Ye Wenjie, a Chinese astrophysicist, gets arrested after witnessing her father’s death during the Chinese Revolution. Due to her scientific background, she is sent to a secret hilltop military base striving to make first contact with aliens. Her decision to assist the extraterrestrials in migrating to Earth leads a group of scientists in the present day to confront humanity’s gravest threat.
Created by Game of Thrones forerunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (along with co-creator Alexander Woo), 3 Body Problem is named after the physics theory and based on the Chinese novel trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past. I have not read the books (3 Body Problem is the first of the trilogy), but they are regarded as complex, abstract, and grand in scale. Not exactly the recipe for a feasible adaptation. Especially with big ideas about our place in the universe being explored while revealing intimate stories about human connections. 3 Body Problem balances physics and emotion in a mind-bending portrayal of scientific exploration. Quantum mechanics has never felt so alive.
The cast is led by a diverse group of young actors and actresses who comprise the so-called Oxford 5 scientists. They’re ambitious, highly intelligent, and nerds. They have good chemistry with the exception of one weak link (I’ll leave that up to you). They cope with a terminal illness in such a tender and real way that it becomes the season’s most endearing storyline. Veteran actors Jonathan Pryce, Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong, and Rosalind Chao provide life experience to the existential events.
There’s a lot to keep track of in 3 Body Problem. Overall, it’s an enigma with equal parts theoretical experimentation, crime thriller, historical fiction, sci-fi adventure, and alien invasion. You’ll be entranced when several members of the team don headsets and experience a very advanced state of virtual reality. They visit the Shang Dynasty and Tudor England. What’s the purpose of the game? To solve the 3-body problem? Save the planet? In the real world, their journey to save Earth involves a trip down the Panama Canal. It’s one of the most spectacular scenes in recent television, and one of the most gruesome. They discover that the alien threat is not imminent; in fact, everyone now involved (and their children’s children) will be long gone by their anticipated arrival date. It’s a compelling conundrum with momentous implications for the future. You can’t help but think…just like the climate crisis.
(3 Body Problem is now streaming on Netflix. The first season is eight episodes. The series has already been renewed for two more seasons.)
D² Rating: ◼◼◼◩☐
Trivia: Jonathan Pryce’s breakthrough role was in what 1985 film directed by Terry Gilliam?
Answer below
Answer: Brazil