Image Credit: Netflix
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, the Game Of Thrones duo tackle another tricky tome. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
“I cannae change the laws of physics!” Scotty once famously exclaimed on Star Trek. But what if they started to shift around you? That’s just one of the conceits of Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem, the first of his trilogy of books with the umbrella title Remembrance Of Earth’s Past. Hugely successful, garlanded with well-deserved awards, the books are also a seemingly mammoth prospect for anyone planning an adaptation, since they are loaded with complex scientific discussion and span a massive amount of time.
But then, showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss know a thing or two about bringing complicated, sprawling stories to life on screen, having delivered Game Of Thrones in (mostly) successful style. Here, working with True Blood veteran Alexander Woo and in possession of a healthy budget via Netflix, they’ve made something that might even be better than their past work, at least for now (spare me your snark about, “will they stick the landing?”)
No short synopsis could truly encompass everything that this stuffed first season includes, but here is the basic version: Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who saw her father brutally murdered during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, is later conscripted by the military because of her scientific background and sent to a secret radar base in a remote region. Her fateful decision at the base echoes across space and time to a group of Oxford-educated scientists in the present day, forcing them to face humanity’s greatest threat.
Even that isn’t quite everything that 3 Body Problem has on its considerable mind. I won’t spoil anything, but fortunately, despite the weighty themes and busy story, the creators have smartly streamlined the narrative, conflated characters (some might complain about losing some Chinese elements, though they’re still very present) and figured out how to present the concepts without your brain feeling like it will melt out of your ears.
They are aided immensely by the cast, which includes a mixture of Thrones veterans (Liam Cunningham shows up as a delightfully sweary, no-nonsense intelligence chief, while John Bradley enjoys the chance to be less heroic than Samwell Tarley), established names and rising stars.
Among the Oxford set who are the focus of this first season, Jess Hong and Eiza González are handed the chance to really stand out, but the whole group works well. Kudos also to Zine Tseng and Rosalind Chao, who play the younger and present-day Ye Wenjie, and do so with empathy and aplomb.
Yet the standout for me is Benedict Wong, a careworn sleuth who works for Cunningham’s character. This is one of the best roles he’s had in years, and he’s superb in it –– a little cynical, a lot sarcastic, but always smart and watchable.
As a whole, the show is a resounding success, and whether you’ve read the books or not, chances are you’ll be impressed. Thrones fans will enjoy a couple of sequences of well-orchestrated gore (one in particular, from later in the season continues to stick in my head). I’m certainly hoping that Netflix gives this series more seasons to tell its full tale.
3 Body Problem is on Netflix now. I’ve seen the entire first season.