Two years ago, when USA gave the greenlight to its well-formatted small screen entry within the highly popular Purge film franchise, fans immediately wondered whether or not the episodic series would introduce any direct callbacks to the various movies. Season 1 did feature tangential connections to the 2018 prequel The First Purge, but it was just announced that Season 2 is going 100 times harder with its cinematic connections. The Purge's original bankable star, Ethan Hawke, will finally return to the horror franchise to close out the second TV season.
That's right, Purge fans can get ready to welcome Ethan Hawke's James Sandin, who in the first film was a salesman for a security company in the midst of trying to keep his family safe from the maniacs outside. As fans are aware, Hawke's character did indeed survive the chaos of that first Purge Night, though his appearance in the Season 2 finale unfortunately isn't mean to offer any follow-up information about James' current situation.
Rather, USA's announcement revealed that Ethan Hawke will appear in the Season 2 finale's cold open, which will actually take place before the events of the first Purge movie. The sequence will be a flashback to exactly one week before that very first national Purge Night, and it will mark the first time that James Sandin's security system gets tested.
You can check out a first-look shot of Ethan Hawke's James in the Season 2 finale below.
Admittedly, it's not immediately obvious why The Purge's creative team decided to bring the Purge's first big star back for its second-season capper. At least, beyond the more obvious reasons such as winning over fans and the fact that Ethan Hawke makes just about every project that much better simply by being there. Regardless of the reasons and the motivation, fans should be pumped to see this franchise come full circle in such a cool way. (On the flip side, here's hoping this isn't a last-ditch effort to gain renewal favor with USA.)
The finale, titled "7:01 AM,"will follow up on Ethan Hawke's cold open by taking viewers back into the latest Purge Night. To be expected, this final installment will center on its quartet of Esme, Ryan, Marcus and Ben as they try to survive the ultra-harrowing calamities that are the status quo during Purge events.
The Purge Creator Already Has An Idea For The Film Series’ Ending
For anyone in need of some madcap TV violence in the near future, be sure and welcome Ethan Hawke back to one of his biggest genre franchises when The Purge Season 2 finale airs on USA on Tuesday, December 17, at 9:00 p.m. ET.
