Note: Review contains spoilers for “2020.”

When Netflix announced it would be producing “2020” last year, many people were skeptical. Even given the streaming service’s ambitions and almost inexhaustible cash flow, many questioned how it could put together such a massive project: a show that would last 366 full days — or 8,784 hours of programming — and include nearly 7.5 billion characters.

To start there, you have to give the writers and producers credit: They created enough to build an epic show. So much happens in “2020,” and there isn’t a lot of downtime. At times, it almost feels like too much is going on at once, which is kind of incredible considering the huge amount of content that was needed to fulfill such a sprawling premise for a series.

While billions of stories were promised, and the show does reach a lot of places, a few narratives and characters ended up as the central focus of the show. The biggest twist was the early introduction of something known as the “novel coronavirus,” which hit China in January and races around the globe within two months. It’s a good slow burn as it’s mostly a side plot until it begins cropping up in country after country and then hits America when Tom Hanks — playing himself — gets it on the same day that the NBA decides to cancel games due to the unchecked spread of the virus.

That is one of the peak moments of the show, and it does an excellent job of showing just how confusing and frightening such a pandemic might look in real life. This isn’t an action movie where there’s a heroic health official somewhere with a cure or some foreign spy holding the key; there are no quick answers and seemingly everyone across the globe is caught flat-footed trying to respond. Meanwhile, it takes a social toll — depression and anxiety rise and many people struggle to cope. The show takes a very frank look at how isolation and economic desperation can build to toxic levels without being melodramatic about the outcome.

Though Covid dominates much of the narrative space, it’s not the only plot twist and turn that “2020” offers. On top of the virus, it’s one of the the wildest weather years in human history, and several Louisiana residents get center stage as hurricane after hurricane hit them. At the same time, horrific wildfires in California set the scene for a few very gripping episodes. Without being heavy handed, the show makes a convincing case that climate change is a real threat.

There are also massive floods in Vietnam and Cambodia, a horrific explosion in Beirut — a deeply affecting standalone episode that is a real standout — earthquakes in Puerto Rico and civil unrest across the globe. A lot happens, and the writers do a good job with some of the “you are there” plots of those directly affected by the tragedy.

Not all the plot devices work so well, though. With so much narrative to get through, there are some things that feel forced and others that seemed promising but are either sidelined or just dropped. Late in the series, there’s a discovery of odd metal obelisks around the world, which is an interesting premise, but the payoff ends up being eye-rollingly ridiculous. Even more glaring is an animal with the evocative name of “murder hornet,” which show up in an early episode and are basically forgotten for several hundred episodes. Not to make the obvious Chekov’s gun case, but if you’re going to throw such a lurid detail into the plot, you might as well make it pay off later.

Again, considering the wealth of material the writers had to come up with, many of the plot issues can be overlooked. What can’t be ignored, though, is a huge problem that ultimately sinks “2020”: Casting and characterization. 

Real estate developer and former reality TV host Donald Trump plays the American president, and he is perhaps the biggest problem for the series.

Admittedly, it’s fun at the beginning to watch him use cheap humor instead of the more serious political dialogue. And if “2020” were a comedy, he might have been a fun element as a bumbling president — a la Julia Louis-Dreyfus in “Veep,” as a recent example.

In a drama, though, he is wildly out of place as a leader. Even if someone were to agree with his vile politics, it’s hard to picture someone so out of his depth winning over followers, let alone an election. Yet even as it becomes cringe-worthy to view, Trump just keeps mugging for the camera as though he wandered onto the wrong set, and it’s painfully obviously he’s a massive misfire in casting. (It’s worth noting that producers may have realized their mistake, as they decided late in the series via an election storyline, to replace him with former Sen. Joe Biden.)

Compounding the issue: Trump gets the most screen time of any character, which just reinforces his lack of acting chops. He makes no effort to reign in the virus, yet it never seems to dent his supposed popularity, even as it’s killing his voter base.

He can’t even manage being a compelling antihero: An authoritarian leader using crisis as a way to consolidate power is a compelling concept (think of “V for Vendetta”) but Trump doesn’t even bother. As the virus rages through his country, he is too busy picking pointless fights on social media. Other countries implement steps to go back to normal but America just chooses not to as Trump’s top ally Sen. Mitch McConnell, played by Yurtle the Turtle, fights to spare businesses from lawsuits rather than giving people money to keep them home and staunch the growth in cases.

Even when it is made clear that Trump’s inability to govern could cost him re-election, he does nothing. When he does finally respond to something, it’s a monthlong temper tantrum over his election loss that is neither amusing nor enjoyable to watch.

Trump is far from the only obnoxious character to get screen time in “2020.” The show repeatedly offers supposedly regular people who act in ways that seem utterly nonsensical, if not bordering on insane. Though only featured in two episodes, Jim Fargus of Valley Falls, North Dakota, playing himself, really left me scratching my head. His wife, Helen, dies of Covid in early April, but he declares at the end of the episode he still doesn’t believe the virus exists. Then, in his return in mid-October, he refuses to wear a mask at a local diner before catching the coronavirus and dying. And then, instead of rolling their eyes, his friends and family — including his son, played by Harry Styles in a flashy cameo — continue refusing masks despite what they have seen with their own eyes.

I’m willing to accept in a real pandemic that some people would struggle with the magnitude of what was at stake. However, it is jarring to watch large numbers of seemingly functional adults refuse to accept reality. And it feels like shoddy writing to see characters casually turn their back on loved ones simply because the plot demands it. 

Many, many episodes feature time spent with characters who don’t think coronavirus, also called “Covid” for short, exists at all. Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, plays a political operative who’s so skeptical of Covid that as he’s dying from it, his Twitter account is still posting that it’s not a big deal. Similarly, several minor characters become Internet famous for denying its existence, which feels like a stretch even in an age of online misinformation. 

It is a bold, prestige TV choice to spend time with unlikable characters, but “2020” goes out of its way to shove unpleasant people down your throat. Occasionally, it pays off. But far too often, it feels like the series is just filling time with the most odious people it can find. It’s just too much when we’ll spend a few minutes hearing from right-wing caricature Ben Shapiro (played entertainingly by child actor Cal Shilton) about why masks are bad and then see the live footage of graves being dug in New York City.

If it’s an attempt to show how some people might be confused about the virus, it quickly becomes overused to the point where you can basically start skipping forward if you see any scene with a right-wing personality talking.

That goes double for one of the biggest side plots in “2020”: protests over racial unrest in America. Following a horrific video of a cop choking a suspect to death during an arrest, people are galvanized to take to the streets and demand long-overdue racial justice and equality. Though widely popular, the protests begin to attract counter-protests and unrelated violence, culminating in a 17-year-old crossing state lines to murder two people with an semiautomatic rifle. Shockingly, the show writes in a storyline where Trump supporters begin to raise money for the teen’s bail and begin to say online that despite killing two people he did nothing wrong, which even for “2020” is a shockingly dark turn.

Ultimately, while “2020” has some incredibly gripping moments, you have to slog through a lot to get to the good parts. There are just so many horrible characters, from the American president, to Covid deniers, to Chinese leaders, to racist protestors … it’s all just too much. I found myself watching numbly after a while, unable to turn it off but also not deriving enjoyment from it, either. If you’re looking for something soothing, this is definitely the wrong series, but even viewed through the prestige TV lens, it is too broad and unfocused to really deliver a great payoff. 

Netflix has left the door open for “2021,” especially considering the wild year-end cliffhanger — I won’t spoil since it’s yet to be released — but “2020” was disappointing and I’m not sure it’s worth the time, effort and expense to give this unenjoyable series another season. Bring on the asteroid. 

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆