The Light
Episode 3 of Resident Evil starts with a PR video for Umbrella. Evelyn talks about her family-run business, and how Umbrella is trying to turn their image around. She promises that the company is different and what they’re currently working on is going to “change the world.” Jade rushes back home and finds Billie is in the bathroom, refusing to see anyone. Albert arrives soon after, with Jade acting like everything is okay. It’s obviously not though. Albert shrugs off any suspicions and heads into the lab, where he realizes the rat has escaped and mutated. As for Billie, her cut has healed itself and she seems to be back on the mend again. So naturally, we’re going back to school. Yay? Predictably though, Billie is not okay. Sounds are heightened and she’s acting strangely. Meanwhile, Wesker heads back to work where he talks about the new pill they’re developing, called Joy. This is a derivative of the T-Virus and unfortunately, if you overdose on Joy, the T-Virus turns its users into monsters. Evelyn shrugs it off and believes this trillion-dollar drug can be used to make its users complicit and docile. The board favour Evelyn’s idea, although Wesker is not happy about her deciding to modify behaviour. Not only that, but Evelyn also boasts that she’s bribed the FCA into approving human trials. But of course, we also have the drama involving Billie too, who very clearly is not okay. She’s hallucinating, vomiting and completely out of it. After attacking Jade at school, Billie heads home and opens up to her sister, admitting that she’s not okay after all. Billie may have heightened senses, but she can’t actually feel pain. Jade retorts back, pointing out her research and how things could go bad. And as per the norm for this series, we get another pop song, this time a female vocal version of “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man. In 2036, Jade survives Baxter’s onslaught, hiding out from the guards. She holds a family up at gunpoint and bemoans how they haven’t taken a ferry across to France yet. This family have a whole bag of contraband but aren’t sure how to get across to France. For now, they decide to work together, as they intend to use the “chunnel”, which is a tunnel used by smugglers. Eventually the four head over to meet the smugglers, who load them all up in a van after boasting that only 3 people died the previous month. As they drive off, Baxter shows up with his guards, intending to find Jade and the others. The smuggler refuses to talk, until Baxter notices the car Jade traded for a lift. Unfortunately, a licker attacks and everything goes awry. Soldiers try to hold it off with flamethrowers and machine guns, giving Jade a chance to slip away from the action with the family. Unfortunately, they’re attacked by a monstrous giant spider in the tunnels that chases the group. Along the way though, we also learn that the kid Jade saved at the start of the episode is actually infected. He was bitten 3 days back. Jade scrambles out the tunnel but finds herself face to face with Baxter. Thankfully, more deus ex machina comes to the rescue in the form of the Brotherhood. After shooting Baxter, they knock out Jade as the fate of our protagonist is left hanging in the balance.
The Episode Review
The editing in this episode is really poor. The pacing in both storylines – that in 2036 and the other in 2022 – is completely destroyed by this desire to go back and forth between the two time periods. There’s no tension and build-up, it’s just action and drama with little rhyme or reason. Where did the licker come from? Is there only one? How did it mutate? Where did it originate? I thought we were told only actual animals mutate? Anyway, aside from a few bites of nostalgia, this is almost a complete removal from the lore of Resident Evil, and the actual worldbuilding is shaky at best. We’ve jumped from Brighton to Dover, but the topography doesn’t look anything like the south coast. I should know, I actually live there! But beyond that, the story is just not very good. Even without the Resident Evil name, this story has absolutely no history, no interesting backstory, and a weak attempt to bridge 2022 and 2036 together. The characters are unimaginable and one-note, Jade isn’t particularly likable and the plot relies on so many contrivances and last-minute saves,(which is a result of that aforementioned writing) delivered by people with very little experience writing screenplays.
