Constant showers in Gainesville, appropriately known as Rainsville, are known to kill the vibe of almost everyone in town. Now, imagine those gloomy skies that kill your plans actually killing you — Yes, deadly rain.
That is the grim reality for Scandinavian citizens in the newest Netflix original show, “The Rain,” which premiered May 4, 2018.
The originally Danish drama takes place close to Sweden where people are struggling to survive after a mysterious, virus-infected rain has fallen, killing almost their entire population.
The first three episodes set the stage for the suspenseful, survival mystery.
At the beginning, we are introduced to the main character, Simone, minutes before her high school final exam presentation, and the series seems like it will build into a climactic moment when the rain falls.
Sadly, the events of the show feel slightly rushed, as the audience is hurried through the set-up for this deadly rainfall and its after effects.
Before a character profile can even be properly constructed, viewers are thrust into the main conflict of the series: Simone’s father, Frederik, rushes into the school to pull her to safety. For some reason, Simone’s father is aware of the virus-rain that is about to fall and places his family in a safety bunker.
The most infuriating part of the entire series is that the viewer has no idea what role Simone’s father has played in this horrific situation. All the viewer gets from Frederik is the constant reassurance he gives to Simone and her brother, Rasmus. He says he has the cure for the situation.
In that same breath, Frederik leaves Rasmus and Simone with their mother so he can “go and fix this problem” – the problem that no one has been able to properly explain. Minutes pass in the scene where the children — just like viewers — are confused and want to know where their father has gone.
When there is a knock at the bunker door, the viewer gets their first look at the effects of the rain. The emotionally driven children defy their mother and open the door only to find someone who resembles a zombie standing in the rain. In this moment, the grim tone of the series is set.
As their mother pushes the infected man out of the way, she falls outside.
Within seconds the children watch their mother convulsing and throwing up before she ultimately dies. Now, Simone and Rasmus are left without any adult supervision to wait out this rain and hopefully be rejoined with their father.
As the door to their room is sealed, Simone is flooded with emotions and remembers her father’s words to protect Rasmus at all costs. Then, Simone has a suspicious flashback of Rasmus when he was sick with an unmentioned illness that now seems to be gone.
Instantly, the show has a huge time jump six years into the future.
Simone and Rasmus, who now look to be in their late teens or early 20s, have been inside the bunker for years waiting for their father and avoiding contamination.
All of sudden, their world is turned upside as raiders bombard their bunker, lock Simone and Rasmus into a room and search for any valuable goods. Through some quick thinking and plotting Simone is able to get this group to allow her and Rasmus to join their brigade and travel with them to next bunker to get food
Now, the series is officially set in motion and the main plot becomes watching the group struggle to survive and find answers.
Overall, the series provides a suspenseful and mysterious storyline that does leave viewers coming back for more answers. While it may be entertaining, the show does leave a lot of plot holes that seem to be glazed over throughout the story.
These unanswered questions could be left for a potential second season that will explore more of the company that Frederik works for and their involvement in this manipulative meteorology.
Could another rainfall be in their future?
What disease did Rasmus have, and what was the mysterious cure that his father developed?
What was the purpose of this infectious rain?
There is no set word on season two, but it may take another year before we see it. Production for season one began in Denmark and Sweden in early June of 2017 before it was released in May of 2018.
If there is a greenlight for season two, it will likely not be seen until spring 2019.
