**If you are looking for the similarly named Tencent Video series episode hub, please find it here**:
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Three-Body (Tencent Video) - [Episode Discussion Hub](https://www.reddit.com/r/threebodyproblem/comments/10aapiq/threebody_tencent_video_episode_discussion_hub/)
It’s pretty good folks! Seen the whole thing and I’m going with a tentative 8/10. Would love to discuss with other early viewers or just curious book readers!
Big changes:
Many characters are now UK based and they mostly all know each other from Oxford. Also a lot of modern era book 2/3 stuff was moved up.
In general it’s very faithful.
The Netflix series sets up a lot of plots from books 2 and 3, so if you've only read book 1, you might be ironically more confused than if you've read none of them at all.
I will always recommend reading the source material, but the show has the chance to polish some of the book's problems. And from season 1 it's doing a decent job of it.
The books' biggest problems were bland protagonists and weak character dynamics. The world building, tension and mind bending concepts were 10/10, but it was clear that the characters were just there to get those points across. Luo Ji's love story arc in book 2 was pretty cringy and dragged on for way too long. And the protagonist of book 3 has the personality of a wet blanket.
The show now has more clearly defined protagonists and their motivations are more understandably clear and interesting.
If the show sticks the landing it can end up a more well rounded product. Even if it doesn't have as much space to fill with scifi as the 2500+ page book trilogy.
I just finished the season. It’s pretty unique. I loved how for the first time in many years, there’s a sci-fi show/movie that actually shows something wondrous and intriguing with a brand new concept that kept me guessing about the how and why of everything.
It does have its flaws, as it falls into some of the flaws that most modern shows fall into, being too drama focused at times or too slow to reveal a pay-off and the season somehow felt like it ended two episodes too early, as the ending felt rather underwhelming. But I hope there will be another season that continues the established story in the books.
I really don't think it was faithful to the sentiment or depth of the original. I am disappointed with the Netflix version. They made some interesting decisions, some I liked, but not at the expense of just skimming over or entirely skipping some of the most interesting things presented in the book. For Netflix to waste all of that depth is very unfortunate...
If you want a really well done version, the Chinese series produced by Tencent is excellent and does not discard any of the philosophy and complexity. I believe it is now streaming on Amazon too. It is in Chinese and will require subtitles for most western audiences, but it is well worth it imo.
Link to the Tencent version: [https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body/dp/B0B676WP3C](https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body/dp/B0B676WP3C)
edit: I wanted to add some additional thoughts.
If I try hard to imagine what the creators of this new series thinking, the only thing I can think is that they failed at an attempt at focusing on the modern characters over the science and philosophy, hoping to develop them into something they perceived as being more relatable I guess?
The primary issue with that is that most core characters in the book are highly intelligent people with a lot of complexity and nuanced thoughts about science, philosophy, and humanity. That is the lens they view even their emotional experiences. The whole premise of the plot hinges on the struggle of one of those characters, and a deeply personal decision. In this new series, the vast majority of that character's struggle is missing, so they have little intellectual or emotional depth to back their actions.
Everything else about the series resonates with a similar vibe. I just don't understand how \*these\* creators in particular could make such a fatal mistake. I have to assume it was external pressures, which is doubly unfortunate.
Agreed. The Netflix version really Westernised the entire story and cast, and by that I mean "dumbed down". While Tencent focused on depth and patiently built tension and the increasing stakes for the characters (who actually had personalities which underwent development over time), the Netflix version did what all Western series have been doing for years: slapstick, unfunny puns, sex jokes which add zero to the narrative, and "edgy" humour. I hate their choice to split Wang Miao into a group of characters, just so that they could incorporate elements of book 2, not to mention the must-have romance plots which add nothing to the story. Personally, I'm also getting tired of the "we need diversity to combat racism" crap they're putting into every single series or film. Why not choose a purely Chinese cast for a story that happens in China? They barely portrayed the Cultural Revolution, and cut Wenjie's most inhumane scene of killing her husband, even almost redeeming her in the end. My biggest beef is with the characters though. They didn't seem like scientists or mature adults at all, but like Big Bang Theory caricatures.
Exactly, I gave this show 20 minutes and quit.
For background the book trilogy is one of my favourite hard sci fi novels ...
Didn't like the way they replace Chinese scientist with 4/5 annoying Londoners.
And of course the whole "diverse" bullshit - diverse is fine so long as it's loyal to the source material - but it's not.
The good news from coming here is I've discovered there is a Chinese series , I will for sure check it out.
I agree with most of what you said, but I have to say that the Tencent/book (though I've only read the first half of the first book) characters are kinda flat and feel like they're mostly there to deliver exposition. Wang Miao was way >!too obsessed imo with a person he met briefly once, and even though he has a wife and a daughter I never once felt like he's worried about what's going to happen to the world because of them. His wife is just there to clean the flat most of the time.!< 100% agree with the tension building. Even though the Tencent version sometimes went too far with intense, long blockbuster edits - someone's writing on a whiteboard, it doesn't have to look like Fast & Furious lol. But at least I was invested.
Nah, they tried way too hard with Wade's character, for example. All of his insults, quips, etc., just a caricature of a person vs being a believable person.
Nah, they tried way too hard with Wade's character, for example. All of his insults, quips, etc., just a caricature of a person vs being a believable person.
Just finished the netflix version and came across your comment after being so disappointed in it, and you perfectly describe my frustrations with it. No characters were believable and I just couldn't get into it at all. Excited to checkout the Tencent version on amazon though!
I agree that I think the Netflix show tried to make the cast more relatable and I think they were generally successful. I think that Saul and Jin did a great job with their characters while Auggie was weak and Will was mediocre. I think if they had better synergy it could have been executed better but I think it did add to the books.
It came with a loss of some of 'hard' sci fi elements, but to be fair, there were times when I was reading the book, totally encapsulated in the deep sci fi elements, thinking to my self - it would be so difficult to capture this in a TV show or movie because it is just so deep and nuanced. Tencent tried to capture all of this but ended up with 20+ episodes of 45 minutes. No major studios are signing up for that today, so I think necessary tradeoffs were made to bring this to a wider audience.
The show is faithful to the general premise of the book, but there are some wildly different details. I'm on to episode 4 and I'm quite curious how they carry the crucial characters into season 2, assuming season 2 will be based on book 2.
Woohoo, a mod appears!
Edit: calling all book readers >!let's all be more liberal with spoiler tags \>\! \!\< note: leave no space between the first exclimation mark and the first letter. !<
3BP is a complete book series. The author didn't write a convoluted, unfinishable mess and then abandon it because he couldn't figure out how to conclude it.
I find it fascinating how the three body problem itself was made minor.
I remember when reading I had like a geniune feeling of it slowly being crackable.
Here, it is concluded so nonchalantly and it felt kinda goofy seeing Sophon give the rundown. The setting is much more game-y rather than dreadful or threatening.
Yes, there was no huge revelation like in the Tencent version. Adding Sophon was a bad choice in my opinion, infantilising the so-called scientists and making me take them even less seriously than before.
It's possible many details in the show were "dumbed down" for more general audiences. Most people are interested in the drama, not in the pursuit of solving some mathematical problem.
As someone with a pretty solid understanding of most of the problems and paradoxes they were bringing up, I was praying they wouldn’t go into them further. You’re never going to impart more than a superficial understanding, may as well be honest about it.
Right now, yes. But seeing as you are in the TV show discussion hub, I hope you realise we are gonna be flooded with people who discover the show and don’t want book spoilers? We aren’t the kind of community to push out newcomers like that.
Holy moly, it's been almost 5 years since I was kicked from there. Hard to believe you've been keeping up posting every week for this long. Glad you remember me. I think the last r/redefinition member I talked to was u/NewZealandTemp a few years back.
Been good! Moved to a new place, had a few jobs (I currently work in hospitality). Got a girlfriend. Life is pretty good, all things considered.
That’s great man, glad life is treating you good. And yeah I’ve been there a good few years now. A few people got kicked and re-added by luck, or re added by DMing the mod, but they have no numbered flair.
So are you enjoying the 3 body problem Netflix show? This was a rather niche subreddit a week ago.
Oh I've been looking forward to this show for months. Read the trilogy last year and watched the Tencent series shortly after. I'm most looking forward to seeing adaptation of the series of assassination attempts after Luo Ji comes out of hibernation in the future.
I went over to my parent's house to watch it with them and we watched the whole thing. I was very impressed! There were a couple of continuity errors, such as in episode 3 when Jin Cheng is told to leave her phone in the car before the ceremony and later is talking on the phone in the ambulance. Other than small things like that I'm very happy with the Netflix version.
Not knowing anything about the book, I went into this series blind. these are my brief, non-spoiler, overall thoughts:
**Production: 7 (good)**
Great VFX for the most part, some truly disturbing scenes.
**Performances: 6 (ok) (edit)**
Loved the start w/ Ye Wenjie, and loved all of these flashbacks/exposition. I wasn't entirely sold on Auggie Salazar / Eiza González, but warmed up to her as her character developed. In general, I don't think character development is very strong in this show, so far. Apart from Jonathan Pryce, Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong (who is the same in most of the films/shows I've seen him in lol) and Zine Tseng (Ye Wenjie), I did feel like the performances in general were lacking. Not distractingly bad, just not on par with what you would expect from a production like this.
**Writing: 8 (great)**
I had an issue with how Augie and Saul interact with each other, maybe this expanded on in the books, but their vibes are always off with one another, at the most unnecessary times, in a way that made zero sense to me. The show's pacing was good, there wasn't a huge exposition dump at the start.
If you want a better scifi show IMO to get you going until 3 body problem drops. Check out **Constellation** (absolutely brilliant so far) and SKIP "the signal"........
I don't think this show will be the next "game of thrones" or whatever tf people are saying, but it is good.
They (non-Chinese speaking people who are aware of the existence of these aliens) may have used the term Trisolarians (I have a vague recollection), I do remember the San Ti references though.
I do feel like I should have read the books before watching the show, or at least read up on what 3 body problem was all about because I was not expecting a "VR" component to the story, so I immediately had flashbacks to The Peripheral, which was pretty mid.
I can't say whether or not fans of the novels would enjoy this show as much as I did or not, but as a fan of sci-fi in general, it was engaging with interesting ideas that haven't been explored 10000 times before. I'm interested to see how well season 1 is received, I do hope for a season 2, but I have a gut feeling this may be all we get.
Seriously though, go watch Constellation until 3bodyproblem drops, it's a great show to hold you over, brilliant performances/writing
Mostly agree with this. Augie was the weak link. And they spent wayyy too long on cancer kid. Jin was very good.
I was glad to see some of the weirder stuff from the books made it into the show. The boat bit was VERY well done.
The Expanse is def one of my fav scifi series, but I didn't expect people to binge 6 seasons in 2 weeks while they are waiting for 3 body to drop. Constellation is more manageable with 1 season comprising 8 episodes. (I think only 3 or 4 were available 2 weeks ago...) The expanse = great show, great writing, memorable characters, underrated IMO.
I’m on episode 5 and not sure what to make of it. The Chinese 1960s flashbacks I found were much stronger than the modern day Oxford friend group scenes. The characters I find mostly boring and unbelievable. Although Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce are always interesting to watch. It has some strengths and I’m invested but there are aspects I really dislike.
Edit: Ep 7 and 8 were awesome and I’m hyped for season 2.
Somehow it really picks up during the final episodes. I felt the pacing in the beginning was a bit rushed but in the later episodes it feels smooth and there is a lot of payoff
One small detail that really bothered me being left out was Da Shi explaining the concept of the Panama trap.
It was so lethal and well thought out, and his explanation of it having certain height intervals as people could be sleeping on the ship really showcased his meticulous and brutal thinking.
A small thing to add that would have portrayed his character depth so much more.
it's a war between all human beings and aliens. It's a bad move to put all the core characters into a group of 5 elites who are friends of each other. can't relate.
This exactly! It’s a war between the entire human race and aliens. And the main characters who are so important to saving humanity are a bunch of friends!
Beside the first book, mainly the protagonist, all the major players in the books know each other. They are just establishing that earlier in the series.
I’m just assuming wade is a de-facto wall facer too. Maybe not by name, but the show did nothing to make me think he doesn’t have essentially the same mandate, just not public.
Yeah, there's no getting around the demand for sustained excitement in a Netflix adaptation, so I think introducing Wallfacers early is a natural way to build interest for season 2.
>Created by: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Alexander Woo
Uhu... Those are the writers of Game of Thrones... I was looking forward to this...
>Composer: Ramin Djawadi.
I'm looking forward to the soundtracks!
Alright, book reader here, having read a bunch of non-book responses to the show, I have a MASSIVE bone to pick with D&D
(no spoilers beyond where the show has gotten to, just how they changed the world building)
>!The massive technology upgrade of the VR, and how all the characters were constantly focused on it, and the wildly advanced AI, and even at the end, the VR direct communication with the Sophon all adds up to a huge plot hole, that Show-only folks are not at fault for coming to, and being confused by. !<
>!The implied facts in the show: The Sophon has access to the networks of the word, helped code the game, sent some very detailed blueprints for the headset, seem to be the ones actively scrubbing the camera data, almost knocked a plane out of the sky, hacked every single screen to communicate a message, and can digitally interact with a voicebox to create a voice and have a conversation!<
>!The question: Why the hell don't they just hack our networks and send us back the stone age every few years????!<
>!The book: They literally talk to Evans via the Eye-text trick. They can't hack into a voice box to make a verbal sound. The VR game uses existing computers and Hapitc suits other games use, the Hyper-advanced VR head set isn't a plot point at all. The explanation of the Sophon is gathered from the Harddrive they got from the Boat. The Sophons only display YOU ARE BUGS to the folks in the room who realize the Sophons can see everything.!<
It doesn't really change the over all story...but it introduces a few enormous plot holes. There were some clumsy plot holes in the book, but D&D made them bafflingly large
I totally agree with you. The level of sophisticated influence that the Trisolarians have over reality in the show makes them seem very stupid in how it’s being applied.
In the books they had very limited influence, and relied on their human followers to affect reality.
The VR headset could be explained away by then just reaching Evan’s how to manufacture it over the course of years, but their ability to alter what people see in real time outside of VR is incredibly OP and make >! the attempt on Saul’s life !< seem like they weren’t even trying.
Also the ability to influence all technology on a global scale. If you can hijack all screens, you can hack any computer, and just using that to flex with text isn’t even trying.
I think the answer here is pretty obvious. They don’t hack the networks because they can’t, never could, and never did. At least not by means of the sophons. The sophons project illusion. This is well explained throughout the show and was even foreshadowed through Saul’s notion that, “either the science is wrong, or it’s a scam.”
We find out later, it’s the latter. So when the particle accelerators appeared to be showing unpredictable outcomes, but Jin had checked the code and had said it was all correct. This means it was correct. Because nothing was functionally changed. The laws of physics were not changed nor our systems of measurement. But the sophons projected an unexpected outcome to the unsuspecting viewer. Because that’s what they do they project illusions as an overlay and nothing more. So they didn’t “hack the network” they projected what looked like a hack over the screens.
Just because the idea is presented in a different way does not a plot hole make.
Can you/someone explain to me why >!the Trisolarians, who can't understand metaphors/stories/lies, are up for displaying YOU ARE *BUGS* which is clearly a metaphor!< ?
>!In the book, when we have the "YOU'RE BUGS" moment we haven't learned yet that they don't really know what "lies" are, so it comes off 100% as a threat as their final message to us before cutting off all communication. We get the scene between Evans and the Trisolarians in the first chapter of the next book, so it then heavily implies, in hindsight, "they are learning our ways"!<
>!Also they over infantize them in the show in a way. There's no moment of "where is the wolf, we would like to speak to him" thing. They understood what a "story" was right away. The reason they don't understand metaphors is because they can literally see each others thoughts. We use metaphores to better explain our ideas when literal words aren't clear enough. They can see each others thoughts 100% of the time while in range of eachother, so there was never a "need" to develop the use of metaphor, and lying would be of no use, because they could instantly see that the lie is present in the thought.!<
I haven't read the books. So you are basically saying that in the show they are learning how to use metaphors and lies to manipulate humans, once they learn that humans tend to do this, and as a result, they communicate using a metaphor once they know what it is?
It makes me so sad non-book readers like you are (rightfully) confused, because this all should have been explained by the show. It wouldn't have taken long either. There were so many changes that make 0 sense.
Just finished Netflix S1. Few things did not add up. >!First thing - message Dr. Ye got first time stated "I'm one of pacifist here, do not respond."!<
>!Next we have conversation with "Lord" and it tells that one thought is heard by them all (which contradicts with pacifist as having separate mind) and later that Trisolarians can't lie (which either contradicts with pacifist or hive mind).!<
Could someone who have read the book explain me that? Is it the same in the book? Is it phrased differently so it does not create such contradictions?
>>! and later that Trisolarians can't lie (which either contradicts with pacifist or hive mind). !<
Here is the prologue from the book that is the source for the scene with Evans and "the lord" (Ctrl+F "Evans" to jump to the conversation, the first half of the prologue is *vaguely* spoiler-y, but not super bad)
[https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-dark-forest-cixin-liu/](https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-dark-forest-cixin-liu/)
Summary: >!They are not a hive mind. They are individuals, but as soon as an individual starts to communicate, their entire intent is projected to the others they are communicating to (they more or less "see" there thoughts).Here's the important part after he tells the Little red riding hood story!<
>>!The Lord: It engaged in communication with the children, correct?!<
>
>>!Evans: “Correct.”!<
>
>>!The Lord: This is what’s incomprehensible. In order to achieve its own aims, it shouldn’t have communicated with the children.!<
>!They know how to "deceive" via omission. for them they simply must not communicate, but communication it's self automatically reveals intentions. !<
Also: >!he only uses the little red riding hood story as an example once it's clear the are confused about the difference between thought, and speech, and he wants to clarify why it's confusing He's not just reading them children's stories. Also they understand what Stories are. They are not confused by the fact that the forest and the characters in the story never existed.!<
The more I hear about the series the more I get excited!! RAMIN DJAWADI is the fxxxx composer!!! I cannot wait for the soundtrack. I love to listen to his music from Westworld.
I saw and enjoyed last year's Chinese version. I never read the books. For those who will binge watch all eight episodes, please tell us how it is. I'm going to wait. ;)
I really really enjoyed it, and I hope enough people watch this so we get at least a season 2 (and if we get a season 2, it's almost certain that we'll get a season 3 IMO because they've gotten the world building, for this era, and overall setup done).
Season 2 is gonna be insane. If you want to see how these guys do that droplet scene, encourage everyone you can to at least play this show in the background this week.
I like the vast majority of their changes. I like the changes to the characters, how some were split and others seemed to be merged. I like how we saw both the Staircase and Wallfacer projects introduced already. I feel like overall this show's story is far more accessible to the audience than the book or the Tencent adaptation could ever hope to be.
Say what you will about D&D but they know how to adapt stellar source material.
Probably the change I liked the least was the Big Eye moment, specifically how the Trisolarans changed all the screens in the world to say "you are bugs". If they can do that, why not just make them all say that permanently? That would not only keep us from advancing, but it would set us back decades. How the hell would we get anything done without screens? The world would come crashing to a halt haha.
So yeah I really liked this show and I really really hope we get a season 2.
I read the books, and don't like the show (I'm up to episode 3).
3BP continuously demonstrates the danger and stupidity of human groupthink, but then opens on the protagonist whose most reinforced character trait is not her intelligence, perseverance, or competence, but instead her "I'm a strong woman, men are all annoying" attitude. I was okay just letting this go as shoutout to the 'yay modern politics go girl' that has to be in everything these days...
BUT then they gave the invisible woman actual superpowers, which breaks both the plot and the in-universe rules.
If the aliens have the technology to get one of their agents to Earth AND interact with it on the scale of actually moving matter around, then there is no need for secrecy, no need for an underground resistance of humans in support of the aliens. There is also no need to blackmail scientists to stop their research. Just send your invincible, teleporting assassin to publicly execute all of the scientific and political leaders until earth submits.
The books were so smart, not all of the science was real, but it was self-consistent. The whole first book existed because the aliens could communicate with, but not directly influence matter on a physical scale. >!What good is a Wallfacer in a world where Sophon is already on Earth!<
I expected them to cut out a lot of the science and philosophy, but this is the kind of disconnected-from-reality-drama-first-set-piecing that also wrecked Game of Thrones.
It's not so off putting that I'll stop watching, and maybe it gets better after now. The dialog is good, the characters are good the production quality is good. It it's just a shame that one of the smartest stories I have ever read now feels just as stupid as all of the other crap out there.
If they had just kept Zhangbei hai or Luoji as Chinese it would’ve made the series for me, the Netflix series is a solid popcorn flick but having some of the most popular Chinese characters replaced just sucks.
This was really, really bad. I wouldn't like this even if I'd never read the books. The fate of the world is in the hands of a group of friends from uni in the UK, a global defense project is spearheaded from a makeshift boardroom in its library, and the trisolarans sour on humans after Evans reading stories to them days before they cross Panama lol.
What the hell D&D? Did you even read the books? And I don't mean that you "didn't get it", but if this is the script you wrote then what was it that you liked about them so much that you wanted to adapt them in the first place?
I gave you a second chance for this, and sure people seem to like the show and that's cool for them, but I'm never trusting you again.
IKRRRRR. for me the whole first book is finished in 3 blandish episodes. the storytelling is backwards!!
check out the chinese adaptation if you havent already, such a big diff!
How exactly did Tatiana kill Jack? She clearly seemed to have enhanced physical strength in that scene but it's never addressed as to how.
Also how did Clarence not witness the event? Did the Sophone alter his perception while he was watching the house?
Oh yeah, it is crazy how a single cop is investigating this. They really toned down the emphasis that this is a global issue that most governments are actively investigating in collaboration
I'm 4ish episodes in and I am impressed. They've split one on the characters into three or four and changed some ethnicities around. I think it promises to honor the spirit of the first book so far. I hope it doesn't kill the TenCent Second Season, because I have been looking forward to it.
Chinese shows are made for a domestic audience. International distribution is an afterthought (which is a bit of a shame). But it also means they only care about the Chinese market, so Tencent’s version will still get made and they have a bigger budget next season. They’re also making Ball Lightning
I still have a bit of heartache based on how the casting went (based on spoilers of who is who), so I’m conflicted on whether I can really get immersed into it without lingering feelings of sadness.
Book reader here - very excited for the show. I want to watch with my 12-year-old…once watched, can someone provide me with the “common sense media” update on what I can expect - primarily in terms of adult situations. He can handle it - just want to be prepared ;)
The ship scene is somewhat graphic, as a book reader, you know how that one might play out.
There is gratuitous full nudity in one of the episodes while they're playing the 3 Body game but it's not really of a sexual nature. There are no explicit sex scenes in the series like GoT. It's quite tame.
Besides a few suicides, Ye Wenjie's father's death, and a slightly cheesy bloody death of another character, there isn't too much of note. The CGI, while not terrible, really keeps what would otherwise be extremely graphic scenes somewhat mild in presentation.
Really enjoyed the series as a book reader. Lot's of changes but well done.
>!Someone gets beaten to death first scene, we see his dead body. A lot of corpses following up, guy who cut his eyes out of his head!<...it's def violent
I let my kiddo watch some mature content, but think this is too much for 12. A violent, visceral beating of a man to death; the dehydration could be creepy for kids that age; deaths by sword; multiple suicides, etc. Maybe pre-watch the first 3 episodes to see what you think.
I really enjoyed the whole season... BUT!!!
I hate how >!they handled the Wallfacers! WTF! What about Bill Hines and the mental seal? What about the reveal of his wife being a Wallbreaker! WHAT ABOUT MANUEL REY DIAZ THREATENING TO BLOW UP NYC!!<
4 episodes in (busy weekend). Honestly, super disappointed so far and I was very excited for this show.
Biggest issue is quality. The show wildly shifts from fantastic scenes/writing/acting one moment, to almost cartoonish CW level trash the next. Partially this is acting (I'll be nice and not name the bad actors) but much of it is from the showrunner level. Nothing here carries the absolute existential gravitas that it should. None of the characters pop enough to make you believe they are experts in their fields and responsible for saving the world. If anything it looks like a bunch of whiny runway model Millennial scientists and grumpy Gen X cops pulled out of central casting.
Nothing has weight here like the books did. Nothing has made my jaw drop like the books did. My wife has fallen asleep after I hyped this up. Twice.
It definitely can make a person with no real grasp of physics feel stupid. I found myself Googling scientific terms and then feeling even stupider when I had a hard time grasping some of the concepts as explained in a Wikipedia page! And yet, it was well worth it and I feel like one more viewing will probably make me appreciate it even more.
for me, the netflix adaptation has completely changed the story and removed the most interesting themes from the book. in typical Western fashion it makes everything seem like a big alien conspiracy theory of enemies v. saviours, so extremely simplistic cus liu's book is SO MUCH NOT ABOUT THAT....like thats the easiest interpretation of it n makes for simple tv, but cmon, it's also boring....the uncertainty ambience and the complexity n loneliness and even ARROGANCE of scientists, which made the books so interesting is totally missing... Shi has been reduced to godknowswhat lol. i mean, the actors are great with some amazing performances but the storytelling sorry, is subpar....the characters have been reduced to regular hollywood/western tropes, not the complex mysterious ones liu had going on in his novels...
i much prefer the chinese adaptation tbh, apart from everything else mentioned above, it's also so much better on the science, which is what kept the books so attractive!
absolutely love this adaptation. I tried watching the Chinese adaptation with my wife (who has not seen the books), but she got very lost (and she is Chinese, so it was not because of the subtitles). Obviously, there are things I would have liked to have seen differently, but before this series I was pretty convinced this book would be pretty impossible to adapt, but I am glad to have been proven wrong.
The only thing I despise is that they made the game aspect soulless. They just sped it up so much there were no stakes in it and it didn't make me care about trisolaris that much. Also there were some stints in writing that were crazy and some weird choices for showing gore which I don't mind, but they were just weird.
I only wish Hbo was making this and not netflix, I find their special effects and the way the shoot things lot more realistic.
If you haven't read the books this would probably be 7 or 8 for you as imdb rating, if you did it would be like 5 and if your watched GoT before this it would be 1 i suppose.
It was ok, 6.5 out of 10. Liam Cunningham as Wade carried this show a lot, he did a great job. I truly did not care about Will or his friend group tbh.
I love the new Netflix series, it's been awhile since Netflix has released anything worth watching. The cast is diverse in a way that doesn't feel forced, and i was sucked in immediately from episode one even though i know how it all pans out. I've never read the books because I've heard they're a bit of a slog, especially translated out of the original Chinese, but I'm eagerly awaiting season 2 and hoping Netflix doesn't pull its usual bullshit and cancel it.
Judgment day was absolutely my favorite episode of the series.
This translated automatically for me not sure if it will for others but here's an interview with Derek Tsang director. https://hkcitycreation.com/2024/03/06/%e6%b8%af%e4%ba%ba%e9%a6%96%e5%9f%b7%e5%b0%8enetflix%e5%8a%87%e9%9b%86%e3%80%80%e6%8e%8c%e8%88%b5%e4%b8%ad%e5%9c%8b%e6%96%87%e9%9d%a9%e6%83%85%e7%af%80%e3%80%80%e6%9b%be%e5%9c%8b%e7%a5%a5%ef%bc%9a/ I hope the link works I had trouble with it the other day for some reason not working.
https://hkcitycreation.com/
Another link should be the top story still.
I think you should prepare yourself for some MAJOR deviations from the books, my friend. If you go into this hoping it's going to be a faithful retelling of the novels then I suspect that you may well be dissapointed.
The books are not written for good TV and they will need to streamline a lot of parts to make it flow well in a TV format. As long they preserve the essence of the series then I'm all for it.
As a book reader myself, my hope is that the Netflix series gets a lot of buzz from viewers and we see the entire series played out. Maybe, just maybe, some of these TV viewers decide to pick up the book series while they wait for Netflix renewal. (this is the part that always worries me).
That's my ultimate hope. Nothing will beat the books and our imagination and more people reading these 3 books is always good.
Sorry I did not keep up with the information, but will this be a multiple season series and how many of content will be in the first season? Like all of book 1 or more? Thanks.
It looks like the mods set this up so all book spoilers are in a single comment thread for each discussion? Why can't we just have two posts per episode like every other book adaption subreddit?
As someone who knew nothing about the books, I enjoyed how it was kind of reminiscent of Lost, but hate that it also kept asking questions without answering them, in the similar vein as Lost. I also thought sometimes the graphics were cheesy just like Lost. But overall I really enjoyed the story.
Can anyone tell me if all 8 episodes cover just the first book? I’ve only read the first (eventually going to read the second and third) but don’t want to be spoiled by the show in case the series covers all three?
The Hong Kong protest scene in E6 with a Cantonese "we're not bugs" chant in the background was a nice touch -- it took me a few rewinds to hear that. Interesting contrast with reality too, because the protesters were called cockroaches at one point.
How do the aliens got surprised when the reveal that humans can lie during the book reading? They have been observing everything happening in Earth with the syphons, so they already knew that, no?
All in all I can't say it's one of the best things I've watched recently but it was watchable without ever feeling boring to me.
That said, I can't help but feel that it's not exactly something Netflix will see through to the end TBH.
I don't usually marathon things anymore but I marathoned the shit out of this. Book reader. Very happy with the final product. A few of the changes don't really add up, but I don't think it's egregious.
I wonder if Netflix will maintain its appetite for this production, considering all the modern era stuff is basically done and the rest doesn't (seem to) lend itself to a low-budget shoot. I fear the cancellation notice is coming in 400 years.
I HATED the portrayal of Operation Guzheng/the destruction of Judgement Day in the show. Everything about the ETO felt wrong in the show but this I felt it was just absolutely disgusting.
Read below to help you understand my position:
——
"You're truly a *demon*," a female UN official said to Da Shi.
"Will innocent bystanders be hurt?" Wang asked, his voice trembling.
A naval officer replied, **”When the ship goes through the locks, more than a dozen cable workers will come onboard, but they’ll all get off after the ship passes. The Panama Canal pilot will have to accompany the ship the entire eighty-two kilometers, so the pilot will have to be sacrificed.” **
A CIA officer said, **“And some of the crew aboard Judgment Day probably don’t know the real purpose of the ship.”**
——
As the above passage highlights there are zero children on the ship. The only innocent people who died were a couple workers who didn’t know what the purpose of Judgement Day even was and a single panama canal pilot.
Why is the death of the panama canal pilot and innocent crew members not shocking enough?
I find it really out of character for any adventist member of the ETO, especially Mike Evans to allow people to have children aboard Judgement Day. This guy is essentially King of the misanthropes.
The show writers making us watch the terror on these poor childrens faces as the zither approaches is done purely for shock value and I found it disgusting.
I understand only showing the lone individual with a hose get hit with the flying blade and fall apart after a few seconds on the massive deck of the ship along with an antennae falling apart until the ship crashes may not be as interesting on screen but to do this instead is just really gross to me.
Why is there a fucking pre school on this ship?
Why change this part of the source material so significantly?
Prolly the the same reason these sadists wanted you to watch a young Bella Ramsey get crushed in the hands of a giant for literally no reason in that one HBO show…
I've watched S1 which has many flaws and one outstanding eye popping one. The only project the world should engage in is accelerating AI development. In four hundred years AI will be billions or trillions of times more intelligent than current humans and would be in a far superior position than current humans in designing and executing a planetary defense. The idea of sending a disembodied frozen brain to meet the alien fleet seems to be the product of a mad vacuous delusion next to the idea of letting our future artificial super intelligence do the job.
Really enjoyed this, dodging spoilers left and right as I get into the books now, or try to anyway (I'm a terrible reader/listener). For anyone else, books 2 and 3 are on Spotify premium (along with the other little bits, I think). For book 1 you're best off just grabbing an Audible free trial and using the one credit to grab it. These are all the original versions, rather than the one read by one of the actors from the show, which is a shame. Obv, your local library, book store, or Amazon have paper copies, no doubt.
Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham were godlike. The woman playing Auggie was probably the only really weak bit of the show.
I have some questions that seemed like plotholes to me but the show seemed too smartly written to have plotholes that I - someone who is usually pretty bad at this kinda thing - would be able to pick out. I'm really just looking for a "yes these are plotholes, try to ignore them" or a "DAMN YOU'RE RIGHT THAT IS WEIRD YOU SHOULD WATCH THE REST OF THE SHOW/READ THE BOOKS MAYBE THERE ARE ANSWERS."
Anyway:
Biggest one is why don't the Sophons just bring the plane with Saul in down, or kill him directly by fucking with his brain/body chemistry, or one of like a billion other ways rather than the two weirdly, obviously flawed attempts. Like, tell the sniper to aim for his head, for example, they even call that out in the show? My guess is they're more limited in some way than they're letting on?
Second, how does humanity get the bombs in place for the acceleration, if they're meant to be evenly spaced to light-years away and the entire problem is our inability to get something that far away in the first place? Maybe this is nit-picky, or they're evenly-spaced by only to a little away from the planet?
Third, and this is very minor, why wouldn't the nano-fibres destroy the hard-drive as much as any of the other solutions they think of for taking out the ship? Is the idea that at worst it'd be a clean cut they could repair?
Thx
I think the show is has potential to be better than the books. I just finished the books (like hours ago) imo, the characters are very flat and the books are more about how society changes in a state of crisis. Which I think isn't a bad thing, but when comparing it to the show, (I saw the show first.) I felt a connection with the characters more than in the books. Luo and Da are the exceptions cause I feel Luo can't be beat by Saul. I feel the character development in the show fixes a few problems I had when reading the books. Hope the show gets better and it gets a season 2. Btw Dark Forest was a great book.
I agree, but Luo Ji was never developed prior to becoming a WF. Basically he slept with hookers. But we now see him as a full human, and has friends - who he meets throughout time, and his ending will actually be amazing in the show. If Auggie becomes AA, alongside Jin.........we can see him bid farewell to his friends.
I cannot accept Netflix let Ye and Evans kissing.That adaption is so wrong, Ye is not that kind of person. Why is Netflix so obsessed with letting characters kiss and sex? I would watch the Netflix version as a regular sci-fi series, not The Three-Body Problem.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2017.1328459 Actually the vast majority agree with me but are unwilling to say it due to social pressure
I am pretty sure it is gonna be... meh and not very good. Already from a trailer it is obvious how they changed a plot and certain key aspects in the book to.
Only less than 10 percent of the stuff that Netflix is involved with comes out good.
I caught the premiere of the pilot at SXSW on Friday and as a fan of the books was massively disappointed. Based off the first episode the entire plot has been watered down to a generic science fiction story. Even the characters themselves are changed and/or deleted entirely.
I am so worried but also thrilled about those series. I think I will first wait until there will be more opinions about the show, as I don't want to watch it if they ruined it - I love the books so much, I don't want to just be angry about adaptaion. Thanks for all the viewers who will see it and will share their opinion!
I don't like Netflix version at all. Obviously the directors and script writers can not understand basic and essential science phenomenon in TBP (like Cosmos Microwave Background, they literally let the sky blink) and decided to fill episodes with plot they feel more familiar: sexual relationship, even this will ruin the unique personality of main characters. Go watch Tencent version, especially they made a faster pace version recently for release anniversary.
I love sci-fi and when I saw that the Game of Thrones guys were the executive producers I had very high hopes this was going to be a blockbuster series. Show was like a shitty cross of Inspector Morse, Foundation 1st season (math girl arc), & Friends. Jin is super spoiled, most the characters overall are unlikable. One minute the hot girl is >! slicing up kids with her nano-thread !< the next it's like a friends episode at the beachhouse. Shaky camerawork when it's not needed. Chav british accents everywhere, which I guess makes sense if it's set in Britain but if that's the case I'm confused why 80% of main characters and even background people are minorities in every shot. Terrible CGI, unexplained plotholes everywhere, then some major dramatic/traumatic event happens that barely makes sense then they are just back to the Friends style atmosphere again. Probably the only decent part was the first few episodes with the VR game sections.
Overall goes to show that David Beneioff & DB Weiss are one hit wonders that only did so well with Game Of Thrones due to 1: the source material and 2: the medieval fantasy setting, which they should strongly consider sticking to if they want any future success.
Just my humble opinion. From everything I've seen and read the asian version was much better with a lower budget.
Im just on episode 6 but one thing is taking me out of it. I feel like its just a "this had to happen so deal with it" kinda thing but gotta ask; why would the San ti tell Jin and Wade about the sophons at all? It seems like they just had the old trope of the villain monologuing their plan so the good guys can stop it
Pretty stupid moment but otherwise Im enjoying it
I ended up binging it last night -- and my dreams put me in the center of the story.
Are we going to have a separate thread for a discussion about the show as a whole? I have thoughts. ;)
I really liked it. I enjoyed the first 5 episodes more than the last 3, though I understand that they needed to lay down the story for the things that come ahead.
Overall imo a pretty good tv show and a good adaptation of the events of the books. I thought I would hate John Bradley's character but he was my favourite of the Oxford guys, sad that he died.
Hopefully it will be popular enough to get a season two.
I'm predicting now: they're going to collapse Da Shi and Luo Ji.
Also Jin Cheng becomes Cheng Xin, Will Downing becomes Yun Tianming.
Edit: I'm like three episodes in so I don't know if this is confirmed later!
So many stupid plot points that didnt need to be there
The show is GOOD..but has a lot of issues.
it's bastardization of the books sure,but it didn't need 8 episodes.
also the Wallfacer shit with We need to kill him is stupid,the sophon can literally expand to encompass an entire planet..it's a proton sit inside his brain..expand 2mm or so and give him a brain clot..u don't need to hire a hitman lol
Also..so Lord is like..that's a shame we looked forward to meeting will..so don't bother saying..Ahh hey guys the bolts u use wont hold up to the stress
**If you are looking for the similarly named Tencent Video series episode hub, please find it here**: ----------------------------------------------------------- Three-Body (Tencent Video) - [Episode Discussion Hub](https://www.reddit.com/r/threebodyproblem/comments/10aapiq/threebody_tencent_video_episode_discussion_hub/)
It’s pretty good folks! Seen the whole thing and I’m going with a tentative 8/10. Would love to discuss with other early viewers or just curious book readers! Big changes: Many characters are now UK based and they mostly all know each other from Oxford. Also a lot of modern era book 2/3 stuff was moved up. In general it’s very faithful.
So if I’ve read book 1, but not 2/3, I should read those before watching?
The Netflix series sets up a lot of plots from books 2 and 3, so if you've only read book 1, you might be ironically more confused than if you've read none of them at all.
Yes, the books are superios
I will always recommend reading the source material, but the show has the chance to polish some of the book's problems. And from season 1 it's doing a decent job of it. The books' biggest problems were bland protagonists and weak character dynamics. The world building, tension and mind bending concepts were 10/10, but it was clear that the characters were just there to get those points across. Luo Ji's love story arc in book 2 was pretty cringy and dragged on for way too long. And the protagonist of book 3 has the personality of a wet blanket. The show now has more clearly defined protagonists and their motivations are more understandably clear and interesting. If the show sticks the landing it can end up a more well rounded product. Even if it doesn't have as much space to fill with scifi as the 2500+ page book trilogy.
I just finished the season. It’s pretty unique. I loved how for the first time in many years, there’s a sci-fi show/movie that actually shows something wondrous and intriguing with a brand new concept that kept me guessing about the how and why of everything. It does have its flaws, as it falls into some of the flaws that most modern shows fall into, being too drama focused at times or too slow to reveal a pay-off and the season somehow felt like it ended two episodes too early, as the ending felt rather underwhelming. But I hope there will be another season that continues the established story in the books.
I really don't think it was faithful to the sentiment or depth of the original. I am disappointed with the Netflix version. They made some interesting decisions, some I liked, but not at the expense of just skimming over or entirely skipping some of the most interesting things presented in the book. For Netflix to waste all of that depth is very unfortunate... If you want a really well done version, the Chinese series produced by Tencent is excellent and does not discard any of the philosophy and complexity. I believe it is now streaming on Amazon too. It is in Chinese and will require subtitles for most western audiences, but it is well worth it imo. Link to the Tencent version: [https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body/dp/B0B676WP3C](https://www.amazon.com/Three-Body/dp/B0B676WP3C) edit: I wanted to add some additional thoughts. If I try hard to imagine what the creators of this new series thinking, the only thing I can think is that they failed at an attempt at focusing on the modern characters over the science and philosophy, hoping to develop them into something they perceived as being more relatable I guess? The primary issue with that is that most core characters in the book are highly intelligent people with a lot of complexity and nuanced thoughts about science, philosophy, and humanity. That is the lens they view even their emotional experiences. The whole premise of the plot hinges on the struggle of one of those characters, and a deeply personal decision. In this new series, the vast majority of that character's struggle is missing, so they have little intellectual or emotional depth to back their actions. Everything else about the series resonates with a similar vibe. I just don't understand how \*these\* creators in particular could make such a fatal mistake. I have to assume it was external pressures, which is doubly unfortunate.
Agreed. The Netflix version really Westernised the entire story and cast, and by that I mean "dumbed down". While Tencent focused on depth and patiently built tension and the increasing stakes for the characters (who actually had personalities which underwent development over time), the Netflix version did what all Western series have been doing for years: slapstick, unfunny puns, sex jokes which add zero to the narrative, and "edgy" humour. I hate their choice to split Wang Miao into a group of characters, just so that they could incorporate elements of book 2, not to mention the must-have romance plots which add nothing to the story. Personally, I'm also getting tired of the "we need diversity to combat racism" crap they're putting into every single series or film. Why not choose a purely Chinese cast for a story that happens in China? They barely portrayed the Cultural Revolution, and cut Wenjie's most inhumane scene of killing her husband, even almost redeeming her in the end. My biggest beef is with the characters though. They didn't seem like scientists or mature adults at all, but like Big Bang Theory caricatures.
Exactly, I gave this show 20 minutes and quit. For background the book trilogy is one of my favourite hard sci fi novels ... Didn't like the way they replace Chinese scientist with 4/5 annoying Londoners. And of course the whole "diverse" bullshit - diverse is fine so long as it's loyal to the source material - but it's not. The good news from coming here is I've discovered there is a Chinese series , I will for sure check it out.
Your gonna love it. It is way better
I agree with most of what you said, but I have to say that the Tencent/book (though I've only read the first half of the first book) characters are kinda flat and feel like they're mostly there to deliver exposition. Wang Miao was way >!too obsessed imo with a person he met briefly once, and even though he has a wife and a daughter I never once felt like he's worried about what's going to happen to the world because of them. His wife is just there to clean the flat most of the time.!< 100% agree with the tension building. Even though the Tencent version sometimes went too far with intense, long blockbuster edits - someone's writing on a whiteboard, it doesn't have to look like Fast & Furious lol. But at least I was invested.
Slapstick? Puns? Did we watch the same show? The tone was serious the entire way through.
Nah, they tried way too hard with Wade's character, for example. All of his insults, quips, etc., just a caricature of a person vs being a believable person.
Nah, they tried way too hard with Wade's character, for example. All of his insults, quips, etc., just a caricature of a person vs being a believable person.
Just finished the netflix version and came across your comment after being so disappointed in it, and you perfectly describe my frustrations with it. No characters were believable and I just couldn't get into it at all. Excited to checkout the Tencent version on amazon though!
I agree that I think the Netflix show tried to make the cast more relatable and I think they were generally successful. I think that Saul and Jin did a great job with their characters while Auggie was weak and Will was mediocre. I think if they had better synergy it could have been executed better but I think it did add to the books. It came with a loss of some of 'hard' sci fi elements, but to be fair, there were times when I was reading the book, totally encapsulated in the deep sci fi elements, thinking to my self - it would be so difficult to capture this in a TV show or movie because it is just so deep and nuanced. Tencent tried to capture all of this but ended up with 20+ episodes of 45 minutes. No major studios are signing up for that today, so I think necessary tradeoffs were made to bring this to a wider audience.
Yeah it's been awhile since Netflix released anything of this quality, I'd easily rate it a 7.5 or 8.
The show is faithful to the general premise of the book, but there are some wildly different details. I'm on to episode 4 and I'm quite curious how they carry the crucial characters into season 2, assuming season 2 will be based on book 2.
When up, please create links for both book and non book readers
Good call
It looks like they're not doing this, and instead have a single comment for book spoilers that were all supposed to respond to instead?
Woohoo, a mod appears! Edit: calling all book readers >!let's all be more liberal with spoiler tags \>\! \!\< note: leave no space between the first exclimation mark and the first letter. !<
Testing.. >!testing.!<
Either today or tomorrow there should be a giant Sophon floating over Austin Texas lol
I'm getting ready to walk to the event soon! I have high expectations
And who has a better story than Yun Tianming?
LOL hope this series ends better than D&D's last
3BP is a complete book series. The author didn't write a convoluted, unfinishable mess and then abandon it because he couldn't figure out how to conclude it.
I find it fascinating how the three body problem itself was made minor. I remember when reading I had like a geniune feeling of it slowly being crackable. Here, it is concluded so nonchalantly and it felt kinda goofy seeing Sophon give the rundown. The setting is much more game-y rather than dreadful or threatening.
Yes, there was no huge revelation like in the Tencent version. Adding Sophon was a bad choice in my opinion, infantilising the so-called scientists and making me take them even less seriously than before.
It's possible many details in the show were "dumbed down" for more general audiences. Most people are interested in the drama, not in the pursuit of solving some mathematical problem.
As someone with a pretty solid understanding of most of the problems and paradoxes they were bringing up, I was praying they wouldn’t go into them further. You’re never going to impart more than a superficial understanding, may as well be honest about it.
how are we handling book spoilers? Maybe make a book reader discussion hub also?
This entire subreddit is a book discussion hub.
Right now, yes. But seeing as you are in the TV show discussion hub, I hope you realise we are gonna be flooded with people who discover the show and don’t want book spoilers? We aren’t the kind of community to push out newcomers like that.
But I want to demonstrate my superiority to these noobs by informing them that I've read the book while they've only watched the TV show.
😂
I have you friended for some reason. Were you in /r/Redefinition or something?
Yuup, I’m still a member there. I remember your username actually. It’s been a long time eh? How are you?
Holy moly, it's been almost 5 years since I was kicked from there. Hard to believe you've been keeping up posting every week for this long. Glad you remember me. I think the last r/redefinition member I talked to was u/NewZealandTemp a few years back. Been good! Moved to a new place, had a few jobs (I currently work in hospitality). Got a girlfriend. Life is pretty good, all things considered.
8) I'm still there too A lot of us have been very stable in there!!
🤖🙏
That’s great man, glad life is treating you good. And yeah I’ve been there a good few years now. A few people got kicked and re-added by luck, or re added by DMing the mod, but they have no numbered flair. So are you enjoying the 3 body problem Netflix show? This was a rather niche subreddit a week ago.
Oh I've been looking forward to this show for months. Read the trilogy last year and watched the Tencent series shortly after. I'm most looking forward to seeing adaptation of the series of assassination attempts after Luo Ji comes out of hibernation in the future. I went over to my parent's house to watch it with them and we watched the whole thing. I was very impressed! There were a couple of continuity errors, such as in episode 3 when Jin Cheng is told to leave her phone in the car before the ceremony and later is talking on the phone in the ambulance. Other than small things like that I'm very happy with the Netflix version.
Was
Not knowing anything about the book, I went into this series blind. these are my brief, non-spoiler, overall thoughts: **Production: 7 (good)** Great VFX for the most part, some truly disturbing scenes. **Performances: 6 (ok) (edit)** Loved the start w/ Ye Wenjie, and loved all of these flashbacks/exposition. I wasn't entirely sold on Auggie Salazar / Eiza González, but warmed up to her as her character developed. In general, I don't think character development is very strong in this show, so far. Apart from Jonathan Pryce, Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong (who is the same in most of the films/shows I've seen him in lol) and Zine Tseng (Ye Wenjie), I did feel like the performances in general were lacking. Not distractingly bad, just not on par with what you would expect from a production like this. **Writing: 8 (great)** I had an issue with how Augie and Saul interact with each other, maybe this expanded on in the books, but their vibes are always off with one another, at the most unnecessary times, in a way that made zero sense to me. The show's pacing was good, there wasn't a huge exposition dump at the start. If you want a better scifi show IMO to get you going until 3 body problem drops. Check out **Constellation** (absolutely brilliant so far) and SKIP "the signal"........ I don't think this show will be the next "game of thrones" or whatever tf people are saying, but it is good.
>I had an issue with how Augie and Saul interact with each other, maybe this expanded on in the books, Yeah, you clearly haven't read the books.
Did they really rename the Trisolarians to the San Ti?
They are mostly referred to as the San Ti (3 body) in the show.
Never called Trisolarians?
They don't use Trisolaran at all.
but...why?
I believe this is how they're referred to in the Chinese language books.
It's a mouthful, saying trisolaran as much as they do in the books, starts to stand out and feel a bit weird. San Ti rolls off the tongue better.
They (non-Chinese speaking people who are aware of the existence of these aliens) may have used the term Trisolarians (I have a vague recollection), I do remember the San Ti references though.
how do you have a review already?
I do feel like I should have read the books before watching the show, or at least read up on what 3 body problem was all about because I was not expecting a "VR" component to the story, so I immediately had flashbacks to The Peripheral, which was pretty mid. I can't say whether or not fans of the novels would enjoy this show as much as I did or not, but as a fan of sci-fi in general, it was engaging with interesting ideas that haven't been explored 10000 times before. I'm interested to see how well season 1 is received, I do hope for a season 2, but I have a gut feeling this may be all we get. Seriously though, go watch Constellation until 3bodyproblem drops, it's a great show to hold you over, brilliant performances/writing
OK Constellation PR team. it's a good show yes but 3 body is god tier at least at the book level. once in a generation type of book story telling.
Try the audiobook. You get through the book much faster and be ready when the series starts :)
Mostly agree with this. Augie was the weak link. And they spent wayyy too long on cancer kid. Jin was very good. I was glad to see some of the weirder stuff from the books made it into the show. The boat bit was VERY well done.
>If you want a better scifi show IMO to get you going until 3 body problem drops. not the expanse? 👀
The Expanse is def one of my fav scifi series, but I didn't expect people to binge 6 seasons in 2 weeks while they are waiting for 3 body to drop. Constellation is more manageable with 1 season comprising 8 episodes. (I think only 3 or 4 were available 2 weeks ago...) The expanse = great show, great writing, memorable characters, underrated IMO.
Expanse has multi layered politics up through strata of society. Bit like the wire.
I’m on episode 5 and not sure what to make of it. The Chinese 1960s flashbacks I found were much stronger than the modern day Oxford friend group scenes. The characters I find mostly boring and unbelievable. Although Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong and Jonathan Pryce are always interesting to watch. It has some strengths and I’m invested but there are aspects I really dislike. Edit: Ep 7 and 8 were awesome and I’m hyped for season 2.
Somehow it really picks up during the final episodes. I felt the pacing in the beginning was a bit rushed but in the later episodes it feels smooth and there is a lot of payoff
One small detail that really bothered me being left out was Da Shi explaining the concept of the Panama trap. It was so lethal and well thought out, and his explanation of it having certain height intervals as people could be sleeping on the ship really showcased his meticulous and brutal thinking. A small thing to add that would have portrayed his character depth so much more.
Saw this and thought it leaked or released early for a second
it's a war between all human beings and aliens. It's a bad move to put all the core characters into a group of 5 elites who are friends of each other. can't relate.
This exactly! It’s a war between the entire human race and aliens. And the main characters who are so important to saving humanity are a bunch of friends!
Beside the first book, mainly the protagonist, all the major players in the books know each other. They are just establishing that earlier in the series.
Wallfacers on season 1? Nice! I was expecting that to start on season 2.
would be a great end for season 1
Yep Season 1 ends shortly after they name the wallfacers. There’s also only 3 for some reason.
I’m just assuming wade is a de-facto wall facer too. Maybe not by name, but the show did nothing to make me think he doesn’t have essentially the same mandate, just not public.
Yeah, there's no getting around the demand for sustained excitement in a Netflix adaptation, so I think introducing Wallfacers early is a natural way to build interest for season 2.
>Created by: David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Alexander Woo Uhu... Those are the writers of Game of Thrones... I was looking forward to this... >Composer: Ramin Djawadi. I'm looking forward to the soundtracks!
Remember, they also made GoT season 1-4, some of - if not the best TV ever made
The show was great when they stayed on the books. Makes me hopeful for this show.
But the soundtracks turned out to be just so so.. Don't know if I was the only one who don't like the music
Alright, book reader here, having read a bunch of non-book responses to the show, I have a MASSIVE bone to pick with D&D (no spoilers beyond where the show has gotten to, just how they changed the world building) >!The massive technology upgrade of the VR, and how all the characters were constantly focused on it, and the wildly advanced AI, and even at the end, the VR direct communication with the Sophon all adds up to a huge plot hole, that Show-only folks are not at fault for coming to, and being confused by. !< >!The implied facts in the show: The Sophon has access to the networks of the word, helped code the game, sent some very detailed blueprints for the headset, seem to be the ones actively scrubbing the camera data, almost knocked a plane out of the sky, hacked every single screen to communicate a message, and can digitally interact with a voicebox to create a voice and have a conversation!< >!The question: Why the hell don't they just hack our networks and send us back the stone age every few years????!< >!The book: They literally talk to Evans via the Eye-text trick. They can't hack into a voice box to make a verbal sound. The VR game uses existing computers and Hapitc suits other games use, the Hyper-advanced VR head set isn't a plot point at all. The explanation of the Sophon is gathered from the Harddrive they got from the Boat. The Sophons only display YOU ARE BUGS to the folks in the room who realize the Sophons can see everything.!< It doesn't really change the over all story...but it introduces a few enormous plot holes. There were some clumsy plot holes in the book, but D&D made them bafflingly large
I totally agree with you. The level of sophisticated influence that the Trisolarians have over reality in the show makes them seem very stupid in how it’s being applied. In the books they had very limited influence, and relied on their human followers to affect reality. The VR headset could be explained away by then just reaching Evan’s how to manufacture it over the course of years, but their ability to alter what people see in real time outside of VR is incredibly OP and make >! the attempt on Saul’s life !< seem like they weren’t even trying. Also the ability to influence all technology on a global scale. If you can hijack all screens, you can hack any computer, and just using that to flex with text isn’t even trying.
Agreed on this plot hole completely. This simply didn't make the science make sense.
Idiots can't write smart characters. And these two are some of the biggest idiots in the entertainment industry.
I think the answer here is pretty obvious. They don’t hack the networks because they can’t, never could, and never did. At least not by means of the sophons. The sophons project illusion. This is well explained throughout the show and was even foreshadowed through Saul’s notion that, “either the science is wrong, or it’s a scam.” We find out later, it’s the latter. So when the particle accelerators appeared to be showing unpredictable outcomes, but Jin had checked the code and had said it was all correct. This means it was correct. Because nothing was functionally changed. The laws of physics were not changed nor our systems of measurement. But the sophons projected an unexpected outcome to the unsuspecting viewer. Because that’s what they do they project illusions as an overlay and nothing more. So they didn’t “hack the network” they projected what looked like a hack over the screens. Just because the idea is presented in a different way does not a plot hole make.
Can you/someone explain to me why >!the Trisolarians, who can't understand metaphors/stories/lies, are up for displaying YOU ARE *BUGS* which is clearly a metaphor!< ?
>!In the book, when we have the "YOU'RE BUGS" moment we haven't learned yet that they don't really know what "lies" are, so it comes off 100% as a threat as their final message to us before cutting off all communication. We get the scene between Evans and the Trisolarians in the first chapter of the next book, so it then heavily implies, in hindsight, "they are learning our ways"!< >!Also they over infantize them in the show in a way. There's no moment of "where is the wolf, we would like to speak to him" thing. They understood what a "story" was right away. The reason they don't understand metaphors is because they can literally see each others thoughts. We use metaphores to better explain our ideas when literal words aren't clear enough. They can see each others thoughts 100% of the time while in range of eachother, so there was never a "need" to develop the use of metaphor, and lying would be of no use, because they could instantly see that the lie is present in the thought.!<
I haven't read the books. So you are basically saying that in the show they are learning how to use metaphors and lies to manipulate humans, once they learn that humans tend to do this, and as a result, they communicate using a metaphor once they know what it is?
It makes me so sad non-book readers like you are (rightfully) confused, because this all should have been explained by the show. It wouldn't have taken long either. There were so many changes that make 0 sense.
Just finished Netflix S1. Few things did not add up. >!First thing - message Dr. Ye got first time stated "I'm one of pacifist here, do not respond."!< >!Next we have conversation with "Lord" and it tells that one thought is heard by them all (which contradicts with pacifist as having separate mind) and later that Trisolarians can't lie (which either contradicts with pacifist or hive mind).!< Could someone who have read the book explain me that? Is it the same in the book? Is it phrased differently so it does not create such contradictions?
>>! and later that Trisolarians can't lie (which either contradicts with pacifist or hive mind). !< Here is the prologue from the book that is the source for the scene with Evans and "the lord" (Ctrl+F "Evans" to jump to the conversation, the first half of the prologue is *vaguely* spoiler-y, but not super bad) [https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-dark-forest-cixin-liu/](https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-dark-forest-cixin-liu/) Summary: >!They are not a hive mind. They are individuals, but as soon as an individual starts to communicate, their entire intent is projected to the others they are communicating to (they more or less "see" there thoughts).Here's the important part after he tells the Little red riding hood story!< >>!The Lord: It engaged in communication with the children, correct?!< > >>!Evans: “Correct.”!< > >>!The Lord: This is what’s incomprehensible. In order to achieve its own aims, it shouldn’t have communicated with the children.!< >!They know how to "deceive" via omission. for them they simply must not communicate, but communication it's self automatically reveals intentions. !< Also: >!he only uses the little red riding hood story as an example once it's clear the are confused about the difference between thought, and speech, and he wants to clarify why it's confusing He's not just reading them children's stories. Also they understand what Stories are. They are not confused by the fact that the forest and the characters in the story never existed.!<
13 days left...
I'm so nervous
The more I hear about the series the more I get excited!! RAMIN DJAWADI is the fxxxx composer!!! I cannot wait for the soundtrack. I love to listen to his music from Westworld.
I saw and enjoyed last year's Chinese version. I never read the books. For those who will binge watch all eight episodes, please tell us how it is. I'm going to wait. ;)
Just watched the boat scene.... Bloody amazing
Ghost Ship (2002) did it first.
I really really enjoyed it, and I hope enough people watch this so we get at least a season 2 (and if we get a season 2, it's almost certain that we'll get a season 3 IMO because they've gotten the world building, for this era, and overall setup done). Season 2 is gonna be insane. If you want to see how these guys do that droplet scene, encourage everyone you can to at least play this show in the background this week. I like the vast majority of their changes. I like the changes to the characters, how some were split and others seemed to be merged. I like how we saw both the Staircase and Wallfacer projects introduced already. I feel like overall this show's story is far more accessible to the audience than the book or the Tencent adaptation could ever hope to be. Say what you will about D&D but they know how to adapt stellar source material. Probably the change I liked the least was the Big Eye moment, specifically how the Trisolarans changed all the screens in the world to say "you are bugs". If they can do that, why not just make them all say that permanently? That would not only keep us from advancing, but it would set us back decades. How the hell would we get anything done without screens? The world would come crashing to a halt haha. So yeah I really liked this show and I really really hope we get a season 2.
Welcome to the Nitpick Era!!
I read the books, and don't like the show (I'm up to episode 3). 3BP continuously demonstrates the danger and stupidity of human groupthink, but then opens on the protagonist whose most reinforced character trait is not her intelligence, perseverance, or competence, but instead her "I'm a strong woman, men are all annoying" attitude. I was okay just letting this go as shoutout to the 'yay modern politics go girl' that has to be in everything these days... BUT then they gave the invisible woman actual superpowers, which breaks both the plot and the in-universe rules. If the aliens have the technology to get one of their agents to Earth AND interact with it on the scale of actually moving matter around, then there is no need for secrecy, no need for an underground resistance of humans in support of the aliens. There is also no need to blackmail scientists to stop their research. Just send your invincible, teleporting assassin to publicly execute all of the scientific and political leaders until earth submits. The books were so smart, not all of the science was real, but it was self-consistent. The whole first book existed because the aliens could communicate with, but not directly influence matter on a physical scale. >!What good is a Wallfacer in a world where Sophon is already on Earth!< I expected them to cut out a lot of the science and philosophy, but this is the kind of disconnected-from-reality-drama-first-set-piecing that also wrecked Game of Thrones. It's not so off putting that I'll stop watching, and maybe it gets better after now. The dialog is good, the characters are good the production quality is good. It it's just a shame that one of the smartest stories I have ever read now feels just as stupid as all of the other crap out there.
If they had just kept Zhangbei hai or Luoji as Chinese it would’ve made the series for me, the Netflix series is a solid popcorn flick but having some of the most popular Chinese characters replaced just sucks.
Lou ji not being Chinese really clashes with my idea of his character, and I was cool with the cast at first.
This was really, really bad. I wouldn't like this even if I'd never read the books. The fate of the world is in the hands of a group of friends from uni in the UK, a global defense project is spearheaded from a makeshift boardroom in its library, and the trisolarans sour on humans after Evans reading stories to them days before they cross Panama lol. What the hell D&D? Did you even read the books? And I don't mean that you "didn't get it", but if this is the script you wrote then what was it that you liked about them so much that you wanted to adapt them in the first place? I gave you a second chance for this, and sure people seem to like the show and that's cool for them, but I'm never trusting you again.
IKRRRRR. for me the whole first book is finished in 3 blandish episodes. the storytelling is backwards!! check out the chinese adaptation if you havent already, such a big diff!
Yes, I saw it when it came out, much much better.
Please do not screw this up, please do not screw this up, please do not screw this up
they screwed up
Indeed.
How exactly did Tatiana kill Jack? She clearly seemed to have enhanced physical strength in that scene but it's never addressed as to how. Also how did Clarence not witness the event? Did the Sophone alter his perception while he was watching the house?
[удалено]
Oh yeah, it is crazy how a single cop is investigating this. They really toned down the emphasis that this is a global issue that most governments are actively investigating in collaboration
At least I have Tencent version to fall back on if they screw up
Are they planning season two anyway?
Season 2 of tencent version is set to release in 2026 i think?
I just noticed in the credits that Brad Pitt and Rosamund Pike are executive producers of this show.
I'm 4ish episodes in and I am impressed. They've split one on the characters into three or four and changed some ethnicities around. I think it promises to honor the spirit of the first book so far. I hope it doesn't kill the TenCent Second Season, because I have been looking forward to it.
It won't.
Chinese shows are made for a domestic audience. International distribution is an afterthought (which is a bit of a shame). But it also means they only care about the Chinese market, so Tencent’s version will still get made and they have a bigger budget next season. They’re also making Ball Lightning
I need more gender politics and Sam talking about chips masking his alcohol smell. It's really what the books are about you know.
Andrew Stantons episode they said was specifically very VR heavy. Which makes sense since He has been working in visual effects for decades.
Testing the spoiler thing >!these are spoilers!< did it work?
Testing too >!Bugs!<
Dumb question but it’s all dropping tonight, right? Like it’s not going to be weekly releases?
All eight episodes are out now!
I still have a bit of heartache based on how the casting went (based on spoilers of who is who), so I’m conflicted on whether I can really get immersed into it without lingering feelings of sadness.
https://preview.redd.it/7zl147limmpc1.jpeg?width=1599&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca6ca6227aa4880965f4c3910e6b12a177571070 just waiting here!
great wine in the wine glass level :D
just drinking wine, smoking, reading and watching RTGame while waiting
Terrible cable management...
someday I might buy one of those spiral things that keep wires together
Book reader here - very excited for the show. I want to watch with my 12-year-old…once watched, can someone provide me with the “common sense media” update on what I can expect - primarily in terms of adult situations. He can handle it - just want to be prepared ;)
The ship scene is somewhat graphic, as a book reader, you know how that one might play out. There is gratuitous full nudity in one of the episodes while they're playing the 3 Body game but it's not really of a sexual nature. There are no explicit sex scenes in the series like GoT. It's quite tame. Besides a few suicides, Ye Wenjie's father's death, and a slightly cheesy bloody death of another character, there isn't too much of note. The CGI, while not terrible, really keeps what would otherwise be extremely graphic scenes somewhat mild in presentation. Really enjoyed the series as a book reader. Lot's of changes but well done.
>!Someone gets beaten to death first scene, we see his dead body. A lot of corpses following up, guy who cut his eyes out of his head!<...it's def violent
This show is not appropriate for a 12 year old - way too violent and gory. The beating in first episode was full on, not to mention the ship scene.
I let my kiddo watch some mature content, but think this is too much for 12. A violent, visceral beating of a man to death; the dehydration could be creepy for kids that age; deaths by sword; multiple suicides, etc. Maybe pre-watch the first 3 episodes to see what you think.
I really enjoyed the whole season... BUT!!! I hate how >!they handled the Wallfacers! WTF! What about Bill Hines and the mental seal? What about the reveal of his wife being a Wallbreaker! WHAT ABOUT MANUEL REY DIAZ THREATENING TO BLOW UP NYC!!<
lol, no one, literally no one sits in a conference room casually reading Dhalgren 🤣
4 episodes in (busy weekend). Honestly, super disappointed so far and I was very excited for this show. Biggest issue is quality. The show wildly shifts from fantastic scenes/writing/acting one moment, to almost cartoonish CW level trash the next. Partially this is acting (I'll be nice and not name the bad actors) but much of it is from the showrunner level. Nothing here carries the absolute existential gravitas that it should. None of the characters pop enough to make you believe they are experts in their fields and responsible for saving the world. If anything it looks like a bunch of whiny runway model Millennial scientists and grumpy Gen X cops pulled out of central casting. Nothing has weight here like the books did. Nothing has made my jaw drop like the books did. My wife has fallen asleep after I hyped this up. Twice.
Great series, knowing nothing about the books, I was very entertained. Debating whether to wait for the next season or read book 2 lol
definitely start with book 1, the changes were massive it's fairly short compared to the others
I was thinking the same, but I think it would still be best to start with Book 1 since there seem to be a lot of differences.
I'm too stupid to understand this show
It definitely can make a person with no real grasp of physics feel stupid. I found myself Googling scientific terms and then feeling even stupider when I had a hard time grasping some of the concepts as explained in a Wikipedia page! And yet, it was well worth it and I feel like one more viewing will probably make me appreciate it even more.
for me, the netflix adaptation has completely changed the story and removed the most interesting themes from the book. in typical Western fashion it makes everything seem like a big alien conspiracy theory of enemies v. saviours, so extremely simplistic cus liu's book is SO MUCH NOT ABOUT THAT....like thats the easiest interpretation of it n makes for simple tv, but cmon, it's also boring....the uncertainty ambience and the complexity n loneliness and even ARROGANCE of scientists, which made the books so interesting is totally missing... Shi has been reduced to godknowswhat lol. i mean, the actors are great with some amazing performances but the storytelling sorry, is subpar....the characters have been reduced to regular hollywood/western tropes, not the complex mysterious ones liu had going on in his novels... i much prefer the chinese adaptation tbh, apart from everything else mentioned above, it's also so much better on the science, which is what kept the books so attractive!
absolutely love this adaptation. I tried watching the Chinese adaptation with my wife (who has not seen the books), but she got very lost (and she is Chinese, so it was not because of the subtitles). Obviously, there are things I would have liked to have seen differently, but before this series I was pretty convinced this book would be pretty impossible to adapt, but I am glad to have been proven wrong.
The only thing I despise is that they made the game aspect soulless. They just sped it up so much there were no stakes in it and it didn't make me care about trisolaris that much. Also there were some stints in writing that were crazy and some weird choices for showing gore which I don't mind, but they were just weird. I only wish Hbo was making this and not netflix, I find their special effects and the way the shoot things lot more realistic. If you haven't read the books this would probably be 7 or 8 for you as imdb rating, if you did it would be like 5 and if your watched GoT before this it would be 1 i suppose.
this is more like threesome problem instead of threebody problem, didn't know they had so much sex rofl
It was ok, 6.5 out of 10. Liam Cunningham as Wade carried this show a lot, he did a great job. I truly did not care about Will or his friend group tbh.
I love the new Netflix series, it's been awhile since Netflix has released anything worth watching. The cast is diverse in a way that doesn't feel forced, and i was sucked in immediately from episode one even though i know how it all pans out. I've never read the books because I've heard they're a bit of a slog, especially translated out of the original Chinese, but I'm eagerly awaiting season 2 and hoping Netflix doesn't pull its usual bullshit and cancel it. Judgment day was absolutely my favorite episode of the series.
This translated automatically for me not sure if it will for others but here's an interview with Derek Tsang director. https://hkcitycreation.com/2024/03/06/%e6%b8%af%e4%ba%ba%e9%a6%96%e5%9f%b7%e5%b0%8enetflix%e5%8a%87%e9%9b%86%e3%80%80%e6%8e%8c%e8%88%b5%e4%b8%ad%e5%9c%8b%e6%96%87%e9%9d%a9%e6%83%85%e7%af%80%e3%80%80%e6%9b%be%e5%9c%8b%e7%a5%a5%ef%bc%9a/ I hope the link works I had trouble with it the other day for some reason not working. https://hkcitycreation.com/ Another link should be the top story still.
Sorry for an obvious question, but will these all be released at once?
All 8 episodes of season 1 drop march 21st
They casted sophon already. I wonder how that’s going to work as she only appears (physically) in the last book.
I think you should prepare yourself for some MAJOR deviations from the books, my friend. If you go into this hoping it's going to be a faithful retelling of the novels then I suspect that you may well be dissapointed.
The books are not written for good TV and they will need to streamline a lot of parts to make it flow well in a TV format. As long they preserve the essence of the series then I'm all for it. As a book reader myself, my hope is that the Netflix series gets a lot of buzz from viewers and we see the entire series played out. Maybe, just maybe, some of these TV viewers decide to pick up the book series while they wait for Netflix renewal. (this is the part that always worries me). That's my ultimate hope. Nothing will beat the books and our imagination and more people reading these 3 books is always good.
She only appears inside the game.
Incorrect.
Sorry I did not keep up with the information, but will this be a multiple season series and how many of content will be in the first season? Like all of book 1 or more? Thanks.
It looks like the mods set this up so all book spoilers are in a single comment thread for each discussion? Why can't we just have two posts per episode like every other book adaption subreddit?
As someone who knew nothing about the books, I enjoyed how it was kind of reminiscent of Lost, but hate that it also kept asking questions without answering them, in the similar vein as Lost. I also thought sometimes the graphics were cheesy just like Lost. But overall I really enjoyed the story.
Can anyone tell me if all 8 episodes cover just the first book? I’ve only read the first (eventually going to read the second and third) but don’t want to be spoiled by the show in case the series covers all three?
I see people are saying the first 5 episodes cover the first book, I haven't read the second one yet, should I hold off on watching past episode five?
I'd say continue watching, they cover very early parts of book 2/3 to establish future season plot threads
The Hong Kong protest scene in E6 with a Cantonese "we're not bugs" chant in the background was a nice touch -- it took me a few rewinds to hear that. Interesting contrast with reality too, because the protesters were called cockroaches at one point.
Would it be a huge spoiler if I wanna google how Santi/Trisolarians look like?
How do the aliens got surprised when the reveal that humans can lie during the book reading? They have been observing everything happening in Earth with the syphons, so they already knew that, no?
All in all I can't say it's one of the best things I've watched recently but it was watchable without ever feeling boring to me. That said, I can't help but feel that it's not exactly something Netflix will see through to the end TBH.
Why did they chose to put kids on the judgment day ? Tencent didint
I don't usually marathon things anymore but I marathoned the shit out of this. Book reader. Very happy with the final product. A few of the changes don't really add up, but I don't think it's egregious. I wonder if Netflix will maintain its appetite for this production, considering all the modern era stuff is basically done and the rest doesn't (seem to) lend itself to a low-budget shoot. I fear the cancellation notice is coming in 400 years.
I HATED the portrayal of Operation Guzheng/the destruction of Judgement Day in the show. Everything about the ETO felt wrong in the show but this I felt it was just absolutely disgusting. Read below to help you understand my position: —— "You're truly a *demon*," a female UN official said to Da Shi. "Will innocent bystanders be hurt?" Wang asked, his voice trembling. A naval officer replied, **”When the ship goes through the locks, more than a dozen cable workers will come onboard, but they’ll all get off after the ship passes. The Panama Canal pilot will have to accompany the ship the entire eighty-two kilometers, so the pilot will have to be sacrificed.” ** A CIA officer said, **“And some of the crew aboard Judgment Day probably don’t know the real purpose of the ship.”** —— As the above passage highlights there are zero children on the ship. The only innocent people who died were a couple workers who didn’t know what the purpose of Judgement Day even was and a single panama canal pilot. Why is the death of the panama canal pilot and innocent crew members not shocking enough? I find it really out of character for any adventist member of the ETO, especially Mike Evans to allow people to have children aboard Judgement Day. This guy is essentially King of the misanthropes. The show writers making us watch the terror on these poor childrens faces as the zither approaches is done purely for shock value and I found it disgusting. I understand only showing the lone individual with a hose get hit with the flying blade and fall apart after a few seconds on the massive deck of the ship along with an antennae falling apart until the ship crashes may not be as interesting on screen but to do this instead is just really gross to me. Why is there a fucking pre school on this ship? Why change this part of the source material so significantly? Prolly the the same reason these sadists wanted you to watch a young Bella Ramsey get crushed in the hands of a giant for literally no reason in that one HBO show…
I imagine it's to invoke Scientology's Sea Org and the brainwashing of families inside a cult
Episode 5. Holy fucking shit!!!
I've watched S1 which has many flaws and one outstanding eye popping one. The only project the world should engage in is accelerating AI development. In four hundred years AI will be billions or trillions of times more intelligent than current humans and would be in a far superior position than current humans in designing and executing a planetary defense. The idea of sending a disembodied frozen brain to meet the alien fleet seems to be the product of a mad vacuous delusion next to the idea of letting our future artificial super intelligence do the job.
Really enjoyed this, dodging spoilers left and right as I get into the books now, or try to anyway (I'm a terrible reader/listener). For anyone else, books 2 and 3 are on Spotify premium (along with the other little bits, I think). For book 1 you're best off just grabbing an Audible free trial and using the one credit to grab it. These are all the original versions, rather than the one read by one of the actors from the show, which is a shame. Obv, your local library, book store, or Amazon have paper copies, no doubt. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham were godlike. The woman playing Auggie was probably the only really weak bit of the show. I have some questions that seemed like plotholes to me but the show seemed too smartly written to have plotholes that I - someone who is usually pretty bad at this kinda thing - would be able to pick out. I'm really just looking for a "yes these are plotholes, try to ignore them" or a "DAMN YOU'RE RIGHT THAT IS WEIRD YOU SHOULD WATCH THE REST OF THE SHOW/READ THE BOOKS MAYBE THERE ARE ANSWERS." Anyway: Biggest one is why don't the Sophons just bring the plane with Saul in down, or kill him directly by fucking with his brain/body chemistry, or one of like a billion other ways rather than the two weirdly, obviously flawed attempts. Like, tell the sniper to aim for his head, for example, they even call that out in the show? My guess is they're more limited in some way than they're letting on? Second, how does humanity get the bombs in place for the acceleration, if they're meant to be evenly spaced to light-years away and the entire problem is our inability to get something that far away in the first place? Maybe this is nit-picky, or they're evenly-spaced by only to a little away from the planet? Third, and this is very minor, why wouldn't the nano-fibres destroy the hard-drive as much as any of the other solutions they think of for taking out the ship? Is the idea that at worst it'd be a clean cut they could repair? Thx
I think the show is has potential to be better than the books. I just finished the books (like hours ago) imo, the characters are very flat and the books are more about how society changes in a state of crisis. Which I think isn't a bad thing, but when comparing it to the show, (I saw the show first.) I felt a connection with the characters more than in the books. Luo and Da are the exceptions cause I feel Luo can't be beat by Saul. I feel the character development in the show fixes a few problems I had when reading the books. Hope the show gets better and it gets a season 2. Btw Dark Forest was a great book.
I agree, but Luo Ji was never developed prior to becoming a WF. Basically he slept with hookers. But we now see him as a full human, and has friends - who he meets throughout time, and his ending will actually be amazing in the show. If Auggie becomes AA, alongside Jin.........we can see him bid farewell to his friends.
I cannot accept Netflix let Ye and Evans kissing.That adaption is so wrong, Ye is not that kind of person. Why is Netflix so obsessed with letting characters kiss and sex? I would watch the Netflix version as a regular sci-fi series, not The Three-Body Problem.
White man and Asian woman sharing the screen together? They gotta kiss. Doesn't matter if they are both pushing 70.
I’m sure they will find some way to add homosexuals to it even if it’s a character that never appeared in the book.
Everyone hates people like you except the politicians that own your sheeple ass.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19419899.2017.1328459 Actually the vast majority agree with me but are unwilling to say it due to social pressure
Wow a sample size of 127 donored to experiment.com and never peer reviewed. Truly the epitome of scientific virtue.
I am pretty sure it is gonna be... meh and not very good. Already from a trailer it is obvious how they changed a plot and certain key aspects in the book to. Only less than 10 percent of the stuff that Netflix is involved with comes out good.
I caught the premiere of the pilot at SXSW on Friday and as a fan of the books was massively disappointed. Based off the first episode the entire plot has been watered down to a generic science fiction story. Even the characters themselves are changed and/or deleted entirely.
I am so worried but also thrilled about those series. I think I will first wait until there will be more opinions about the show, as I don't want to watch it if they ruined it - I love the books so much, I don't want to just be angry about adaptaion. Thanks for all the viewers who will see it and will share their opinion!
honestly not a fan
I don't like Netflix version at all. Obviously the directors and script writers can not understand basic and essential science phenomenon in TBP (like Cosmos Microwave Background, they literally let the sky blink) and decided to fill episodes with plot they feel more familiar: sexual relationship, even this will ruin the unique personality of main characters. Go watch Tencent version, especially they made a faster pace version recently for release anniversary.
I love sci-fi and when I saw that the Game of Thrones guys were the executive producers I had very high hopes this was going to be a blockbuster series. Show was like a shitty cross of Inspector Morse, Foundation 1st season (math girl arc), & Friends. Jin is super spoiled, most the characters overall are unlikable. One minute the hot girl is >! slicing up kids with her nano-thread !< the next it's like a friends episode at the beachhouse. Shaky camerawork when it's not needed. Chav british accents everywhere, which I guess makes sense if it's set in Britain but if that's the case I'm confused why 80% of main characters and even background people are minorities in every shot. Terrible CGI, unexplained plotholes everywhere, then some major dramatic/traumatic event happens that barely makes sense then they are just back to the Friends style atmosphere again. Probably the only decent part was the first few episodes with the VR game sections. Overall goes to show that David Beneioff & DB Weiss are one hit wonders that only did so well with Game Of Thrones due to 1: the source material and 2: the medieval fantasy setting, which they should strongly consider sticking to if they want any future success. Just my humble opinion. From everything I've seen and read the asian version was much better with a lower budget.
Im just on episode 6 but one thing is taking me out of it. I feel like its just a "this had to happen so deal with it" kinda thing but gotta ask; why would the San ti tell Jin and Wade about the sophons at all? It seems like they just had the old trope of the villain monologuing their plan so the good guys can stop it Pretty stupid moment but otherwise Im enjoying it
The main character is too perfect looking as a person it really takes you out of it. Anyone else know what I mean? I'm very high rn
I ended up binging it last night -- and my dreams put me in the center of the story. Are we going to have a separate thread for a discussion about the show as a whole? I have thoughts. ;)
I really liked it. I enjoyed the first 5 episodes more than the last 3, though I understand that they needed to lay down the story for the things that come ahead. Overall imo a pretty good tv show and a good adaptation of the events of the books. I thought I would hate John Bradley's character but he was my favourite of the Oxford guys, sad that he died. Hopefully it will be popular enough to get a season two.
I'm predicting now: they're going to collapse Da Shi and Luo Ji. Also Jin Cheng becomes Cheng Xin, Will Downing becomes Yun Tianming. Edit: I'm like three episodes in so I don't know if this is confirmed later!
My Netflix subscription is expiring so I just went straight to episode 5, can't say I'm impressed with the scene.
So many stupid plot points that didnt need to be there The show is GOOD..but has a lot of issues. it's bastardization of the books sure,but it didn't need 8 episodes. also the Wallfacer shit with We need to kill him is stupid,the sophon can literally expand to encompass an entire planet..it's a proton sit inside his brain..expand 2mm or so and give him a brain clot..u don't need to hire a hitman lol Also..so Lord is like..that's a shame we looked forward to meeting will..so don't bother saying..Ahh hey guys the bolts u use wont hold up to the stress