It’s not explained until later why the traditionally murderous Wesker seems so uncharacteristically amiable and bland at first, and the revelation is a doozy. The mystery and confusion surrounding Wesker are perfectly embodied by the ever-enigmatic Lance Reddick, whose talents as an actor are stretched farther than ever as the story progresses and Wesker’s true nature is revealed.
The setup: It’s 2022 and Wesker brings his young twin daughters Jade (Tamara Smart) and Billie (Siena Agudong) to “New Raccoon City,” a sterilized utopia hiding a dark secret in the Umbrella Corporation’s research labs where Albert is lead scientist. Jade harbors a deep resentment for her dad for uprooting her life and lets him know it, though Billie is more forgiving, at least at first. As the twins begin uncovering the truth behind what’s really going on at Umbrella, their trust in him shatters.
And that’s only half the story, literally. The show jumps between two timelines, one in 2022 and one in 2036, which sees a 30-year-old Jade (Ella Balinska) fighting through a thoroughly zombified world in search of a cure for the outbreak that started back in New Raccoon City in 2022.
This Resident Evil is a family drama first and foremost, which is sure to turn off fans with certain, well-warranted expectations of the franchise. Much of the show is devoted to Albert and his girls working through their issues in their boxy, grey suburban house, and while the actors actually have great chemistry, viewers expecting a non-stop zombie kill-a-thon will be sorely disappointed.
The first half of the season drags in places, particularly when Albert’s arguing with his boss, Evelyn Marcus (Paola Nuñes), within the cold walls of Umbrella Corp. In fact, almost all of the secondary and tertiary characters come across as shallow caricatures, which makes their scenes feel like a waste of time. Some of the teen drama the girls grapple with at school feels a little aimless as well, but thank goodness Smart, Agudong, and Reddick are terrific together and elevate some of the weaker moments just enough to pull us through.
The character work is worse in the 2036 timeline. Balinska is terrific as an action hero, but most of the interactions with the other characters fall flat. The zombie killing kind of saves the day here—the action and violence of the future timeline is spectacular and more in line with what you’d see in the more action-oriented entries in the game series, like RE4, RE5, and RE6.
ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue8yoraKdXa%2B8r7GOp5ytnpyexbR50Z6qopyVo8FusdWio2arlae2pr%2BMpZyaqp6asW66zq2foqaXYrOzu8xmmKWkXam1sL%2FEZqueqqKer62xjKamr6GVqHw%3D