Timely doesn’t automatically mean good. Netflix’s “Zero Day” comes along in a chapter of American history when overreach of government makes headlines almost every day, and its ultimate message of doing what’s right when in power instead of doing what’s easy or even profitable feels like an important one to hear in the current moment. But this show is a true case of killing the messenger: Convoluted, downright goofy writing that ultimately stymies any thematic consideration. One of the most overqualified ensembles in the history of television keeps “Zero Day” watchable, but you have to turn off your brain to stop it from making you crazy.
“Zero Day” is about a single-term former President of the United States (whose political career was shaped by the death of his son and now may be facing dementia) who is called on to save the world from a nightmare that appears to have emerged from the tech sector. It’s like someone shoveled news stories from the last five years into ChatGPT, blended them with the three most ridiculous seasons of “Homeland,” and asked it to write a show.
Robert De Niro does television for the first time as former President George Mullen, who is called to head a task force after a cyberattack turns the national power grid off. It’s just for a minute, but that’s long enough to create carnage as planes fall from the sky and traffic lights go dark. And it comes with the threat that it’s going to happen again. Current President Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) agrees with advisors that Mullen, a well-liked leader of clear moral fortitude, will be the right figurehead for the investigation, someone to reassure the public that the power won’t go out again. Small problem? Mullen’s grip on reality is fading, which is first revealed when he’s confused about the absence of a worker in his house who left five years ago and then glimpses of his notorious journals, now filled with incoherent ramblings. It’s almost as if De Niro waited so long to do TV that he demanded he do more than one show simultaneously. Why not a political thriller AND a dementia drama?
De Niro’s involvement (and the political posturing of the show) draws an insanely talented ensemble: Lizzy Caplan plays Mullen’s daughter Alexandra, now an upwardly mobile Congresswoman herself; Jesse Plemons is typically strong as Mullen’s closest advisor Roger Carlson; Joan Allen is wasted as George’s wife Sheila. Connie Britton, Bill Camp, Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine, Gaby Hoffmann—they all deliver to varying degrees, even as the scripts push any character work they attempt aside to keep the plot well-oiled. Everyone in this show is a cog in the machine: when one of those familiar faces didn’t have enough screen time in the first half of the season, I basically figured out one of the several plot twists because said performer hadn’t fulfilled their function yet. It’s one of those shows where characters are either functional for the thrills or mouthpieces for the politics. So, while the presence of excellent character actors like Camp and Stevens makes the bitter taste of the writing more palatable, it also feels like a waste of their time and talent. And the truly dispiriting news is that De Niro gets lost in the mix, often looking like he’s unsure what to play because the convoluted writing has left him adrift.
Let’s join in the show’s investigative tone and theorize for a minute. Look at the cast members in the paragraph above and then imagine keeping all of those schedules together. They’re busy actors. “Zero Day” started filming in June 2023 when the WGA strike hit, sending everyone home. It couldn’t have been easy to get them all back together months later, and it likely led to a rushed production before they had to move on to other projects. My guess is it also led to a shortened season, too, as so much of “Zero Day” feels like 10 episodes of plot in a 6-episode box. Major plot points feel hurried, the passage of time gets wonky, and it almost feels like some things weren’t even filmed that should have been (echoes of “The Snowman”). It’s just a guess, but it’s hard to believe that this was the exact production that drew so many excellent performers.
Then again, we’re going to see a lot of TV shows and movies in the next few years about the imbalance of power in this country, and maybe “Zero Day” just wanted to be first. It’s a show that never reconciles its ridiculous character choices with its political commentary, a soap opera that wants to be “important” too. This is not to say that a show can’t be a conversation starter and a thriller at the same time, only that “Zero Day” is neither.
Whole series screened for review. Now on Netflix.
