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Commence The Purge Episode 8: Say it Ain't So, Joe

For the first seven episodes of The Purge, we have believed certain things to be true. Miguel is Superman. Rick is spineless. Penelope is a walking contradiction. Lila is strong and confident. Jane makes a lot of stupid decisions. So on and so on. Last nights episode "The Giving Time is Here" flipped everything on its head and set-up the last two episodes in a great way.

We opened with Miguel and Penelope heading into Pete the Ex-Cop's bar, where they finally get a chance to relax. Sadly for Penelope, he is not serving pancakes. Joe the Purge Punisher is here to! Our storylines are starting to crossover finally, and by the end of the episode they will in a really big way. The first thing you think however is "Why isn't Jane with him?"…

Pete decides to tell Penelope that her beloved cult and their leader Tavis are NFFA-funded as a way to eliminate poor people. This doesn't sit well with her, so she calls Tavis and has the bus meet her outside the bar to confront her. She pleads with the others on the bus to believe her, and she ends up punching Tavis. Out of nowhere, Joe shoots the bus driver and Tavis dead, and warns Penelope that she isn't safe out there and takes her to his van, Miguel chasing after.

Over at Casa Rick-Jenna, tensions mount between Rick and Lila over who should be with Jenna. Multiple times this episode both Lila and Jenna berate Rick, really driving home how weak he is. We spend tonights flashbacks seeing Lila on what look like her wedding day where she was getting cold feet, but really it was her being nervous over her first Purge kill. It was good to see Reed Diamond one more time before the show ends. Anyway, Jenna tells Lila it is over and that she chooses Rick, and after she can't buy him off, she decides to murder him. Pointing a gun at him, Jenna stumbles in and tries to talk her down while Rick just helplessly lies there. In the end, Lila pulls the trigger, but misses when Jenna stabs her in the side with Rick's Purge Night dagger from the party, killing her. So, the love triangle is over. Jenna and Rick can live ever after, because they certainly are not happy.

This is not the last time we see them though. Remember how Joe took Penelope to his truck? We now get a shot inside the back, to see all of the people he has spent Purge Night saving bound and gagged in the back, including Jane. He has not been saving them as we find out in the preview for next week, he has been gathering them to put them on trial! Joe the Purge Punisher is not the hero we thought. I feel so betrayed, but it was a great twist that came out of nowhere. The last images we see are Joe dragging a bound Rick and Jenna out of there house into the back of the van. That was a fast transition, and a little jarring. Necessary however since we are out of time.

Next week looks like Joe will be judging and dolling out justice to a bunch of extras before getting to some of our main cast. Everyone is now together, and Miguel is the only one who can save them. Who will live, who will die? The end begins next week. 

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