The show opens in Beijing, Tsinghua University, 1966. It’s the beginning of a cultural revolution, and the students have rallied together against the professors. One professor is up on stage, on his knees, and tied up. The camera pans to a girl in the crowd (Zine Tseng), and that professor is her father.
The students who seem to be leading this revolution ask the man about his beliefs, and he answers not much to the students’ liking. Then they bring out the man’s wife onto the stage. The wife makes a shocking statement, and sides with the students. The professor sticks by his beliefs and is beaten to death for it. A tragic opening scene in which a girl witnesses her father’s death and her mother’s betrayal.
The flashback ends and we cut to the present day in London 2024. Two investigators are looking into the suicide of a theoretical physicist. One of the investigators, Clarence (Benedict Wong), shines his flashlight at the wall and it shows a countdown drawn out in blood. Collins (Gerard Monaco), the other investigator, mentions how the scientist was a favorite to win the Nobel prize before committing suicide. This adds to the eeriness of the situation. The words “I still see it” are drawn in blood on the wall. It’s implied through dialogue that there have been other scientists who have committed suicide in the same fashion.
We cut to the Oxford University Particle Accelerator, where Saul (Jovan Adepo) is struggling with how none of his theories have come to fruition. His boss, Vera Ye (Vedette Lim), expresses belief in him. She asks him if he believes in God, and Saul responds no. Saul seems to think Vera Ye is asking this because of all the unexplainable things happening in science. He shares that what is happening defies all laws of physics but that doesn’t mean there is a God. Vera Ye doesn’t respond and she leaves the room. She walks into this huge golden room and walks off a ledge, plummeting to her death.
Two women whom we’ll come to know as Auggie (Eliza González) and Jin (Jess Hong) are in a bar having a drink. Jin is a scientist and she explains that all the major accelerators started generating results that don’t make sense. Auggie gets a call from Saul but sees strange orange lines, seemingly from her imagination, and then they fade away. Startled, Auggie ignores Saul’s call, implying there may be history between the two. Jin receives a call from Saul and answers. Saul relays the news about Vera Ye to her. Auggie sees the lines again, but this time they form into a countdown.
It’s the day of Vera Ye’s funeral and we meet Jack (John Bradley) and Will (Alex Sharp). Jack is the inventor of “Jack’s Snacks” and Will is a scientist. An elderly man, Mike Evans (Jonathan Pryce) shares a familiar glance with Vera’s mom (Rosalind Chao), who is the young college student from the opening scene. Outside the funeral is Clarence, and he takes a picture of Mike. He follows Mike’s car to a helicopter, and Mike gets in it and flies away.
Saul, Jin, Auggie, Jack, and Will are all sitting and talking at a table at a bar. They’re all discussing their current situation and you get the vibe that these guys have been friends for a while. Auggie continues seeing the countdown, gets easily irritated and leaves to have a smoke. A woman, Tatiana (Marlo Kelly) comes out of nowhere and helps light Auggie’s cigarette. She claims that she understands what Auggie is going through, and Auggie politely asks her to leave her alone. Tatiana suddenly asks how long is left in her countdown. This startles Auggie. She says the only way to make it stop is to stop her work. She also tells Auggie to go outside and look up at the sky at midnight tomorrow night. She asks, “Has the universe ever winked at you?” and leaves her with this thought: “Nothing good ever happens at zero.”
Flashback to Inner Mongolia, China, 1967. We’re at a military camp where prisoners are doing manual labor. At this camp is the girl from the opening scene, who we now know is Vera Ye’s mom. Her name is Ye Wenjie. At this camp she meets a man. They have an affection for each other and spend a night together. This man could be Vera Ye’s father but nothing is confirmed in this first episode. Anyway, this man gives her a book that holds beliefs that go against the military. The commanders find this book and the man seemingly betrays her.
After this, she is held in a cell, and a woman from the revolution comes to see her. The woman gives Ye an option. She can sign the papers and rejoin the construction corps. Ye looks over the papers, becomes enraged, and denies ever seeing her father with any of these people. The woman says her mother has already signed, and Ye still refuses. The commission decides to give her another chance. As an author of some articles, she qualifies for top-secret research at this military base. The catch is she can never leave. She immediately asks to go in and says she’ll stay there for the rest of her life.
Back in the present day at The Black Palace; the headquarters of the strategic intelligence agency in London. Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) calls Clarence for a rundown on the case and says this will be Clarence’s last chance. Meanwhile Jin visits Vera Ye’s mother and asks about her daughter. She asks if she was acting weird. Ye says she was addicted to this video game, and Jin finds a metal helmet under Vera’s bed and her mother instantly recognizes it. This same helmet was seen on Clarence’s wall as a part of his investigation.
Another flashback to Ye at the military station. They run a test on a transmission signal. As the test begins, all the birds in the area take off and fly away, then suddenly all the birds drop out of the sky.
Present day; Jin decides to put the helmet on. She enters the game and sees a massive structure in the distance as the sun rises over behind it. The wind begins to blow and Jin steps on bones. Then, the dead body awakens. Jin becomes frightened and takes the mask off.
As Clarence and Collins investigate the helmet and follow Mike Evans, Auggie and Saul are at Oxford. As midnight approaches, Auggie asks Saul to just observe as a scientist. Another flashback – Young Ye is about to be informed about what is truly going on at the military station. Her military commanders say they’re trying to communicate with “whoever is out there”. Back to the present day, the clock strikes midnight and Auggie and Saul look up in disbelief. The camera pans up to the sky and it seems as if someone is flicking a light switch in the sky. The universe is certainly winking at Auggie just as Tatiana said it would. Saul is able to figure out it’s a code, cracks it quickly and relay’s it to Auggie. As he relays the number to Auggie she realizes they match her countdown, and the episode ends.
Some people tampered their expectations for 3 Body Problem as creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff didn’t handle the ending of Game of Thrones so well. However, some did have faith as when they had source material to work with, they created one of the greatest shows of all time. After just one episode, the writing is good, and they’re challenging the audience. They really put the “science” in “science-fiction” in this show, and that’s one of the strongest things about it thus far. The characters are all interesting and the plotlines they are setting up are all so intriguing. The performances are stellar from the cast so far, and this episode really gives you everything you could want in a pilot. Can’t wait to see where the series goes from here, but a good start definitely should generate some excitement.
Rating: 9/10