Zero Day: The Dark Meaning Behind The Song 'Who Killed Bambi' Explained

Robert De Niro's paranoid political Netflix series "Zero Day" rocks a stellar cast and a magnificent premise: a cyber attack renders essentially every piece of advanced technology that's located in America inoperable for one minute, which causes nationwide destruction. With a threat of future attacks hanging over the country's collective head, it's up to the universally beloved former President George Mullen (De Niro) to solve the mysteries behind the attack. 

Things get extremely complicated before the six-episode series concludes, and De Niro is characteristically impressive in his first TV series, so much so that horror legend Stephen King has called him terrific. The show certainly gives De Niro plenty to do, as it strongly suggests that Mullen's investigations are hindered by either outside forces or symptoms of dementia ... or, quite likely, both. The old President's inner turmoil manifests in the form of the song "Who Killed Bambi," from the 1979 Sex Pistols album "The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle." The song's very un-Sex Pistols-like orchestral arrangements and guest vocalist Edward Tudor-Pole's manic delivery make for a disconcerting listen, and it doesn't help that the song has a habit of popping up in Mullen's ears during some extremely inconvenient moments, getting louder and more intrusive every time.   

After frankly way too many times of hearing the song, the end of episode 4 finally reveals that "Who Killed Bambi" represents nothing less than Mullen's darkest memory. Though he has pushed it deep into his subconscious, the tune was playing on the radio when the former President discovered that his son, Nick (Jackson Elk), had died of an overdose. The song has been knocking about at the back of his mind whenever he's stressed out, as Mullen never truly learned to deal with Nick's death and continues to carry a heavy mental burden.

The chaotic, sneering nature and unnerving, murder-filled lyrics of "Who Killed Bambi" make it a perfect song for its role on "Zero Day," because the show uses it to symbolize just about every mystery it teases. The song is just obnoxious enough that the viewer might buy it being a malevolent psy-ops attack — and indeed, the show features a fairly significant plot line about a neurological weapon called Proteus, teasing that something like that might be behind Mullen's issues. Since the song's combination of a traditional orchestral arrangement and howling punk rock vocals is clearly and deliberately off, it also works very well as an auditory cue that something might be wrong with Mullen's mental faculties. 

Ultimately, it's a fitting choice that "Who Killed Bambi" ties into Mullen's greatest family tragedy. After all, near the end of the series, he discovers that his own daughter, Alexandra (Lizzy Caplan), is part of the Zero Day conspiracy. Fortunately, Alexandra spares him from having to hand her over to the authorities by force, and decides to provide a confession. What's more, the conspirators are powerful political players and Mullen's decision to reveal their names would severely hurt the country ... but it's still what needs to be done, and after learning the song's true nature, Mullen actually manages to use "Who Killed Bambi" as a source of strengh to do the right thing. While opinions may vary on how appropriate it is for a British punk song to play a role in U.S. political machinations, it's easy to admire the way "Zero Day" uses "Who Killed Bambi" so often and efficiently that the tune effectively has its own character arc.