Watching: 3 Body Problem

2024, Netflix

Quickly, I am realizing, as I put in more of these one-shot TV writeups, that there was a reason why I left so many shows to mega-posts, where I would breeze through a number of shows, to catch you all up. Its hard to write about a full season of something coherently. Maybe Kent's 1-1-1 format is what I should lean on? Maybe.

I have been hearing about the novel this is based on, for forever. Every time I would try to read a synopsis of the book(s), I would get lost in the deep plot and then very bored. It did not sound like a story for me. There was no "catch" that would draw me in. But I thought that D&D did a decent job of distilling the massive amount of world-building content from A Game of Thrones into a watchable TV show (until they diverged from the books) so maybe they can do the same here? I was right. It was definitely watchable, and is actually inspiring me to attempt reading the book. Maybe.

Note: I don't intend on following the "surprising reveals" nature of the book and story, so SPOILERS ABOUND.

So, it is a show set in a couple of timelines. We have seen that done before. They don't try to do the fakeout here, just establish that the real story has been going on for a long long time, all the way back to The Cultural Revolution in China, where a young Ye Wenjie (young: Zine Tseng, debut; older: Rosalind Chao, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) watches her father murdered on stage , because he is an intellectual. She is conscripted into the military where, because she is a brilliant scientist in her own right, she is brought in on a secret -- that the Chinese Govt has made contact with an alien species who live in a system with 3 suns. She is cautioned by a distant alien to not provide details as to the Earth's location, for its people will come, and not be friendly. She is angry and despondent at what her world has done to her; she contacts the aliens.

In current times, science is starting to fuck up. Commonly known laws of physics are breaking all on their own. And scientists around the world have been killing themselves. Clarence Shi (I wish IMDB would not list the book character's name; Benedict Wong, The Martian) is investigating things for... some sort of independent organization, under the watch of Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham, Safe House). Meanwhile a group of friends (who are all science types) are caught up directly in it, as one of them commits suicide and another, Auggie Salazar (Eiza González, Godzilla vs Kong), starts seeing the impetus for it -- a countdown clock is forever in her vision, counting down to who knows what, but a mysterious woman gives her a warning that if she completely shuts down her nanofibre company, and destroys all its research, her clock will disappear.

It is this group that the TV show centres around, as they each become more or less directly mixed up in the conspiracy at the centre of it all --- the aliens who are on their way, but will take 100s of years to get here -- want us to desist our scientific breakthroughs. They are a race that while having been around for a VERY long time (they have space travel) they also live in a star system that is regularly almost destroyed, knocking them back "to the stone age". They want Earth for themselves, but know that humans, given a couple of hundred years, will find ways to defeat the aliens. So, they sabotage us before then using all kinds of super science.

The show was well paced, as I already mentioned, and distills all the Big Ideas in the books down rather well. The trouble remains, I just am not sure I care about much of it, which kind of weirds me out -- this is supposed to be the kind of scifi that excites me. There is a subplot about a magic level VR game system that is using human players to help them solve their astrological issue, the titular "3 Body Problem" wherein the three stars in their system regularly destroy their civilization. The game is supposed to supply a way for them to survive. But the whole idea just left me .... flat, uncaring. And the whole story of a woman who survives the Cultural Revolution only to get mixed up in a cult that is welcoming the aliens, providing a message they will be benevolent "pet owners" until she learns the aliens would rather squash us like bugs. This whole storyline was supposed to chilling and cautionary. But again, I was left unaffected and more annoyed by all her choices.

One story did keep my attention, a simple human story about one of the group of friends, Will (Alex Sharp, How to Talk to Girls at Parties) who is dying of cancer. He ultimately doesn't care about what's going on in the Big Wide World, as he won't be around much longer. While he doesn't play a direct part in anything, he does inspire so many of his friends to make better choices, as they are directly mixed up in all that's happening.

In the end, I enjoyed watching the show, but like Kent mentioned, its not likely to memorable or even the remotest rewatchable. When, and if, a new season comes along, I will watch, but will not rewatch to remind myself. I just didn't end up caring that much, but I am keen to see how it goes.

We Agree.