Based on the hit movie franchise, The Purge revolves around a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. Season 2 explores how a single Purge night affects the lives of four interconnected characters over the course of the ensuing year, all inevitably leading up to the next Purge. From Blumhouse Television and UCP, the second season of the anthology series opens on Purge night but dives deeper than ever before in to what the Purge world looks like the other 364 days of the year.
For thoughts on The Purge: The Complete Second Season, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/LC32BEt1b-E?si=eU5W3ZiBJn94sWk0&t=3343]
Video Quality
The Purge: The Complete Second Season arrives on Blu-Ray courtesy of Universal Home Entertainment with a great AVC encoded 1080p transfer. This season consists of ten episodes spread across two discs, allowing adequate room for episodes to thrive and avoid most instances of compression artifacts and aliasing. This high definition presentation opens up a world of texture that is difficult to distinguish in the compressed broadcast on cable.
The show features a dystopian setting, yet you will still find moments of vibrancy in certain elements of the production design, clothing, and lighting choices. It is not a visually dazzling series, but it does supply rich nuance and depth. Skin tones appear consistent and detailed across the ensemble. Black levels are deep and provide a substantial amount of detail in shadows. Highlights never clip or veer into blooming in this presentation. Every episode maintains stability which reinforces why physical media is preferred over streaming. Universal has delivered a great release for fans to add to their collection.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with an excellent DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that captures the sonic intentions without issue. Kinetic moments pop up when drama comes to a head, but the narrative is less action-forward than the later movies in the franchise. The track knows when to dig deep to deliver some texture in the lower registers. The track showcases environmental sounds in a way that feels genuine and immersive. The atmospheric score conjures a necessary tone for the series which is presented with standout fidelity within the mix. Dialogue comes through without being drowned out by the music or any sound effects. The audio presentation handles this material favorably. There are English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
There are no special features provided on this release.
Final Thoughts
The Purge carves out an interesting place for itself in its sophomore outing as it explores what happens when the titular event has concluded and society has to deal with the ramifications of a night of lawlessness. This approach may make some longtime fans balk due to the lack of unhinged violence for large stretches, but a more narratively fruitful approach is exactly what this series needed. The different groups we follow all have different dynamics at play that keep things interesting. The series was not perfect, but it was heading in a fine creative direction when it had the plug pulled on it. Universal Home Entertainment has delivered a Blu-Ray that offers a great A/V presentation but no special features. If you enjoy the franchise but haven’t given the show a shot yet, give it a whirl. Recommended
The Purge: The Complete Second Season can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Universal Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
