MIDNIGHT REVIEWS 3 Body Problem Episode One
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
3 Body Problem Episode One: ‘Countdown’
Series created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo
Featuring: Benedict Wong, Eiza Gonzalez, Jovan Adepo
Synopsis: The entire scientific community is on edge when a repeated experiment proves that the basis for all science is incorrect. A group of friends get together and nervously try to solve the problem. Meanwhile, a detective tries to solve a series of murders involving other scientists, copious blood and a mysterious countdown.
Review: You know a series is serious if the Netflix logo at the beginning gets a revamp. The question, among the cornucopia of mysteries brought up in this first episode, that needs asking is this: is 3 Body Problem worth the time?
A side-question could be if it’s any better than the Chinese-produced TV series with a similar name, started last year and continuing after thirty episodes. Are they any different, or is this just an expensive English-language reboot?
One of the first things 3 Body Problem does is establish a line drawn between character and audience.
Not that that matters here, necessarily. Our through line for this episode, despite the group of young scientists and the maverick detective, is Ye Wenjie (played by Rosalind Chao when older, Zine Tseng when younger). We witness her father getting beaten to death in front of a crowd, and then we witness her reaction. It’s in this bloody, brutal opening sequence that something important happens.
One of the first things 3 Body Problem does is establish a line drawn between character and audience. Whilst the show certainly feels for Wenjie when her father is murdered, it’s also obvious from watching the entire episode that we are watching these characters as a passive observer. Like a science experiment, we can’t get involved and we mustn’t hold too strong an emotion for any one character. There is a feeling that at any point, one of them might turn out to be somewhat different to what they seem.
It is sumptuously shot, but not over-produced.
The show’s opening, and later crime scene, are also statements of intent that this show will pull no punches when it comes to making a bloody mess. But so far, the supposedly deep science has been limited to the word ‘nanotech’ being bandied about, and another character witnessing different colour lines squiggle on a screen. We are told by very smart people that this is bad, because it proves science is wrong, but not much more detail is shared.
Still, baby steps. The show promises an over-arching story that spans centuries, and perhaps this is the show runners letting us dip our toes in slowly. There is another problem, however. A problem, if recent television is anything to go by, that is apparently as seriously difficult to solve as the real-life Three Body Problem. And that is the First Episode Problem. How does a writer establish character without simply spurting exposition into people’s ears like so much dreadful soap scum?
3 Body Problem doesn’t really have a solution and suffers these first episode jitters when setting everyone up. There’s a long interchange, for example, to establish Saul (Adepo) as a disheartened individual soon to be out of work, and who is thirty-two years old. Another, we are clunkily told, is about to become rich when their company goes public. At least when we hear that Jack (John Bradley) is a millionaire and creator of the third most popular snack in Britain, it’s because he’s bragging.
However, where the character work does indeed work is how each is a different way in to the show. Auggie (Gonzalez, jittery throughout most of this episode) is our way in to see how individuals suffer from the mysterious countdown enigma. Saul seems to be the way into the science. Da Shi (Wong) is our way in when things start to get confusing (“I don’t understand it either, but it’s not good.”)
Ultimately, this is a good first episode that is sure to stimulate mass-orders of the book of the same name. It is sumptuously shot, but not over-produced. At the same time its visuals aren’t just there to be pretty. The episode ending is thrilling and promises a lot. Countdown compels us to continue watching and, even if I wasn’t reviewing each episode here, I’d be happy to hop on board, for now. I just hope it’s not a show that doles out more questions than it answers.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Smith_M_D
