Zero Day Ending Explained: Who’s Behind the Cyberattack in Netflix Robert De Niro Series?

This article contains major spoilers for Zero Day.

In the six-episode series Zero Day, available on Netflix, a cyberattack forces former U.S. President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) out of retirement to seek the truth. For exactly one minute, all cell phones, laptops, and other systems shut down, plunging the country into a state of emergency. Trains collide, airplanes are forced to fly blind, and hospital patients on life support are affected.

The unprecedented attack prompts current U.S. President Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) to authorize the creation of the Zero Day Commission and grant it extensive powers, such as search and seizure and the suspension of habeas corpus. On the other hand, a separate committee is established to oversee the Zero Day Commission’s work, led by Alexandra Mullen (Lizzy Caplan) and Richard Dreyer (Matthew Modine), ensuring that George and his team do not violate laws or citizens’ rights.

Here’s how things shake out in Netflix’s latest cyberthriller.

Who Is Responsible for Zero Day and Who Is Involved?

With the cyberattack classified as an act of terrorism, foreign powers, particularly Russia, become suspects. In the series’ political landscape, it is common for characters to believe that external enemies are trying to harm them. However, as George delves deeper into the investigation, he discovers that a radical left-wing organization is connected to the attack, which turns out to be an act of domestic terrorism. The organization is just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, its hackers were hired by powerful individuals to modify technology developed by the National Security Agency (NSA). 

Tech billionaire Monica Kidder (Gaby Hoffmann) was involved in the attack and was responsible for spreading malware through automatic updates of her app, which had been downloaded on “80% of phones in America.” This allowed the malware to spread to any phone it came into contact with via USB, Bluetooth, and other connections, infiltrating various technological systems. Additionally, billionaire Robert Lyndon (Clark Gregg) also played a role in the plan, although he mostly operated from the shadows. Lyndon fed false information to Roger Carlson (Jesse Plemons), George Mullen’s assistant, to mislead the Zero Day Commission, blaming Russia, for example. He also bought oil from the Russians and sold it short days before the cyberattack, making a fortune.

However, the main culprits behind the cyberattack are members of the U.S. Congress. They planned and executed the attack, believing it would unite the country under a common cause. Americans were deeply divided, and Congress was at a standstill, having failed to pass a single piece of legislation in 18 months. As a result, House Speaker Richard Dreyer gathered several congress members to find a solution, including George Mullen’s daughter, Congresswoman Alexandra Mullen. She believed they were acting in the country’s best interest and did not know there would be casualties.

In episode six, George presents the Zero Day Commission’s investigative report during a political session. Beforehand, President Mitchell advises him to place all the blame on Monica Kidder, who died in her cell (more on that later), thus saving his daughter and preserving the public’s faith in the system. George agrees to do so and omits the involvement of politicians in the report. However, during the session, he decides to reveal the whole truth by reading aloud a letter from his daughter confessing everything. In addition to exposing his daughter and Dreyer, he also names other politicians involved in the attack: Representative Jerry Benson, Representative Barbara Rollins, Senator Max Trillin, and Senator Pat Bishop.

The Deaths of Monica Kidder and Roger Carlson

Roger Carlson, George Mullen’s right-hand man, received information from Lyndon that could link political commentator Evan Green (Dan Stevens) to the radical left-wing organization. Lyndon wanted the TV personality out of the way since Green had already spoken about Lyndon on his show. In the end, the strategy failed, even though Green was arrested and tortured by the Zero Day Commission—before being released. As a result, Lyndon tried to persuade Roger to leak information about George’s unstable mental health to the public, aiming to remove the former president from leading the Commission and replace him with Dreyer. This would allow the conspirators to resolve all their problems, but Roger refused to betray his boss. Lyndon then sent men to Roger’s apartment to drug him and drown him in the bathtub, staging it as a suicide.

As for Monica Kidder, Dreyer recruited her because her company’s apps, Panoply, were crucial to the cyberattack’s success. Her involvement was exposed by the media after her arrest by the Zero Day Commission, and shortly afterward, she was found dead in her cell. Although it appeared to be a suicide, her death may have been a way for the conspirators to silence her before she could reveal everything.

What Is Proteus?

From the first episode, Zero Day shows that George is not mentally well—he hears and sees things that aren’t there, becomes confused, and forgets things. During a press conference about the cyberattack, he mentions that Proteus is a defunct government program used to orchestrate the terrorist attack. However, he forgets that the program had no connection to cyberattacks.

Proteus is a neurological weapon that can attack a person’s brain from a distance and “could never be traced.” Its symptoms include visual and auditory hallucinations, memory loss, confusion, and more. As a result, George becomes convinced that someone is using Proteus on him to render him unfit to lead the investigation—meaning the mastermind behind the cyberattack is also targeting him with Proteus. When the truth is revealed, the neurological weapon is not mentioned anywhere, and it remains unclear whether anyone actually used it. 

After the investigation concludes, George returns to his routine. During a walk, he finds a broken device inside a bird feeder, suspects it might be related to Proteus, and gives it to Valerie (Connie Britton), his chief of staff, for analysis. However, the results show that it is residue of indeterminate origin. The device could have come from anywhere and does not appear to be connected to Proteus, suggesting that George may have convinced himself he was targeted by the weapon as a way to reassure himself that he was mentally sound—even after losing his son Nick to a drug overdose. On the other hand, it could also indicate that the person who used Proteus on George is still out there.

How Does Zero Day End?

After George’s revelation, journalists report on TV that FBI sources indicate the director will create a task force to investigate Richard Dreyer and other members of Congress, as well as Alexandra Mullen, who turned herself in to authorities. Now, the government’s main challenge is confronting the internal enemy and bringing them to justice.

At home, George is alone after being abandoned by his wife, Sheila (Joan Allen), who left after their only surviving child was turned over to the FBI. In his personal office, he looks at the memoir he was writing for publication and decides to throw it into the lit fireplace. During the terrorist attack investigation, George made wrong decisions and crossed legal and moral boundaries in the name of justice, though he was not held accountable due to the investigation’s positive outcome. Whatever he had written in the book—perhaps about his time with the Zero Day Commission—he chose to let his decision to reveal the truth in Congress define his legacy moving forward.

All six episodes of Zero Day are available to stream on Netflix now.

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