- 3 Body Problem is an American science fiction television series created by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, based on the Hugo Award–winning Chinese novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin. It is the second live-action adaptation after the 2023 Chinese television series.
The series premiered on Netflix with eight episodes on March 21, 2024, and received positive reviews.
Premise
- Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who sees her father beaten to death during a struggle session in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, is conscripted by the military. Due to her scientific background, she is sent to a secret military base in a remote region. Her decision at the base to respond to contact from an alien planet implicates a group of scientists in the present day, forcing them to confront humanity's greatest threat.
Cast And Characters
Main
- Jovan Adepo as Dr. Saul Durand (based on the character of Luo Ji)[1]
- John Bradley as Jack Rooney (based on the character of Hu Wen)[1]
- Rosalind Chao as adult Dr. Ye Wenjie[1]
- Zine Tseng as young Ye Wenjie[1]
- Liam Cunningham as Thomas Wade[1]
- Eiza González as Dr. Augustina "Auggie" Salazar (based on the characters of Cheng Xin and Wang Miao)[1]
- Jess Hong as Dr. Jin Cheng (based on the characters of Wang Miao, AA, and Cheng Xin)[1]
- Marlo Kelly as Tatiana Haas (based on the characters of Shen Yufei and AA)[1]
- Alex Sharp as Dr. Will Downing (based on the character of Yun Tianming)[1]
- Sea Shimooka as Sophon[1]
- Saamer Usmani as Prithviraj "Raj" Varma (based on the character of Zhang Beihai)[1]
- Benedict Wong as Clarence Shi (based on the character of "Da" Shi Qiang)[2][1]
- Jonathan Pryce as Mike Evans[1]
Recurring
- Vedette Lim as Vera Ye[1]
- Eve Ridley as Follower[1]
- Ben Schnetzer as young Mike Evans[1]
- John Dagleish as Felix
- Gerard Monaco as Collins
- Adrian Edmondson as Denys Porlock
- CCH Pounder as Secretary-General of the United Nations Lillian Joseph
- Lan Xiya as Tang Hongjing (Red Guard)
- Josh Brener as Sebastian Kent
Episode No. 1 : "Countdown"
- In 1960s China during the Cultural Revolution, Ye Wenjie witnesses her father's death in a struggle session. At a work camp, she's given a copy of Silent Spring, only for it to be discovered. She is transferred to a remote station with a large radio telescope dish where she figures out the station's purpose as an off-world transmission hub. In present day UK, Oxford physicist Vera Ye (the daughter of Ye Wenjie) dies by suicide. A group of Vera's former physics students — Auggie Salazar, Jack Rooney, Jin Cheung, Saul Durand, and Will Downing — discuss how recent experiments have stopped making sense. Clarence "Da" Shi, a British investigator working for the Strategic Intelligence Agency, investigates multiple scientist suicides. He discovers that several of them possessed an advanced virtual reality gaming headset. Ye Wenjie offers Vera's VR headset to physicist Jin. Auggie, a materials scientist, starts seeing a countdown timer in front of her eyes. An unknown woman (later revealed as Tatiana) informs Auggie she must abandon her nanofiber research to make the countdown stop. To validate the ultimatum, she tells Auggie to watch the sky tomorrow during midnight. Auggie and Saul, along with the rest of the world, witness the night sky flashing a pattern corresponding to her countdown timer, violating all known laws of physics.
Episode No. 2 : "Red Coast"
- In 1970s China, Ye Wenjie continues work at the SETI site and realizes the sun can amplify the radio signals. However, the proposal is struck down due to the symbolism of Mao Zedong being the "Red Sun" of China. Ye Wenjie secretly implements the plan regardless, broadcasting a message to the universe. She meets Mike Evans, a radical environmentalist, and later confronts her father's killer, who is unrepentant. Ye Wenjie receives a reply from a pacifist in a hostile alien civilization, warning her not to contact them again as it will prompt an invasion. Disillusioned, she replies anyway, claiming humanity cannot save itself and she will assist the invading aliens. In the present day, Auggie's countdown continues. After a successful demonstration of her nanofiber technology, she frantically orders the project shuttered, after which her countdown stops. Using the VR headset, Jin advances through the 3 Body video game. She shows the headset to Jack, only for the interface to swiftly reject him. Later, a similar headset is delivered to his home with an invitation to play the game. Will confides in Jack that he is dying of pancreatic cancer.
Episode No. 3 : "Destroyer Of Worlds"
- In the present, Auggie discovers Jack's gaming headset and tries it on, only to be violently ejected. Distraught, she demands Jin and Jack stop playing, but they press on. When Auggie powers up her nanofiber project, the countdown returns and she again hastily shuts the project down. Within the game, Jin and Jack collaborate and complete levels 2 and 3. It is revealed the headset is actually a recruitment tool used by Mike Evans, who is now a wealthy oil tycoon and has been communicating regularly with the aliens. Level 4 takes place in the real world; Jack and Jin meet Tatiana, who does not appear on any surveillance cameras. In the game, they are shown the alien civilization's evolution in a star system containing a three body problem four light years away and their subsequent departure for Earth. Jack rejects this narrative and asks to leave. He is allowed to but is later murdered at his house by Tatiana. Neither Clarence, who's staking out Jack's house, nor any of the 18 interior security cameras can sense Tatiana's presence.
Episode No. 4 : "Our Lord"
- In 1985, somewhere in the North Atlantic, Evans takes Ye Wenjie to his ship, Judgement Day, a vessel from which they can use advanced satellite technology to communicate with the aliens, who are called San-Ti (Trisolarans). In 2024, following Jack's murder, Thomas Wade (Clarence's superior) and Clarence enlist Jin's help in infiltrating Evans' secret organization to collect intelligence. Under Wade and Clarence's guidance, Jin attends a secret countryside meeting where Ye Wenjie reveals herself to be its leader and that the purpose of the Earth-Trisolaris movement is to help the San-Ti arrive and take over the Earth. British security forces raid the meeting. After realizing Jin is a spy, Tatiana attempts to assassinate her, sparking a shootout. Tatiana escapes but Ye Wenjie and most of the cultists are captured. Meanwhile, Evans tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf to a San-Ti liaison. However, the San-Ti struggle to understand the concept of fiction. The liaison chillingly interprets the story as a testament to human deception and claims they cannot coexist with humanity.
Episode No. 5 : "Judgment Day"
- Clarence interrogates Ye Wenjie, who claims the San-Ti allowed her to be captured because she is no longer useful to them. Evans' ship, Judgment Day, is scheduled to go through the Panama Canal. Wade enlists Auggie and a Royal Navy team — headed by Raj, Jin's boyfriend — to obtain the data onboard. Auggie's nanofibers are used in an ambush to horizontally slice through the ship, killing everyone aboard, including Evans. Wade's team locates the data disk and tries to decrypt it, which the San-Ti allow. Wade plays Ye Wenjie the recording of the San-Ti's confusion over humanity's ability to lie. Jin and Wade open a file in the data disk using the VR headsets. They learn the San-Ti are using high-dimensional proton-supercomputers, called Sophons, to cause the anomalous effects observed in particle accelerators. The San-Ti liaison details how the San-Ti intend to cripple Earth's scientific advancement, preventing humans from technologically surpassing them by the time of their arrival. Shortly after, all electronic devices around the world display the message "YOU ARE BUGS." A Sophon envelops the world, forming a giant eye on its body, revealing the existence and power of the San-Ti to the world.
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