One night a year for twelve hours, all crime is legal. The Purge, although a made-up storyline, presents the idea of what could happen if the world was given the chance to wreak havoc for a day and not be punished for their actions. There is a four-movie franchise that has been built upon this idea so far, and now there is a tv show. “The Purge” (Tv series) aired on USA on Sept. 4th and has garnered both positive and negative reviews since release.

There are only three episodes that have aired on television so far, but this series already has a mediocrity that I might not be able to watch for the next seven weeks to see how the story plays out.

Honestly, I do not know why there was a tv series made out of these movies. “The Purge” first came out in 2013 and was a breath of fresh air in the horror genre. It was a new idea that was extremely creative and never done before. It was intense to watch, and as the sequels came out, the intensity got heavier. Each movie got bloodier and more violent than the previous film, and people ate it up. This series however, does not pack the same punches that the films did, and that’s disappointing for an avid Purge fan.

The first episode, “What is America,” is a slow cooker. It mostly has backstories and shows the three main storylines that will be told throughout the series. It is set hours before the commencement of the Purge and jumps back and forth between the three storylines: a marine searching for his sister who joined a cult, a businesswoman who is trying to seal an important deal with her company, and a young couple who attend a high-class party with the new founding fathers of America and are granted immunity for the night.

Since this is a tv series and not a movie, there is a lot more character development and focus on the character’s actions throughout the night. It allows for the show to go in more depth with the characters, but the episodes seem to drag on and focus too much on the characters. From the previews shown before the premiere, the series looked like it would be a good front runner with the movies. Now granted, the movies do have flaws of their own, but they deliver on their promise of violence and good horror making. This series does not have or show enough horror like the movies do. I was expecting to see a lot more blood and action since the show is rated TV-MA, but it has not fully delivered yet. Maybe they’re waiting on setting up the scene and characters, but they’re taking their sweet ol’ time, and it is a little irritating.

Another thing that is great about the films is how in-tune they are with political and economic issues among the country. Each movie covers a different class of people and shows their struggles on making it through the commencement. There are real issues (racial, political, and economical) that are constantly thought about, but this series does not consider any of these issues.

The characters are also not very interesting to me. Maybe it’s the acting or the writing, but I don’t care if any of the main characters get slaughtered; because they are not that intriguing. They all have their own demons they’re dealing with, but not a whole lot is given away yet. I cannot connect with them yet. and therefore if they were killed in the first episode, I would not bat an eye for these bland, cardboard characters.

The Purge movies had the wow factor and continuously shocked you throughout the entirety of the movie. The tv series, unfortunately, does not offer the same. I will give them the benefit of the doubt and watch another episode or two before I make the decision to stop watching it, but so far, “The Purge” tv series is a mediocre comparison to the popular Purge franchise, and I would rather watch the movies than watch this tv show.