The first episode concerns lions in Africa, which attack a tour group. The only survivors are the guide, Jackson Oz (James Wolk), his co-worker and friend Abraham and a young French woman, Chloe. It seems as though the lions are communicating over vast distances and organizing their hunts. Not only is this happening in Africa but around the world. In Chicago, veterinarian pathologist Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke) has noticed this phenomenon. Other characters are reporter Jamie Campbell, who wants to prove that mega corporation Reiden is responsible for the animals' behavior. Once Chloe returns to France she's approached by a secret organization to find out the reason for the animals behavior and she recruits Jackson and Abraham and they eventually join forces with Mitch and Jamie, who do some investigating on their own.
In most of the season each episode deals with a different kind of animal, from bats destroying power and solar relays to domestic dogs luring people to their deaths to rats mutating into a hive-like community with huge queen rats. And there's also a human who has been changed and seems to have the ability to control the animals. This guy is also connected to Jackson's father, who had a theory years before that something like this "Animal Apocalypse" would happen. It all stems from a substance from "the Mother Cell", which Reiden uses in all their products. By the end of the season they believe they've found a cure, though things don't turn out as expected.
This series is like Fox's THE 100. The first several episodes aren't the greatest, but if you stick with it the series is entertaining and, in fact, binge-worthy. Yes, there's lots of trite dialogue and stock characters, though it's primarily the idea of animals going crazy that's the hook. The second season is even better.