Netflix's 'Zero Day' is Basic, Disappointing Given its Stellar Cast

by Julian Spivey

Photo: Netflix

Netflix’s conspiracy drama limited series “Zero Day,” which premiered Feb. 20, is an epic disappointment.

Don’t confuse disappointing for bad. It’s not bad. It’s watchable. With a cast that includes many high-profile award-winning actors, it should be more than you’d expect from your typical TV procedural. This show stars two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro, a Mt. Rushmore actor of his generation, and feels like it could’ve aired on CBS minus the F-bombs.

“Zero Day” begins with a massive tragedy due to malware that takes down technology in the United States for one minute. Phones and computers go down, which causes incidents like subway and train derailments and multiple plane crashes. Thousands of people die.

In a fraught political landscape, exactly like the one in today’s America, President Evelyn Mitchell (Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett) realizes she must find the one man Americans trust to oversee a commission to figure out what happened, why it happened and if it can be brought to justice. That man Americans can trust is former President George Mullen (De Niro), who ran the country in a less conspiratorial time and gave up the presidency after one term due to both the death of his son (which is why the country thinks he left the office), as well as another secret reason we’ll find out a few episodes in.

There are two mysteries in the six-episode “Zero Day. " The first is the obvious: who created the bug that took down America’s tech and led to this disaster? The second comes at the end of the first episode when we realize something may not be right with Mullen—he’s either being messed with psychologically or is losing his mental faculties through age.

One of the mysteries is concluded in the series, the other is left wide open.

The supporting cast features a lot of terrific actors and actresses in roles that aren’t quite as interesting as they should be. There’s Oscar-nominated Joan Allen as the former First Lady who’s now hoping to become a federal judge, Emmy-nominated Lizzy Caplan as Alexandra Mullen, the former President’s daughter who is a Congresswoman at odds with her father, Oscar-nominated Jesse Plemons as Mullen’s right-hand man with a secret of his own, Emmy-nominated Connie Britton as Mullen’s former Chief of Staff (also holding a secret of her own), Emmy-nominated Matthew Modine as Speaker of the House Richard Dreyer, Emmy-nominated Bill Camp as the head of the C.I.A. and Dan Stevens as radical political commentator Evan Green, who is so obviously based on Tucker Carlson that it hits a little too on the nose.

There’s also Emmy-nominated Gaby Hoffman as tech billionaire Monica Kidder, who is so obviously patterned on Elon Musk. Though, I have to give “Zero Day” creators Eric Newman, Noah Oppenheim and Michael Schmidt some credit here as this series was surely thought up before Musk’s current hold over the American political situation took place—a bit of prescience on their part.

If you’re looking for something to pass the time over quiet evenings, give “Zero Day” a watch. It won’t hurt. It’s perfectly average television. De Niro is good and may even add an Emmy to his collection depending on the competition. But don’t expect too much, even with the stellar cast. If you do, you will be disappointed.