Summary
An intriguing first episode with plenty of potential story and character developments. While the 2022 timeline is the more interesting, the backstory seems to build up more understanding for the 2036 timeline, which will likely become the main focus of the series.
This recap of the Netflix series Resident Evil season 1, episode 1, “Welcome to New Raccoon City,” contains major spoilers.
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Resident Evil season 1, episode 1 recap
As Resident Evil starts, Jade informs us that scientists had claimed that the world would end in 2036 and that billions of people would die. But they were wrong, as the world ended a long time ago. And with the show set in London, 2036, it soon becomes clear that this is “14 years after the end”.
She then wishes her daughter a happy birthday and speaks to Felix. But as she hasn’t seen them for six months, it takes its toll on Jade when Felix warns her to be careful. Shortly afterwards, on day 167 of observation, Jade notes that zombie pack 2426 show no leadership nor higher brain function. But the moment she cuts herself, the zombies smell her and chase after her. Luckily, an alarm rings and the zombies are burnt to death with a red mist covering them. And just as Jade remarks that the last six months have been stupid, a creature emerges from the ground and nearly kills her.
Resident Evil moves to 2022 (three months before the end) in New Raccoon City. A much younger Jade moves to the city with her twin sister, Billie, and scientist father, Albert. But neither sisters seem overly keen, particularly Billie, on Racoon City. It then cuts back to 2036, and when Jade faces almost certain death, some men shoot and kill the “big old bastard”. The men are shocked to learn that Jade is a “survivor”.
In 2022 Albert asks Billie how much Jade hates him for making them move. And when the sisters talk, it gets mentioned that their Dad forces them to take blood tests every two weeks. Unbeknown to Jade and Billie, Albert injects their blood into his neck. The next day, Jade and Billie start school. Billie encounters the school bully and gets forced into a fight, which is filmed and posted online. Despite their attempts to call their Dad, he is too busy with work to help them.
In 2036, Jade wakes up in the Brighton Freehold and tells Tate that she needs her gear so that she can leave immediately. But she’ll have trouble leaving as hundreds of zombies, aka zeroes, surround the area. In 2022, Billie tries to make amends with the school bully, Tammy, but ends up with food shoved into her face. Billie gets the blame when someone attacks Tammy. The bully’s father, Dave Isaac, is livid and threatens Billie. That is until Albert enters the room and threatens to have Dave blacklisted. And then, Albert forces Tammy into apologising to Billie for attacking her.
The ending
When Billy visits Albert at work, she begins to suspect that Umbrella does animal testing, which disgusts her. Jade tells Billie that everyone loves her now following Tammy’s attack. However, Billie is more concerned about the animals, and she and Jade decide to sneak into the Umbrella offices. In 2036, Jade warns Tate not to hand her over to Umbrella as if he plays with Umbrella he will lose. As Umbrella guards arrive to take Jade in, Mr Baxter shoots Tate in the head before ordering a rampage on the site. With everyone distracted, Jade searches for a way out.
Jade and Billie enter the labs and find several animals locked in cages. They record footage of it, and whilst the computers seem to work, their phones have no signal. Jade goes into one of the computer’s folders and finds footage of people being attacked and chased. Billie uses a keycard to release a whimpering dog. But when she takes a picture of the dog, much like the zeroes, he becomes violent and attacks the sisters.
As Jade and Billie hide, the dog prowls around in search of them. Although they manage to get away from the dog, they’re locked in the building. The dog bites Billie, only stopping when Jade attacks it with a fire extinguisher. But Jade cradles Billie, who she believes is dead. In 2036, Mr. Baxter corners Jade and tells her, “your sister has been looking for you”. And with that, Jade jumps towards the crowd of zeroes.
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