The Purge Episode 9: I Will Participate
Purge Night is almost over! Episode 9 reveals a very different Joe than any of us has ever seen.
Meet the Real Joe
Joe is not the man that most of thought he was. Not at all. All of this time, we thought he was saving people, but he wasn’t, he was capturing them, it was just a coincidence that some of them needing saving at the time that he showed up. What’s worse, not only is Joe not a hero, he’s an angry, bitter, racist asshole.
It’s finally been revealed what the connection is between all of our characters–in Joe’s mind, each of them have “disrespected” him in some way, and he’s been planning his revenge, or rather his Purge, for a long time.
Joe and Jane had been on a date (the app on his phone was a dating app), and needless to say, the date didn’t go well. Why? Because Joe started insinuating that Jane had only achieved success because she’s a black woman, and that her hard work was not what got her where she is. Jane excuses herself to go to the restroom, but instead she pays the bill and leaves. Anybody would have done the same thing, you treat someone like trash, who the heck is gonna want to be around you? But Joe didn’t see it that way, Joe felt that Jane had wronged him.
Penelope, hers was the silliest of slights–apparently Joe had held a door open for her and she didn’t say thank you. And that’s why she was on his list.
We haven’t gotten to Rick and Jenna yet, but we did find out that Joe installed their Purge security system, and that maybe Rick owed Joe money at some point.
The others he had captured were a man who had been a bully to him in school, the woman from his old job, and a woman who had something to do with the insurance claim for his dad.
So they’re all in a cage now, in the auditorium of Joe’s old high school. Joe informs them that they are all going to stand trial, he wants a confession from each of them, and if he believes them, he will show mercy, but if he does not believe them, he is going to exercise his right to Purge.
Oh, and how did he track them all down? This one is crazy. He marked each one of them with some kind of spray that allowed him to track them for up to three weeks. Wait, is that a real thing? I seriously hope not.
The bully is first, and it doesn’t end well for him. He tries to lie his way out of it, then finally confesses, but Joe does not have mercy as he promised he would, Joe kills him.
One of the women try to escape, but the place is rigged, and she gets blasted.
Jane is next. Joe states his case against her, and wants her confession, but Jane isn’t having it. She tells Joe flat out that he’s a racist, and makes her case against Purge night. But Joe reminds her that she herself exercised her right to Purge when she killed David. Um, not quite the same there, Joe. David was a pig, and so are you. Jane is finally able to get the upper hand, and she fights Joe, but she’s no match for him and Joe strangles Jane while the others watch in horror. I am so holding out hope that Jane is not really dead.
All this time, Miguel and Pete have teamed up to rescue Penelope. They’re on their way to the high school when Cowboy catches up and blows Pete’s car up. Luckily, Miguel and Pete made it out. But Cowboy is still out there with his crew, looking for them.
I am not sure how to feel about this thing with Joe. On one hand, I think it’s powerful storytelling, Joe represents the kind of dangerous people that actually exist in this world, those ticking bombs out there waiting to explode. And here’s this too: consider the fact that all this time we thought he was a hero—this is a major theme of The Purge, the fact that you don’t really know what a person is capable of, or what they might do if given the chance, how we all wear these masks, but who are we really? It’s a scary thought.
So how did you feel when you saw the real Joe? Did you feel duped by the writers, or do you think it was the greatest twist ever?
Oh, and here’s the results from our poll last week:
Looks like we enjoyed Rick and Jenna’s story line the most, with 33% of the votes, but Joe was not far behind at 30%. I was surprised to find that Jane’s story line only got 16%.
The Purge finale is November 6th, 10/9 C, on USA Network. Don’t miss it!
Before you go:
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