Resident Evil.' Netflix

For six choppy hours, Netflix's "Resident Evil" series struggles to find its footing. Then Lance Reddick takes control. [Spoilers]

Surrender is the only option — and for “Resident Evil,” it’s also the best. “Resident Evil” is consistent in its attempts to convey substantial scale (be it the physical sets or CGI-monsters that fill them), and the finale refutes its bland title (“Revelations”) by opening up the goofy floodgates. Bert lets Reddick play a joyful new song, but to explain Bert, “Resident Evil” has to introduce a full band of Reddicks. To kick off Episode 7, we learn that Albert used to work at a lab in the Arklay Mountains with Bert and Alby. All three are clones of the original Albert Wesker, who made them to conduct secret research on his behalf. Second, and arguably more significant, is that Bert’s introduction tips “Resident Evil” over the edge. Bert has to pretend to be Albert — to be the dad he never got the chance to be — and suddenly he’s at an Olive Garden with Billie and Jade, shouting about breadsticks. The unnamed seabeast justifies its star turn by noshing on zombies, swatting helicopters out of the sky, and even befriending a little girl. The ending is actually fun, in part because “Resident Evil” lets its finest thespian off the leash, but also because it’s forced to serve the story its created, rather than any other ideas of what it should be. Albert’s big conflict throughout Season 1 is that Evelyn wants to rush a mood-boosting super-drug (lazily named “Joy”) to market, and he doesn’t think it’s ready. (Side note: I absolutely love that “Resident Evil” keeps with the films’ focus on female action stars and even doubles down by revolving around two sisters’ fractured relationship. Rather than tell one story well, it tells two stories poorly, and in a rebuttal to Jade’s quest to housebreak 6 billion zeroes, it’s clear the living and the dead can’t coexist. Up until the opening of Episode 7, Reddick plays Albert Wesker, Billie and Jade’s father who happens to be the top scientist at Umbrella. Working directly underneath the villainous CEO Evelyn Marcus (Paola Nuñez), Albert has been up to some shady shit. (For example, some zombies dive-bomb victims, piercing body armor and skin in a single bite, while others politely move aside when the hero’s only shield is a trashcan lid.)

Exclusive: Lance Reddick, Paola Nuñez, Ella Balinska, Adeline Rudolph, Tamara Smart, and Siena Agudong tell Den of Geek what it's like bringing a new ...

We really love the games, and we want fans to know that.” The once shy, loving sister and daughter is now a high-ranking commander for Umbrella, relentlessly in pursuit of Jade and her comrades. She’s got her life partner and daughter to keep her sane, as well as her scrappy band of rebels. Being chased by giant spiders, caterpillars, and lickers was almost like a direct trajectory from playing the games to being in them.” Fans of the games will recognize her surname, as she’s the daughter of James Marcus, the former lead Umbrella scientist and head of training who pioneered t-Virus research. A tenured actor in Mexico, Paola Nuñez is best known to American fans for her role as Rita in Bad Boys For Life. In Resident Evil, she plays Evelyn Marcus, head of Umbrella Corp. and Albert’s boss.