Netflix’s Resident Evil may not have been the kind of straight-forward adaptation that some fans had been hoping for, but a tease in the first season finale hints at closer connections to the video games moving forward.
Sisters Billie and Jade Wesker have been put on a collision course with a major character from the franchise lore, who now seems a likely candidate to make a physical appearance in a potential season 2.
Netflix is yet to confirm whether it will continue with this series, although the show’s strong opening weekend (according to the streamer’s internal chart) suggests that a follow-up could well be on the cards.
Fans will be hoping that Resident Evil doesn’t face the axe as the series still has many more questions to answer, including what pushed Billie and Jade so far apart as well as how exactly the world devolved into 2036’s apocalyptic nightmare.
Read on for your full breakdown of the Resident Evil season 1 ending on Netflix.
What happens to Billie Wesker?
A major source of drama in this initial run of episodes was the fate of Billie Wesker, who was bitten by Umbrella’s vicious Cerberus (aka zombie dog) at the end of the first episode.
Over the next three chapters, we saw her health deteriorate rapidly as she developed violent tendencies, all of which pointed to her becoming a member of the undead.
However, in a surprise twist, Billie was able to keep the T-virus at bay, with an examination from Umbrella noting that it was not mutating her cells in the usual way – for reasons as yet unknown.
It’s likely to have something to do with Billie’s genetics as her father, a clone of Albert Wesker, is revealed to have designed both she and Jade with the intention of making them resilient to sickness.
A variation of this trait may have been passed down to Jade’s daughter, Bea, who survives an encounter with a giant infected crocodile in the finale, after it consciously decides not to attack her.
Resident Evil ends on a rather dark note for Billie in both of the show’s timelines; in the present, she is partly responsible for the death of Jade’s friend (and crush) Simon, while in the future, she has abducted Bea and left her own sister for dead on a remote clifftop.
Who is Ada Wong?
Despite her role in Simon’s death – who was shot by his mother, Evelyn Marcus, after Billie bit him in a delirious state brought on by her T-virus infection – Jade decides to stand by her sister and their new father figure, Bert (an alternate clone of Albert Wesker).
Before seemingly perishing in the destruction of Umbrella’s New Raccoon City facility, their father gave them the details of one Ada Wong and instructed the sisters to “find her”.
Ada is an enigmatic figure in Resident Evil lore, with much uncertainty remaining to this day around her real name, allegiances and motivations.
What we do know is that she’s a highly skilled corporate spy, who first appeared in 1998’s Resident Evil 2, when she was dispatched to the overrun original Raccoon City to retrieve a sample of the G-virus – which had transformed its residents into ravenous monsters.
During that mission, she developed a bond of sorts with Raccoon City cop Leon Kennedy and almost died after helping him fight off one of Umbrella’s so called Bio Organic Weapons, known as the Tyrant.
Albert Wesker saved her life in return for the G-virus sample, with the two forming an uneasy alliance in the years that followed, but their relationship was dogged by a deep mistrust of one another.
In the video game canon, which this Netflix series is bound by, Ada was last seen in the year 2013 when she destroyed a clone of herself which had been created by unhinged scientist Derek C Simmons.
The earlier timeline in the Resident Evil television series takes place in 2022, which means almost a decade of Ada’s life is unaccounted for in this iteration of the story, so the writers will have a lot of blanks to fill in if season 2 does go ahead.
What is the Tyrant in Resident Evil?
The final episode of Resident Evil’s first season also teases one of Umbrella’s Bio Organic Weapons, commonly known as the Tyrant.
Evelyn Marcus attempts to strong-arm Bert into working on him, but he is horrified by the request. Later, when the New Raccoon City laboratories have been destroyed, the Tyrant’s arm emerges from the rubble, suggesting bad times ahead for the remaining residents of the community.
The Tyrant debuted in the first ever Resident Evil game, with several variations following in later entries, but common features include a humanoid appearance with oversized hands equipped with enormous claws.
A version of the Tyrant almost killed Albert Wesker in the original 1996 game, but the villainous virologist survived due to his augmented genes.
All versions of the Tyrant are extremely strong, but their specific capabilities vary depending on whether they have been designed for covert operations or open combat – the type featured here appears to be the latter.
Resident Evil is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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