Hey, mean girls love the Purge! It’s a silly cold open, with a sassy teen dress-up montage. Their father interrupts, and his little girl threatens him with a spiked mace. Selfie!
Marcus (Derek Luke) and Michelle (Rochelle Aytes) get strapped to deal with bad neighbors, who’ve removed the hit. Why? So they can Purge Marcus themselves. They’re economical killers, and I’m guessing the vengeful Clint would rather do it himself anyway.
A couple of old friends show up to help the targeted couple so it’s four against the whole neighborhood. I have to wonder if they’re here to strike at Marcus from the inside.
Marcus’s son, Darren (Denzel Whittaker) won’t be around for the climax because Daddy broke the kid’s arm, ensuring that he’d be safe in a hospital on Purge Night. In an unexpected moment, Marcus uses a large rock to do the damage, which could be overkill? Now all they have to do is wait for Clint to make his move.
Esme (Paola Nunez) calls in a favor to her ex-coworker to report a false tag on her location as a distraction, while Ryan (Max Martini) puts up with the rude demands of his superior (Christine Dunford). When she assigns him “help” for the job, Ryan comes to blows with the lackey in the truck. It ends in a head-meets-oncoming obstacle for the watchdog. It feels like we haven’t’ seen a satisfying kill in a while and this one delivers. Ryan might be a bit boring, but he can deliver the brutalism.
Oh, and the boss lady finds the tables turned on her. The drivers for the bank trucks? Ryan’s rival gang, the Jackals. They mow down everyone in sight, thus the heist gang’s plan is already upside down.
The core of “Before The Sirens” revolves around Ben (Joel Allen) and Turner (Matt Shively), on the anniversary of this mess, the origin of the “Campus Killer” when Turner left Ben to die. The bros hang out downstairs while Ben shaves his head and arms himself with a crossbow. When Turner shows concern for Ben’s behavior (he finds the obligatory Evil Notebook Drawings), Ben scuffles with one of the boys until Turner gets the crossbow, and makes Ben leave.
Then Black Christmas comes to mind as Ben infiltrates the frat house and attacks the bros one-by-one. Once he secures them all, he forces a game of beer pong. Loser gets an arrow in their chest… and there’s always going to be a loser.
Before long, arrows are launched and throats are slit. Only Turner’s left alive and Ben has undisclosed special plans for his friend.
With only two episodes left, we end just as the sirens sound. Next week it’ll be Clint & the Neighbors v. M&M, Heist Crew v. Jackals, and Ben v. Turner, Final Round. Ding ding.
