3 BODY PROBLEM Could Have Been Great | Netflix Series Review

Are you a fan of Liu Cixin’s “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy? Did you think season 1 of “3 Body Problem” did it justice? Are we ready to forgive David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (NO)?? Let me know what you think about this new Netflix series!

I haven't even watched 2 Body Problem yet.

The Auggie character is just a plot device. She's there to challenge the all-out response to the threat which (metaphorically) breaks a lot of eggs. Unfortunately, with her griping, pouting, and stomping off, she doesn't really come off as a world-class scientist.

What I liked most in the first book was the "buddy detectives" vibe between Wan Myao and Da Shi. The Netflix version completely trashed that part and made Da Shi not nearly as likable as in the book. I also don't like that they made Judgement Day a floating kindergarten just to make it more tragic.

I totally agree with your take on the characters and the unnecessary romantic tension between 4 of them, it was so out of the place and teen drama, which unfortunately became such a drag for me to sit through. I have never read the books and I could see that somewhere from ep 4 onwards the series started to flop. Things started to get ridiculously surreal (resources access way too easy, consensus between countries reached in a matter of days, and you know, the quality of those screws in billions dollar projects etc.). So after binging all 8 episodes, my only thought is that maybe I should read the books instead 😂😂😂

You hit upon my exact issue with the show. The Idea that they set up the atomic bombs and the space shot of the probe in mere months

I'm nine episodes into last year's Chinese 'Three Body' series. You could criticize it for its pacing but overall its just better crafted than the Netflix show. Better cinematography, better casting. The Netflix cast gives off a 'random assemblage of actors for Netflix movie' vibe, like if they hadn't got hired for this they would have been cast in the next Fast And Furious' movie.

Jin Chang vs Wade was my favorite parts of the show. It was so charming the way they'd get each other to do things.

I might watch it just for Benedict Wong

I totally agree......The chinese version was better..... They mixed and split the characters, they omitted crucial points ( e.g. the revelation of the true form of the tri-solarians ep.30 of the chinese version ) , they went to the second book very quickly......The timing for everything that was happening was just not right......As a fan of the books, ( although I believe that from the second half of the second book the writter struggled to finish the trilogy ), I will wait for the second season and I hope things will get better......

Since I haven't read the books, my comparison is based solely on the Tencent series, which I've watched. I appreciate both adaptations for their individual merits and strengths. Tencent remained faithful to the first book, "The Three-Body Problem," with its 30-episode arc. While Wang Miao largely navigated his journey alone for his sanity, Ye Wenjie's narrative, though less brutal than Netflix's portrayal, was spread out over the first season. Netflix condensed much of her backstory. Interestingly, Netflix used the original novel's name for the aliens, "San-Ti Ren," before it was translated to "Trisolarian." I also appreciated Netflix's depiction of the Judgement Day tanker, showcasing it filled with families and children, while Tencent portrayed it as carrying criminals like mercenaries and Mike Evans, the traitor to humanity. These are just a few observations, highlighting the differences between the two adaptations.

Here's why I understand why they split the character Wang up: As a whole, the "meat" of the story is the Crisis Era and beyond. The events with Wang in the first book are merely setup for the actual, proper story covered in books two and three. If season one started with a single Wang character and Da Shi, there would be no real connections between the major characters in the later books. In order to make the series a cohesive whole, these major characters must have an anchor in the first season. It was a logical decision considering the first book feels so disjointed from the other two. As for being so abridged, that's just the nature of adaptation with source material of this breadth. To properly adapt all narratives from the last two books would require ten times the running length of the estimated 24 remaining hour-long episodes - an impossibility given the cost and time. As long as the major events and ideas from the books are successfully adapted, then it serves its purpose. People that want to go deeper will read the books. As for the flatness of the characters - with the scope of the first book established, this gives them room to evolve and grow as the series progresses. They're blank slates gradually being painted as events in the story unfold. My bottom line is that this series is meant as an abstraction over the books meant to appeal to the widest audience possible. If people want to get more in depth, then they can read the books. And they will.

Agree with everything in your review, it really feels like they brush over and rush through so much what makes the books fascinating.

Thank you for exposing the weaknesses of this “not good enough” show, the most cruicial of them: the characters (especially Auggie).

I thought the first 5 episodes were really good! But the last 3 episodes felt liek there wasn't much left to hold on to. Many questions had already been answered. And the big twist/mission complication at the end could be seen coming a mile away. I didn't feel surprised when that mission went awry. I hope there's a season 2, but I also hope they regain tension and character development.

I thought it was decent to strong adaptation for a medium that strives for wider appeal - a solid B. I agree with your points about over-simplification. But the midway point was great TV. The books and Tencent version were committed to the high philosophical/hard sci-fi - which is not for everyone. Your review was insightful.

I thought, "wow, finally a decent tv show reviewer." Then I noticed your channel was relatively new. Thanks for making a concise engaging review, you earned yourself a subscriber.

Liam Cunningham is one of my favorite actors. He was a bright spot in last years vampire thriller, The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

Maybe since the Chinese tv show was so overlong (it was longer than the audiobook), they compensated in the wrong direction? I did miss a turkey animation, lol.

Before I started watching the series, I was already warned that book 2 and 3 would be included. I fully expected to see the next centuries at the end of the season and was relieved that they "took their time".