When the first Purge film debuted in 2013 it was not only something fresh and cool it opened up obvious possibilities for a slew of franchise directions. Of course the success spawned sequels with The Purge: Anarchy in 2014, The Purge: Election Year in 2016 and then went back to the beginning with The First Purge in 2018. During this time they also took the hit franchise to the small screen with The Purge: TV series, but can it bring the same intensity as the films or will it not survive the night?

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The Purge revolves around a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Set in an altered America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters living in a small city. As the clock winds down, each character is forced to reckon with their past as they discover how far they will go to survive the night. As much as a I love this series I was a bit worried with the TV version getting watered down but thankfully being on the USA Network they still pushed some boundaries to make it feel like it is right there in the existing universe.

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The first few episodes were decent enough as they introduced all the players for this year’s Purge, but then the show kind of starts to limp along. I think they had too many people to focus on so it bounces around a lot and makes it hard to really invest in any of the characters. Once you get to the second half of the season and the always great Lee Tergesen shows up things pick up. It’s here you start to understand not only his story, but how the rest of the stories are going to connect. Along the way they show case a variety of people acting out on the Purge for different reasons with some so silly it is scary.

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At the end of it all I really enjoyed the shows direction and time we were able to spend building this world. Sure I would preferred it streamlined a bit more, but should it return for more episodes it is a world that has plenty of directions it can go and improve on.

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In addition to all 10 episodes of the series this release includes bonus content including deleted scenes, a conversation with the cast & crew and featurettes that take you behind bringing this series to life. Support the Purge and grab your copy of The Purge: Season One available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.