Photo Creds: Netflix
The “Three-Body Problem” is an American science fiction series created by David Benioff, which premiered on Netflix with eight episodes on March 21, 2024. This show is based on the Hugo award-winning Chinese novel “The Three-Body Problem” by Liu Cixin. This is the second live-action adaptation after the 2023 Chinese television series.
The show has garnered a lot of attention due to its stunning visuals and complex narrative, drawing both praise and criticism from fans of the original novel. The story follows humanity's first contact with aliens, exploring themes of society, history, science, and the nature of civilizations.
The story begins during the Chinese Cultural Revolution when the astrophysicist Ye Wenjie sees her father beaten to death during a struggle session. In this violent event, people accused of being class enemies are publicly tortured and humiliated. While hiding American literature underneath her bed, she is promptly arrested and charged with treason. Instead of being put into prison, she's recruited by the military due to her scientific background where she is sent to a secret base in a remote region. While working at the base, she is prompted by an alien to not respond to their broadcast since, if they do, they will not be able to save themselves. Due to the current environmental controversies and civil unrest, she responds to the aliens by saying, “Come, we cannot save ourselves.”
During the show, we learn that the aliens will not arrive on Earth for another 300 years. The show does an amazing job of depicting the generation’s preventative measures to prepare future generations for the inevitable and unpreventable fight. Furthermore, the show predicts how the world would be if people were told an alien invasion was imminent. The show depicts humanity panicking, worshiping the aliens, and mass anarchy and suicide in response to the news. The show brings real-life science and society together with science fiction to make an amazing combination that will surely have you out of your seat for all eight episodes.
Although a second season hasn't been confirmed, the show plans to adapt an entire trilogy, most likely consisting of three seasons or more. This scared a lot of viewers, as even though the show pulled an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDb, many viewers were doubtful due to it sharing the same creators as “Game of Thrones”. Fans said that the creators ruined “Game of Thrones” through the last seasons, and feared that the same thing would happen if this show turned into a trilogy. Even though I can't say it won't happen, I urge viewers to not let that deter them from watching the show. The writing and ideals shown throughout the beginning of the show come full swing later on in the series.
The “Three-Body Problem” is one of the first shows in a long time to have me on the edge of my seat wanting more. I remember staying up till 4 a.m. one night during Spring Break because I was glued to my seat during the series, and I didn't want to miss out on watching while I slept. I don't know where the series will go, but I do know one thing for certain, you want to watch this series.
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