In the final minutes before the annual Purge we meet a group of people approaching the night in very different ways. Miguel (Gabriel Chavarria) is a marine home from the war only to find his sister has gone missing. Penelope (Jessica Garza) has joined a unique Purge worshipping cult. Jenna, Lila and Rick (Hannah Anderson, Lili Simmons and Colin Woodell) are a young anti-Purge couple and the daughter of an NFFA founder who have very different reasons for being at a Purge party. Jane (Amanda Warren) is an executive continually held over for partner and forced to work on Purge night.

None of them know one another. All of them will be changed forever by the events of this particular Purge night.

The Purge movies have continued to be one of Blumhouse’s best, well constructed franchises. The TV version takes everything that works and embraces long-form storytelling to create something which already has the potential to be even better.

The two standards out here are Chavarria and Warren. Miguel is very much a spiritual successor to Frank Grillo’s Leo. Chavarria has Grillo’s focus but is far less wild-eyed. Miguel is a tank rolling inexorably towards his target and Chavarria does a great job of balancing that with the compassion and easy going charm the role also demands.

Jane is the other side of the coin in every sense. Above the Purge by class and success, she’s got the wild-eyed feral look that Miguel lacks. There’s something iron-sided under the office camaraderie and Warren shows us both that and just how conflicted Jane is.

The rest of the show impresses too but it’s these two, and the cult, that stand out. Together, those three elements show us just what the show can do, exploring the concept from multiple angles, all successfully.

Verdict: Grim, brutal, highly intelligent and just getting started this is a Hell of an opening episode to what looks to be a Hell of a season. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart