Zero Day

Streaming on: NetflixEpisodes viewed: 6 of 6

TV shows don’t get much more timely than Zero Day. The title refers to a cyberattack that hits the entire US for one solid minute, turning off power supplies everywhere, and showing an ominous message on every smartphone in the country — “This will happen again.” Cars crash, planes fall, hospital equipment fails. Many people die. It’s an attack on an unprecedented scale, which leads to an unprecedented reaction — the Zero Day Commission, set up by serving President Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) to find the culprits through any means necessary.

Heading up that commission is a very big job indeed — as a certain uncle once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” That power is given to former President George Mullen (Robert De Niro), a man much admired by the country for his morality and previous bipartisan appeal, but currently struggling to write his memoir due to some buried-deep family secrets, and experiencing some strange symptoms that lead to questions about the soundness of his mind.

De Niro is impressive as Mullen, small in stature but always commanding respect, the actor channelling his decades of screen experience into playing someone who holds the fate of the country in his hands. Not always the most expressive, he’s best when given plenty to say — in conflict with his daughter, or testifying in front of Congress. He’s surrounded by tons of on-screen talent — Jesse Plemons is slimy yet likeable as his right-hand man Roger; Lizzy Caplan is as engaging as ever as daughter Alex; Connie Britton is quietly steely as Chief Of Staff Valerie; Dan Stevens chews up the scenery, on excellent form as unbearable TV pundit Evan Green; and Gaby Hoffman convinces as a tech billionaire using her platforms to exert influence over the government (sound familiar?).

The whole plot, whilst heightened, feels authentic to an extent — that it’s co-written by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt comes through — and is only occasionally distracted by melodrama (a thread involving a secret neurological weapon from the CIA is the least effective). There are grown-up themes at play here — freedom, ageing, grief, reputation, trusting your instincts. It asks, repeatedly: what kinds of ends justify terrible means?

Zero Day’s biggest stumble is in its pacing: it starts strong with the initial attack, but loses tension and interest around the halfway mark, the script groaning as it sends Mullen down some wrong roads and delays its big reveal. But once the truth starts unravelling, the show kicks back up a notch, and the last two instalments are truly nail-biting.