As the opening episode of 3 Body Problem begins, it is 1966 at Tsinghua University in Beijing. A man is thrown to his knees before he admits to being a counterrevolutionary. The group yells for him to be killed. Ye Zhetai (Perry Yung) is brought out next while his daughter watches from the audience. Ye is asked about being a professor of physics. A little girl asks them to bring his wife up because she knows the truth. When she joins him on stage, Ye’s wife says she wants to stand on the side of the people. He is reminded that he lectured the counterrevolutionary Big Bang theory. His wife says the theory leaves open a place to be filled by God. When Ye is asked if he suggests God exists, he says science has given no evidence either way.

The people yell for Ye’s demise as well as academic authorities. Ye is beaten and killed. His daughter yells to be let go. Ye Wenjie sits with her father’s body. In London in 2024, detectives investigate the murder of Dr. Sadiq Mohammed who was born in Karachi. The detectives find times scrawled on the wall. Collins (Gerard Monaco) tells his boss one of the betting sites had him as the favorite to win the Nobel Prize for physics. The victim did not have a history of mental illness just like the others. The victim’s eyes are missing. At the Oxford University Particle Accelerator, Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) is reminded by his boss that the project has been shut down. He believes science is broken. The boss asks him not to throw away his stuff because he still has great potential for future scientific accomplishment.

Saul admits he doesn’t believe in God. A woman walks off a ledge and falls into the water below. Auggie Salazar (Eiza Gonzalez) and Jin go to a pub. They almost talk about physics until they’re interrupted by a man. Auggie brags about what she does. Jin does the same to make the guy look like a fool. Rufus (Guy Burnet) steps away when it’s his turn. When they’re alone, Jin says all the major accelerators started generating results that make no sense about a month ago. Jin shows her a graph of sorts that Saul sent last week. Auggie suggests it’s a hack, but Jin has already ruled that out. Saul calls Auggie moments later. She doesn’t answer it. When Saul calls Jin, Auggie tells her to take it because he’s probably high anyway. Auggie sees currents that turn into numbers.

It says 04:09:17:39. Jin interrupts to tell Auggie that Vera Ye just killed herself. The detective looks at his board of evidence. Will Downing (Alex Sharp) and Jack Rooney (John Bradley) talk about seeing Jin (Jess Hong) at the funeral. Jack tells him not to worry because he bets Jin’s new boyfriend is a squid. Saul meets Jin who introduces him to Prithviraj or Raj (Saamer Usmani). Auggie freaks out on the train and sees more numbers. During the funeral service, Jin acknowledges Will and Jack. Auggie arrives late. Auggie tells Jin she visited a neurologist, but she has no idea why it’s happening. When they step outside, Da Shi (Benedict Wong) takes pictures of them. He continues taking pictures as Mike Evans gets onto an airplane. At the bar, Saul speaks to the others about Vera’s behavior before she jumped into a Cherenkov tank.

Jack says Vera was always a bit of a killjoy. They begin asking Auggie about her company, Nanotechnology Research Center. Will talks about his students. Jack asks Auggie and Saul if they’re fighting or having sex. Auggie threatens him before stepping outside for a cigarette. Tatiana joins her and talks about being able to see the stars. She admits it isn’t easy being a person in this screwed-up world. Tatiana tells her the world has a better way, but Auggie isn’t interested in her way. Tatiana asks about her countdown and how much time she has left. If she puts an end to her work, it will stop. Tatiana tells her to go outside and look at the sky tomorrow before asking if the universe has ever winked at her. She warns Auggie that nothing ever good happens when the timer reaches zero. Tatiana leaves her an item with “Toasty Sters” or “Stars” on it.

Ye Wenjie is shown working in the woods with many others. A man joins her and asks if she has ever considered the consequences of all this destruction. She warns him that these thoughts are dangerous. She has nothing to say to the Great Production News. Bai Mulin (Yang Hewen) says he is not asking on behalf of the paper. He says no one knows what goes behind those gates up there. Bai mentions what happens there and asks if she reads English. He gives her Silent Spring which is about how people are poisoning the world. Ye begins reading from one page. One day, they end up kissing. Later, she realizes the book is missing. Commander Song (Sun Yan) confronts her to see if the book belongs to her. When she refuses to tell the truth, she is taken to Division Headquarters. Once there, she is introduced to Teng Lihua who is with the Intermediate People’s Court.

Lihua (Jeanne Yuan) asked to see her because she is the daughter of the disgraced Ye Zhetai as well as his star pupil. Many believe Ye is irredeemable, but Lihua doesn’t see it that way. She doesn’t want Ye’s talents to go to waste. Ye is asked to sign a paper, take a political class, and get approved to rejoin the Construction Corps. Ye wants to read the paper first. She says her father is dead. Lihua reminds her others are still spreading dangerous ideas. She insists the statements are true and even Ye’s mom has signed the paper. Ye refuses to sign and testify. She is warned that the Military Control Commission will prosecute her otherwise. Ye refuses again so Lihua dumps water on her head. Later, Ye wakes up in the back of a truck that takes her to the top of the mountain. Lei Zhicheng, the Political Commissar of the Red Coast Base, introduces himself and Yang Weining to her.

Yang is the Chief Engineer. Ye admits she wrote an article about the possible existence of phase boundaries within the solar radiation zone. The Commission has decided to give her a chance because they need her specific talents. The research is of the highest security classification so she will never be able to leave. Ye wants to go in anyway. At The Black Palace or the Headquarters of the Strategic Intelligence Agency in London, Da Shi gets a call from Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) who asks about the Oxford five. Da has some strange CCTV footage involving Auggie on the night of Vera’s funeral. As for Mike Evans, he is rarely seen in public since 1984. Mike took over his dad’s oil company. They lost his helicopter over the Atlantic due to a satellite malfunction. Liam asks about the thing in Tehran. Whatever the shiny helmet is, they haven’t been able to get their hands on it.

Da reminds Wade he’s been fired from Scotland Yard, MI5, and OSCT. Vera’s mother tells Jin to take the Einstein bust since Vera would’ve wanted her to have it. Jin can’t understand why Vera would do something like that. Vera didn’t leave a note or any explanation. Her mother says Vera never asked her about God. They’re not believers since they’re scientists. Vera was playing a video game using a shiny headset. Jin is allowed to take it. Vera shows Jin a picture of herself when she was working her first job. It appears that Vera is Ye who gets to see her first test after three months. Ye watches the test and how it kills lots of birds. She knows the coordinates are BN20197F. Jin puts on the headset and plays the game. She gets scared and quickly removes the headset.

Da and Collins talk about the headset. Da tells him it’s a bad time to be a scientist. Auggie and Saul talk about what the weird chick said. Auggie says the item came out of a cereal box. They haven’t been made since 1963. Auggie doesn’t want to tell Saul what’s going on with her. She counts down till midnight. Ye is told they’ve decided to tell her the true nature of the Red Coast Project. She learns it is not an experimental weapons program. The emissions from the system are modulated. Ye are frequency modulation is not necessary for weapons systems. It is necessary for communication. Saul and Auggie see the universe winking. Saul believes it’s a code. Ye is told they’re trying to communicate with whoever is out there. Thomas tells Da that’s the enemy. Saul tells Auggie what numbers are being displayed. It matches the timer she sees.

 

3 Body Problem Review

The opening episode of 3 Body Problem had some interesting points, but nothing captivating enough to make me want to binge eight episodes in a hurry. There is a lot to consume and take in with the episode jumping around a great deal. It’ll take some time to get accustomed to the characters considering many of them weren’t properly introduced. Some of the story ideas are very interesting while others don’t seem all that original.

The writing could be a lot better considering how slanted and unnecessary it was at times. In particular, it is questionable why Auggie and Jin needed to show their superiority over a drunk British guy at a random bar for five minutes. We get it. They’re better than everyone, but I bet Rufus would be a better time considering neither Auggie nor Jin are in the least likable. Jin is at least bland while Auggie is too snooty to cheer for as the next possible victim.

Lots of aspects aren’t really believable especially the casting and the characters since they’re far too immature for some of the world’s best scientists. Very little happened in the opening episode so it’s pretty clear that eight episodes weren’t necessary, but it’s understandable that Netflix would want to boost its numbers after releasing very little this year. After the first episode, I am struggling to care about any of it including the story and characters.

It needs more finesse, likable characters, and balance instead of just jumping from one subject to another with little cohesion. The eight-episode count is most concerning with the pace already being grueling, but it may become more captivating with another episode or two.

Honestly, this was a decent story that got the Netflix treatment of being dumbed down and made ugly. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of 3 Body Problem are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss 3 Body Problem and other hit shows with friends at the Reel Mockery Forum.