penelope felt, she descends the bus upon remembering her mother’s mother taking place before her and Miguel.

Awaiting her are four guys dressed as some unique looking nuns. Penelope insists that she is not afraid as they put a bag over her head and they carry her off to a RV. Miguel unknowingly held up the RV by gunpoint that has his sister inside. Instead of keeping them in his sights, he moves forward to hold up the bus by gunpoint until Good Leader Travis reveals that Penelope has departed. She was on the bus that Miguel let go and his realization is absolutely heartbreaking as Good Leader Travis says, “Worry not Sister Penelope is so free now.”

The episode does not end there though. We are left with the image of the man from last week, Joe (Lee Tergesen), stepping foot inside of a random woman’s house. Is this so random though? He seems to have listened to purge motivational tapes, but we soon debate if this guy is so bad after all. Is he there to save the woman from purge predators?

We will only know by continuing to tune into the ten-night engagement Tuesdays at 10pm on USA Network.

If not that is not enough though, The First Purge is available for purchase on October 2nd.