MIDNIGHT REVIEWS 3 Body Problem Episode Six
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
3 Body Problem Episode 6: ‘The Stars Our Destination’
Series created by: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo
Featuring: Benedict Wong, Eiza Gonzalez, Jovan Adepo
Synopsis: In the fallout of the San-Ti’s announcement to the world, humanity must pick itself up, slap itself in the face and come up with a plan, under pressure knowing that the alien’s supercomputers could be watching their every move and are able to destroy any scientific progress they make. Meanwhile, Auggie and Saul go to visit Will at the seaside!
Review: Grasping hold of its collective sanity, 3 Body Problem depicts humanity as that age-old phrase states. ‘A person is smart. People are stupid.’ Looting, violence and fly-tipping are at an all-time high and yet some humans are able to gather themselves and, somehow, create a world government that seems to be under control of one man.
Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) doesn’t so much accept the job as he grasps it tight in his hands before kicking it in the dangly bits. I’m not sure on the real-world consequences or indeed the realism of a world government somehow coming under the control of one person, let alone a person who for years has successfully kept his identity secret from almost everyone, but that’s what seems to have happened. The show isn’t exactly clear on how this works.
Doesn’t explore […] ideas too deeply.
Whilst he thinks he’s the man for the job, Wade also enlists Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) as he thinks she’s the woman for the job. After getting past a proposal panel which the show effortlessly makes out to be comprised entirely of people with sticks not just up their backsides, but seemingly in every orifice, she joins the team. Her and Wade’s differing views, whilst not creating any onscreen tension or any friction whatsoever in this episode, do give us something to think about.
In fact, there’s a lot of that going around and it’s what 3 Body Problem has done best over the course of six episodes. These different points of view, whether they’re actively involved in the project (Wade, Cheng, Raj), completely separate (Will, Saul) or somewhere in between (Auggie), enable the show to ask a variety of questions. The principal one seems to be whether current problems are more important than the San-Ti arriving in four hundred years. However, beyond stating those questions, the show seems to have made up its own mind and presses on with presenting its own plan for getting out of trouble, instead of exploring the question with any kind of depth.
Tries to do too many things at once.
A lot of the characters seem to be fuelled exclusively by booze. Perhaps realistic, what The Stars Our Destination strives to do, and mostly does well, is show how such big questions and massive problems would affect real people. That 3 Body Problem does so with so many characters simultaneously (Can’t Find My Way Home by Blind Faith fits perfectly with a multitude of the characters onscreen) shows a confidence and a certain degree of skill, even if it once again doesn’t explore these ideas too deeply. If anything, episode six’s only problem is that it tries to do too many things at once.
The minute it settles on Auggie and Saul comforting Will, focus jumps to Jin building a nuclear staircase, then to her relationship with Raj and so on. With only eight episodes to explore an event that could potentially end in humanity’s annihilation, and with a budget of over $100 million, it’s a shame the show couldn’t have spread these ideas out a little more because what there is in this instalment is good. But it’s concerning that six episodes in, 3 Body Problem has still failed to convince.
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
