It’s not a ratings juggernaut, but season one of The Purge has been USA’s number-one drama for the past couple of months. Plus, it’s your patriotic right as an American to purge, which is why it’s no big surprise to learn the channel has renewed the series for a second season.
Tonight’s season finale has yet to air, but apparently enough people love the vicarious thrill of murdering anyone that annoys you/causes you problems at work/emotionally wounded you/looked at you the wrong way/etc.—or a searing critique of same, whatever your pleasure—to give USA Network the confidence to grant it another year of folks trying frantically to survive the night. Creatively, it started strong, and despite some pretty shoddy writing during the middle section, the show has managed to maintain a sense of propulsiveness that keeps it watchable, and even throw in some smart discussions of race, gender, and class as it happens. (The big twist that brought all the characters together was fucking ridiculous, though.) No word on whether it will follow a brand-new set of people next year, but maybe that will depend on tonight’s survival rate for the main characters.