What Is America?

Episode one of season one. Aired September 4th, 2018.

Summary
Purge Commencement looms; Several people find themselves venturing into the chaos of the night.

Episode Guide
The nationalist party New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) has taken over the White House and instituted an annual holiday known as The Purge, in which all crime is made legal for 12 hours, from 7 PM to 7 AM. In the days and hours before the Purge, citizens flock to specialty stores like Purge City to stock up on plywood, guns, ammo, and survival supplies to defend their families and homes.

Miguel looks for his lost sister
Miguel the ex-Marine desperately searches for his sister Penelope in the hours leading up to commencement. Using compassion and intimidation as tactics in turn, he follows a lead to an abandoned hotel, where he winds up in a brawl with two bazooka-toting creeps who are holding a girl named Kaylee hostage. He frees Kaylee, and she informs him that she knows he’s looking for Penelope and where he can find her. Miguel ultimately learns that his sister has joined a cult and intends to kill herself in ritual self-sacrifice.

Penelope prepares to meet The Invisible
Penelope -- or “Goddess Penny,” as she is known to her new peers -- is at peace under the direction of Good Leader Tavis. They are The Givers, and tonight, during the Purge, they will volunteer to be “Purged upon,” to be vessels upon which sinners will unleash their pent-up rage. Penelope will cross over to The Invisible and join her parents, who were murdered in the first Purge. As night falls, Penelope and her friends don their periwinkle robes and board a blue school bus and head out into the city.

Rick and Jenna court the enemy
The husband-and-wife business team of Rick and Jenna seemingly have it all: youth, beauty, intelligence, ambition, chemistry. Despite their staunch anti-Purge beliefs, they make a deal with the devil by attending a black-tie NFFA party at the Stanton mansion on Purge night, drawn by a massive business opportunity. They are uncomfortable in the pro-Purge crowd, and especially in presence of the Stantons, who give a speech toasting this “glorious” holiday.

Jane slinks away to meet Blacka
Jane has already generated a successful career in finance, but she is still unsatisfied with her role at her firm, despite the fact that she is already in upper management. She heads into the office on the night of the Purge to helm her team on the Purge-proof 38th floor as they attempt close a deal before markets open the next morning. But that’s not all she has in store for the evening; as commencement approaches, she slinks away to the basement of her skyscraper to meet in secret with the mysterious mercenary named Blacka.

The Purge begins
Jane hands Blacka a manila envelope filled with hundred-dollar bills; Miguel puts on night goggles and cruises slowly in his sedan, looking for Penelope, witnessing the madness -- gunfire everywhere, whippings, vehicles overturned, bodies dragged through the streets like Hector; the NFFA party activates its Purge gate and takes an odious turn that makes Rick and Jenna second-guess coming; Penelope witnesses the brutal murder of her comrade Arthur.