Netflix’s supposed blockbuster 3 Body Problem has come and gone, and I think it’s fair to say that it didn’t have the impact that we all thought it would. For months, we’ve been primed to think that this was going to be the next Game of Thrones. The problem is that while it’s stylish, it’s not thought provoking or really even unique. Season one ends without any real resolution (no surprise there) and there were scant few really interesting things about the show along the way. So what went wrong?
(Vague spoilers ahead, you’ve been warned)
Problem 1: Netflix dumped it all at once
The entire season was available on day one. In most cases that’s fine. I actually like when streamers do this, because it lets me take things on my schedule instead of forcing me to keep to their schedule. In the case of 3 Body Problem, though, this technique worked against the show. There should have been some tension along the way, but that tension evaporates when you get to see the next episode immediately. I think this show could have benefited from a one-per-week strategy. That would have let people think and theorize a bit before moving on to the next episode.
Problem 2: Netflix dumped a larger meaning in favor of “friendship” (awwwww.)
I’ll admit only a passing familiarity with the books on which the show is based. I have been watching Three Body on Prime, which is said to be a much more faithful adaptation of the source material. In Three Body, it’s easy to see the coming of the aliens as a metaphor for the incursion of Western Culture on China. It’s not exactly subtle. All that goes out the window with Netflix’s version, because the show’s set in London and features a This-is-Us style friend group who love and hug through every episode. I’m sure there are other folks who really appreciate this approach. I found it took away from the story at every turn. It creates another case of the “small universe problem” that you see in other sci-fi. Despite the fact that there are 8 billion people in the world, the entire plot revolves around 5 people who are already friends. It rings fake, plain and simple.
You also lose all that political context. A generation ago, Martin Scorsese adapted the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs to be The Departed. In doing so he added a second layer to the film; it became about history and status and family. In adapting Three Body for English audiences, the story loses all the tension coming from the history between America, Britain, and China. Instead we get hugging and love and for some inexplicable reason, smoking indoors.
Problem 3: Massive plot armor
So follow me here. Earth is going to be invaded by aliens. The aliens can’t lie, they don’t know how. They say right out that they can’t coexist with humans. Ergo, they intend to destroy humanity. They have a massive supercomputer that can influence events on earth and mess with people’s brains. So why are they waiting 400 years to destroy humanity? Why not just make someone poison the water supply or introduce another pandemic without realizing it?
This kind of plot armor used to fly a lot with audiences because we tended to agree it was necessary to advance a story. But today, audiences are more mature and tend to accept this sort of thing far less. There’s a virtually endless list of movies and shows that could have ended in the first five minutes if someone did the common sense thing. Sadly this is one of them.
Problem 4: Shiny angsty millennials
I’ll lose about half of you with this one, but so be it. It’s been a growing trend in the last decade or so to have groups of people in their 30s with $500 haircuts and impossibly good looks. Sure, Hollywood has always had its beautiful people. But it seems like in the last decade the pattern has gotten pretty well fixed. All of the leads in a show are impossibly gorgeous and fit, generally except for one. In this case it’s the Columbo-esque Da Shi, played by Benedict Wong. The only time you see “character” actors are in the margins, where they get to represent everything wrong with humanity. Somehow what’s right about humanity is always represented by millennials and what’s wrong is always represented by boomers and GenX. This is definitely true here.
Will 3 Body Problem return for a season 2?
It’s no surprise that season one wrapped without any satisfying resolution. Things aren’t quite Empire Strikes Back dire, but some of our leads are dead or not quite dead. The big plan didn’t work and everyone isn’t quite sure what’s coming next. Naturally you’re supposed to be jonesing for season 2.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that season 2 will happen, and with the CGI required it could be two years before we see it anyway. Will anyone care? I’m pretty sure I won’t.
