3 Body Problem Review
3 Body Problem is an American science fiction television series from the creators of Game Of Thrones and based on the Hugo Award winning Chinese novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. The series premiered on Netflix on the 21st of March 2024.
The premise of the story is centred around the actions of an astrophysicist whose work at a secret military base during the Chinese Cultural Revolution has repercussions that echo across time and space, threatening humanity’s very existence.
The Good
The mystery box nature of the show keeps you guessing as to what exactly is going on, unless of course you already read the book…. The plot unfolds via a less than obvious manner that you never know what to expect.
The series tackles some real scientific theories as well as introduces some interesting scientific principles, one in particular being where the series derives its name from …. The Three Body Problem…. And no its about how you successfully dispose of 3 dead bodies—although the the first thing I thought of when I first heard the name.
It is visually stunning with some impressive world building and great use of special effects that make the production a delight to watch.
The ethnically diverse cast, deliver a solid performance and bring to life a TV adaptation of a body of work that was once regarded as impossible to film. Its fun to spot a couple familiar actors from the epic Game of Thrones Series, who remembers Samwell Tarly and Davos Seaworth the Onion Knight.
I particularly loved Benedict Wong’s character Clarence Da Shi, a sort of no nonsense police officer with a snarky dry wit who secretly worms his way into being a favourite, lightening some rather dark and sombre themes…
3 Body Problem is an existential quest with profound philosophical and scientific themes, how far would you go to save humanity …..from itself? Operating in the moral ambiguous grey area that is the greater good, the series will have you conflicted on whom to support the good guys who do bad things because they must, the seemingly bad guys who do good things to preserve humanity… or not.. …
The Bad
As with most mystery box type shows it can get frustrating figuring out exactly what is going on and why it is going on, getting the answers only creates more questions…. Not to mention some of the sciencey stuff might sail way over one’s head, when all you want is the Sparks Notes version of things.
The pacing of the show can get rather erratic, the storytelling is non-linear, starting in the past then jumping to the present with a lot of flashbacks to catch up on the backstory, which can get jarring at times …
3 Body Problem starts off strong, though slow burning then speeds up before starting to drag again after the major plot points have been revealed and feels more as if its only going through the motions to set up for the next season…
The Ugly
3 Body Problem paints a rather bleak outlook of humanity, are we really that terrible? Do we find justification for our actions by pawning it off to a greater good and unwilling to adopt a new way of things unless the old gets first gets reduced to ashes so something new can start?
Final Thoughts
3 Body Problems is a compelling sci-fi series on how humanity’s sins are paid forward to the next generation, while it wont rival Game Of Thrones which was once classified as unfilmable, it still holds fair on its own ground and is likely to get a second run maybe more.
Fun Fact: in an interview with a book critic for the New York Times former US President Barack Obama singled out the Three Body Problem Book Series as one of his favourite reads.
Have you watched it or read the book?
Becoming The Muse 
Your thoughts.. if you will?