So when Netflix pays for a series of eight hour-long episodes based on the game, I wanted to check it out.
This version of Resident Evil follows two timelines: one leading up to the moment a deadly virus caused a global apocalypse, and one that picks up 14 years following those events. Here we follow Jade Wesker at two critical points in her life. As a teenager in the year 2022, where she and her twin sister Billie follow their father Albert Wesker to his work in the town of New Raccoon City, a burgeoning community run by the infamous Umbrella Corporation that is attempting to erase its connection to any of the disastrous events of its past. And through these eight episodes we bounce back and forth fourteen years later, set in 2036, where an adult Jade has a family of her own, and she is one of only a few hundred million people on Earth who managed to survive an apocalyptic zombie outbreak. As she is hunted by both the legions of the undead and foot soldiers from the Umbrella Corporation, Jade must uncover the mysteries of her family legacy and how all of it is connected to the survival—or the destruction—of the human race.
The television series is not meant to maintain continuity with the motion-pictures, but it certainly makes reference to the events of the first two movies in the franchise. And, like the movies, the T-virus not only re-animates the dead but mutates from host to host and ultimately goes out of control, creating various creatures.
In an era where zombie movies and television programs have become fashionable, Resident Evil has the problem of standing out from the rest of the pack. Every program seems to be a variation-on-a-theme, with most avoiding the popular Walking Dead program that set a standard. Personally, I found the Resident Evil program to be above average both in budget and storyline. The program gave you a few mysteries that ultimately, over time, was answered. The special effects were well done. The premise was grounded enough to ensure the worst is yet to come but isolation always breeds fear in horror pictures. If I had any complaint, it was that this series really needed closure so that a second season – if there is going to be a second season – presented a new storyline in the Resident Evil universe and not just a cliffhanger to keep you wondering what happens next. With so many scripted programs produced these days, I find myself appreciating “limited series” (self-contained mini-series) more, and long continuous story arcs less. Keeping track later of when the next season of any program that never yet concluded is starting to become troublesome.
Interesting enough, I question whether this new program is not without irony. It seems fans of the franchise – or zombie/horror programs in general – who have access to the Internet are using this series to voice their opinions… and not always in a good way. It used to be that you could google a television program or movie and find some information about it including reviews. Today it seems a standard google search not only brought up a few reviews from television critics, but postings (with theories) questioning whether Netflix would even produce a second season, one person citing an entire blog entry to “worst programs ever” and other such negativity that I wonder if those people are not zombies themselves. (On Facebook it has become more prominent to see negativity posted instead of positivity.) So I guess this particular virus is now spreading on the Internet in general. if any new television program is going to be subjected to this type of trolling, I question if any new television program will ever have a chance.
I, for one, hope Netflix produces a second season. But alas, this was not meant to be. It was recently announced a second season was cancelled. Darn shame.
