Things are ramping up in the third episode of “The Purge.” People are murdering each other for promotions, the frightening pro-Purge cult is dropping people off to their deaths, and we’re getting a taste of the backlash and insurgency that is resisting the government and its yearly night of murder.
Episode 3 of the USA Network series, “The Urge to Purge,” also teases something new, though. The final moments of the episode bring fans an installment in the story of a man wearing a metal mask who heads out on Purge night in an unmarked van. The man, named Joe (Lee Tergesen), looks scary, but the episode upends expectations – instead of going on a joyful murder spree, the man in the mask rescues a woman from her attackers.
The whole scene is a bit strange, but “The Purge” is giving hints at what’s going on here. First, we’ve seen the masked man driving around listening to pro-Purge self-help tapes, encouraging him to let out his dark urges. When he reaches his destination, though, he finds a woman in her home being attacked by two other Purgers. The masked man kills the attackers and brings the woman into his van, apparently planning to help her.
There is an added bit of creepiness, though. The masked man didn’t randomly come across that woman under attack. A shot in his car shows that he had information about who she was, where to go, and what to expect when he arrived. Saving the woman, it seems, was a planned moment. What we don’t know yet was why.
There’s one more tell, though, that gives a hint about where this might all be going, and what the deal is with the masked man. It’s also an Easter egg in the episode that probably slipped past all but the die-hard horror fans.
That Easter egg is a call-out out to the 1978 classic slasher movie “Halloween.” In the final moments of the episode, the music shifts to one of the tracks from the “Halloween” score. It’s subtle, but something that also feels like it definitely has meaning.
What is that meaning, exactly? It remains to be seen, but “Halloween” is specifically about a guy in a mask hunting and attempting to murder a woman (and successfully killing all her friends). It’s clear that rescuing that woman is not the end of the story, but that “Halloween” music cue seems to give an idea of where the masked man’s intentions really lie.
Obviously we’ll have to wait and see where this plot line in “The Purge” is headed, but if the “Halloween” Easter egg is any indication, there could very well be another major villain being introduced as we speak.
The Most 2018 Movies of 2018 So Far, From 'Infinity War' to 'The First Purge' (Photos)
While Hollywood hasn't quite switched over to full-on nihilism mode like it did in the Bush years -- yet -- we have gotten a few studio pictures this year that more or less capture the vibe of living under President Donald Trump in 2018 -- intentionally or not. Warning: there are spoilers ahead for most of these movies. Also there's political commentary.
"Avengers: Infinity War" -- A crazy, shocking, potentially world-shattering threat emerges, boasting heavy support from religious fundamentalists and spouting cliche Republican talking points about resource allocation and the need for a strongman to make decisions for everyone -- and wins. Trump's America is basically Thanos' entire universe.
"Fifty Shades Freed" -- The "Fifty Shades" finale is basically the story of the extremely rich Christian Grey learning an important life lesson -- that he, as an orphan, potentially would have turned into a murderous psycho had he not been adopted by a rich family -- and then turning around and having kids the normal way with Ana because those orphans aren't my kids.
"The First Purge" -- Given his open support for literal murderous dictators, it seems likelier with every new “Purge” movie that Donald Trump is going to want to institute the Purge IRL, right? It would be a bit on the nose but, well, he is President On The Nose. Plus, a major plot point has the government call in Russian support to interfere with an internal matter.
"Gringo" -- The story of a nice and normal immigrant man with a normal white collar job who really just wants to live a normal life without anyone bothering him -- and so, of course, everyone tries to kill him. This is what living in 2018 America feels like.
"Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" -- Some people have argued to me that "Fallen Kingdom" is bad because the bad people in these movies seem to get even dumber and do more inexplicable things with every new "Jurassic" installment. And to that I say: Donald Trump is president, so you may be holding movies to a higher standard of credibility than you are the reality of 2018.
"Pacific Rim: Uprising" -- The world is almost destroyed by a guy who is secretly the puppet of foreign monsters. Hmm.
"A Quiet Place" -- We finally figured out a way to defeat the monsters -- purely by accident and only after most of humanity was already wiped out. A vision of our future?
"Red Sparrow" -- A really resourceful woman uses all her considerable subterfuge skills to outsmart hordes of predatory men and remove a single corrupt Russian government official from office. A heroic #resistance effort, and probably the best possible resolution to the situation -- and probably one that won't do much to help anyone in the near term. But maybe someday!
"Sicario: Day of the Soldado" -- Maybe this type of "look at the secret bad things the government is doing!" story doesn't quite translate to Trump's America. But at the same time it's not hard to imagine Trump watching this movie and thinking invading Mexico to fight the cartels is a good idea.
"Tyler Perry's Acrimony" -- This movie has a really clever conceit -- a crazy person narrates her life story, painting herself as the good guy while the movie itself is showing the truth of her badness. It's basically what watching any Trump speech feels like.
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These are the Hollywood movies that most capture the vibe of America in 2018
While Hollywood hasn't quite switched over to full-on nihilism mode like it did in the Bush years -- yet -- we have gotten a few studio pictures this year that more or less capture the vibe of living under President Donald Trump in 2018 -- intentionally or not. Warning: there are spoilers ahead for most of these movies. Also there's political commentary.
