In his 2008 sci-fi novel The Three-Physique Downside, Cixin Liu created an enchanting world the place cutting-edge particle physics, VR gaming, and Chinese language historical past performed essential roles in shaping humanity’s response to an imminent planet-wide menace. It additionally appeared unfilmable. The depth of the e-book’s concepts about cultural reminiscence and the complexity of its central thriller made The Three-Physique Downside really feel like a narrative that would solely work on the web page.That hasn’t stopped streamers from attempting, and final yr, Tencent debuted its personal live-action, episodic tackle Liu’s e-book. Netflix spent a fortune placing 3 Physique Downside within the palms of govt producers David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo. Their adaptation is leaner and extra various than the e-book in a approach that makes it a really totally different type of story. Typically, it’s an excellent one — and really often a terrific one — that works as an introductory crash course to the fundamental concepts key to understanding the bigger ideas that form Liu’s later books. However fairly than confronting the sophistication of the e-book, Netflix’s principal precedence with 3 Physique Downside appears to be promoting it as the subsequent Recreation of Thrones (Benioff and Weiss’ final collection). And whereas it’s simple to grasp why the streamer may need that, it’s onerous to not see the present as a flashy however stripped-down model of the supply materials.3 Physique Downside includes a constellation of distinct narratives spanning a number of many years and generations. However at its core, the present is a compelling thriller about how the sins of humanity’s previous come to form its future. In a world the place the scientific neighborhood has been rocked by an alarming wave of mysterious suicides, personal intelligence officer Clarence Shi (Benedict Wong) and a bunch of researchers get swept up in a race to save lots of the planet from destruction. As a former agent of each MI5 and Scotland Yard, Clarence isn’t any stranger to shadowy plots. However he’s vastly out of his depth within the worlds of cutting-edge theoretical physics and supplies engineering. In the meantime, scientist Jin Cheng (Jess Hong) can also be navigating uncharted waters as she struggles to make sense of what’s occurring to her friends and why many experiments involving particle accelerators are going fallacious. The panic of the current day pushes Jin to reconnect together with her 4 greatest faculty buddies, and the dynamic of the reunited “Oxford 5” inches nearer to revealing a world-ending menace.Given the structural complexity of Liu’s books, it isn’t shocking that Netflix’s 3 Physique is streamlined in a way more linear style that makes it really feel like Misplaced-style mystery-within-a-mystery you’re determining alongside Clarence. But it surely’s really in 3 Physique Downside’s core group of characters that you would be able to most clearly see the steps Benioff, Weiss, and Woo took to remodel Liu’s concepts for a extra world viewers.Earlier than the e-book’s story in present-day China actually will get going, Liu spends fairly a little bit of time previously with the intention to offer you a greater grasp of the Cultural Revolution, the Maoist motion to purge society of capitalists and intellectuals. It’s the Occasion’s reversal of those horrifying insurance policies — as a substitute embracing academia and scientific analysis — that units China on a path to turn into a world superpower. And because the e-book strikes into the current, that historic context helps you recognize why a sudden and sustained spike in inexplicable scientist suicides would immediate the federal government to deploy counter-terrorism operatives to research.Within the novel, a lot of the early thriller is rooted in the truth that its characters — like offputting former detective Shi Qiang (also known as “Da Shi”) and nanomaterials specialist Wang Miao — are fixing it in isolation. Netflix’s reply to Da Shi, Clarence, is now British and a softer, extra contemplative presence than his curmudgeon literary counterpart. The present additionally splits Wang’s character into the Oxford 5, an ethnically various group of buddies consisting of Jin, analysis assistant Saul (Jovan Adepo), nanotech skilled Auggie (Eiza González), physics trainer Will (Alex Sharp), and snack magnate Jack (John Bradley).The Oxford 5 and Jin’s companion Raj Varma. Picture: NetflixMaking characters fumble within the darkness on their method to fixing the puzzle of Three-Physique was one of many some ways Liu mirrored, on a microscopic stage, the e-book’s bigger concepts in regards to the energy of collaborative efforts versus the management that comes from particular person decision-making. However as a result of the present’s Oxford 5 are all buddies (and former lovers in some cases) who rapidly start working collectively, relationships drive the plot ahead greater than its existential puzzle. These modifications convey a brand new stage of interpersonal drama to Netflix’s present that isn’t current within the e-book, particularly for Auggie, who’s haunted by visions of a glowing countdown that appears to be seared onto her retinas. Dividing Wang into 5 distinct characters emphasizes the concept there’s energy in difficult issues from a various array of distinctive views.However as a result of the Oxford 5 are all primarily based on a single character and spend a lot time speaking one another by theories about what’s occurring, scenes centered on them usually really feel the present taking a second to spell out plot factors in ways in which really feel clumsy and inorganic. That is much less the case when 3 Physique Downside shifts its focus to the previous and zeroes in on the lifetime of Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng), a promising younger astrophysicist whose total world is upended by the onset of the Chinese language Cultural Revolution. Like within the e-book, 3 Physique Downside really begins with Ye and the way the non-public selections she makes — all knowledgeable by her experiences as a survivor of the Revolution — have an incalculable affect on the long run at a worldwide scale.In each the e-book and Netflix’s adaptation, Ye’s story is a strong one which contextualizes the current in vital methods. However the present is much less prepared to dwell in it. Relatively than take into account the political and private results of the Revolution, the collection commits to being a thinky however simply digestible chronicle of the world readying itself for warfare. An older model of Ye (Rosalind Chao) sticks round as 3 Physique Downside to observe occasions unfold with a understanding solemnity. Sea Shimooka as Sophon, an NPC from the Three-Physique recreation. Picture: NetflixMeanwhile, the present invests within the messy lives of the Oxford 5 and their flirtations with a futuristic piece of know-how that plunges its wearer into an unimaginable world of riddles, arithmetic, and roleplaying. The headset additionally provides the present a approach of stepping exterior the confines of the detective style and into an otherworldly area that has the recognizable markers of science fiction, like planets with a number of suns. Neatly, 3 Physique Downside balances out a few of that predictability by putting a lot of its most imaginative, unimaginable set items within the recreation the place the uncanny combo of Netflix’s signature visible look and an inordinate quantity of shiny VFX. And it really works as a plus fairly than a minus right here due to how unsettling taking part in the sport is meant to really feel.There are not less than just a few really breathtaking motion sequences erratically sprinkled all through 3 Physique Downside’s first season. However for all their terrifying magnificence, they’re not fairly sufficient to maintain the present from feeling like Netflix’s sufficient try at distilling a literary masterpiece into eight hours of tv. 3 Physique Downside’s first season works as a strong introduction to this world, however by the finale, it turns into clear that these episodes are actually simply laying the groundwork for a fair greater, extra deeply difficult narrative. With the precise plan, tapping into the wildness of Liu’s later books may undoubtedly take 3 Physique Downside to its subsequent stage in future seasons. However that’s all going to rely upon whether or not the present takes off.3 Physique Downside additionally stars Sea Shimooka, Marlo Kelly, Saamer Usmani, and Eve Ridley. The collection is now streaming on Netflix.