3 Body Problem is the kind of TV epic we need

When game of Thrones When the series came to an end in May 2019, the search was on for a series that could match its blockbuster standards. HBO was already talking about spin-offs with George RR Martin, while Netflix was talking about spin-offs The WitcherDisney’s The MandalorianApples Foundation, endowment“Paramount Plus” gloriole, and Amazon’s mega-budget move for a Lord of the Rings prequel was bubbling into various stages of development and production. Five years later, all the shows are on – but there is no clear champion. Even reactions to HBO’s prequel, House of the Dragonwere more golf clap applause than calls for the second coming of a franchise.

What the would-be successors proved (everyone seemed to know that back then except IP-hungry executives?) is this ThronesThe secret was not in the scale, but in the drama of the content. A great show needs characters with big questions and big goals, but grounded emotions. The balance of a continent could depend on brave knights, ancient prophecies, and dragon battles, as long as when those involved got angry, it felt like real people. For all the finale-related flickering, Thrones Showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss were given the time and space to adapt the human side of Martin’s sprawling narrative as well as its set pieces. So it’s no surprise that Benioff and Weiss gave up on their childhood dreams of making a Star Wars movie while the rest of Hollywood went after the scenes (phew, Crisis averted) to cash in their chips for a deal where they could demand time, space and quality work that didn’t involve swordplay.

And they actually did it: They teamed up with veteran TV writer Alexander Woo (The terror Season 2), her new Netflix series 3 body problemHow Thrones, feels epic in scope while simultaneously exploring the messiness of human instinct. Films like Interstellar And Solaris We ventured into space to confront our innate spirituality, but 3 body problem Season 1 stays close to home, for the benefit of its characters as they juggle romantic relationships, work-life stress, and impending doom. Nevertheless, they exist something Alien out there in the universe, a cosmic unknown. Benioff, Weiss and Woo treat this promise like a chemical pipetted into a petri dish. Just a few drops of knowledge trigger an immediate reaction, the consequences of which will not be felt for hundreds of years.

The showrunner trio adapts Liu Cixin’s famous science fiction trilogy “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” with reverence and an eye for narrative economy. The core drama of 3 body problem Season 1 focuses on a group of physicists who want to understand what the hell is going on in the universe. It combines people, places and things from all three books to provide a fast-moving pace while being easy to digest. Die-hard readers may miss Liu’s dense, core Far Out, Man style, but the core moments remain. Early episodes range from China’s Cultural Revolution to present-day London to virtual reality landscapes that hold the key to greater mysteries. The thorny politics of resolving Earth’s dangerous future simmer across timelines. Benioff, Weiss and Woo dumb down none of it as they go through the plot, relying on genre conventions to keep everything watchable. (British crime novels like Broadchurch And Happy valley Feel as much a part of the series’ DNA as any other sci-fi series.)

Perhaps a 10- or 12-episode season would have made room for deeper character work, but the writers are pros at making every line of dialogue and every silent gesture—gazing at the stars, breathing over equations—illustrative of their characters’ deeper motivations. even watching a child play Mortal Kombat – speaks volumes. Unlike recent Netflix adaptations, which have squeezed long narratives into uncompromising running times by removing all downtime “filler,” 3 body problem is full of human quirks. The series features religious zealots, anxious nerds, quiet romantics and Benedict Wong as bullshit cops. There’s a lot of mumbo jumbo about quantum physics and gravitational interaction, but also one of the best awkward on-screen family meetings in recent memory.

Do the gentlemanHis work involves actress Jess Hong, a relative newcomer and the link between everyone 3 body problemStorylines. In a cast full of game of Thrones Veterans and screen talents like Wong and Eiza González (Baby driver, Godzilla vs. Kong), Hong takes on the task of ensuring that all of the series’ otherworldly twists feel completely natural. Whether her character Jin is drinking a beer, chatting in the bar, or making his way through the immersive third level of the least entertaining virtual puzzle game ever invented, she reflects an authentic reality that is increasingly enhanced by the series’ oddities is put to the test. 3 body problem Ultimately, the question is whether we deserve the planet we have screwed up so many times. Hong’s Jin, in all her ups and downs, exudes the kind of humanity we want to believe in.

It really helps that Netflix didn’t skimp 3 body problem, which, for all its character drama, makes it big when it needs to make it big. Benioff and Weiss’ clout gave them top-notch production values ​​that I thought only David Fincher could master; Flashbacks to 1960s and 1970s China appear rich in detail, while the contemporary drama’s scenes have a refined look and lack the cheap digital sheen that plagued so many post-Fincher Netflix projects. Anyone haunted by horrific depictions of VR in films and television will find relief in the series’ intentionally eerie, often fantastical digital worlds, which look like real-life Unreal Engine survival game settings. And when 3 body problem When the show is in full swing, the show becomes truly stunning – and often gnarly. The boisterous provocateurs who orchestrated the Red Wedding are absolutely at the forefront of this series.

I’m a little in awe of it 3 body problem. Liu’s books are like a character study of humanity itself; There is inherently too much to chew. But Benioff, Weiss and Woo were ready to cook. Their adaptation is compelling from the start, already prioritizing the pieces needed for a coherent endgame. From the trilogy’s information pages, they have crafted a visual story that is dazzling and frightening. From episode to episode there are little things to pick at, leaps in logic that might not stand up to scrutiny, but it’s a show that, unlike that game of Thrones Copycats got me carried away. Most of these shows focused on escapism. 3 body problem feels like a real escape, an excuse to marvel and marvel at the vastness of the cosmos from the comfort of your couch, What if?

3 body problem Premieres on Netflix March 21st.