Full on spoiler warning. I'm talking about the episode plainly, giving some hypotheticals to what could have been in season 2.

 

If there is something great about foreshadowing, it's getting the payoff for it. This episode literally started with Jade and Amrita looking at an example case of controlling a reptile of sorts. Jade explains that Billie was more interested in this line of experimentation, but does show promise if used in the right way. And for the first time since we got to the University, we get a clear view of what has been being dragged behind it. This just worked to fill in the thing we've all known was there since the University got introduced and I thought it was a trawling net or something to hold Zeros. Nope, something bigger, and better than Zeroes.

 

In the past, the girls are brought back to their house by Roth. Makes it clear they only have a short time to pack before being brought back to Wesker. The scenes here, with the girls needing to reconcile what they knew about their father and what they just learned. But the problem is having Roth on them and both of them needing to get away from him. Billie and Jade grab the Bug-Out bag but ultimately only Jade can get away. Jade does promise to come back for her sister through. And she does make good on that. She just needs some help from Simon.

 

Jade and Simon talk, with Jade explaining everything that's happened over the last day. She explained about her father being a clone and her encounter with Bert. It isn't until she mentions Joy that Simon's interest is piqued. He shows Jade the pills he swiped from the container last episode. This also leads Simon to confront Evelyn about what she did, giving Joy to Diana. As things build, things only get worse. Simon helps Jade get into the Umbrella facility. This, of course, sets up the whole ending scenario.

 

Billie has a new complication with her infection in the past. This seems to be her being able to tap into the benefits of being a Zero while remaining herself. But this does lead her to try to find off Roth and Umbrella's security alone while Jade goes to get him. It does also reveal to Evelyn that Billie either has immunity to the G-Virus. But it's plain it's more a symbiotic relationship then carrier host. Billie is not in control and things get worse after she gets a shot of adrenaline. She is still infectious, having the virus in her body. But the mysteries of that are something that is simply lost.

 

This is something that won't be explored now. Likely having Evelyn experiment to a degree. Just come to a better understanding of it. This would make for a good arc for Billie as well. There was still plenty of time for her to come to power and usurp Evelyn eventually. I would have loved seeing the transformation of this relationship. Likely captive to student, to “successor.” Just a question of how and when, since Billie, Jade, and Bert were on the run at the end.

 

The story in the past does spend time with Simon and his other mom, Diana. Unlike the previous times with Diana, she is very happy. Also, strangely, making the same dinner they just had because it's Evelyn's favorite. But over the course of the scene, we see that Joy, if anything, is over delivering. Diana badly cuts her finger and doesn't realize it. She just seems lost in her task of cooking, and enjoying the song she's listening to. This is the only time we saw the impact of Joy on a human (beyond what happened to Angel). This is something gone as well. We just saw Diana deliriously happy on Joy, what happens when it wears off? What impact does it have on her the next day? There's nothing to hint at what would happen with her. All the talk about Joy was looking at the the “turned into a Zombie” angle, not a safe dosage. Plus, just the fallout of everything with Evelyn. With Simon being killed and the potential for her to suffer from side effects from Joy, this is something we've seen almost immediately. Or she dies from something off-screen and that is that.

On the note of Angel, there is a very good chance the infected person that Evelyn asked Bert to investigate is what became of Angel. Albert did inject him with a lethal combination of Joy and something else. Massive infection is generally what leads to the more interesting creatures being made. And when the recovery team started. Assuming it is Angel, that was likely the developing Tyrant style monster we saw at the end of the episode emerging from the rubble.

 

Going to take a moment to talk about Simon and then Evelyn. Simon was genuinely good trying to help Jade and Billie. He just dealt with the girls being insular and prickly to him. He did like Jade, and was plainly interested in her. Any other point in her life, something more likely would have happened. But she put Billie ahead of Simon. He still helped a lot, getting them into the facility, and at least having something of a plan to manage things.

 

Evelyn is a completely different story. She made it clear that she was betting EVERYTHING on Joy. She been putting enough hours in that things were rocky between her and Diana. Simon just felt out of touch with her. When it all did crash with Billie escaping, seeing her just become a bit more unhinged was a nice pay off. We knew that she would live, having seen her in the present, but seeing how she got there is usally going to be the more interesting story. And, yeah, in the present day, she is very likely dead. But we didn't see the body so a small chance she is alive.

 

The fact that Billie bite him, and this directly lead to his death is what truly started the rift between the girls. Just how Jade was with Billie at the end of the episode, when they were leaving

 

In the present, when we see the horde coming at the small encampment. Billie doesn't do well with the developments of the Zeroes closing in. Until she deploys the drones to something of an effect for a while. Billie does revel in the destruction though. There is one cutback where we see her smiling as an opera is performed. But then what jade encouraged literally comes to bear. The Infected crocodile went straight for her sister and Umbrella forces (go pheromones). All the scenes with this scream out from Resident Evil 4.

 

The lead up to the University unleashing the creature behind it. Classic deployment of a weapon of mass destruction. The dual keys, the buttons, and the final big red button. Plus seeing the retrains on it burst off was like other latches breaking away from something incredible deadly. On top of that, you see jade hit the final button to unleash the creature. Just seeing the massive creature emerge from the water and do what it would: eat (and destroy). There is something wonderful about the destroy and the build up to this. It reeks of of Kaiju and likely was meant to invoke that. Just the ground shaking and everyone that cares (aka not a Zero) being very confused by it. It remains, wonderful part.

 

There is a the short story with Bae toward the middle and end of the Episode. She left the University at her mother's insistence to avoid getting caught by Umbrella. Ironically, this was the very catalyst for her to get caught by Umbrella. Having a massive creature play nice with your daughter does make it look suspicious, especially when no one else knows about the pheromones being employed to, likely, keep her safe. It wasn't exactly clear, but we know its a thing and Jade is the kind of person who would do that just after confirmation. There is a chance there's something else going on, what Billie was talking about with the “Wesker Treatment,” but it's now impossible to know.

 

The Alberts were something wonderful to see play out. Bert is a very different person from his brother Albert. It remains, they were both much better off than their original, Albert Wesker. Short of flashbacks, we're never going to see Berty or Albert again. While I know it's cannon, it's still something fairly unique. On top of that, it really showed what Lance Reddick could do. He had 4 characters that he was playing. All of them were very distinct from each other while looking nearby identical. It was only clothing choice that would tell some of them apart (if they aren't growing out their hair or a beard). It's also this episode we get an idea of the relationship with Evelyn and Bert. She handles him carefully, almost like working with a child (Albert did much the same, but in a brotherly way). Her methods of coercion on him a very simple, but it doesn't take much (and still has plenty of ego about what he can do). But Bert is a simpler man than Albert, or the original Albert Wesker (and Berty). He is very straight forward and can learn to do a lot.

 

More than anything, this episode leans into one of the best things the Resident Evil games do, having a great twist. And blowing up an Umbrella facility. But also the reveal that something has survived. Billie shows something different with her unique physiology and the G-Virus.

 

Here we are the season finale... and the final episode of the series. Everything was meant for more than just this one. The hard part really is just the demand sometimes. Resident Evil is a great horror series no matter how you look at it. It has plenty of space for people to work with and a diverse set of characters. As someone who's beaten 1 Resident Evil game and has started a second, I can say you don't need to have any background with the games to enjoy the show. It is a solid zombie apocalypse show on its own, but the Resident Evil elements allow for a greater depth with its strange super science world.

 

So, I did enjoy it. Definitely well set up to just be watched back to back. Loved the Berts and wished we got than just those few scenes with all 3 of them. Enjoyed the time jumps, telling the stories and usually the transition as well. Having some knowledge of Resident Evil gives you easter eggs, but is hardly needed.