3 Body Problem: Netflix series was delayed for almost a whole year – because of a 5-minute scene

It was already announced in September 2020 that Netflix was working with “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss on a series adaptation of Liu Cixin’s Trisolaris trilogy. Three and a half years later, “3 Body Problem” is now available on Netflix, but we almost expected the series much earlier.

In mid-2023, the streaming service already had a finished version of “3 Body Problem”, but suddenly the showrunners David Benioff, DB Weiss and Alexander Woo had an idea: the first episode would work much better with another scene.

Does one scene make that much difference?

It’s the scene at the beginning where Auggie and Jin meet in a bar. Here we get to know the two characters, find out how they are connected to the deceased Vera, hear that something is wrong with science and experience how Auggie notices the countdown in her eyes for the first time.

Otherwise we would have met Saul shortly before Vera’s suicide, but only met the other members of the group of friends at her funeral service, which would have thrown the audience into the plot too quickly and without much explanation.

Now you would think that a bar scene lasting almost 5 minutes could certainly be shot quickly and not disrupt Netflix’s release schedule too much. But here the actors’ strike threw a spanner in the works for the series.

Without the strike, “3 Body Problem” would have started in January 2024, and probably even earlier without the new bar scene. Ultimately, the delay ensured that, according to DB Weiss, we got to see the best possible version of the first season, which is of course worth much more in the long run.