This post contains spoilers from Netflix's Zero Day episode 1 from this point forward.
Watching a political thriller series in the year 2025 is admittedly a little scary, and there are a quite a bit of them currently on the airwaves. (Anyone else completely hooked on Hulu's Paradise and looking forward to season 2?) Well, another one has entered the chat thanks to Netflix's new limited series Zero Day starring Robert De Niro.
The Oscar winner plays former United States President George Mullen, and in the opening seconds of the series, we're thrust right into chaos as Mullen searches his study through notebooks and other items on his desk. He picks up a broken frame with a picture dated in April 1975. Lights are whirring, people are pounding on the door to break in, but he frantically attempts to unlock his safe.
Before we can make sense of what's going on, the series cuts to three days earlier, so we're clearly building up to that moment in the episode. The former president lives in Hudson, New York and lives a normal life as meets with a co-writer to talk about his long-delayed memoir. He has dozens, maybe hundreds of personal notebooks, but still hasn't managed to finish the book.
While she's being driven away from Mullen's home, the traffic lights go out as does the signal on her phone and that of her driver's. A message flashes on the screen of her phone: "This will happen again." Because of the technology blackout, the train tracks couldn't block off traffic and an incoming train crashes into their car, exploding and instantly killing both passengers. Mullen watches the cyberattack's fatal impacts unfold on the news.
President Mullen joins the Zero Day Commission
We catch glimpses of reactions from the Russian Consulate and Speaker of the House Richard Dreyer (Matthew Modine), when Mullen thankfully reunites with his wife Sheila (Joan Allen), who had been flying home. She informs him that she saw a body at the railroad crossing and hopes it wasn't one of the neighbors, but he seems to know it was the nice woman he'd met with earlier about his book.
Roger Carlson (Jesse Plemons), Mullen's former aide and current fixer, pays him a visit and relays a messge from the White House. Because he's a beloved former president who had the ability to rally bipartisan support, the current administration calls on Mullen to visit rescue sites to shake hands with first responders. No one knows who employed the attack and they need someone who can calm the public.
Mullen drops by a rescue site, where a crowd of people seemingly protest under the belief that the cyberattack isn't real and the people they're saving are crisis actors. When violence breaks out, it's Mullen who steps in to unite the crowd and reprimand them about their unproductive reaction. It's being filmed and aired on television, and while Mullen fears he shouldn't have said what he said, he receives applause and adoration.
Carlson gets a phone call from Mullen's daughter Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan), a New York congresswoman, who doesn't seem to appreciate her father stepping into her district for support. Alex's frustration will continue because Mullen gets called to the White House by President Mitchell (Angela Bassett) for an offer to lead the special investigatory Zero Day Commission and gaining "extraordinary powers." He's taken aback.
While mulling over his decision, Mullen meets with a contact at the CIA for a briefing. Unfortunately, we don't hear what Mullen's told, but after the meeting, he's certain that he needs to accept Mitchell's offer. He immediately calls the "dry cleaners" a.k.a. his intelligence operative contact Natan (Mark Ivanir) and cracks open a new notebook.
Mullen might have some memory issues
During a party for Sheila, Mullen has a tense conversation with Alex, since she's going to vote against the commission she calls "f*cking fascist." She fears how much power could be wielded incorrectly. Their conversation is interrupted when Natan shares what he's learned with Mullen, and it's not good. Someone named Felix could be behind the attack.
When Mullen returns to the party, "Who Killed Bambi" by Sex Pistols is playing and he demands that it's turned off. Later, Sheila helps him decide to accept the commission. In the middle of the night, Mullen receives a phone call from Natan with new information he writes down in his notebook and locks in his safe. We're now caught up to three days after the cyberattack, where the series started in the cold open.
During a press conference announcing his position, Mullen sees an image of the deceased writer he met with before the attack. As he preps to board a helicopter and start his work, Natan calls him and says everything he shared the previous night was true. His phone breaks up and he rushes into his study to retrieve his notebook. He can't open his safe and he's frantically searching. His team is concerned he's had a health event.
Mullen finally opens the safe and flips through the notebook, realizing that all he had written was "Who killed Bambi?" over and over and over again. There's also a harrowing addition on another page: "Did I kill Bambi? George killed Bambi." The team breaks in and Mullen claims someone broke into his safe and replaced his notebook. He returns to his house to ask his house manager Hector if he went into the study... but Hector retired five years prior. Their new house manager is Wayne. What's going on with George?
Zero Day episode 1 review
The first episode of Zero Day presents a political thriller story that fans of the genre have seen played out on screens big and small plenty of times over the years. While the concept of a Zero Day attack might be a bit more unique, especially from the viewpoint of a beloved former president, the limited series isn't wholly original, but it's definitely a palatable binge-watch for fans of the genre.
It goes without saying that the cast is immaculate from top to bottom. How can you go wrong with Robert De Niro as a revered US leader and Angela Bassett as the nation's current leader? The supporting cast continues to be a who's who of talent: Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Plemons, Matthew Modine... The list goes on, and the series hasn't even introduced some of its other big stars.
Like other series of the genre, Zero Day episode 1 pulls a fast one on us at the very end to confirm that everything might not be what it seems. Mullen's memory and mental faculties seem to be unstable, which calls his new and extremely important role in the government into question. Honestly, that's a bit more intriguing to me than learning the truth about the cyberattack.
Although it might not be as entertaining or well written or even just better than Netflix's other political and conspiracy thrillers like The Diplomat and The Night Agent, there's no doubt Zero Day will be a ride worth taking to learn who's responsible for the attack and what's really going on with Mullen.
Watch Zero Day only on Netflix.