Release the Beast

Episode four of season one. Aired September 25th, 2018.

Summary
Jane must leave the office; Lila consoles Jenna; Penelope is thrust into the Carnival of Flesh.

Episode Guide
In episode four of The Purge, Lila’s seduction of Jenna continues, to Rick’s chagrin; a distraught Jane leaves the skyscraper and heads out into the city; Miguel continues his search for Penelope, who winds up on the auction block at a grotesque Purge Night carnival. Read our recap to find what chaos found each character this week.

The Rick-Jenna-Lila love triangle heats up
The sight of Mr. Stanton celebrating a deal by shooting an old employee at point-blank range deeply disturbed Jenna. Lila comforts her in one of the mansion’s empty rooms; when Jenna tries to go and find Rick in the party, Lila urges her to stay, professes her love, and offers to join her family. Flashbacks reveal that threesome between Rick, Jenna, and Lila -- designed to get Rick and Jenna’s marriage out of a slump -- caused more problems than it solved; Jenna and Lila sparked a connection, and Rick came home from a trip soon thereafter to find the two of them naked in bed together. Rick’s temper flares when he sees them return to the NFFA party together, and he initiates a bitter argument with Lila. Mr. Stanton breaks up the dispute and announces the beginning of one of the party’s main events. As butlers bring out platters of swords, a maid pulls Jenna aside and tells that she needs to leave the house.

Jane meets the Matron Saints
Jane kneels over Mark’s dead body, weeping. Alison tries to justify her murder -- she wanted to ensure her promotion, and to rid herself of the anger inside her, she says. Completely gutted, Jane experiences a sudden change of heart and tries to call of her hit on David Ryker. Her frantic phone calls to both David and hired gun Bracka go to voicemail. After contacting her mother’s nursing home and telling a nurse to pass along a message—that she loves and forgives her— Jane runs out on the deserted city streets with a hammer as her only protection. A man attacks her, disarms her, and attempts to force feed her a sedative, but is thwarted as an RV pulls carrying armed women who pour out and chases him away. They call themselves the Matron Saints, and they take Jane into the safety of their vehicle.

Penelope herded to the Carnival of Flesh
As it turns out, the men in nun masks don’t want to kill Penelope. They are bounty hunters who deliver her to the Carnival of Flesh, a macabre celebration of killing through the ages, where revelers can munch on pretzels as they bid on “martyrs” to kill. Penelope and the rest of the martyrs are corralled into a pen like cattle. An old man mistakes her for his granddaughter, and he tells her that she needs to live, not give up her life so that Purgers can simply release their pent-up aggression. The old man braves the auction block, then it’s Penelope’s turn. A bidding war ensues; The auctioneer strikes his gavel to mark a winning bid of $2000 put down by Henry, the last person to visit her at the rehab clinic before she checked out.

Miguel gets help from a cowboy named Rex

Miguel returns to Pete’s Cantina and convinces Pete to help him find where the nuns took Penelope. Pete points him in the direction of a cowboy named Rex. Miguel brings Rex a peace offering in form of a mason jar of clear liquor, and Rex promises to get him into the Carnival of Flesh—getting out is another story. En route to the carnival, Rex offers up some life lessons and gains safe passage through a crew who has set up a blockade to kill wealthy NFFA members. As they approach the carnival, Miguel realizes that a prisoner is being held captive in the back of the Rex’s truck, and that Rex is a collector.