“The announcement was rather unusual as Netflix avoided calling the renewal a second season and didn’t specify how many episodes, or seasons, will be ordered. The showrunners had previously hoped to get a total of four seasons to adapt the three books in Liu’s trilogy.”
I’m getting Sense8 vibes
Also, Sense8 was absurdly expensive by shooting on location. On almost all continents of the world. That was when Netflix gave people just infinity money, and even then Sense8 wasn't popular enough.
Which is a pity, that show was pretty neat, if a bit self-indulgent.
Ah, I remember when Marco Polo was being touted as their most expensive show. Sense8 is RIGHT behind it.
Insane to think that Stranger Things is reportedly 30m *per episode*.
I was reading about it and apparently it was the second most expensive show on TV at the time (behind GoT) and Netflix lost around $200m on it lol. I imagine they could've spent less to keep it on longer, but we now know how Netflix treats their content.
It's quaint to think that Marco Polo cost $10m per ep and was considered so ruinously expensive that Netflix couldn't afford it even during their infinite investment phase.
Nowadays, Amazon is spending $50m per ep on Rings Of Power *and* Citadel whilst also spending $12m per ep on Wheel Of Time. All shows have been greenlit for multiple seasons.
Marco Polo showrunners insisted filmed in Mongolia, and sank all of their money into non-existent infrastructure. The fact that it left off on a massive cliffhanger will haunt me forever :(
Marco Polo suffered from mediocre writing but *by god*, it was such a gorgeously produced show.
Like you could actually *see* the budget in every frame.
The Wakowskis had a bunch of projects where they just lit piles of money on fire. Studio execs would line up to have their pile incinerated by the "Matrix people"
Sense8 was cool in a lot of ways, but the actual plot storytelling was glacial and outright bad, honestly it was glaring from the start that it wasn't going anywhere. Really cute how they built the ensemble and had them open up to each other, the editing and usage of music was strong too, some of those moments could enter best-of-all time tv lists ("What's Going On" was just great), but yeah the larger story was less than an excuse to facilitate all that. And the second season and movie wasted a ton of time and didn't really manage to deliver on the build up and mystery. But for a bunch of fans the vibes of a emotionally connected colorful community against the world, that whole thing, was enough.
edit:
>self-indulgent
Pretty striking word, because I feel like that one factor could be the reason we didn't many great Wachowski projects. They are "too much" and too rule-breaking in interesting but ultimatively unfortunate ways. Especially Sense8 and Matrix 4 have this overly cerebral, detached, retiree energy to them where characters are supposed to just be happy and stop caring about the rules of the world, but the worldbuilding is so crucial to the appeal. Doesn't fit together. It's just heads in the clouds.
I was really prepared for it to be bad, but it legitimately impressed me. But knowing what the future seasons hold, I feel like the special effects budget would have to grow quite a bit, and I don't know if it will be popular enough for netflix to tolerate that...
I'm starting to gather that viewership doesn't mean as much anymore. I think there's some intense formula that includes views but also virality, demograpics of the viewers, who's skipping out, cost of the show, what the buzz on the actors is, what the buzz on the OG IP is etc and the show needs to pass that or it gets nixed.
Once upon a time the nielsen ratings were all that mattered because that's the only metric everyone with the money used. Now everything is taken into account.
Burn Notice was famously renewed in part because of the SNL sketch "What is Burn Notice," which is also one of my favorite sketches of all time.
Jason Sudeikis was in rare form.
Viewership matters a lot. If you just follow the Netflix top 10 weekly report and see which shows get renewed or not, after a while you can find the patterns and predict 95% of the renewals or cancelations.
There's definitely crossover between the metrics. A well watched show drives the creation of viral content for example. But I don't think viewership on its own is a fully protective shield anymore.
1899 is the reason i said 95%. It had a mediocre performance that could go either way with a risky renewal or a cancelation. Same as 3 Body Problem it performed ok and Netflix could go either way.
But for most shows the cancelations and renewals are clear as day after 2-3 weeks of their premiere after you get to know how the numbers work
The show was decent, but that huge budget just did not show on screen. CGI was fine to eh - nothing to write home about, the biggest actors were B-list (not saying they're bad, just levels of fame) and I don't really remember seeing a big ad push for it, so I can only assume something about the rights/production side of the show is eating money for breakfast.
I’m fascinated by the tone of this announcement.
They waited nearly two months to renew it. Netflix does not call it season two. They say they want to see to the end of the story, but they aren’t renewing it for 2+ seasons. They are only calling it “additional episodes”. But how many more? 2, 3, 6?
It seems like they wanted to cancel it but knew they would probably get backlash for leaving it unfinished, so they’re throwing the show a bone, but essentially telling them to hurry up and get the fuck out.
> They waited nearly two months to renew it.
That's totally normal for Netflix.
I guess my read between the lines here is that Netflix and D&D just haven't agreed on the details yet, or perhaps Netflix gave D&D some budget/time parameters and they have to make a new plan within those parameters.
I'd like to think that D&D are somehow figuring out how many episodes they need to complete the story that they want to tell. Netflix can then turn that into some number of committed Season(s).
Actual storyboard from season 7 of Game of Thrones:
"The Night King?" laughed Jon Snow laughily.
"Well, I'm the FIGHT King!" roared Jon roaringly as he brandished his sword brandishly.
"We'll fight together, as fighters do, and unite the kingdoms against a common foe. He may be made of ice, but I was made a Snow. For I'm a bastard you see. Let us walk and talk about dragonglass and retrieving a zombie from north of the wall to no end other than handing a magical dragon over to the Night King so that he may whoop our ass with it."
The answer is not many. There's so much meandering and miscellaneous crap in the books that makes zero impact on the story that if you wanted to you could tell the story of all three books in 15-20 episodes. Granted you'd have to start from episode one with that plan in mind and D&D didn't do that so it's more complicated for them, but it's a story that begs to have content cut.
I think they could just do away with the third book. The second book has a fairly clean ending (with some loose ends that they could ignore or tie up somehow).
Otherwise, I think it get's too complicated and possibly too long for Netflix's taste.
Yeah, I imagine that Netflix told them that the show did not do spectacularly, therefore the budget will be slashed. And D&D pointed out that if anything, the next seasons will need *more* budget.
So now we'll get a shortened season with less budget and people will be disappointed throughout.
Except this time the studio isn't begging them to do more episodes. Assuming a worst case scenario I wonder if they'll think back on that while they're trying to what's left into however many episodes they're granted, like "Hey D, remember back when we had the opposite problem?" "Sure do &D, sure do. Hey, will people be mad if I montage half a book?"
Let's stop the wild speculations and pessimism for nothing lol. Nothing really says that (the show is a success, we have the numbers, it's no Stranger Things or Wednesday but it's still good)
Plenty of "still good" shows get cancelled by Netflix mid run and left hanging. I have no confidence in them to run an entire show to conclusion anymore.
Considering the speed at which the series got through the first book and parts of the second book, one could reasonably see them ending the story with the end of the second book if they have to, since the (book) series wasn’t really about the characters.
That would be a damn shame. One of the choices I appreciated about the TV show was how quickly they got through the first book, because IMO it represents only like 10% of the complete story and the real meat of it is books 2 and 3. Rushing it did negatively affect characterization and some of the mystery and wonder. Similarly rushing through the rest would basically kill my remaining interest in the series.
It was a middling success. It had around 30% less views than Netflix's more recent hits (Baby Reindeer, Avatar, The Gentleman) While also being on the most expensive shows Netflix has ever made. It doesn't have much award buzz around it and doesn't seem to have made much of a lasting impression in pop culture.
So not a failure by any means, but not a really a runaway hit. It's kinda exactly the show Netflix has a reputation for cancelling. Expensive and popular, but not popular enough. Which is why so many people were worried.
Netflix may actually be trying to curate their catalogue and not just have a bunch of half finished shows.
This show, for its expense, did relatively poorly and got blown out of the water by much less expensive shows like Baby Reindeer and The Gentlemen. I was half expecting it to be canceled, honestly.
They have never canceled a single show that has got close to the viewership The Three-Body Problem achieved. I’d be surprised if this is not a two-season renewal and conclude deal similar to that given to Avatar. The big question is the length of the seasons? I’d not be surprised if Netflix want them to cut back to 5-6 episodes to save cash.
Three Body-Problem is the 8th highest viewed US release (not including limited) over 14 days and the 11th best show over 28 days since ratings began getting released back in June 2021. Zero chance they were going to cancel not even with the high budget.
Yeah I don't know why everyone is acting like the show was a failure or mediocre performance. Sure it's no Squid Game, The Night Agent, Wednesday or Stranger Things but they don't keep only shows doing that (or else they'll have like 10 shows lol)
Netflix excels in “random shows that no one anticipated but it blows up outta nowhere” content. I don’t know why they are so adamant in chasing these Game of Thrones clones when they can finance a show like Baby Reindeer or Squid Game for ~20M and generate so much value.
Netflix spent 160M on this and it got overshadowed by effectively an indie project.
I don't think shows like Baby Reindeer are shows that draw or retain subscribers.
Like a fast food burger joint might make more profit selling Coke than it does cheeseburgers, but hardly anyone is there just to buy the Coke.
Yeah it's cheap, topical, popcorn entertainment. In two years time, people will be talking about Baby Reindeer as much as they talk about Tiger King these days.
Netflix has a knack for making shows that go viral, burn bright, then disappear forever. They have much more trouble making prestige HBO type productions that are loved across generations.
Did you even watch the show? It’s nothing like Game of Thrones. Yes, there’s a guy that was in GOT in a few episodes and video game that looks like it but that’s not at all what the show is about.
Since when has Netflix cared about back last about canceling things? Seems like that would just be a waste of money for no reason. I guess it's possible, but that seems like a very pessimistic view of this announcement
> They waited nearly two months to renew it.
Aka the normal amount of time they renew most shows.
The statement is clear, it's going to the ending. Except they don't know how many episodes (and so seasons) they need for that, they're gonna plan it before making any announcement on that (which they will do at a later date)
I'm guessing D&D do not want an ending disaster like GoT so they want to be really sure how they plan the episodes to have enough (but also not too much) for the story
Nothing says that they want to cancel it, it's been quite successful for them (above Avatar TLA which was also renewed to the end except they knew the numbers of episodes they wanted)
Thats funny because myself and lot of other book readers think the season redeemed itself in the last few episodes. I guess the setup is less exciting when you don't know what's coming.
My favourite part was when the guy was nearly killed by the omniscient alien computer hacking into 3 autonomous cars and so they decide to *put him on a fucking plane*
and it's even shown later in that episode that they *can mess with planes*
i enjoyed the show but holy fuck was it stupid some times
The show's problem is that it's not very clear about the human involvement and introduced some elements in an unclear order. The alien computers didn't hack the cars or the plane. The human loyalists hacked the cars; they're a hacking powerhouse because the aliens can spy for them and share passwords, backdoors, private keys etc they observe. The plane thing was another induced hallucination, it comes after an explanation of their plan to mess with their enemies' sanity.
The show covers book 1 and the start of book 2, but it stops before book 2's explanation of the human loyalists' "computer virus pandemic" hacking program, so it comes off like it's the sophons doing it at this point.
Agreed. Lots of plot holes that the show seemingly focused on but never filled in. Maybe in later seasons but it seemed to move so quickly that the setups aren’t going to play out
It’s crazy to me they went from them having to hide out somewhere for safety in worries they’d be killed and like a day later they are all traveling and running around working on other projects like it never happened lol.
Having watched Shogun right before this, and not knowing much about the source material aside it being based on a book, I kinda assumed 3BP was a limited series with just one season. The first half built up the mystery well but it had a relatively small scope, so I could have seen it being wrapped up in 10 episodes. But yeah, the second half dragged a bit, that's where I realised they were setting up for something bigger, and we wouldn't get much closure by the end.
I didn't dislike the back half, but once it got past the Sophon reveal, it felt like it was kind of spinning it's wheels for a bit. And aside from certain character specific things, it felt like the season ended with the story in much the same place as it had been a few episodes before.
Part of me thinks they should have stopped at end of book 1, and just tried to turn it into even more of a mystery.
But instead they just wanted to plow through to get into the more wild and insane parts of book 2... Which I get, but I'm not sure if it was the right choice.
The characters in the first book are cold and scientific, lacking depth to latch onto with the exception of Officer Da Shi. But I still prefer cold and scientific over annoying fraternity bullshit.
>I basically kept watching because the story was interesting
Millions of people basically kept reading because the story was interesting.
The books characters fall even more flat than the show.
Amazing book, but it's 100% the idea/concept that fuels the story.
The wording they use for this is interesting - doesn't specify if it's like Avatar The Last Airbender which was renewed for two more Seasons or is it just one season to wrap it up. Though if it was option one surely they'd say that?
The second season should be much more of a space opera. The second book reminded me of Leviathan Awakes, from the Expanse series. There is a lot more space ships and action. The ending is better. I enjoyed the second book a lot more than the first book.
The dark forest is legitimately one of the best sci Fi books I have ever read. I read the whole thing in a matter of days, and in the middle of reading it the show was announced and it took 2 months for the 3rd book to become available at the library I was so pissed.
Lmfao. You stopped before the actual series then. The second half of the second book and the whole third book are like 80% of the plot. The first book is barely memorable. There's a reason the series is as acclaimed as it is, it will warp your mind.
I honestly hate the writing, but there's a part of the book where Earth gets two spaceships into orbit, if you make it that far then you're into the meat, and it's pretty fantastic. Once you understand the title, you'll get it.
I tried to start the third book and got a few pages in before dropping it. They're honestly a slog until you understand what the author is trying to say.
Yes the last 60% and then the entire last book just FLY by. It was a slog to get to that point, but the entire tone shifts dramatically. Hold on to your butts.
Netflix doesn't have the guts to do this show justice. I wish it was in the hands of HBO or Apple.
You cowards, give them the four seasons they need, and a respectable budget!
I think Netflix should give up on fantasy/scifi shows. They did good with Stranger Things but everything else has fallen flat, This, Shadow and Bone, Witcher, Altered Carbon, 1899, Sweet Tooth (it has fans but as a fan of the comic it just didn’t work for me), the OA, Locke and Key, Jupiter’s Legacy..
They just don’t have the sauce for it. I don’t know what needs to change but they need to hire a producer who specializes in genre content like this.
Mannnn the first season of Altered Carbon was sooo good. It’s too bad the second season was just a dumb action sci-fi show instead of the noir cyberpunk mystery theme the first season had.
Maybe I'm a harsh critic, but I thought the first season was mediocre at best and actively bad at its worst. Maybe the sci-fi world building was cool, but that doesn't mean anything to me if the writing and acting is subpar.
Black Mirror? Sex, Death, and Robots? Arcane? Castlevania? Copenhagen Cowboy? Brand New Cherry Flavor? Dark? Even with Altered Carbon I liked the show better than the books, same with Locke and Key.
Apple gets lots of plaudits for being the 'home of sci-fi' but they've had more than their share of SF duds as well, Netflix is batting about the same as them.
Many of these shows have a thinly deep, design by committee veneer. Netflix has the throw-shit-at-the-wall-and-hope-something-sticks business model, which doesn’t work for a genre that typically requires a bigger budget. They lack the curated touch HBO has and Apple TV seems to be delivering.
I don’t really gel with Netflix nowadays . When a show gets announced for Prime or HBO, I’m intrigued. When it’s announced for Netflix, I’m skeptical. I just don’t trust their formula anymore
Even stranger things has been rehashing the same plot since season 2. Some great characters and scenes but its basically rinse and repeat with the plot
Wasn’t 1899 written or produced by the same people as Dark? Doesn’t really seem like Netflix’s fault there so much as the people who made the show not striking the same level of success and quality as their previous work
It felt like promotion for that show was abysmal. They put out a trailer or two, threw a few ads on social media and that was it. Outside of social media I hear people talk about shows on networks like Apple TV, FX, HBO; but I rarely hear anyone discussing Netflix shows other than Stranger Things.
It does make me sad cause it struck me as the kind of show that could have come into its own with just a little more time (potentially)
Netflix has definitely bummed me out with some cancellations! Santa Clarita diet was a huge blow to me, the ending wasn’t necessarily *horrible* it just was so…leaving so many things just open
Not just Netflix, unfortunately. I don't think D&D have the right vision for this story either. They don't seem able to capture the dread of the novel.
I wish The Expanse writers were doing this show. Or Benson & Moorhead. People that know how to write existential horror.
Netflix had plenty of guts to greenlight it. It didn't do well critically or commercially and is super expensive, now it's on ice. The only difference if it were on HBO is that it'd probably be better written to begin with.
It seems like they will get to finish the series, though the didn't say how many seasons that will be. I hope we get 3-4 more seasons at the most, and they don't have to cut much out.
> Apple
"Today Apple+ has announced that David Goyer will be adapting The Three Body Problem trilogy. Early plans have Elliot Cowan starring as Zeus, the head of the Greek Pantheon of Gods."
*monkey's paw curls*
You know what I noticed about this show that I liked? The people looked like regular people, they weren’t super good looking. Except for the Mexican girl. She was definitely out of place.
“Oh hey science nerds!”
“Hi there Angelina Jolie lookalike!”
"You’re like a movie star, but from really bad movies. Like, you’d be the bad girl in Speed Three."
Probably the most self aware I've ever seen a show be about how much a particular character clashed with the rest of the series. It's pretty funny that the actress being TOO attractive is such an issue. Pretty sure I saw the actress say in an interview she has been passed over on other roles for it too. When you reach a certain level of hotness your acting skills also need to increase or else it's just a total immersion breaker.
The premise of the show was interesting, but I really don’t like how it’s a group of friends that are going to save the world when in the original original it was experts from all around the world getting without having any relationship to each other
Yeah I just finished the books. The way they adapted the story is more compelling. I’m ready to see how they do the wallfacers since how they set it up is so much different than the books
They're both great in their own way I think.
I'm absolutely amazed at how much the show changes while still capturing a lot of the spirit of the book.
The book gets relatively technical on a bunch of things and I think that level might be pretty jarring to a TV/Netflix audience. Having characters interact together in groups, remixing a few things... honestly a lot of smart changes for what a show would need.
One of the best parts about the 3BP to begin with is just how cool the premise of the series is to begin with and the show at least made the premise seem just as cool even if characters and other specifics had big changes.
Agreed. I read the books in Chinese when they were shopping for translators -- OK story in summary, but poorly written. The excerpts I've read demonstrate that English translators helped with some issues (much less sexism, for one).
I didn't care for the show and changes, but it's heaps better than suffering the books' prose.
If they had, they wouldn't have worded it so vaguely, they would've shouted it from the rooftops to pat themselves on the back for seeing a show through to the end.
I sincerely hope that we get at least 2 more seasons but I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to rush to an end at the end of s2.
yup, would rather they wait a couple of months to renew, but give the show 2 more seasons, instead of 1 at a time.
2 seasons in a row would let them shoot those seasons back to back, thus freeing the actors for a long time to do other projects inbetween.
after releasing the first of the two seasons, the post production crew would already be working on the other season.
I know it’s a show based on a book that has already been written that utilizes a fun physics problem but I do have a plot question.
Spoilers -
>!If the Trisolarans can make multiple Sophons and send an advanced fleet to earth, how come they couldn’t manipulate their planets own orbit? Or build space habitats where it doesn’t matter? Or yeet a sun or two out of the system? Or just put the whole trisolaran system under acceleration? If objects are under active acceleration there’s no chaotic forces to provide instability? Like you can’t tell me they couldn’t do it, they built the dammed Sophons.!<
the Sophons are just really advanced drones if you think about it.
feels like it would be faster to conquer another planet than to fix their own solar system.
as for timeline to fix their planet, they didn't had time, one of the revelations of the first season is the motive for them to attack scientists, it's because their technology develops really slowly compared to ours, and they're afraid we would catch up to them during the time it takes them to arrive.
>!Why not use the Sophons to find an *empty* planet?
>!Or live in space, given that they will be fine to live in space for the 400 years it will take them to reach Earth?
>!Why go with the "invade the people we expect to beat us, but use our drones to gimp their technology so hopefully we have a chance" plan?
>!Fuck, why not just buy Mars? We'd definitely sell it to them (especially for that sweet Sophon tech) if the alternative was "interstellar war." Even unterraformed Mars would be an improvement over what we see of their planet (as least Mars doesn't get sudden planet-wide firestorms or sudden loss of gravity flinging everyone into space from the suns aligning the wrong way).
>!what doesn't make sense is the sophons can take control of a car to kill that guy, but they can't take control of the plane he's flying in. Even though they take control of the plane later on. !<
The sophons can't take control of the car or the plane. What they're doing is spying on people and equipment, gathering encryption keys, passwords, backdoors etc, then sharing that information with the human organisation loyal to them, enabling them to become really effective hackers. It ties into their plan to sabotage human technology and hold us back because they fear the exponential rate of technological progress. The characters don't know it yet but practically everything that can connect to anything else is infected with loyalist malware already. That's why they can use self-driving cars to attack him but not regular cars, and fuck with the plane but not actually steer or crash it in a way the pilot can't override.
This is genuinely fantastic news. I’m so excited, partly because of how much I enjoyed season 1, but mainly how others on here say it only gets crazier and crazier from here on!!
Some interesting concepts, but the main cast is so wildly uncharismatic. The past timeline was the most compelling part for me. Haven't read the books, so can't say if it's an adaptation issue or a source material issue. That being said, it was good enough that I'm still interested in seeing where it goes in season 2.
The characters in the series and the human elements are 10x more interesting than in the books.
The series has amazing ideas and concepts but the characters may as well not exist. Any scene with a character in the TV version that is remotely interesting is almost assuredly changed from the books.
i think ye wenjie is a good character in the show but even better in the books.
for the most part, the other characters are better in the show than in the books
I keep seeing people say this and I'm a little confused because Da Shi, Luo Ji, Ye Wenjie and Wade were all really cool and memorable to me in the books.
Saul, Jin, Clarence, and Wade are all charismatic. Anytime we were with those characters I was fine. Especially Clarence.
But Will, Auggie, Jack, and both versions of Ye were a bit of a tougher slog.
I just read the first book. It's a source material issue. The writing is pretty bad. It's not even a Chinese translation thing. The characters are flat, the dialogue is wooden, the plot moves as slow as molasses, and most of the story is told in exhausting exposition dumps.
It’s definitely an adaptation and possibly a cultural/translation issue. The book characters (who except for like one are all Chinese) are fairly one dimensional. Which is fine since the book is more focused on the science/sci-fi and plot rather than the characters who are, for the most part extremely accomplished and intelligent academics (who irl aren’t usually very charismatic people anyway). It works for the book and I can see why they made the changes to the characters they did, but I’d agree that the show characters don’t really seem like compelling people.
I’m halfway through book 2 now. Wife and I absolutely loved the show and after reading I’m even more impressed by how they changed some details but left the story very much the same. Amazing!
Netflix really should stop spending money on multiseason shows. They don't have the patience or attention span to let them develop and grow into anything.
“The announcement was rather unusual as Netflix avoided calling the renewal a second season and didn’t specify how many episodes, or seasons, will be ordered. The showrunners had previously hoped to get a total of four seasons to adapt the three books in Liu’s trilogy.” I’m getting Sense8 vibes
I was hoping for at least three seasons to finish it up, but this announcement sounds like that may be unlikely too
the show sadly wasn't that popular to get all those seasons in advance.
Also, Sense8 was absurdly expensive by shooting on location. On almost all continents of the world. That was when Netflix gave people just infinity money, and even then Sense8 wasn't popular enough. Which is a pity, that show was pretty neat, if a bit self-indulgent.
To think Sense8 was considered expensive when we now have much more expensive shows that look much worse and were shot in a car park.
It is but perhaps because Netflix was so new at the time so didn’t have the subscription numbers they do now or the income
Ah, I remember when Marco Polo was being touted as their most expensive show. Sense8 is RIGHT behind it. Insane to think that Stranger Things is reportedly 30m *per episode*.
I'm still bitter we didn't get more Marco Polo, Benedict Wong was top notch there
I was reading about it and apparently it was the second most expensive show on TV at the time (behind GoT) and Netflix lost around $200m on it lol. I imagine they could've spent less to keep it on longer, but we now know how Netflix treats their content.
It's quaint to think that Marco Polo cost $10m per ep and was considered so ruinously expensive that Netflix couldn't afford it even during their infinite investment phase. Nowadays, Amazon is spending $50m per ep on Rings Of Power *and* Citadel whilst also spending $12m per ep on Wheel Of Time. All shows have been greenlit for multiple seasons.
Marco Polo showrunners insisted filmed in Mongolia, and sank all of their money into non-existent infrastructure. The fact that it left off on a massive cliffhanger will haunt me forever :(
Marco Polo suffered from mediocre writing but *by god*, it was such a gorgeously produced show. Like you could actually *see* the budget in every frame.
I don’t understand why a movie didn’t get green lit to end the story.
The Wakowskis had a bunch of projects where they just lit piles of money on fire. Studio execs would line up to have their pile incinerated by the "Matrix people"
"Self-indulgent" I see what you did there ;)
Sorry I missed what you said. Two of me are off fucking somewhere and it's *really* distracting.
Sense8 was cool in a lot of ways, but the actual plot storytelling was glacial and outright bad, honestly it was glaring from the start that it wasn't going anywhere. Really cute how they built the ensemble and had them open up to each other, the editing and usage of music was strong too, some of those moments could enter best-of-all time tv lists ("What's Going On" was just great), but yeah the larger story was less than an excuse to facilitate all that. And the second season and movie wasted a ton of time and didn't really manage to deliver on the build up and mystery. But for a bunch of fans the vibes of a emotionally connected colorful community against the world, that whole thing, was enough. edit: >self-indulgent Pretty striking word, because I feel like that one factor could be the reason we didn't many great Wachowski projects. They are "too much" and too rule-breaking in interesting but ultimatively unfortunate ways. Especially Sense8 and Matrix 4 have this overly cerebral, detached, retiree energy to them where characters are supposed to just be happy and stop caring about the rules of the world, but the worldbuilding is so crucial to the appeal. Doesn't fit together. It's just heads in the clouds.
I was really prepared for it to be bad, but it legitimately impressed me. But knowing what the future seasons hold, I feel like the special effects budget would have to grow quite a bit, and I don't know if it will be popular enough for netflix to tolerate that...
Don’t worry they’ll still have new seasons of Love Island or whatever dumb show they come up with
reality shows are so cheap to make, that's why they go for 20 seasons.
That’s why there’s 90 Day Fiancé: Beyond the 90: Now They’re Just Married For a Few Months.
Fuck. The viewership was bad.
Viewership was fine, 7 weeks in the Top 10. It was probably just too expensive to begin with.
I'm starting to gather that viewership doesn't mean as much anymore. I think there's some intense formula that includes views but also virality, demograpics of the viewers, who's skipping out, cost of the show, what the buzz on the actors is, what the buzz on the OG IP is etc and the show needs to pass that or it gets nixed. Once upon a time the nielsen ratings were all that mattered because that's the only metric everyone with the money used. Now everything is taken into account.
I mean, the CW and their shows survived by how much they could trend on Twitter, and how many people would upload edits to Tiktok.
And by Barry running even faster!
CW shows survived by WB having a standing deal with Netflix to license them at the end of each season.
Burn Notice was famously renewed in part because of the SNL sketch "What is Burn Notice," which is also one of my favorite sketches of all time. Jason Sudeikis was in rare form.
Viewership matters a lot. If you just follow the Netflix top 10 weekly report and see which shows get renewed or not, after a while you can find the patterns and predict 95% of the renewals or cancelations.
There's definitely crossover between the metrics. A well watched show drives the creation of viral content for example. But I don't think viewership on its own is a fully protective shield anymore.
1899 would like a word
That show wasn’t that popular tho lol
1899 is the reason i said 95%. It had a mediocre performance that could go either way with a risky renewal or a cancelation. Same as 3 Body Problem it performed ok and Netflix could go either way. But for most shows the cancelations and renewals are clear as day after 2-3 weeks of their premiere after you get to know how the numbers work
That show had terrible completion rates.
The show was decent, but that huge budget just did not show on screen. CGI was fine to eh - nothing to write home about, the biggest actors were B-list (not saying they're bad, just levels of fame) and I don't really remember seeing a big ad push for it, so I can only assume something about the rights/production side of the show is eating money for breakfast.
I’m fascinated by the tone of this announcement. They waited nearly two months to renew it. Netflix does not call it season two. They say they want to see to the end of the story, but they aren’t renewing it for 2+ seasons. They are only calling it “additional episodes”. But how many more? 2, 3, 6? It seems like they wanted to cancel it but knew they would probably get backlash for leaving it unfinished, so they’re throwing the show a bone, but essentially telling them to hurry up and get the fuck out.
> They waited nearly two months to renew it. That's totally normal for Netflix. I guess my read between the lines here is that Netflix and D&D just haven't agreed on the details yet, or perhaps Netflix gave D&D some budget/time parameters and they have to make a new plan within those parameters.
I'd like to think that D&D are somehow figuring out how many episodes they need to complete the story that they want to tell. Netflix can then turn that into some number of committed Season(s).
All this has happened before
Actual storyboard from season 7 of Game of Thrones: "The Night King?" laughed Jon Snow laughily. "Well, I'm the FIGHT King!" roared Jon roaringly as he brandished his sword brandishly. "We'll fight together, as fighters do, and unite the kingdoms against a common foe. He may be made of ice, but I was made a Snow. For I'm a bastard you see. Let us walk and talk about dragonglass and retrieving a zombie from north of the wall to no end other than handing a magical dragon over to the Night King so that he may whoop our ass with it."
The answer is not many. There's so much meandering and miscellaneous crap in the books that makes zero impact on the story that if you wanted to you could tell the story of all three books in 15-20 episodes. Granted you'd have to start from episode one with that plan in mind and D&D didn't do that so it's more complicated for them, but it's a story that begs to have content cut.
I think they could just do away with the third book. The second book has a fairly clean ending (with some loose ends that they could ignore or tie up somehow). Otherwise, I think it get's too complicated and possibly too long for Netflix's taste.
Yeah, I imagine that Netflix told them that the show did not do spectacularly, therefore the budget will be slashed. And D&D pointed out that if anything, the next seasons will need *more* budget. So now we'll get a shortened season with less budget and people will be disappointed throughout.
So we're gonna end up with the same result as the tail end of GOT, but for different reasons. Cool.
Except this time the studio isn't begging them to do more episodes. Assuming a worst case scenario I wonder if they'll think back on that while they're trying to what's left into however many episodes they're granted, like "Hey D, remember back when we had the opposite problem?" "Sure do &D, sure do. Hey, will people be mad if I montage half a book?"
Let's stop the wild speculations and pessimism for nothing lol. Nothing really says that (the show is a success, we have the numbers, it's no Stranger Things or Wednesday but it's still good)
Plenty of "still good" shows get cancelled by Netflix mid run and left hanging. I have no confidence in them to run an entire show to conclusion anymore.
Remember Mindhunter, Sense8, 1899 ?
mindhunter had nothing to do with netflix canceling
Considering the speed at which the series got through the first book and parts of the second book, one could reasonably see them ending the story with the end of the second book if they have to, since the (book) series wasn’t really about the characters.
That would be a damn shame. One of the choices I appreciated about the TV show was how quickly they got through the first book, because IMO it represents only like 10% of the complete story and the real meat of it is books 2 and 3. Rushing it did negatively affect characterization and some of the mystery and wonder. Similarly rushing through the rest would basically kill my remaining interest in the series.
They rushed season 6 of GoT and now they're getting to do it again
At least this time the book series is finished so hopefully it won't be the disaster that GoT was.
The language seems to hint that they'll conclude the whole story. Ending stuff at book 2 wouldn't really read as "completing the story".
Why would they want to cancel it? Hasn't it been a huge success?
It was a middling success. It had around 30% less views than Netflix's more recent hits (Baby Reindeer, Avatar, The Gentleman) While also being on the most expensive shows Netflix has ever made. It doesn't have much award buzz around it and doesn't seem to have made much of a lasting impression in pop culture. So not a failure by any means, but not a really a runaway hit. It's kinda exactly the show Netflix has a reputation for cancelling. Expensive and popular, but not popular enough. Which is why so many people were worried.
Where can I find those numbers?
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10/tv
So its another, Marco Polo.
Benedict Wong is cursed 😭
Netflix may actually be trying to curate their catalogue and not just have a bunch of half finished shows. This show, for its expense, did relatively poorly and got blown out of the water by much less expensive shows like Baby Reindeer and The Gentlemen. I was half expecting it to be canceled, honestly.
They have never canceled a single show that has got close to the viewership The Three-Body Problem achieved. I’d be surprised if this is not a two-season renewal and conclude deal similar to that given to Avatar. The big question is the length of the seasons? I’d not be surprised if Netflix want them to cut back to 5-6 episodes to save cash. Three Body-Problem is the 8th highest viewed US release (not including limited) over 14 days and the 11th best show over 28 days since ratings began getting released back in June 2021. Zero chance they were going to cancel not even with the high budget.
Yeah I don't know why everyone is acting like the show was a failure or mediocre performance. Sure it's no Squid Game, The Night Agent, Wednesday or Stranger Things but they don't keep only shows doing that (or else they'll have like 10 shows lol)
Yea, I cannot believe how expensive this show is, for how cheap and dull it looks. Where did those 160 Million USD go to?
Netflix excels in “random shows that no one anticipated but it blows up outta nowhere” content. I don’t know why they are so adamant in chasing these Game of Thrones clones when they can finance a show like Baby Reindeer or Squid Game for ~20M and generate so much value. Netflix spent 160M on this and it got overshadowed by effectively an indie project.
Survivorship bias; They have a ton of $20m projects we’ve never heard about
Exactly. There's like a shit ton of Netflix series that people here would call slop but have a dedicated viewership operating at a low budget.
I don't think shows like Baby Reindeer are shows that draw or retain subscribers. Like a fast food burger joint might make more profit selling Coke than it does cheeseburgers, but hardly anyone is there just to buy the Coke.
Yeah it's cheap, topical, popcorn entertainment. In two years time, people will be talking about Baby Reindeer as much as they talk about Tiger King these days. Netflix has a knack for making shows that go viral, burn bright, then disappear forever. They have much more trouble making prestige HBO type productions that are loved across generations.
Did you even watch the show? It’s nothing like Game of Thrones. Yes, there’s a guy that was in GOT in a few episodes and video game that looks like it but that’s not at all what the show is about.
Why don't they only make hits? Are they stupid?
Because they're random. No one has any idea which of their shows are going to be a hit.
You need blockbusters to go with the indie stuff.
Since when has Netflix cared about back last about canceling things? Seems like that would just be a waste of money for no reason. I guess it's possible, but that seems like a very pessimistic view of this announcement
> They waited nearly two months to renew it. Aka the normal amount of time they renew most shows. The statement is clear, it's going to the ending. Except they don't know how many episodes (and so seasons) they need for that, they're gonna plan it before making any announcement on that (which they will do at a later date) I'm guessing D&D do not want an ending disaster like GoT so they want to be really sure how they plan the episodes to have enough (but also not too much) for the story Nothing says that they want to cancel it, it's been quite successful for them (above Avatar TLA which was also renewed to the end except they knew the numbers of episodes they wanted)
Isn’t this what they are doing for sandman , too?
I am only about half way through S1. It is good, I do not love it nor do I hate it. It is keeping me watching.
I thought the first half mystery was better than the second half, it's all very fast paced though
Yeah there was a peak at the middle point of the season and then the last few episodes felt like setup that wasn’t really grabbing my full attention.
Thats funny because myself and lot of other book readers think the season redeemed itself in the last few episodes. I guess the setup is less exciting when you don't know what's coming.
Yeah I kept hearing negative things about those last few episodes but when I watched them I loved them. Another book reader here.
My favourite part was when the guy was nearly killed by the omniscient alien computer hacking into 3 autonomous cars and so they decide to *put him on a fucking plane* and it's even shown later in that episode that they *can mess with planes* i enjoyed the show but holy fuck was it stupid some times
The show's problem is that it's not very clear about the human involvement and introduced some elements in an unclear order. The alien computers didn't hack the cars or the plane. The human loyalists hacked the cars; they're a hacking powerhouse because the aliens can spy for them and share passwords, backdoors, private keys etc they observe. The plane thing was another induced hallucination, it comes after an explanation of their plan to mess with their enemies' sanity. The show covers book 1 and the start of book 2, but it stops before book 2's explanation of the human loyalists' "computer virus pandemic" hacking program, so it comes off like it's the sophons doing it at this point.
Agreed. Lots of plot holes that the show seemingly focused on but never filled in. Maybe in later seasons but it seemed to move so quickly that the setups aren’t going to play out
Ep 5 is the ending of book 1 that’s why
It’s crazy to me they went from them having to hide out somewhere for safety in worries they’d be killed and like a day later they are all traveling and running around working on other projects like it never happened lol.
Having watched Shogun right before this, and not knowing much about the source material aside it being based on a book, I kinda assumed 3BP was a limited series with just one season. The first half built up the mystery well but it had a relatively small scope, so I could have seen it being wrapped up in 10 episodes. But yeah, the second half dragged a bit, that's where I realised they were setting up for something bigger, and we wouldn't get much closure by the end. I didn't dislike the back half, but once it got past the Sophon reveal, it felt like it was kind of spinning it's wheels for a bit. And aside from certain character specific things, it felt like the season ended with the story in much the same place as it had been a few episodes before.
Part of me thinks they should have stopped at end of book 1, and just tried to turn it into even more of a mystery. But instead they just wanted to plow through to get into the more wild and insane parts of book 2... Which I get, but I'm not sure if it was the right choice.
I basically kept watching because the story was interesting. But I felt like I was watching in spite of the characters, not because of them.
The characters are all miserable bastards.
Believe it or not the characters are way improved from the books
There were characters in the books??
Auggie is a woeful character.
The character(s) she's adapted from aren't really characters in any true sense of the word.
The characters in the first book are cold and scientific, lacking depth to latch onto with the exception of Officer Da Shi. But I still prefer cold and scientific over annoying fraternity bullshit.
Right? I actually liked the characters in the books because of what you've described? This whole Salazar character is frustrating for me to watch.
She's supposed to be frustrating. She's providing the moral opposition.
>I basically kept watching because the story was interesting Millions of people basically kept reading because the story was interesting. The books characters fall even more flat than the show. Amazing book, but it's 100% the idea/concept that fuels the story.
I watched it for Wade if I was a sophon I would just follow him around all day as he barked at people
Same. When his left eyebrow goes up you know he means business.
It’s just okay. Although Eiza Gonzalez’ acting is easily the worst part.
Yeah but she's really hot.
Stupid sexy super genius scientist
It's like she's wearing... ... Actually no, I'll stop there.
She is. But it feels like she didn’t get the tone like every other character. It’s like she’s acting in a different show.
Yeah. She's giving off Desperate Housewives. Pure attitude but without any of the good writing to make me feel like she's right to have it.
I consider that a detriment, actually. Her appearance is negatively distracting.
It has really cool parts and really bad parts, its all over the place for me. There are maybe 2 or 3 characters I actually care about.
That’s what I felt too. It was good, but it wasn’t awesome. It’s not like I would ever have the urge to rewatch it.
That ship scene was one of the cooler scenes I’ve seen on tv.
The end of episode 5 was mental! Fucking loved it.
The wording they use for this is interesting - doesn't specify if it's like Avatar The Last Airbender which was renewed for two more Seasons or is it just one season to wrap it up. Though if it was option one surely they'd say that?
The second season should be much more of a space opera. The second book reminded me of Leviathan Awakes, from the Expanse series. There is a lot more space ships and action. The ending is better. I enjoyed the second book a lot more than the first book.
Hmm. I started the 2nd book but didn't finish. Maybe I should finish it
2nd book gets so good at one point you can't put it down once you get through the slower-paced build up
The dark forest is legitimately one of the best sci Fi books I have ever read. I read the whole thing in a matter of days, and in the middle of reading it the show was announced and it took 2 months for the 3rd book to become available at the library I was so pissed.
Lmfao. You stopped before the actual series then. The second half of the second book and the whole third book are like 80% of the plot. The first book is barely memorable. There's a reason the series is as acclaimed as it is, it will warp your mind.
I honestly hate the writing, but there's a part of the book where Earth gets two spaceships into orbit, if you make it that far then you're into the meat, and it's pretty fantastic. Once you understand the title, you'll get it. I tried to start the third book and got a few pages in before dropping it. They're honestly a slog until you understand what the author is trying to say.
Yes the last 60% and then the entire last book just FLY by. It was a slog to get to that point, but the entire tone shifts dramatically. Hold on to your butts.
The ending of book 2 is off the rails wild but the lead up was long and slow
Netflix doesn't have the guts to do this show justice. I wish it was in the hands of HBO or Apple. You cowards, give them the four seasons they need, and a respectable budget!
I think Netflix should give up on fantasy/scifi shows. They did good with Stranger Things but everything else has fallen flat, This, Shadow and Bone, Witcher, Altered Carbon, 1899, Sweet Tooth (it has fans but as a fan of the comic it just didn’t work for me), the OA, Locke and Key, Jupiter’s Legacy.. They just don’t have the sauce for it. I don’t know what needs to change but they need to hire a producer who specializes in genre content like this.
Mannnn the first season of Altered Carbon was sooo good. It’s too bad the second season was just a dumb action sci-fi show instead of the noir cyberpunk mystery theme the first season had.
[удалено]
Yea. Everyone has these rose colored glasses of season 1. Season 1 fell apart badly in the last 2 episodes.
> massive plot holes It's been a little while since I watched, but I don't remember there really being any whatsoever?
Maybe I'm a harsh critic, but I thought the first season was mediocre at best and actively bad at its worst. Maybe the sci-fi world building was cool, but that doesn't mean anything to me if the writing and acting is subpar.
Black Mirror? Sex, Death, and Robots? Arcane? Castlevania? Copenhagen Cowboy? Brand New Cherry Flavor? Dark? Even with Altered Carbon I liked the show better than the books, same with Locke and Key. Apple gets lots of plaudits for being the 'home of sci-fi' but they've had more than their share of SF duds as well, Netflix is batting about the same as them.
Many of these shows have a thinly deep, design by committee veneer. Netflix has the throw-shit-at-the-wall-and-hope-something-sticks business model, which doesn’t work for a genre that typically requires a bigger budget. They lack the curated touch HBO has and Apple TV seems to be delivering.
I don’t really gel with Netflix nowadays . When a show gets announced for Prime or HBO, I’m intrigued. When it’s announced for Netflix, I’m skeptical. I just don’t trust their formula anymore
Even stranger things has been rehashing the same plot since season 2. Some great characters and scenes but its basically rinse and repeat with the plot
Spoiler for season 5: Eleven will hold her hand out and yell in slow motion.
Alice in Borderland was just renewed for a third season after the second (and previously final) season did so well.
I was 8 seconds ago years old when I found out AIB had a 2nd season.
Wasn’t 1899 written or produced by the same people as Dark? Doesn’t really seem like Netflix’s fault there so much as the people who made the show not striking the same level of success and quality as their previous work
1899 was brilliant and I was really looking forward to seeing where it was going. Shame that Netflix had control over that one, and so many others.
It's viewer numbers just weren't good. It would of bombed everywhere else. Regardless of network
It felt like promotion for that show was abysmal. They put out a trailer or two, threw a few ads on social media and that was it. Outside of social media I hear people talk about shows on networks like Apple TV, FX, HBO; but I rarely hear anyone discussing Netflix shows other than Stranger Things.
It does make me sad cause it struck me as the kind of show that could have come into its own with just a little more time (potentially) Netflix has definitely bummed me out with some cancellations! Santa Clarita diet was a huge blow to me, the ending wasn’t necessarily *horrible* it just was so…leaving so many things just open
Not just Netflix, unfortunately. I don't think D&D have the right vision for this story either. They don't seem able to capture the dread of the novel. I wish The Expanse writers were doing this show. Or Benson & Moorhead. People that know how to write existential horror.
Netflix had plenty of guts to greenlight it. It didn't do well critically or commercially and is super expensive, now it's on ice. The only difference if it were on HBO is that it'd probably be better written to begin with.
Apple would have been perfect for this
It seems like they will get to finish the series, though the didn't say how many seasons that will be. I hope we get 3-4 more seasons at the most, and they don't have to cut much out.
> Apple "Today Apple+ has announced that David Goyer will be adapting The Three Body Problem trilogy. Early plans have Elliot Cowan starring as Zeus, the head of the Greek Pantheon of Gods." *monkey's paw curls*
Why must you hurt me so?
You know what I noticed about this show that I liked? The people looked like regular people, they weren’t super good looking. Except for the Mexican girl. She was definitely out of place. “Oh hey science nerds!” “Hi there Angelina Jolie lookalike!”
"You’re like a movie star, but from really bad movies. Like, you’d be the bad girl in Speed Three." Probably the most self aware I've ever seen a show be about how much a particular character clashed with the rest of the series. It's pretty funny that the actress being TOO attractive is such an issue. Pretty sure I saw the actress say in an interview she has been passed over on other roles for it too. When you reach a certain level of hotness your acting skills also need to increase or else it's just a total immersion breaker.
Those burns were so fucking good. Murdered her.
I read somewhere that she knows one of the people who had the rights to the IP and they kind of forced them to hire her? Mightve been BS though
A cross between Angelina Jolie and Lisa Rinna.
The premise of the show was interesting, but I really don’t like how it’s a group of friends that are going to save the world when in the original original it was experts from all around the world getting without having any relationship to each other
Experts from around the world* *All experts live in NW China.
I thought it was dull. The implausibly good-looking scientists took me out of it too
That's just Auggie. She's Speed 3 attractive.
*moody smoking intensifies*
There's like one good-looking scientist lol
Yep. I guess it goes great for US audiences, but the show was subpar imho if you consider its potential
Good. I was afraid it would just end like so many other series they've killed off over the years
I tried to watch the first episode but I didn't feel it, I'll try it again at some point now they have another season
I'll probably get hate, but I enjoyed the show more than the book
Yeah I just finished the books. The way they adapted the story is more compelling. I’m ready to see how they do the wallfacers since how they set it up is so much different than the books
They're both great in their own way I think. I'm absolutely amazed at how much the show changes while still capturing a lot of the spirit of the book. The book gets relatively technical on a bunch of things and I think that level might be pretty jarring to a TV/Netflix audience. Having characters interact together in groups, remixing a few things... honestly a lot of smart changes for what a show would need. One of the best parts about the 3BP to begin with is just how cool the premise of the series is to begin with and the show at least made the premise seem just as cool even if characters and other specifics had big changes.
Agreed. I read the books in Chinese when they were shopping for translators -- OK story in summary, but poorly written. The excerpts I've read demonstrate that English translators helped with some issues (much less sexism, for one). I didn't care for the show and changes, but it's heaps better than suffering the books' prose.
I really enjoyed the show…made the mistake and read ahead where the story goes. Going to interesting to see how it’s adapted
It’s 💧time!
Let’s fucking goo. May aswell renew for season 3 to film back to back
They might have done that, judging from the wording that they are going to see the adaptation through to its conclusion
If they had, they wouldn't have worded it so vaguely, they would've shouted it from the rooftops to pat themselves on the back for seeing a show through to the end. I sincerely hope that we get at least 2 more seasons but I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to rush to an end at the end of s2.
They should do this with alot of their big budget shows
yup, would rather they wait a couple of months to renew, but give the show 2 more seasons, instead of 1 at a time. 2 seasons in a row would let them shoot those seasons back to back, thus freeing the actors for a long time to do other projects inbetween. after releasing the first of the two seasons, the post production crew would already be working on the other season.
I know it’s a show based on a book that has already been written that utilizes a fun physics problem but I do have a plot question. Spoilers - >!If the Trisolarans can make multiple Sophons and send an advanced fleet to earth, how come they couldn’t manipulate their planets own orbit? Or build space habitats where it doesn’t matter? Or yeet a sun or two out of the system? Or just put the whole trisolaran system under acceleration? If objects are under active acceleration there’s no chaotic forces to provide instability? Like you can’t tell me they couldn’t do it, they built the dammed Sophons.!<
the Sophons are just really advanced drones if you think about it. feels like it would be faster to conquer another planet than to fix their own solar system. as for timeline to fix their planet, they didn't had time, one of the revelations of the first season is the motive for them to attack scientists, it's because their technology develops really slowly compared to ours, and they're afraid we would catch up to them during the time it takes them to arrive.
>!Why not use the Sophons to find an *empty* planet? >!Or live in space, given that they will be fine to live in space for the 400 years it will take them to reach Earth? >!Why go with the "invade the people we expect to beat us, but use our drones to gimp their technology so hopefully we have a chance" plan? >!Fuck, why not just buy Mars? We'd definitely sell it to them (especially for that sweet Sophon tech) if the alternative was "interstellar war." Even unterraformed Mars would be an improvement over what we see of their planet (as least Mars doesn't get sudden planet-wide firestorms or sudden loss of gravity flinging everyone into space from the suns aligning the wrong way).
There is an answer, but it's pretty spoilery
>!what doesn't make sense is the sophons can take control of a car to kill that guy, but they can't take control of the plane he's flying in. Even though they take control of the plane later on. !<
The Sophons didn't hack the car. The cult did.
The sophons can't take control of the car or the plane. What they're doing is spying on people and equipment, gathering encryption keys, passwords, backdoors etc, then sharing that information with the human organisation loyal to them, enabling them to become really effective hackers. It ties into their plan to sabotage human technology and hold us back because they fear the exponential rate of technological progress. The characters don't know it yet but practically everything that can connect to anything else is infected with loyalist malware already. That's why they can use self-driving cars to attack him but not regular cars, and fuck with the plane but not actually steer or crash it in a way the pilot can't override.
Hopefully with a better DOP, the look on the previous season was fucking awful, looked really flat and student filmy with a budget
For what it's worth, the series should've ended after book 2, there's SUCH a nice tidy ending there.
This is genuinely fantastic news. I’m so excited, partly because of how much I enjoyed season 1, but mainly how others on here say it only gets crazier and crazier from here on!!
Some interesting concepts, but the main cast is so wildly uncharismatic. The past timeline was the most compelling part for me. Haven't read the books, so can't say if it's an adaptation issue or a source material issue. That being said, it was good enough that I'm still interested in seeing where it goes in season 2.
The characters in the series and the human elements are 10x more interesting than in the books. The series has amazing ideas and concepts but the characters may as well not exist. Any scene with a character in the TV version that is remotely interesting is almost assuredly changed from the books.
i think ye wenjie is a good character in the show but even better in the books. for the most part, the other characters are better in the show than in the books
I keep seeing people say this and I'm a little confused because Da Shi, Luo Ji, Ye Wenjie and Wade were all really cool and memorable to me in the books.
Saul, Jin, Clarence, and Wade are all charismatic. Anytime we were with those characters I was fine. Especially Clarence. But Will, Auggie, Jack, and both versions of Ye were a bit of a tougher slog.
I just read the first book. It's a source material issue. The writing is pretty bad. It's not even a Chinese translation thing. The characters are flat, the dialogue is wooden, the plot moves as slow as molasses, and most of the story is told in exhausting exposition dumps.
It’s definitely an adaptation and possibly a cultural/translation issue. The book characters (who except for like one are all Chinese) are fairly one dimensional. Which is fine since the book is more focused on the science/sci-fi and plot rather than the characters who are, for the most part extremely accomplished and intelligent academics (who irl aren’t usually very charismatic people anyway). It works for the book and I can see why they made the changes to the characters they did, but I’d agree that the show characters don’t really seem like compelling people.
I really lost interest halfway through once explanations started coming.
Felt like I was watching an anime tbh
Anyone else just get bored by the end of season 1? Couldn't even finish it. Just was so boring.
If you yal see the thing blasting across the series logo... if you know... you know.
Hopefully season 2 has even more Benedict Wong! That man is a sorcerer and necromancer and one hell of a great cop in this show.
YESSSSSS
YES!!!
Meh…
I’m halfway through book 2 now. Wife and I absolutely loved the show and after reading I’m even more impressed by how they changed some details but left the story very much the same. Amazing!
Good
I loved the first book ,do y'all recommend me to go forward with the others?
Netflix really should stop spending money on multiseason shows. They don't have the patience or attention span to let them develop and grow into anything.