Netflix has done it again with 3 Body Problem, a show currently at the top of the viewership charts across all streaming platforms. The show was developed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, creators of the legendary “Game of Thrones” series. 3 Body Problem is based on the Hugo Award-winning novel, The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu, the first of a trilogy.
Without giving too much away, here is the basic premise: a group of brilliant young friends each start to receive mysterious and amazing VR headsets, which seem to just appear in their homes. Within the headset is a fully immersive and hyper-realistic VR game, far beyond the reach of current technology. Through complex problem-solving and persistence, they realize that this is much more than just a game.
Murder in Development
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Netflix announced the collaboration with Weiss and Benioff on 3 Body Problem in August 2020, with Alexander Woo named as an additional co-writer. In December 2020, Xu Yao, an executive at Yoozoo Games, poisoned the founder of the company and four others. He added poison to various snacks and beverages around the office, sickening Lin Qi and others in the office.
Xu then gave Lin a bottle of what he said were probiotic pills, but turned out to be a deadly mix of toxic agents including pufferfish toxin and mercury. Lin fell ill shortly after taking the pills and died ten days later. He was 39.
Xu Yao was sentenced to death for murder within days of the show’s release in March 2024. The poisoning had apparently been an attempt to take over the subsidiary company that owned the rights to 3 Body Problem, following the announcement of the Netflix deal.
A Lesson in Astrophysics
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The “Three Body Problem” is a concept found in multiple fields of physics, on multiple scales. It can apply to subatomic particles or planets. Basically, three bodies of significant mass cannot coexist in a stable orbit. Each exerts forces on the others, and the combination of the three creates chaotic and unpredictable orbits which eventually bring them all crashing together in an event known as a singularity.
This is the basis for the VR Game in 3 Body Problem. The recipients of the headsets are tasked with solving this tremendously complex problem without the assistance of any modern technology. They have to use sticks, draw on the ground, and at one point, build a giant abacus to try and find a solution. Every time they fail, an entire civilization is wiped out.
Future of 3 Body Problem
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have already expressed their intentions to continue working with Alexander Woo on the 3 Body Problem series. Considering the success of this show, not to mention their golden track record, it’s highly unlikely that Netflix, or anyone else, will stand in their way. The trilogy, Remembrance of Earth’s Past, follows The Three Body Problem with Dark Forest and Death’s End.
Considering the story arc of this trilogy stretches for hundreds of years, Weiss and Benioff will have no shortage of content for the subsequent series. Hopefully, the following productions will have the same lighthearted yet technical vibe, with a little surrealism and violence thrown in for good measure. The show has a great cast and outstanding writing, and there is no doubt that this level of quality will continue.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating hard science, science fiction, and video games into the storyline, 3 Body Problem is a nerd’s dream. It will have you considering the finer points of particle physics while laughing at a crude joke from Jack. It’s a heady mix of mind-bending sci-fi, deep-state conspiracy and comic relief.
At the same time, 3 Body Problem warns of our own carelessness on Earth, giving the viewer an in-depth look at what a fundamentally unsafe and unstable existence would be like. In many ways, this mirrors the uncertainty that climate change brings to our own planet. It’s doubtful that this was just a happy accident.
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