‘3 Body Problem’ Review

A three-body problem represents the motion of three particles in quantum physics by taking the beginning positions and velocities of three-point masses. This issue leads to a chaotic dynamical system. Let me ask you this: does that sound like a compelling storyline for a television show, now that you’ve had your daily physics lesson? What if I told you that we could give it a science fiction twist? That’s just what Netflix’s newest original series, 3 Body Problem, has given us.

Based on the book of the same name, the second adaptation of said book, 3 Body Problem, put a sci-fi spin on a very complex and hard-to-understand quantum mechanics theory. If that scares you as a potential viewer of the series, don’t let it because, unlike the book, the show does not get bogged down by its heavy and complex scientific theory. Rather than putting you in a quantum mechanics lecture, the series attempts to focus its audience on a narrative centered around some key questions. The first one is, what would you do if an impending situation was coming that could lead to the downfall of everything you know, and what would this mean for society and life as you know it day to day?

We follow a group of scientists, who all attended the University of Oxford together and are now at rising moments in their careers. They’re each facing their own hardships, but when one of their professors and one of their own commit suicide, they set out to find out why.

Now, the program wasn’t without problems—very few are—but Benioff and Weiss, as you may recall from Game of Thrones, are skilled at story adaptation. They executed it nearly flawlessly, with Game of Thrones only experiencing criticism when they ran out of original material to work with. Now that they are translating intricate source material for Netflix once more, it is obvious that they are back in their element. 

There are moments in the first few episodes when it feels like we’re sipping from a fire hose. There were times when I had trouble even following the main plot of the story. There are time jumps between the past and present, a long list of major characters who we are learning about, and another dimension video game world. If I claimed that it was impossible to get sucked into some of the minutia, I would be lying, but once this show finds its groove, you can’t help but want to learn more. 

There will most definitely be a character or two that you can relate to, thanks to performances by former Game of Thrones cast members John Bradley, Liam Cunningham, and Jonathan Pryce, as well as some fresh faces like Eiza González, Marlo Kelly, and Jess Hong. The show enjoys taking large swings even if they result in significant misses. This allows the show to feel like it has real stakes. They don’t mind taking a character’s life, placing them in danger, or even having them fail—a straightforward move that many other series shy away from.

The show can be viewed from a variety of angles thanks to the large cast of characters, including the eyes of the scientists involved, a detective (Benedict Wong) attempting to determine the cause of the deaths, and the story of how it all began and how a choice made by a Chinese scientist (Zine Tseng) decades ago is still having an impact on people’s lives today. The true nature of the show is revealed in episode four, casting doubt on any speculation. As the story progresses, it changes from a mystery to a sci-fi thriller, gripping you throughout.

There are moments of cliché action coupled with really great action. There are moments of good CG, and not-so-good CG; In other words, there are many excellent moments and a few that are debatable in terms of the story, the characters, and the visuals. For instance, at one point a character manages to get out of a tight spot by what appears to be a mile and a half of crawling past firefighters, cops, paramedics, and EMTs. It’s necessary to suspend disbelief because this is science fiction, but there comes a point at which that’s a big ask, and some individuals might not be able to get past certain aspects.

We’ve seen countless attempts at alien invasion stories where even the mention of a new alien invasion film or show is met with an eye roll. However, every once in a while, overused genres have unique takes on them; this is one of those few times. Who knows if we’re going to get a second season, it is Netflix of course, so anything could happen. With the release of Dune: Part Two earlier this month, the sci-fi genre was reinvigorated. This show continues with that trend and shows us that sci-fi can be used to tell compelling mature, thematic stories that leave us wanting more. I don’t doubt that Benioff and Weiss can continue to deliver on that, it just remains to be seen if Netflix feels the same way.