USA’s The Purge
Episode 6: “The Forgotten”
Directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado
Written by Jeremy Robbins

* For a recap & review of Episode 5, “Rise Up” – click here
* For a recap & review of Episode 7, “Lovely Dark and Deep” – click here
We see the real life of Joe (Lee Tergesen), outside of his Purge nightlife. He’s great at making sandwiches. He’s just a regular sort of guy, really. A working class dude who has a job at Saticoy Supply Company, punching the clock like the rest of us in the rat race. At work, he chats it up with his dad, John (Steve Coulter), who asks about his latest failed date, encouraging: “You get back out there, you try again.”
Skip to current day, on Purge Night, when Joe heads out into the street to take on several men who are brutalising a person in the road. He kicks the shit out of them, saving the man on the ground from far worse than he’s already experienced.
In the streets, Jenna (Hannah Emily Anderson) and Rick (Colin Woodell) rush home, getting inside before a gang of masked lunatics can Purge them. They’re safely locked away. But can they last the rest of the night? We’ll see.
Note: Digging The Purge‘s score by Tyler Bates. He’s got plenty of credits to his name in/out of the horror genre, from his work with Rob Zombie, to James Gunn’s Slither, and more. If anybody’s seen Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher then you might hear similarities in this show’s score at times.
Jane (Amanda Warren) makes it to David’s (William Baldwin) house. She locates him and sees he’s kicking back for a drink. He’s surprised to see her out on Purge Night, not understanding why she’d risk her life. She blurts out: “Someone‘s coming to kill you.” The two of them are locked inside after he initiates his security system. Could prove troublesome for her if things go sour. And you know they’re going sour. Although David sees her act as asserting herself in a “brutal fucking world” rather than be angry. Jane’s scared her assassin is going to do the job she was paid to do.
At home, Jenna’s in a bad spot when Rick is curious about how she knew of the attack and why it took so long for her to tell him. She’s only concerned about Lila (Lili Simmons), which keeps on driving a wedge between them. Jenna’s seeing her husband turn into another cold member of the bourgeois class, willing to kill so his kid won’t have to “buy groceries with food stamps.” He turns it into class difference, throwing his wife’s upbringing in her face compared to his own “white trash” childhood. He believes Jenna was going to leave him at the party to die. She thinks Rick’s becoming a monster, not a family provider/protector as he sees himself.
At the Carnival of Flesh, Miguel (Gabriel Chavarria) is tied up with Penelope (Jessica Garza)— martyrs for Henry’s personal Purge. The drug dealer’s asserting his American rights, preparing for a sick night. He does too much talking, giving Miguel time to headbutt him in the face. But he and his sister only have so much time until other people show up. Miguel finishes Henry off, slips his shackles, then gets his sister free, too.
More flashback to Joe and his father John. They’re company men, their family’s worked for Saticoy for decades. Dad was getting sick after working in a factory breathing in the industrial fumes for years on end. Clearly there’s a tragedy in Joe’s history, something that’s sent him out as a guardian angel on Purge Night.

“Nothing lasts forever”

David offers Jane a private bedroom/bathroom for the remainder of Purge Night. She’s suddenly not thrilled with being locked in the mansion with him, running off when he heads for the elevator. Thus begins a little cat-and-mouse. She has no way out without his security code, so it’s a matter of hiding for the time being. Oh, and that assassin? Already dead in the bathtub downstairs. Yes, Mr. Ryker has been playing games the whole time. He’s got a “collection” too, apparently. Jesus. She’s shown around a hideous living art gallery, where women are tied up for men to ogle. David’s sad about the #MeToo era because he’s a misogynist pig. He uses the Purge to go back to the days of cavemen.
“Nobody‘s being killed here,” so it’s all good, right? Yuck. Jane now finds herself in the lion’s den. Not a good place to be as a woman.
Flashback again to Joe at his workplace finding the factory shut up. Everyone was locked out. The higher-ups were outsourcing jobs because performance wasn’t up to par. More of the capitalist American way, leaving workers in the lurch. All part of what eventually probably led to the Purge, at least partly. The government knew poor and underprivileged people are the ones who’d suffer most on Purge Night, allowing the weakest amongst society to be cleansed. This was at the same time as “water usage” was being restricted, U.S. manufacturing was in worse decline, protests filled the streets, and Joe was feeling increasingly more shit on by his country. He started listening to the motivational speaker who sounds eerily like him, talking about embracing the “healing powers of violence” through the Purge.
Miguel and Penelope try escaping the Carnival of Flesh— easier said than done. The Cowboy has everyone on high alert, prompting Miguel into serious action. He diverts attention, causing mass panic, and the siblings are able to slip out of that horrible place without being found out.
On his computer screen, Joe sees several signals, one of which is coming from Jane. Is he going to try infiltrating Ryker’s mansion to save her from the vicious male 1%?
We see Jenna call Lila’s phone, and a man answers, saying she’s dead. Afterwards she’s comforted by Rick, who assures her things will get better in time. They try to get through the remainder of Purge Night by making a late breakfast. That’s when Lila bangs at the front door, bloody, begging to be let inside before she’s murdered on their steps.
The Purge‘s best yet! What did you all think? Father Gore’s been impressed with the series, initially being so unsure it’s great to be proven wrong. Can’t wait for more of Joe, as always! And there’s lots more happening, too.
“Lovely Dark and Deep” is next, using part of Robert Frost’s poem as its title— dig it.