Zero Day Episode 1 recap: America is under cyberattack

Netflix's political thriller, Zero Day, just landed on Netflix, and America is under a cyberattack, and the president or the Congress knows nothing about it.

The man trusted with the commission is Robert DeNiro's former US President George Mullen, who is living a quiet life and thinking about writing his memoir with his ghostwriter, Anna's motivation.

The opening scene of Zero Day is enough to set the intense story, which neatly ties up the episode with a cliffhanger. While George gathers intel on the attack, he contacts his Russian insider, Natan, who asks him to write something in a notebook. George writes the instructions and keeps the notebook in his safe.

What happens next? Here is the complete recap of Zero Day Episode 1.

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America is under a cyberattack in Zero Day Episode 1

When George's ghostwriter, Anna, is driven to her home, her phone pops up a message, "This will happen again," and suddenly, her car is hit by a train, and she dies.

We then learned what just happened: America just experienced a country-wide cyber attack, which resulted in many train and plane crashes, resulting in many deaths and a country-wide outrage.

George watches the news with his wife, Sheila, and they mull over what is happening when he is informed that he is chosen to meet with the first responders and address the rallying crowd.

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George is asked to head the Zero Day commission in Episode 1

After George addresses the crowd and asks the people to calm down, he is asked to meet with current President Evelyn Mitchell. She explains the situation to him, stating that America was under a cyberattack for one minute, where everything was shut off and turned on. There is no ransom demand as of now, but this situation is very dangerous.

Since nobody knows what transpired during the attack or who is after their country, Congress has set up a special commission with all the resources, and Mitchell wants George to head it.

At his home, George's daughter Alexandra is against her father heading the commission because she thinks the country is changing for the worse and George should not be involved in politics again, but his wife Sheila motivates him to join the commission.

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What is wrong with George in Zero Day Episode 1?

George learns from Natan that a group of New York hackers are receiving funds from a group called GRU, led by a Russian named Felix. He gives him instructions, which George notes down in his notebook and keeps in his safe.

The following day, George is heading to take a helicopter to Manhattan when Natan calls, and he goes back to his safe to retrieve his notebook but cannot remember the combination to his safe. Secret service agents bang on his door while he tries to open the safe.

He finally opens the safe, but when he opens the notebook, it just has repeated scribbles of one question, 'Who killed Bambi?' George claims that somebody has replaced his notebook and goes down to the kitchen.

There, he finds a new cook and asks where Hector, their usual cook, is. He discovers that Hector retired five years ago, and this is Wayne. The episode ends as George stands there, dumbfounded.

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