I feel bad for fans of the Resident Evil games. Making a mediocre adaptation seems like it wouldn’t be such a hard thing to do for a series like Resident Evil (a faithful adaptation should be enough to be very popular for fans and non-fans alike, even if it isn’t superb). Resident Evil (2002) wasn’t all that great, but it spawned five sequels and made a decent amount of money. It was at least entertaining, which can’t be said for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021), another film reboot. I don’t plan on mentioning that again, or the Infinite Darkness (2021) miniseries (which is probably the best RE series thus far). Either of them are preferable to this new show.
*Spoilers ahead*
In 20 years, things haven’t improved. The new Netflix show is abysmal. While the film series quickly dipped into the “so bad it’s funny” category (especially Afterlife and Retribution), the Netflix series is consistently “so bad it’s bad.” The references to the game series are brief. With a quick bit of rewriting, the series could remove all game references and not lose anything. The only character brought over from the series is Albert Wesker, and only for one scene, if you don’t include clones (yes, clones). If you do include clones, he’s one of the main characters, played by Lance Reddick, whose acting is the only good thing about this show.
Since the clones each seem to have different personalities from the original, Reddick plays four different characters, and does a very good job with them. He can play both sinister and goofy.
Adaptations of characters can be just that: adaptations. They don’t have to perfectly mirror the character they are based on, nor is it necessarily a problem to change a few things here and there, as long as it works for the story and the character isn’t made worse. The problem with the film series Wesker was that he was a mere simulacrum of the original. He looked and acted like a cheap parody. The trouble with the Netflix series Wesker is that he has so little in common with Wesker at all, besides the same name and employer. The brief non-clone version in episode 7 tries to reference the attire, but just looks like Blade. The primary clone neither looks nor acts like him.
Besides the Wesker clone, all of the other characters are unlikable. Jade Wesker, Albert’s daughter and protagonist of the series (played by Tamara Smart in the present timeline and Ella Balinska in the future timeline) is insufferable in both settings.
Before going further, I should mention that the show repeatedly jumps back and forth between two different time periods. The present (2022) timeline, is a teen drama featuring Jade and her sister Billie (played by Siena Agudong in the present and Adeline Rudolph in the future). They move to New Raccoon City and go to the local school while their father works at an Umbrella Corporation facility. The future (2036) timeline takes place after a global outbreak of the virus, where zombies roam the earth. Billie controls Umbrella and Jade is studying zombie behavior while trying to reunite with a group of survivors. Each episode hops back and forth between the two with annoying frequency.
In the present timeline, Jade and Billie act as entitled and ungrateful teenagers (which might work if either of them showed any semblance of character growth in the future timeline). They seem to have no empathy for the people around them, using another student, Simon, when he is convenient and ignoring him otherwise.
Billie (who’s vegan and cares so much about animal welfare) learns that Umbrella must be testing their products on animals, despite their assertion otherwise. She enlists her sister to help her break into the Umbrella facility so that she can record proof of this and expose Umbrella, with the goal of getting them to stop animal testing.
You might wonder how two girls could possibly break into and out of an Umbrella facility by themselves without exposing themselves. (For the record, Umbrella is a major pharmaceutical company, not a tiny convenience store). Lucky for them, the facility is totally empty at night. There is not a single security guard in this facility at night, nor is there anyone keeping an eye on the security cameras. All they need is a recording of Wesker’s voice at the entrance to get in. Convenient.
While searching for animals, Billie opens a crate containing an infected zombie dog, which chases them around the facility and bites Billie. Jade kills the dog with a few hits by a fire extinguisher. Their father arrives, deletes the camera footage, and covers up what happened.
Billie is noticeably affected by the bite. She is disoriented and distressed. In episode 4 she convinces Jade to go with her to a party with a bunch of other students (so much for social distancing). Perhaps one could argue she’s not in her right mind, and so can’t be held morally accountable for endangering so many people. But Jade knows what happened, and doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, that complete disregard for the safety of others remains with Jade in the future timeline, when she brings a live zombie aboard a ship of survivors without telling anyone (outcome: it gets loose, nearly kills her daughter, and kills her research friend). Oh, and she also misses part of her daughter’s piano concert.
There’s so much more to mention about this show, but it’s not necessary. If you want a well written live-action Resident Evil adaptation, you’ll have to wait. At least watching Milla Jovovich fight zombies in a fake Tokyo within an underwater clone manufacturing facility in Russia is entertaining in its ridiculousness. This show got more seasons than it deserved.