Summary
Netflix has successfully brought the first novel of Cixin Liu’sRemembrance of Earth’s Pasttrilogy to the screen in3 Body Problem. The first eight episodes of thesci-fiseries cover the decades-long story depicted in Liu’s first novel,The Three-Body Problem, which follows what happens when humanity makes contact with an advanced extraterrestrial civilization.
3 Body Problemwas nominated for six Emmy Awards at the 2024 ceremony, and comes from the creators ofHBO’s massively popularGame of Thronesseries, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Netflix renewed3 Body Problemfor an additional two seasons, allowing the creators to tell the rest of the story from Liu’s trilogy of books and answer lingering questions left by the Season 1 cliffhanger.
How does 3 Body Problem season 1 end?
Asthe mystery of3 Body Problemunfolds throughout the first season’s eight episodes, it’s revealed that the alien civilization known as the San-Ti is headed to Earth. Their invasion party is set to arrive in 400 years, giving humanity time to prepare for its arrival.
One plan, proposed byOxford Five scientist Jin (Jess Hong), is to send a light-speed probe into space containing a cryogenically frozen human brain to meet the San-Ti before they arrive. Jin’s friend and fellow Oxford Five scientist, Will (Alex Sharp) volunteers for the mission, dubbed ‘The Staircase Project’, knowing that his pancreatic cancer has put a death mark on him anyway. When it comes time for the Staircase Project to launch, the probe makes it through a series of propulsion checkpoints, until the radiation sail malfunctions, causing the probe to veer off course and into the depths of space.
Another of humanity’s plans that is initiated in3 Body Problem’sfinale is the United Nations' “Wallfacer Project,” which appoints three of humanity’s great minds to secretly enact their own plans for defeating the San-Ti. As the San-Ti have eyes and ears everywhere on Earth thanks to their advanced Sophon supercomputers, the Wallfacers must develop their plans of action within their own heads so that the enemy cannot know of their plans. Much to his surprise, Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo) is chosen as one of the Wallfacers. As much as Saul tries to reject his new position, his colleagues assume that this is all part of his plan.
The finale leaves Saul and Jin feeling downhearted as the Staircase Project has failed, meaning their friend Will died for nothing. To try and inspire them, Clarence (Benedict Wong) takes the two scientists out to a lake where they watch swarms of cicadas. Clarence makes a point of the resilience of the insects:
People hate bugs. Been trying to get rid of them forever. We spray pesticides from planes, put poison in the ground, we try and sterilize them. We swat them, zap them, step on them. Look around, they’re not going anywhere.
3 Body Problem’sfirst season ends on this note, implying that, just like the thousands of insects on Earth, humanity has a chance of surviving the coming extermination threat. While it may seem like an unsatisfying ending for the season, this actually mirrors the ending of Liu’s first book, leaving audiences hungry for what happens next inThe Dark Forest.
What happens in 3 Body Problem season 1?
The first season plays out in a similar way to the novel it is based upon, although3 Body Problemisn’t afraid to make changes to Liu’s source material. The series' opening mystery surrounds a number of Earth’s greatest scientists who have been committing suicide around the world. This includes Vera Ye, the mentor of the Oxford Five. As the episodes continue, it’s revealed that Vera’s mother Wenjie, another brilliant scientist, made contact with an alien civilization in China in the 1970s and invited them to come to Earth, despite having been warned they would decimate the population.
In the years since, Wenjie helped to establish the Earth-Trisolaris Organization (ETO) which is dedicated to helping the San-Ti arrive on Earth. The group devised a virtual reality game that tasked scientists and geniuses around the world with completing a series of games that explained to them the San-Ti’s situation and the three-body problem that led to their home solar system becoming uninhabitable. After learning of the San-Ti’s plan and the infinitely advanced technology that allows them to monitor everything humans say and do on Earth, many of the scientists ended up joining the ETO or killing themselves out of despair. Others are killed by the ETO on orders of the San-Ti, such as Jack Rooney (John Bradley).
Mid-way through the season, the San-Ti reveal to humanity that they are coming to invade, by proclaiming on screens all around the world that humans are bugs. Liam Cunningham’s ruthless MI6 Chief Thomas Wade becomes one of the leaders of the defense force preparing for the San-Ti’s arrival, and employs many of the Oxford Five to help. Some characters, like Auggie (Eiza González), refuse to go along with Wade’s plans, but others like Jin, Will and Saul agree to help save their planet. Whether or not they are successful will have to wait until further episodes of3 Body Problemare released on Netflix.
