The Purge

Season 1 was garbage. Season 2 is terrific. Honestly just skip season 1. The stories aren't connected thankfully.

The Purge movies became quite the cultural thing. I'm fairly certain that even people who never watched the movies are familiar with the premise. And I have to admit, that premise seems ripe to be exploited in a TV show. And yet while there is so much time to explore characters and backstories ... the first season feels quite flat.

Still while you get something more on their background, it does not feel enough to warrant certain things. First season almost entirely plays out during the Purge Night ... some flashbacks yes, but overall probably at least 90% are the night itself. And that is something that season 2 does way better. You start with the end of a purge night and then see the consequences of that ... that carry on for a year ... but even here you have flashbacks! So the season 2 is way more rewarding, dealing with a lot of issues and generally speaking the better season of the two. Not just because an apparently well know cameo in the last episode of the show! And as it looks the last episode overall. Another movie is supposed to come out (or should have been released if it wasn't for the Covid thing, you might have heard about that), but it seems we are nearing the end ... let's see how he movie is going to wrap things up. The show could have done with another season (imho)

Season one was a good intro but the writers have been on top form with season 2 thoroughly enjoyable more characters with plenty of sub plots. I really have enjoyed it.

The first season of the purge series is pure garbage, but the second season is so far 1000x better. The script seems original and the actors are really good. Im looking forward for the next episodes.

Updated - Watched all episodes of season 2... Its prob one of the best series ive ever seen. The last episode is kinda bland and unoriginal, but overall an awesome season.

The script and acting are good enough so far that they don't get in the way of the plot or visuals. We were expecting the entire first episode to be an extended tease of the mayhem to come, so were pleasantly surprised that it actually involved some action, though most of the episode was indeed setting up (interesting and diverse) back-stories.

It was also nice to see the plot dipping its toes into the social ramifications beyond the Purge franchise's usual standby of "people gonna die" or even "rich people gonna kill off the poor people." So it seems to be showing a lot more nuance and maturity than the two Purge movies I've seen so far.

I still think there's a good chance of this series becoming derivative and even tedious, but so far it looks good. I'm also somewhat dubious about making an entire series about a 12 hour event - I wasn't a huge fan of the 24 format. Though perhaps the season won't end when the purge does? For now I'm looking forward to watching the next episodes, finding out what happens to the main characters, and seeing how the social aspects develop.