Netflix's gripping series, Zero Day, wraps up with a finale that is nothing short of jaw-dropping. If there ever was a playbook on using chaos to bring people together, this show has written it anew. Picture this: a bipartisan conspiracy mastermind lurking behind curtains, featuring none other than House Speaker Richard Dreyer (played by Matthew Modine), working hand in glove with Congresswoman Alexandra Mullen, portrayed by Lizzy Caplan. Oh, and did I mention she is George Mullen's daughter? Yes, the plot thickens.
What makes this saga even more intriguing are the allies Dreyer ropes in: lawmakers Jerry Benson, Barbara Rollins, Max Trillin, Pat Bishop, and tech mogul Monica Kidder (Gaby Hoffmann). This cohort cooked up a storm using Kidder's Panopoly apps, embedding a sneaky NSA-developed exploit. Their grand design was an illusion of national unity built on the fear of a cyber apocalypse—a real-life digital Trojan horse, minus the wooden horse.
The Heart-Pounding Revelation
The cyberattack devastates with over 3,000 lives claimed and essential services left in shambles. It’s like watching your city crumbling—bit by bit—as tech fails, causing folks to wonder: Who flipped the switch? Enter George Mullen, the resilient investigator, brought to life by Robert De Niro. Mullen, despite the potential fallout and personal heartbreak of implicating his own flesh and blood, chooses truth over familial loyalty, blowing the whistle on everyone involved. His courage stirs the pot, setting the stage for political chaos with scandal hitting the front pages faster than you can say 'wired news.'
To add a layer of suspense, there’s Proteus, a mysterious neurological tool allegedly crafted by the National Security Agency. It's thought to have induced hallucinations and mental fuzziness in Mullen. What is unknown is whether Proteus was used on him as a strategic move or if his symptoms were nature's cruel joke—thanks to guilt or some strain of dementia.
The series doesn’t hand us all the answers on a silver platter. The real motive behind the attack vector using Kidder’s apps, running on a whopping 80% of the world's smartphones, is left for imagination. Among the unseen puppet masters, billionaire Robert Lyndon (Clark Gregg) emerges, controlling assassinations like a maestro fixates on his baton, like the murder of Roger Carlson who tried aiding Mullen.
Aftermath and Real-World Parallels
The ending doesn’t just put a period but a whole new question mark as Mullen’s revelations set off a legal whirlwind, ensnaring his co-conspirators. The show resonates with current concerns about cybersecurity vulnerabilities, echoing real-world apprehensions about tech warfare and phenomena akin to Havana Syndrome, keeping viewers at the edge of their seats.
Zero Day is more than fiction; it’s a reflection, blurring lines between storytelling and potential reality, leaving us pondering how tight the grip of power and technology might be on our lives.
