'The Purge' Season 2 Episode 8: Ben's evolution into a coldblooded, psychopathic serial killer is finally complete
This article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8: 'Before the Sirens'
Over the last seven episodes of 'Purge' Season 2, we have seen Ben's gradual development from being an innocent college kid to a nightmare gone wrong. After a near-fatal encounter on purge night that called for killing his attacker in self-defense, Ben realized his inherent and absolutely irrepressible thirst for murder.
He tried killing animals at slaughterhouses but the thrill wasn't the same as taking down an innocent person who dared cross his path. From a roadside farmer to a fellow pro-violence believer, and another anti-purge student, Ben's murderous instincts reached a whole other level when he strangled his girlfriend in broad daylight, squeezing the life out of her as she lay in the middle of the road, bloody and mangled after a car accident.
Staying pretty much in the same bloody vein, this episode sees Ben take out his closest friends at the frat house he belongs to, and that is nothing short of pure creepy and diabolical.
It all starts with the day of the annual purge, as Ben's frat mates Turner and co. busy themselves in locking the house down. It has been two months since Ben's girlfriend, Kelen's death and everybody is convinced Ben has been shut off in his room and brooding as a coping mechanism. Turner even goes to check up on him after the rest of the fratboys refuse to interact with him. Turner finds Ben shaving off his head. As Turner approaches Ben, he looks aloof—nonchalant to the point of concern—as if his actions aren't out of the ordinary. Turner lets him be the first time, but when he goes back to Ben's room in his absence, he finds Ben's sketchbook, with sketches of the Campus Killer mask and Andy's death scene in the elevator etched all over.
This discovery is soon relayed onto the rest of the boys spending the night at the frat house, and they gather in what can only be described as an intervention, waiting for Ben to show up.
When he finally does show up, they confront him. That's when Ben's psychopath tendencies come out. During a physical brawl, he whispers into Turner's ears how he looks just like Andy did when he died. And as he walks out of the house with his frat brothers keeping his crossbow hostage, Ben rings the final alarm in the air about coming back and killing every single one of them.
Ben lives up to his promise just fine. Even though the fratboys lock the home on Turner's command right after Ben exits, things go extremely wrong because Ben, being Ben, is able to sneak back inside.
The little tidbits in his maneuvering resemble those of ace serial killers—the sly moves, the near quiet attacks, and of course, a sick, sociopathic cheer to whatever journey he has embarked upon.
Like the murderous mastermind he is, he knocks out his frat brothers just enough to make them unconscious, so he can tie them up and sit them on the couch to torture them further.
With subtle smirks and overall eerie calmness, Ben has evolved from the guy who had stabbed his attacker last year in a fit of rage to now killing for fun, thrill, and pleasure.
'The Purge' season 2 airs on Tuesdays at 9pm only on USA Network.