Origin
Episode 1 of Zero begins with Omar rushing away from a man named Shariff, screaming at him while holding a gun. This brief segment then cuts us back in time as we meet Omar properly. Omar works as a pizza delivery boy but his real passion lies with art. Specifically manga featuring black characters. After a brief stint of seeing his talented sketches up close, Omar heads out and continues to deliver pizzas. Only he winds up getting locked inside a house while the owners are away. This woman, Annam eventually returns and convinces Omar to stick around. The two hit it off, prompting Omar to head home with a big grin on his face. On the way though, Shariff chases him with a gun. This catches us up to the moments during the opener, as Omar inexplicably disappears while hiding inside a small closet. The next day Omar awakens and heads to work like normal. Only, Shariff shows up and questions Omar over exactly how he disappeared. Our “Zero” doesn’t have any answers but when he leaves, Anna rings and invites him over for dinner. When he shows up, the entire apartment is abuzz with people, drinking and dancing. Anna takes Omar aside though and gives him her number, encouraging the boy to ring when he’s spoken to his Father. It’s a touching conversation but one that ultimately breaks Omar’s heart when Anna sees Edo has returned to the party. The pair hug and it seems they could be getting back together again. Omar returns home and struggles to speak to his Father. Instead, he checks in on his sister, Awa. She lies in bed sobbing, struggling to keep it together. The family have money problems and they could well be kicked out of their apartment. Midway through talking, Omar realizes his bracelet is gone. As he rushes out to try and find it, Shariff watches from afar as he notices Omar turning invisible.
The Episode Review
Zero gets off to a pretty good start with its opening episode, setting up an intriguing conflict to come with Shariff. Omar is easy to empathize with too and his dreams of becoming an artist obviously come crashing down when the reality of what’s happening starts to be revealed. Omar’s love interest, Anna, is likely going to be an important part of the story going forward, and Zero sets up some nice indicators for the future that this could be the case. Either way, this superhero series gets off to a decent start despite some haphazard editing during the opening 10 minutes or so. Still, there’s definitely enough here to look forward to what’s coming.
