By michael vivar
Netflix dropped the new series, Zero Day, on Feb 20. It's a political thriller that depicts a cyber attack with disastrous global fallout. To elaborate would spoil the twists.
The show marks Robert De Niro's return to a Netflix exclusive since The Irishman in 2019. It also serves as his debut in an episodic series.
De Niro leads an ensemble cast of Hollywood elite including Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Modine, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons and Angela Bassett.
Audience engagement has been epic with 98.5 million hours streamed and 19.1 million individual viewers within four days of release.
The feedback from critics hasn't been particularly glowing. It scored a tepid 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and 52% on Metacritic.
The general reaction is the same storyline has been told better before. Some feel De Niro's character as a former president acts in ways that are utterly ludicrous.
The show is listed as a "Limited Series," implying only one season. It does end on an ambiguous cliffhanger which leaves the possibility for continuation open.
Just as ambiguous is Netflix's caginess about whether they're considering a second season.
As of this writing, the showrunners, De Niro and much of the cast have expressed interest in making more Zero Day. It's difficult to refuse that much star power.
It should be noted that many wildly successful shows such as The Leftovers, Succession, The Expanse and Atlanta didn't find their footing until the second season.