The cast is excellent, but they can't save the bad writing and worse pacing.
I read the Richard Preston book back in 1994, and again last month when I heard about this miniseries. The book is an accurate accounting of the real events of 1989, and it's an edge-of-your-seat exciting read.
This miniseries takes the same event and manages to drag it out with unnecessary backstories, wooden dialogue, and a dozen cliches. Then there are the blatantly incorrect representations of protocol in a lab environment. (I was in the medical field in 1989, and we did have strict ppe protocols.)
My advice is to treat this as pure fiction, loosely based on the facts of the actual events. Get the true story from the book.
Review of The Hot Zone
