Across continents and decades, five brilliant friends make earth-shattering discoveries as the laws of science unravel and an existential threat emerges. Based on Liu Cixin’s novel, a series by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo.
3 BODY PROBLEM
David Benioff • D.B. Weiss • Alexander Woo
(2024)
An adaptation of the trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past (地球往事), by Chinese novelist Liu Cixin (刘慈欣). The first season covers the first 2006 novel, The Three-Body Problem (三体), while introducing threads from later books, The Dark Forest (黑暗森林) and Death’s End (死神永生). This adaptation has sparked debate in China, with some critics accusing it of westernization and orientalization, while others appreciate the creative freedom and lack of censorship. The series is co-created by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with True Blood producer Alexander Woo.
Countdown
Beijing 1966, at the height of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Ye Zhetai (Perry Yung), a professor of physics at Tsinghua University is arrested and killed because he refuses to denounce the theory of relativity during a revolutionary rally known as a “Struggle Session.” Shortly after Zhetai’s death, his daughter Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) who witnessed the murder of her own father is sent to a work camp.
The Chinese Cultural Revolution was a tumultuous period of political and social upheaval in China that lasted from 1966 to 1976. It was initiated by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, with the aim of strengthening ideology and eliminating opponents within the party who were perceived to be taking the capitalist road. The revolution was marked by widespread chaos, violence, and terror, leading to the persecution and deaths of numerous individuals, including traditionalists, educators, and intellectuals.
At the work camp, Wenjie is approached by Bai Mulin (Yang Hewen) who gives her a copy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. He warns her to keep it a secret, as the book is considered a crime because it details the harm caused by the rampant use of chemical pesticides, which goes against the narrative promoted by the government during the Cultural Revolution in China. Wenjie and Mulin develop an intimate relationship.
However, the book is discovered and Wenjie is arrested because she refuses to reveal the identity of the person who gave her the book to the authorities. Wenjie is forced to sign a document against other dissidents but she refuses. Because of Wenjie’s extensive knowledge in physics, she is sent to a military base atop the mountain housing a large radio telescope instead of prison. Wenjie learns that the primary objective of this military base is to search for extraterrestrial life.
London 2024, Clarence “Da” Shi (Benedict Wong), a former MI5 agent, is investigating a series of mysterious suicides, focusing in particular on those involved in scientific research. It appears that each person experienced seeing a countdown timer before they committed suicide.
Five former physics students at Oxford – Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), Auggie Salazar (Eiza González), Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), Will Downing (Alex Sharp), and Jack Rooney (John Bradley) – gather again after their former particle physics professor Vera Ye (Vedette Lim), took her own life under mysterious circumstances. Auggie starts seeing a countdown timer appear before her eyes. One night, Auggie is approached by a mysterious woman who tells Auggie that if she wants the countdown to stop, she must end her nanofiber research and shut down her lab.
Jin visits Vera’s mother, Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao), hoping to understand why Vera took her own life. She asks Wenjie if Vera left any note or whether she noticed anything unusual in Vera’s behavior during her final days. Wenjie shows Jin a strange-looking silver helmet which she claims Vera was playing a video game with. Jin takes the helmet home and puts it on her head. Suddenly she enters an advanced virtual reality game, so realistic unlike anything she has ever seen.
Red Coast
Jin shows the gaming headset to Jack, which he attempts to play but his character swiftly gets killed off by female assassin who announces that he is not invited. Later, Jack finds another headset delivered to his home along with an invitation card, which allows Jack to play the game. Will is diagnosed with stage four of pancreatic cancer. Will confides in Jack that he is dying. Jin fails to save Civilization #237 in the game, but she established the superiority of science over mysticism, Jin now can access Level 2 of the game.
In 1968 China, Wenjia discovers a method to utilize the sun to amplify their signal. However, the military superior dismisses her plan. Undeterred, Wenjie secretly broadcasts the signal directly to the sun without anyone noticing. Years later, in 1977, during an expedition to search for a site to build a radio astronomy laboratory, Wenjia encounters Mike Evans (Ben Schnetzer) who is there to save a subspecies of the northwestern brown swallow. Wenjia notices a copy of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring on his desk.
Wenjia receives a reply to her message, which comes from an alien who claims to be a pacifist. The message, written in Chinese, tells her not to respond. It warns that if she does respond, they will invade and conquer Earth. Losing faith in humanity, Wenjia sends a reply back, inviting them to come and saying she will help them conquer the world.
Destroyer of Worlds
Jin and Jack find a way to enter the game in multi-player mode. Together they fail to save Civilization #152, but Jin discovers that the planet is part of a three-body star system which allows them to advance to the next level.
A three-body star system refers to a system where three stars are gravitationally bound to each other, orbiting a common center of mass. A planet orbiting within a three-body star system would likely experience a much more dynamic and potentially harsher environment compared to a planet in a single-star system like our solar system.
At level 3, they fail to save Civilization #184, but Jin realizes the true purpose of the game isn’t to solve the three-body problem but to help the civilization survive. Jin and Jack can now access Level 4. It is revealed that the headsets were sent by wealthy oil tycoon Mike Evans (Jonathan Pryce), who is recruiting brilliant minds to join the ETO (Earth-Trisolaris Organization).
Level 4 takes place in the real world. Jin and Jack both receive an invitation to meet at The Sunset Lounge in Shoreditch. There, they encounter the mysterious woman, Tatiana (Marlo Kelly). Tatiana reveals to them that the game was made by the alien called San-Ti, who received the invitation to Earth. They are coming from an unstable three-body star system, four light years away. However, Jack is skeptical of the existence of extraterrestrial life. He believes it’s a scam and chooses to leave. Later, Tatiana follows Jack home and kills him.
Our Lord
It is revealed that Mike somehow manages to communicate with San-Ti in real time, even though they are traveling 400 years away from Earth. San-Ti has been provided with advanced technology and protection for the ETO. San-Ti warns Mike that his enemies know about the summit and that they know his location and are watching him. However, San-Ti also tells Mike not to worry because they will protect everyone. Later, Mike tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf to San-Ti, but San-Ti is unable to grasp the concept of fiction. Mike attempts to explain that sometimes humans lie. San-Ti expresses confusion because they communicate through thoughts, and therefore, San-Ti cannot lie. When San-Ti realizes that Mike might be lying to them, San-Ti announces that liars cannot be trusted and cannot coexist with liars. San-Ti then abruptly stops responding to Mike’s call.
Upon learning that the ETO is behind the murder of Planetary Defense Council Intelligence Agency Chief, Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) proposes a plan. He suggests Jin, who recently received an invitation to join the ETO, infiltrate their organization. This would allow them to catch the culprits responsible for Jack’s death. Initially hesitant, Jin agrees to Wade’s plan.
Without San-Ti’s protection, British security forces raid the meeting, arresting most of the attending members, including their founder. The founder, completely trusting San-Ti, believes everything that happened was part of San-Ti’s plan.
3 BODY PROBLEM series does a good job of weaving together multiple storylines across different timelines. Following both the present-day investigation and the historical events in China keeps the narrative engaging.
The mystery surrounding the Trisolaran threat and the virtual reality game adds layers of intrigue. The series effectively portrays the vastness of the story’s scale. Dealing with interstellar communication, alien civilizations, and the potential extinction of humanity raises the stakes.
Some characters are well-developed with understandable motivations and complex emotions. However, some characters introduced in the present day can feel underdeveloped due to the condensed nature of the adaptation.
The series attempts to ground its fantastical elements in some scientific concepts, particularly the idea of the three-body problem. However, due to the nature of science fiction, certain plot points require suspension of disbelief, especially regarding the Trisolaran technology and the virtual reality game’s functionalities.
The design of the virtual reality game is imaginative and creates a strong sense of immersion. However, the visual effects are somewhat unrealistic, which is acceptable when they depict the virtual world within the game. In contrast, when these effects appear in scenes set in the real world, they can feel a bit underwhelming.
I like that they keep the San-Ti’s true form a mystery. As beings with technology so advanced, it’s probably impossible for humans to imagine or speculate what they actually look like, for now. The San-Ti, however, calculate that human technology could surpass them in 400 years, before they actually arrive.
My favorite episode is episode 5, when Thomas decides to kill everyone on board The Judgement Day ship in order to retrieve the recording of the conversation between San-Ti and Mike Evans. I mean, it’s a bit overdramatic and unnecessarily brutal, especially since the people on board are just regular personnel and children, not trained mercenaries. They could have sent a skilled agent to steal the recording instead.
3 BODY PROBLEM is a visually ambitious and thought-provoking series. It offers a gateway into the world of Liu Cixin’s acclaimed trilogy for newcomers and sparks discussions about humanity’s place in the universe for sci-fi fans.
3 BODY PROBLEM was released on Netflix on 21 March 2024.
