Zero Day proves that even a stacked cast of incredibly talented actors can't save a series from a convoluted, messy plot. A politically charged thriller, Zero Day kicks off with potential until it sinks.
The stakes are high for Robert De Niro, who stars in his first television role, playing former President George Mullen. Called in after the impact of "Zero Day" (when a cyberattack shuts down the national power grid), Mullen deals with plane crashes, power outages, downed security systems and a cryptic message posted to devices: "This will happen again."
At the request of the current sitting president Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett), Mullen, tasked with creating the Zero Day Commission, investigates the attack. For all its flaws, the show does the greatest disservice to Bassett, who is given the role of president, and yet not given much to actually work with. Similarly, Lizzy Caplan plays Mullen's daughter congresswoman Alexandra, whose conflict of interest given the situation isn't even remotely explored.
Jesse Plemons, though, as Mullen's closest advisor Roger Carlson, proves once again that he's an actor who can slip into any role and own it. Also tapped into supporting roles of varying degrees are Connie Britton, Dan Stevens, Matthew Modine and Bill Camp. The members of this impressive ensemble turn in fine performances, but they're rarely given a chance to flesh out their characters, only acting in service to the overstuffed plot.
Aside from dealing with the attack, a secondary plot shows Mullen losing his grip on reality as his memory starts to fail him. Every now and then, the series flashes to his potential dementia without serving the larger story at hand, only sidetracking the thriller.
Each time a new storyline sounds inviting, the series wraps it up instantly and another one starts to take shape. Across six episodes, viewers may have hope Zero Day unravels some semblance of conspiracy, but it never comes, even after the revelation of who's behind the actual conspiracy (a fairly obvious choice by the writers).
Disappointingly, the talent in this roster can't save such a weakly crafted series. May as well skip this one, and go for The Diplomat instead.