Previewing Into the Dark: Culture Shock

Jason Blum, producer of Into the Dark, once say of one of most famous movies, The Purge, ““Whatever political party you’re in, you come out of the film saying, ‘See, that affirms my beliefs,’ which I think is cool. People on the Right are like, ‘The Purge is a terrible thing. This is an example of government getting into our private lives, when they should be smaller and get out of our private lives.’ People on the Left say, ‘There are too many guns, and this is what happens when there are too many guns.’ It’s a really violent movie, and it’s supposed to get people scared and it’s supposed to get people to have a good time for an hour and a half, in a movie theater. If it also gets people talking about whether it’s a good or a bad idea, that’s a great thing, too.”

I really do not think there will be as much ambiguity to the political themed latest Into the Dark installment, Culture Shock. First off, the America’s Birthday themed episode starts south of the border and it is over a half an hour before you hear anyone speak any English. The episode even mocks a certain popular Twitter feed. Yeah, conservative talking heads will be whining about this right after a segment where they call liberals snowflakes.

The episode starts off with a news segment stating violence against aliens at an all-time high (fun fact, the reporter also played a reporter in the Christmas episode; though a shared Into the Dark shared universe was kind of put to rest when someone who died in the Halloween episode showed up in the Mother’s Day episode). Marisol is giving birth any day now and has paid a coyote to get her across the border in time to anchor her baby. Along for the ride is a small child and a dude with a face tattoo that translates to “strength.” Oh my.

Things gets complicated when they arrive at the border and things go black, then all of the sudden Marisol wakes up in a bright pastel color scheme, has already given birth, in a very Wizard of Oz comparison to the dark and dirty first part of the show. This new place is part Pleasantville and part Stepford Wives. What happened? I will not say other than this is the best twist so far on Into the Dark.


Into the Dark Power Ranking
1. The Body (October)
2. Culture Shock (July)
3. All That We Destroy (May)
4. Down (February)
5. New Year, New You (January)
6. Pooka! (December)
7. I’m Just Forking with You (April)
8. They Come Knocking (June)
9. Treehouse (March)
10. Flesh and Bone (November)

Into the Dark: Culture Shock premiere tomorrow exclusively on Hulu.