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- National Geographic
- May 26, 2019
- National Geographic
- May 26, 2019
Summary When a highly infectious virus with no known cure appears at the Reston Monkey Facility in 1989, U.S. Army veterinarian Dr. Nancy Jaax (Julianna Margulies) works to stop it from spreading in this six-part miniseries based on Richard Preston's 1995 nonfiction book about Ebola.
Created By: Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders, James V. Hart
- National Geographic
- May 26, 2019
- National Geographic
- May 26, 2019
Summary When a highly infectious virus with no known cure appears at the Reston Monkey Facility in 1989, U.S. Army veterinarian Dr. Nancy Jaax (Julianna Margulies) works to stop it from spreading in this six-part miniseries based on Richard Preston's 1995 nonfiction book about Ebola.
Created By: Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders, James V. Hart
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
69
75% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
25% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
69
75% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
25% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Having established that Margulies does a fine job leading “The Hot Zone,” neither she nor her impressive list of co-stars, including Liam Cunningham, Noah Emmerich and James D’Arcy, are given many opportunities to chew scenery. They don’t need to, because showrunners and executive producers Kelly Sounders and Brian Peterson built the script to make fear of infection the centerpiece.
Death is nothing new on television. But the grotesque hemorrhaging Ebola induces in its unlucky sufferers brings home the gravity of the story, and the courage of its players. ... “The Hot Zone” works best as an examination of process in precisely this way — showing what it takes to defeat an outbreak, both in Jaax’s storyline and in one told in flashback, as her mentor (“Game of Thrones’s” Liam Cunningham) attempts to find an Ebola survivor and thus to use his or her antibodies for a cure.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.4
55% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
36% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 22 User Ratings
6.4
55% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
36% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
9% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
I loved this book when I read it years ago. The show, on the other hand, doesn't quite hold up to the bestseller but it's still an enjoyable distraction. Good cast with an engaging story. If you're a genre fan it's def worth checking out.
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SEASON 1
The series requires a lot of patience and steadiness from the viewer, as it is told extremely slowly. It tells the story of the first outbreak of Ebola on US soil in 1989, which was only fatal for monkeys. Those who wait for the great catastrophe will be disappointed. It does not take place, or the actual disaster is how badly authorities seemed to be prepared for such a case at that time. Dramaturgical highlights are only to be found in the fifth and sixth episodes and that is simply too little for today's standards. If you wouldn't have the constant threat of the Ebola virus in the back of your mind, the first episodes wouldn't be enough to really tie you to the screen.
The series is based on true events and therefore has a tough time next to the well-known doomsday movies. Therefore, you have to look for its qualities somewhere else: Concerning the actors there is a reunion with many well-known actors and that's surely one of the advantages. The flashbacks to Africa, where the virus first appeared, are also convincing, not only because of the interplay between Liam Cunningham and James D'Arcy, but also because they show how difficult it is to master a virus that is neither interested in customs nor science when different cultures and worldviews meet.
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SEASON 1
Showrunners Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, veterans of “Under the Dome” and “Smallville,” sprinkle in enough science to balance the crazier elements of “The Hot Zone,” Peak TV’s version of a summer disaster flick.
Though flawed, “The Hot Zone” is an effective, real-life horror story whose key points are hard to brush aside.
With apologies to King Kong, monkey business has never been scarier than in this tense if preachy six-part docudrama. [27 May - 9 Jun 2019, p.13]
What The Hot Zone does very well is focus its story on science and procedure. It can be hard to balance drama and accuracy when one of the series’ most key lines is “the antibodies are in the plasma!” but the series makes it work.
A tale of human vulnerability doesn’t seem to have any human beings present. The home-life stories that are meant to add emotional heft are distracting and brittle, and the characters are under-imagined.
Good cast and compelling story; certainly worth a watch That said, there was something off about this show that kept it from being great. Can't put my finger on it, but something made it come off a little cheesy, like the sameness you feel when you watch the gazillionth episode of Law and Order or NCIS.
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SEASON 1
