Zero Day begins with a massive, untraceable cyberattack that blocks the entire U.S. internet for one minute, causing 3,400 deaths, countless injuries, and billions of dollars in damage. Robert De Niro, in his first leading TV role, plays George Mullen, a beloved former president who chose not to run for a second term after the death of his son from a drug overdose. As the only political eminence still trusted by both sides of a deeply divided nation, George is persuaded by the president, Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett), to quit retirement and head a commission tasked with investigating the attack and preventing a threatened reoccurrence.
In episode one, there is a scene clearly meant to establish George as a bipartisan bridge-builder. An angry mob in midtown Manhattan is yelling random slogans such as, “F***ing socialist traitor!,” “This is an insurance scam!,” “Get out with that conspiracy sh**!,” “They’re all crisis actors!,” when George arrives with a police escort. As the scene becomes violent, he wades into the crowd, saying, “Hey! Hey! . . . We’re Americans! What are we doing? We’re supposed to be standing up for each other! . . . This is not about the government, or the 1 percent. . . . It’s about somebody out there that hates us, . . . that stands against everything that makes us who we are.”
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