Yes, the Resident Evil series on Netflix is getting a lot of hate and negative reviews. But is it really deserving of that? My answer is no. Watching the series as a whole, it is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It is not perfect but the story is very compelling. Yeah it is not like the video games and the characters are not as you remembered them, but I feel it is better to go in not expecting a direct followup to the storyline from the game franchise. It does reference the games as well as the first Resident Evil movie with Milla Jovovich, but think of the series as more of a side story. Actually more so, my take is this series is setting up for potential future of the franchise.

So the series focuses on Jade and Billie Wesker who are the twin daughters of Albert Wesker. Canonically, this series takes place after the events of Resident Evil 6, and if you are wondering how Wesker survived after being killed in a volcano, the series has very unique way of explaining that. As the Wesker sisters discover, there are certain expectations behind having the family name. Their father is very cryptic as he tries and fails to hide secrets involving experiments within the Umbrella Corporation.

The series jumps time between the present and the future, and well the future is very bleak. As in any Resident Evil game or media adaptation, things go horribly wrong, leading to an outbreak of zombies who are referred to as Zeroes. The focus of the story is more so on Jade as she is trying to atone for her mistakes in the past. Let’s just say she does a horrible job of doing so. Her character is very self centered and she does not care if there is collateral damage in the process of fixing things yet making it worse.

Besides the zombies, there are the other creatures from the Resident Evil franchise such as Lickers, the dogs, and giant spiders. There is puzzle solving, and all the things you would expect for something based on the games. So everyone who has said this series is nothing like the games are very wrong.

I will say the series is very much a slow burn, but the final two episodes make it worth the wait. Very interesting revelations are made, and the final episode sets up for future adaptations. Netflix has an itchy tricky finger when it comes to cancelling series just as they are getting interesting, so hopefully we can get a second season because after the end of the final episode, it left some very juicy plot points to pick up from.

I would suggest to keep an open mind and just watch the series for yourself. You may enjoy it better than you thought you would. All episodes are currently available on Netflix, so you can binge it if you choose to check it out, which I highly recommend doing so.