Zero Day: Ending Explained & Season 2 Rumours

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Robert De Niro’s first ever starring TV role is streaming now on Netflix. Already binged it? Here’s a recap of that explosive finale

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We had high hopes for Zero Day, Robert De Niro’s starring TV debut, streaming now on Netflix. The Hollywood heavyweight is joined by a stacked cast boasting everyone from Lizzy Caplan to Jesse Plemons, Angela Bassett to Connie Britton – but it’s safe to say the reviews aren’t exactly glowing. Regardless, Zero Day promptly stormed to #2 in the coveted Netflix Top 10, and fans are raving about it online.

The series opens with a deadly cyber attack wreaking havoc across the States, forcing former president George Mullen (De Niro) out of retirement and back into action. He’s tasked with uncovering the perpetrators, and by the finale, the truth can finally be revealed. Here’s the Zero Day ending explained. Spoilers ahead…

(L to R) McKinley Belcher III as Carl Otieno, Mozhan Navabi as Melissa Kornblau, Robert De Niro as George Mullen, Jesse Plemons as Roger Carlson & Connie Britton as Valerie Whitesell in Episode 102 of Zero Day. (Courtesy of Netflix © 2024)

Zero Day: Ending Explained

In the Zero Day finale, it is revealed that congressman Alexandra Mullen (Caplan) and Speaker Richard Dreyer (Matthew Modine) were the forces behind the zero day attack. Why? Ironically, in an effort to reunite the country.

‘They weren’t looking for money, they weren’t looking for revenge,’ says series co-creator and executive producer Eric Newman. ‘They were looking to make the world a better place. And a lot of the worst endeavors in human history begin that way.’

In the 18 months leading up to the zero day attack, there hadn’t been a single piece of legislation passed, thanks to divided Americans and Congress at a stalemate. Dreyer needed a solution – and he turned to Alex to help.

In order to make it happen, Dreyer and Alex enlisted billionaire Monica Kidder (Gaby Hoffmann), whose Panopoly app, carried on 80 percent of phones across America, was able to shut everything down for one minute thanks to a piece of hackable code. From those 80 percent of phones, any tech in contact via bluetooth or USB was subsequently infected. The cyber weapon was named Proteus, and was actually developed by the National Security Agency before it fell into the wrong hands.

Alex really believed she was doing the right thing – for the world and the country – ‘but she’s far too young and inexperienced to really be weighing in on all of that,’ star Caplan tells The Wrap. ‘She should be listening more instead of talking more. But I also have a lot of compassion for Alex. I think that she has a lot of unresolved trauma in her family with her brother, and I think that she is a bit of a lost kid in many ways, and stuck in time. I think that her intentions underneath it all were good. What she wanted is not too far afield from what her father wants. It’s just her method of getting there was not, let’s say, something I would personally advise.’

‘Dreyer thinks that in order to fix something, you have to take it apart and break it,’ Caplin’s co-star and partner in crime Modine adds. ‘I do not think that’s the right way to do something and I do not think that lying and creating misinformation is a solution to anything. [George Mullen] believes that you have to be truthful, you have to be honest and nobody is above the law, even his daughter and that’s really important. If we do not obey the rules, you begin to deconstruct American democracy. You have a system that does not function anymore.’

Though more than 3,000 people die as a result of the attack, Newman acknowledges that some segments of his viewership may see why Alex and Dreyer did what they did. But: ‘The means justifying the ends argument should not hold water,’ he warns. ‘But if you listen to what they were trying to do, there will be a segment of the audience that believes, “that’s a good idea”.’

Why Does Mullen Burn His Manuscript?

Mullen was penning a memoir, but the final moments of Zero Day see the former president tossing his work into his lit fireplace, flames engulfing his words. Why? Because he ‘probably has realised his decision in the House Chamber is going to define his legacy moving forward, regardless of what he wrote before,’ series co-creator Noah Oppenheim explains. ‘So those pages have been rendered obsolete.’

The former president now also has a new perspective post zero day. ‘Being at peace with himself and having his integrity intact, that’s what really matters,’ Oppenheim says. ‘[He has] accepted the sacrifice of a life in public service, if it’s spent doing the right thing. He may not have much left, but he’s got his integrity. And I think that’s not to be discounted.’

Of course, this all came at the expense of his daughter, Alex, who Mullen revealed as a zero day co-conspirator in his speech – and so it might also come at the expense of his marriage. His wife, Sheila, is ‘hoping that he will protect their daughter,’ actress Joan Allen notes. ‘And then he chooses not to. I’m not sure that they survive in a marriage anymore.’

Will There Be Zero Day Season 2?

Zero Day may don Netflix’s red ‘limited series’ banner, but history has taught us to never say ‘never’: everything from The White Lotus to Shogun was a so-called ‘limited series’ once, but success spells sequels. Plus, when asked by The Wrap, Zero Day’s creators revealed how keen they are for another go. ‘I think we all feel like we have told what is right now a complete story,’ says series co-creator Noah Oppenheim. ‘That being said, it’s a group of people that happen to like each other a great deal and we all had a great experience making it. So [co-creator] Eric Newman and I often will chat about what would happen. What does happen to Alexandra Mullen, what does happen to Speaker Dreyer the next day? But there’s no active plan at this moment.’

So what would nudge Zero Day season two from the daydream realm into reality? Lead star Robert De Niro’s involvement, surely. Well, The Wrap asked the Godfather Part II star the same question, to which he teased: ‘it’s not out of the question’.

‘I don’t know whether [a second season] would be a continuation of the situation with the character,’ De Niro said. ‘It could very well be an interesting second part of what we’re going through. Of course, there’s a lot of ways to go and everything is moving so fast […]. I mean, with Eric, and Noah Oppenheim and Mike Schmidt, they could very, very easily, in some ways, come up with something that’s special. We all would agree on that.’