Penamstan
Episode 1 of Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness begins in October 2000. We’re in the fictional Republic of Penamstan, 70 miles away from the US Military Base. The Mad Dogs watch as a helicopter falls to the ground while militia converge on the crash-site and begin attacking Alpha Team Two. It’s chaos, with the Mad Dogs ignoring their chain of command and rushing in to salvage the situation. Several soldiers end up strung upside down in the aftermath of this. The zombie invasion begins as one of the soldiers opens its eyes, revealing yellow within. We then skip forward to 2006 during the present day. Still in Penamstan, we’re at a UN refugee camp where Claire Redfield happens to be stationed. Speaking to a mute boy in a wheelchair, she notices sketches reminiscent of the zombie outbreak in Raccoon City. With this in hand, she races off back to the US. After saving the president’s daughter, many of the officials in the White House aren’t too enthused with Leon’s sudden advancement into the president’s good books. As Leon shows, it turns out someone has been trying to authorize the Pentagon’s military secrets. The President has gathered agents to investigate this further. It seems to be an inside job too, given the internal server breach. While the idea of checking the surveillance footage is suggested, it’s brushed aside given it’ll take days. Secretary Wilson believes it’s China but the others warn against making rash judgments. When the lights suddenly shut off though, the team are called into action. Press Secretary Spacer is attacked off-screen, leading to the zombie outbreak beginning once more. Thankfully Leon shows up and turns the tide of battle. With all the zombies thwarted, forensics arrive and take the bodies away for testing. While they do, Leon and the others contemplate just how and why zombies are in the White House. Well, Claire may have some answers. Fresh off a plane from Penamstan, she shows up at the White House and finds Leon. She shows him the sketches from the civil war six years prior. To make matters worse, no one will go on record to explain what’s happened. Meanwhile, Wilson heads back to the President with word that the files hacked internally were in relation to China. Specifically they were linked to a bio-research facility in Shanghai. After some convincing, the President sends Leon and his team into the thick of action to investigate further. They need to break in to seize any evidence pertaining to the hacking and the outbreak attack at the White House. As the team head off, we cut back to 2000 where the zombie outbreak spreads quickly. A young Jason happens to be hiding out while all this is taking place, watching the outbreak ravage the state.
The Episode Review
Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness picks up between the events of Resident Evil 4 and 5, with a story about a fictional state of Penamstan and a not-so-fictional state of China. I’m not quite sure why the decision has been made to do this but it certainly makes the show feel weak and unsure whether it actually wants to make a political statement or not. Either way, the story revolves around an attack on the White House. An attack that was done internally by someone inside the White House who accessed the servers. So with this already established, they concoct a plan to head out and invade a bio-research facility in Shanghai to uncover the truth. It’s a little contrived in truth, especially as they’ve already established it can only be done from within. Contrivances aside, the series also has some pretty weird camera angles. During the zombies being shot we pan in on the shooter rather than seeing the zombies die. The dialogues feel built on an understanding of the characters previously while anyone going into this blind may find many people a little lost with the story given it feels like it’s picked up mid-season. Despite those gripes though, Resi fans should find enough here to enjoy.
