GamesRadar+ Verdict3 Body Problem finds its feet in its final few episodes as it fully commits to the sci-fi elements of the story, moving away from interpersonal (and, often, inconsequential) character drama – it’s just a shame it takes so long to get there.
GamesRadar+ Verdict
GamesRadar+ Verdict
3 Body Problem finds its feet in its final few episodes as it fully commits to the sci-fi elements of the story, moving away from interpersonal (and, often, inconsequential) character drama – it’s just a shame it takes so long to get there.
3 Body Problem finds its feet in its final few episodes as it fully commits to the sci-fi elements of the story, moving away from interpersonal (and, often, inconsequential) character drama – it’s just a shame it takes so long to get there.
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Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy.
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' first post-Game of Thrones project was always going to have a lot to live up to. Their HBO fantasy epic was a critical and commercial success – until it wasn’t. The beloved long-running series suffered from a massively unpopular final season, so the showrunners walk a difficult line: audiences know what they’re capable of at their best, but also their worst. No pressure, then.
There’s Augustina, or Auggie (Eiza González), who founded a groundbreaking nanotechnology company, Saul (Jovan Adepo), Vera’s research assistant, whose latest project stalled right before her death after it started to produce nonsensical data, Jin (Jess Hong), a talented theoretical physicist, Will (Alex Sharp), a shy science teacher, and Jack (John Bradley), a millionaire who dropped out of their university course to start a snack business – and, presumably, get much, much more annoying.
(Image credit: Netflix)
The problem with this group is that it’s hard to believe that they’ve even been in the same room before, let alone have any kind of shared history. Right off the bat, we get hints of an on-again-off-again relationship and a long-standing unrequited love, but only because we’re told outright. This is a script that pays no mind to the ‘show, don’t tell’ mantra.
But back to the plot. Soon after Vera’s death, Auggie starts to see a flashing countdown seemingly seared onto her retinas – and it transpires that she’s not the only one. No-nonsense intelligence agent Clarence (Benedict Wong) is investigating a string of scientist suicides around the world for a mysterious intelligence organization and during one of his site visits we see a countdown scrawled across the walls of a recently deceased professor. Auggie’s affliction comes to his attention, and Clarence starts keeping a close eye on the group.
Wong is trying his best as Clarence, giving one of the show’s strongest performances and generating genuine laughs with his delivery. Clarence’s boss, Wade (Liam Cunningham), however, is Life on Mars' Gene Hunt on steroids, throwing out swear words and slurs in a way that gets tiresome pretty fast. It’s not just Wade afflicted with this, either: clunky dialogue functioning as exposition plagues the entire series. And let’s be honest, the only actor I want to hear seriously deliver a line like “science is broken” is Jason Statham.
Wenjie’s storyline, taking us through the ’60s and ’70s, is the most interesting part of the show – after her father’s murder, she’s taken to a Mongolian prison camp, before she’s recruited to work in a scientific career at a military base. But things aren’t all as they seem at the base, and it soon becomes clear that the whole story lives and dies around Wenjie and a single choice she makes. As the series progresses, the script peels back the layers of her character, uncovering her motivations and exploring her disillusionment with the world and the social and political factors – and ramifications – of her decisions. She’s the most interesting character in the show, and it’s a shame we don’t get to spend more time with her.
(Image credit: Netflix)
The series finds its feet in the final few episodes as it fully commits to the sci-fi elements of the story, moving away from interpersonal (and, often, inconsequential) character drama and actually bringing its key players into the story. There’s a handful of truly chilling sequences and one particularly jaw-dropping scene (none of which we’re allowed to go into any more detail about here) in the last three episodes – the stakes finally feel lofty enough to match the world-changing subject material, which makes it a hell of a lot easier to tag along for the ride. It’s just a shame it takes so long to get there.
3 Body Problem arrives on Netflix on March 21. In the meantime, check out our picks of thebest Netflix showsstreaming now.
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More about 3 body problem
Netflix hit 3 Body Problem gets renewed until it reaches “epic conclusion” – but the streamer won’t say how many seasons that will takeHideo Kojima has high praise for a new Netflix sci-fi drama, and fans can’t help but compare it to his six-word Madame Web review
Netflix hit 3 Body Problem gets renewed until it reaches “epic conclusion” – but the streamer won’t say how many seasons that will take
Netflix hit 3 Body Problem gets renewed until it reaches “epic conclusion” – but the streamer won’t say how many seasons that will take
Hideo Kojima has high praise for a new Netflix sci-fi drama, and fans can’t help but compare it to his six-word Madame Web review
Hideo Kojima has high praise for a new Netflix sci-fi drama, and fans can’t help but compare it to his six-word Madame Web review
Latest"Issues encountered during the initial launch are a genuine part of the game’s history": Wuthering Waves producer on the road to 2.0 and the open-world action RPG’s biggest update yetSee more latest►
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“Issues encountered during the initial launch are a genuine part of the game’s history”: Wuthering Waves producer on the road to 2.0 and the open-world action RPG’s biggest update yet
“Issues encountered during the initial launch are a genuine part of the game’s history”: Wuthering Waves producer on the road to 2.0 and the open-world action RPG’s biggest update yet
“Issues encountered during the initial launch are a genuine part of the game’s history”: Wuthering Waves producer on the road to 2.0 and the open-world action RPG’s biggest update yet
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