Netflix’s adaptation of Cixin Liu’s powerful sci-fi novel THREE-BODY PROBLEM gives us everything we want from sci-fi, from likeable characters to a complex plot to a wealth of big ideas.
The show was created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, whom I still haven’t forgiven for what they did to GAME OF THRONES, though they did all right with this adaptation. The show largely follows the plot of the first novel: During China’s Cultural Revolution, astrophysics student Ye Wenjie witnesses her father being beaten to death during public humiliation for being an intellectual. Guilty by association, she is sent to a labor camp but is ultimately recruited to take part in a top secret project in a remote region. After this project makes contact with an alien civilization, she makes a decision that will directly impact the fate of the entire human species.
The adaptation does a great job bringing the novel to life and making it more accessible. The thing about the novel is it’s mainly a novel of ideas, very weak in characterization and plot in my view but rich in physics and philosophical thought experiments. The writers did an admirable job fleshing everything out, though they made some of the characters–particularly two female scientists–so contrary that they almost stop contributing sense to the story.
The first season tells a complete story but sets the stage for more. There are two more novels, so there’s plenty for the show runners to work with.
Overall, THREE-BODY PROBLEM is nerdy smart and fun, getting almost everything right to provide a very satisfying sci-fi watch.
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