Is Netflix’s 3 Body Problem Any Good?
Actually, Yes
Netflix 3 Body Problem Getting Renewed?
With Netflix’s 3 Body Problem not getting too much attention on Netflix, it is questionable if a new season will emerge. However, all told the series presents a fast-paced approach to the IP that has some clear advantages over even the very faithful Chinese Three-body series. I think it is important to analyze the series because the perception of Weiss and Benioff is that they “ruin” IP. (They are the infamous showrunners who took Game of Thrones off the deep end.) However, I think saying the same of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is catastrophizing. The pair made many humanizing and smart moves in adapting Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past series to the screen. However, there were some missteps the duo made as well. Here I will outline where the Netflix 3 Body Problem and the Chinese Three-body series compare.
General Problems with Netflix’s 3 Body Problem
I will first discuss some plot points that I think Netflix falls flat on.
Plot
First, the Sophon countdown failed to capture the intrigue and horror in Liu’s work. This is almost perfectly captured in the Chinese Three-Body series. For instance, a whole episode is spent where Wang Miao experiments to discover the source and cause of the countdown. It isn’t represented as horrifying as in Liu’s work, but compared to the countdown in the first and second episodes of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, it is a much better representation. One of the opening scenes is a crime scene where someone affected by the Sophon countdown has written on the walls in their blood. The text perfectly reads “I can still see it,” implying that the person continued to do anything but writhe in pain after gouging their eyes out. Pretty much shit.
The flicker fails on the same account in the Netflix version. Comparing it to the Chinese version is stark. These people are supposed to be physicists and fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background didn’t lead them to insanity or mania. The whole “physics does not exist” plot is given short shrift. They allude to this more later in the first season, but it is a thin husk in comparison to the book or Chinese version. From the outside, I know the Sophon is inhibiting every particle accelerator in the world, but not until episode 7 does the person who has never read the books know this. Sophon is supposed to harm our very capacity for knowledge. This is a harm we can’t even know because we are impaired in even finding out. How could such a haunting concept be relegated to the two episodes?
Acting
Maybe part of why the Sophon bits fail is because Auggie (Wang Miao’s stand-in actress) sucks. Look, Wang Miao is a bad character in Liu’s work. Netflix had to do something, I get it, but wow did they misstep in casting this trainwreck of an actress. In both the book and Chinese series Wang Miao is just a mirror for the audience. He’s very unexcited and provides a good foil for Shi, who is more exuberant and ornery. The intuitive investigator and the smart yet quiet intellectual, a great combo. The Shi in the Netflix version is quieter than in the Chinese show or Liu’s work. This could pay off, especially if his relationship with Wang Miao is limited or different. They also add some plot to Shi’s son, who exists in the book but is more interesting in the Netflix show. His son embodies the “escapism” mindset about to grip the Earth (I hope) in the coming season.
I initially thought Luo Ji (Saul) might be the worst problem in the series. He’s my favorite character in the books. This criticism bleeds into the overall characterization of academics in the show: it’s mixed. This is so perplexing because they can do it when Wenji is on screen. Her breakdown of how to use the sun as an antenna to her less bright colleague was amazing. Such a cool and interesting demonstration of her academic ability which was not forced. Compare this to the characterization of the other scientists. For instance, Luo Ji quotes intellectuals every second-sentence, to remind us he’s smart. Academics are not like this. Most are mild-mannered and humble. Also, Luo Ji’s carefree attitude has been translated in the worst possible way in Saul: he does drugs and cringily flirts.
Screwing up this character will destroy the content of the second book for the Netflix show. The “Spell” is an academic’s wet dream. Hope they don’t ruin it. However, Sauls's conversation with Ye Wenji does not leave me hopeful.
But, upon viewing the 7th episode of the Netflix adaptation I quickly noticed something. Not only had Saul stopped being a bad actor, but he was good! Thinking back, either the direction of the early episodes was bad, or Auggie was just hard to act with. Now that I think about it, Saul was almost exclusively in scenes with Auggie until she disappeared. The scenes Saul shares with Will Downing (Yun Tianming) in the hospital are beautiful.
General Upshots of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem
Now I will talk about how Netflix depicts the series better than the Chinese version, and in some instances better than the author of the books!
Eliminating/Dividing Wang Miao’s Role
Wang Miao’s disappearance is a welcomed change. He was a nothing character in the book and is a little better in the Chinese series. They seem to divide his experiences and roles between Cheng’s character and Auggie (Wang Miao’s stand-in). This is a smart gap to put Cheng into, and her actress is brilliant. Her interactions with people she can’t save are already compared nicely with other characters in similar situations. Jack Rooney pokes fun at her very human care for children, eluding to things to come.
Cheng
Cheng (Actually Jin Cheng in Netflix’s 3 Body Problem) and Wade have a promising back-and-forth that I can’t wait to see develop. Wade was cast perfectly, a lesser actor could not pull off his quips and withering remarks. Wade is the real deal, economical and calculated. Throwing Raj (Zhang Beihai) into this dynamic between Cheng and Wade was also brilliant. There was serious thought put into the plot devices that would contrast Cheng’s character and she has been shockingly optimized to be present for those. They seem ready to avoid many weird character choices Liu made in the books regarding Cheng.
Adapting Tianming to Will was also a stunning success, supported by Cheng’s amazing acting. This is where the real human element comes into the Netflix adaptation that is not so present in even the Chinese version. Will is lonely, but he isn’t borderline incel like in the books. He appreciates the friends he has, although they are few. He is deprived of a final farewell to Cheng but does get to tell Cheng he loves her.
The incorporation of fables and fairy tales was such a nice touch that I am astounded at the prescience of the changes. They encapsulate why communication failed between the Trisolarians and humans and allude to further forms of communication and meaning to come. Not only does this tie together those concepts of communication, but the fairytale-like aspect of Will’s drug-induced experiences ties the fairytale to him and Cheng. This is denoted by Cheng setting the paper boats out to sea, one representing him, the other her. Will the boats ever meet again? No one knows. But damn is it a good story. This level of hope but twinge of lost love is nowhere in Liu’s work, he only provides a colder and hollower sadness. I also doubt it will succeed in the Chinese version (they have not reached this point yet in the series).
The VR/Three-Body Game
The VR in the Netflix show is great. It is far better than the Chinese version (thanks to better funding and directing). In the Netflix version, small snippets of the game are given to us at a time. In the Chinese version, whole episodes occur in the VR suit world (much like the book). The budget in the Chinese version is low and it is all CGI. The Netflix version is pulling this off. The depiction of advancement in the game is much better as well. Each advancement is represented by “levels” with discrete advancements toward answering the three-body problem. This is mostly absent in the books or Chinese series. However, modern viewers understand levels, and this was a nice addition. However, Netflix seemed rushed during the VR scenes.
The overall look of the VR headset in the Netflix version also alludes to the coming photoid, a nice touch absent in the Chinese version.
Pacing
The tone of the Chinese Three-Body series is not as horrifying as the tone maintained in the book. This has something to do with the slow pacing overall. The pacing of the Netflix version is too fast. As a result, each has its strengths and weaknesses concerning pacing and “punchiness”.
Netflix’s version is a bit rushed. However, the Chinese version could stand to lose about 5 episodes. 24 episodes in and we get the the initial broadcast in the Chinese version(!). This is episode 2 of the Netflix version. Now the Chinese audience is very well-versed with Liu’s work, so they know it’s coming and don’t need the motivation or hook of the series upfront.
The depiction of the second broadcast also ties in nicely with the political editing and pacing, which I have also covered. Liu was originally forced to put the Cultural Revolution and narrative further into the book to prevent political lashback. His English translator put it at the beginning, which Liu approved of. Here it seems the Netflix version hews closer to the spirit of the book. Indeed, the entire motivation for why a person would condemn the human race is portrayed in many aspects better by the Netflix series. This is due to their direct and unabashed portrayal of the Cultural Revolution.
Netflix makes a bigger deal about the second broadcast, rather than the first. The Chinese version does a nice job of showing what’s on the line with her initial broadcast: punishment and maybe death. However, with the broadcast coming in at the 24thish episode in the Chinese version, the punch present in the Netflix version coming in at episode 2 is much more forceful.
In the Chinese version, she seems rash and comes to regret her decision during the Cultural Revolution. In the Netflix version, it is entirely sensible to think that humans are inherently unfixable by their own will due to the failure of the Cultural Revolution. Netflix’s version, while a bit more rushed, does not pull punches in depicting the political horrors of the Cultural Revolution.
Mike Evans
Mike Evans, played by Davos from Game of Thrones, is a great character in Netflix’s series. In the book, he is a strange character. Mike was used to drive home some questionable concepts relating to gender, which I mentioned in another post.
Mike and Cheng’s dynamics are more productive and less antagonistic than they are in the books. This is welcomed, as their interactions in the books were awkward at best. Mike being the more economical and cold character, is setting up some tension that may make their work relations closer to the book later on in the Netflix series. As their relations become strained, I am excited to see coming plot points and scenes that will test Benioff and Weiss.
