Spoilers always pay their debts.

Everything you read has a certain amount of bias. Yes, even AI. My point is this. You probably remember David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are. It’s quite difficult considering a lot of the actors in this new series were actually part of their last project, Game of Thrones. Now, we have the difficult task of judging their next adaptation, made along with Alexander Woo. I’m certainly not going along for the entire ride so just let’s see how it begins and let you be the judge of what lies ahead.

(Credit: Netflix)

3 Body Problem (2024) was created by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss and Alexander Woo. Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao/Zine Tseng) is an astrophysicist during the Chinese Cultural Revolution during the 1960s when she sees her father brutally executed for speaking about Science. In the present time, a group of friends known as the “Oxford Five” composed of Jovan Adepo (Saul Durand), Augustina “Auggie” Salazar (Eiza Gonzales), Jack Rooney (John Bradley), JIn Cheng (Joss Hong) and Will Downing (Alex Sharp). Other characters are slowly introduced into the plot such as Clarence “Da” Shi (Benedict Wong), who appears to be following them around, Thomas Wade (Lian Cunningham) and Mike Evans (Jonathan Pryce). We’ll also meet a mysterious woman (Marlo Kelly) who will give Auggie a heads up (literally) when the nano-technician starts to see a literal countdown right in front of her eyes.

So, do we want to get into this one? There’s a lot of “mysterious” plot contrivances. In the 1960s, Ye Wenjie will end up working with the Chinese government in a secret installation. The mystery woman (called Tatiana later on) who talks to Auggie completely out of the blue is another one. The big overall mystery of what is the actual secret twist that seems to do with astronomy but defies all known scientific explanation. And of course, why it’s causing all the suicides. And, as all major epic operas, some of the main cast have had a past romantic interactions they’re not over because reasons.

Here’s my concern. I feel like in a similar fashion to that other project (sorry) we’re trapped into a cycle of topping off each reveal with another one. That means, as long as we’re getting a big unexpected twist, we’re not engaged. That feels a little too much like a thriller that is constantly having to escalate the odds to a point in which it becomes over the top. The adaptation of the original work takes a lot of liberties from the original by choosing a global, and more centralized in the development in the UK.

Will it work? It doesn’t feel to be growing as organically as it should. It feels like the showrunners are trying to replicate a formula and get lightning to strike twice. I feel like after a certain global pandemic, it’s a lot harder to compromise to follow a series throughout. Or perhaps that’s just my own personal bias. Either way, I can’t really seem to get hooked, so it’s an automatic pass for me.

Perhaps recommended if you’re hungry for a long science-fiction based mystery drama, but keep in mind your mileage might vary. If you’re curious, give it a shot. I found it had very little engagement for me so I will skip this for now. Worth a watch for those willing to put in the time, but I’d also recommend against sticking with it too long if you don’t find the appeal.

That will do for now.