Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Return of the Archons" (Season 1, Episode 21) shares striking similarities with The Purge franchise.
Similarities:
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"Red Hour" vs. The Purge
- In The Return of the Archons, the society of Beta III undergoes "Festival", also called the "Red Hour", where all laws and social norms are temporarily suspended, and people indulge in violence, chaos, and hedonism.
- This is very similar to The Purge, where the U.S. government sanctions an annual 12-hour period where all crimes, including murder, are legal.
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Government-Controlled Oppression
- In both stories, the violent event is sanctioned and controlled by an authoritarian regime.
- Beta III is ruled by Landru, a powerful AI that enforces order by controlling people's minds.
- The Purge is orchestrated by the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), who use it to eliminate the poor and dissenters while pretending it’s for the good of society.
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A False Utopia
- In Star Trek, Landru’s rule creates a seemingly peaceful, orderly society—but only because people are brainwashed and forced into periodic violence.
- In The Purge, the government justifies the event as a way to keep crime low the rest of the year, creating an illusion of order and prosperity.
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Rebellion Against the System
- Kirk and his crew expose and overthrow Landru’s rule, freeing the people from mind control.
- In The Purge, different films explore people resisting or fighting back against the government.
Possible Influence?
It’s possible that The Return of the Archons influenced The Purge, or at least, both are drawing from the same dystopian concept: a society controlled through periodic, state-sanctioned violence.
It's fascinating how a 1967 Star Trek episode predicted a concept that became a major horror-thriller franchise decades later!
Do you think Star Trek influenced The Purge?
