Episode Five “Rise Up”
Written by Jamie Chan
Directed by Julius Ramsay
[All images courtesy Patti Perret/USA Network]
For a full recap of episodes of The Purge on USA (and all his other cool recaps), check out Father Son Holy Gore!
Now, on to the All American Carnage of The Purge, Episode Five – “Rise Up”!
Plot Threads – Two plot threads saw our characters arriving at their destinations (Jane and Miguel), while the third had them making a frantic escape (Jenna and Rick).
*Jane Barbour (Amanda Warren) – The Matron Saints make a stop to rescue a woman from her abusive partner, then branding the offender on the forehead with PIG in large, sans-serif letters. Jane can’t participate in the branding. Grabbing a set of keys, she heads off to save the life of her boss David Ryker (William Baldwin).
*Miguel (Gabriel Chavarra) & Penelope Guerrero (Jessica Garza) – In the present, Miguel commandeers Rex’s (Christopher Berry) truck, chokes Rex into unconsciousness, and frees his prisoners. Said prisoners (Rex’s landlady & her son), slowly make their way DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET after the son tries and fails to steal Miguel’s stolen truck.
Miguel uses Rex’s passkey to enter Bygones, sells Rex as a sacrifice, and finds Penny. Unfortunately for Miguel, he finds his sister after Rex comes to and warns the guards, who promptly find and subdue him. Since they knock him down in front of Henry’s Torture Tent, Penny’s druggie ex-boyfriend buys Miguel to enjoy a night of revenge on the pair.
The siblings get the flashbacks for the episode. Innocent Penelope, perhaps tired of covering for her hot-headed brother, takes up with charming boho artist/drug dabbler Henry (Dylan Arnold). After Henry adds physical abuse to the mix, Miguel delivers a beat down that results in the scarring and discoloration we see in Henry’s right eye.
Oh, and Good Leader Tavis (Fiona Dourif) moonlights as a Caring Social Worker at Penny’s rehab facility. It’s weird that being a Purge Death Cult Leader isn’t more of a full-time gig.
* Jenna (Hannah Anderson) & Rick Betancourt (Colin Woodell) – Albert Stanton (Reed Diamond) leads Rick into a section of the house that’s been covered in plastic sheeting. Three sacrifices are led into the area as the guests receive hand crafted daggers. Rick pockets the dagger, but Albert inadvertently saves Rick’s life, asking the young man to find Jenna so she can enjoy the “festivities”. Catalina (Paulina Galvez) observes Rick leaving and nods to fellow member of the waitstaff.
Rick find his wife just as shots ring out downstairs. Jenna figures now is the time to heed Catalina’s warning to head for the cellar. Amid a full-scale home invasion by anti-NFFA revolutionaries, Catalina unlocks a cellar door for Rick and Jenna, tells them where to head for safety, then heads back upstairs.
*Joe the Sandwich Guy (Lee Tergesen) – Joe stops his van in sight of three men beating someone to death. He steps out of his vehicle and charges the trio holding a billy club.
Notes on “Rise Up”
*I wonder if Armed Home Invasion/Violent Overthrow of the Existing Order is ok on Purge Night? If the Anti-NFFA revolutionaries are only active one night of the year, they should be ok legally.
*Matron Saint Marge may be off a few months in her claim that the early-Spring Purge Night has “the second highest conception rate after New Year’s Eve”. January usually runs second to December as the leading months for conception of babies born the following August and September, the months with the highest average birthrates.
*The Matron Saints follow in a long historical tradition of using branding as punishment for various crimes.
*The setting of The Purge series isn’t explicitly stated, but judging by the beautiful wrought iron balcony on the house next to David Ryker’s place, I’d bet on New Orleans.
*Madelyn (Sabrina Gennaro) echoes the words of Malcom X when proclaiming the Saints will use “any means necessary” to protect women on Purge Night.
*We hear a bit more of the New Founding Fathers of America’s profession of faith during distribution of the golden daggers –
“Blessed Be America
A Nation Reborn
Blessed Be Us
A Future More Prosperous”
* Catalina is a firm believer in the power of violent revolution; “sometimes revolution is the only way to make the world a better place.” She certainly agrees with Mao that “power flows from the barrel of a gun.”
*The Purge Home Shopping Network is a big sponsor of radio programming on Purge Night.
*The “FUBAR” emblazoned on the Vietnam War Atrocity tent at Bygones is but one of many colorful, NSFW military acronyms.
*The post-9/11 mantra “If You See Something, Say Something” gets a NFFA retooling; Joe’s radio announcer advises his listeners, “If You See Something, Do Something“.
*Last week, I noted the golden daggers brought the horror hotel of “Hotel California” to mind. Their ceremonial use at the Stanton party also suggests The Night of the Long Knives – Hitler’s 1934 purge of the paramilitary SA “Brownshirts” that consolidated his power in the Nazi party. In The Purge universe, the NFFA uses The Purge to maintain their power, both through indoctrination of the elite 1% – and winnowing the 99% they see as “undesirable”.
*Thank you, Security Cam 1 at David Ryker’s house, for giving us a definite timestamp for the series – 3/22/2027 12:07 A.M.
*Rex’s (Christopher Berry) advice to Miguel, “That’s the game, kid,” recalls Jane’s mother admonishment to her daughter – “if only you’d played the game …” back in Episode One.
*The damage – destruction really – of Henry’s eye is by my estimation the most overt graphic violence we’ve seen on The Purge series to date.
Next Week: Who are “The Forgotten” in Episode Six?
The Purge airs Tuesdays on USA at 10/9c.
More official images, information, and other goodies can be found here.
For more of my deep dives into Bates Motel, The Exorcist, and Channel Zero, check here at F&S and at SciFi4Me.com.
Until next week citizens, “Just remember all the good The Purge does.”
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