The sci-fi series, which is a hit on the platform, is adapted from the novel by Liu Cixin. But can we look The 3-Body Problem without knowing anything about this complex scientific and enigmatic universe?
Does understanding the coordinated movements of several stars interest you? This is the astonishing proposition of 3 Body Problemwhich fills us, from its title, with physical and mathematical concepts: and for good reason, a mysterious evil affects the scientists of the planet, who commit suicide one after the other.
Deemed unadaptable due to its conceptual dimension, this hard SF book is now being adapted with great fanfare on Netflix, very successful for early fans. Could the series be too difficult to digest for those who have not read Liu Cixin’s cult novel?
Ned Stark, the return
From its opening sequence, the series places us on familiar ground with a sequence that reminds us of a completely different scene, which has become cult: that of the beginnings of Game Of Thrones.
In The 3-Body Problem, we start during the Chinese cultural revolution, when intellectuals are humiliated and beaten to death in public squares. Faced with this execution of a father in front of thousands of people, and especially in front of his own daughter, we cannot help but think of the beheading of Ned Stark, at the end of the first season of Game Of Thrones.
A resemblance which is obviously not insignificant, since the showrunners of the great fantasy saga, David Benioff and DB Weiss, are also at the helm of the 3 Body Problem. By summoning images well known to our retinas, the duo establishes a familiar climate from its first seconds, despite a political context rarely developed in TV series.
Of Game Of Thrones has Westworld
Throughout the 8 episodes, we spot nods, voluntary or not, to other references such as the paranormal investigations of Fringe or X Files ; close-ups of a scientist dazzled by the light of his creation as in Oppenheimer ; or not-so-virtual reality headsets like Ready Player One. By invoking the imagination from works well established in our representations, The 3-Body Problem allows us to enter slowly but surely into its enigma.
Even our hearing finds a sensation of déjà vu, since the credits of the Netflix series are composed by the great Ramin Djawadi, behind the memorable soundtrack of Game Of Thrones but also of Westworldanother great SF series with complex concepts.
So, of course, it could sometimes be difficult to understand the entire discussions between the characters, who sometimes use concepts that are a bit abstract for ordinary mortals. But, overall, this scientific understanding is not essential to a good appreciation of the series.
An accessible puzzle
Without being a little mathematical genius or already knowing everything about Liu Cixin’s original work, you can totally enjoy the narration of the 3 Body Problem, who constantly takes us by the hand. If the content is original, the framework is on familiar ground. We even easily get caught up in this puzzle, which could sometimes give us a little headache, but which has the intelligence to never lose us along the way.
Knowledge of the initial novel is therefore clearly not essential to appreciate this series with its successful visuals, which has the audacity of an original approach to its themes and, above all, which never takes us for fools.
By watching the 8 episodes of 3 Body Problemwe can’t help but think about the cancellation of equally high-profile productions like The O.A., unjustly stopped in mid-flight by Netflix after only two seasons. We hope that the success of this ambitious adaptation, which is currently in first place on the platform, will finally serve as a lesson to continue to offer us creations as complex as this one.
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