If I may, I live in China and I work in the film industry. I talked with many Chinese professionals, they pretty much all share your views on the Netflix tv series.
I just subscribed. You have amazing and most informative videos. The soundtrack and video background with the narration is just great and calming. Even your voice relaxes me. Actually, this is better than meditation plus you learn something.
Even though I agreed Netflix offered us a good show, I have mixed feeling about this version’s Ye Wenjie….Ye Wenjie being such an important and complex character in thw 1st book… she became an angry Chinese old lady from China Town rather than a famous physicist/ scientist as stated on the book… the acting of both younger and older version of YWJ are so paper-thin… lack of substance … I actually appreciate the Tencent version of both YWJ actors. The incense burning part… the monks in the funeral are so stereotypical… and the Oxford 5… made the world so tiny all of a sudden… all key characters all of a sudden became classmates… quite unsure of this arrangement to be honest…
I live in Hong Kong a British expat. Loved the books and bought the TENCENT subscriiption. Largest project ever under taken. Like I state below loved it but carried a lot of the same character flaws as the book. The Cop the only real standout character. TENCENT would not greenlight S2 and then S3 with the same comittment. Only a spin off maybe. This pointed to Hardcore fans like myself getting through all the episode and the average chinese viewer falling off after a few episodes. NETFLIX I was worried on multiple fronts. Not chinese focus, woke politics of ticking boxes, dumming down the concepts in favour of CGI effects and United States centric. What we got was so much better for visual media. Using the UK instead of the US worked. The Cop Chinese but born in Manchester, awesome. Combing characters into a small group with inter personal relationships worked and came across well. I understand the critisim of the Oxford 5 shrinking the world build, but it really helped move the story along. Otherwise exposition would slow it down and take 12 episodes. This series allows my wife to watch along. The team need with the next 8episodes to do the same thing. CGI etc but also subtlely build the fear. That's the scary part of Book2, its not obvious but dawns on you why DARK FOREST and feels the fucking best explantion to the Fermi Paradox ones ever heard of. Pulling of Book3 is gonna be a stretch but I hope they do it. Who knows this may open the way to other impossible titles that I'd never thought get made and I liked...
I strongly recommend you to watch the Three Body Problem series by Tencent, which amazed me a lot. It is more loyal to the original novel, and in my view and many Chinese people, it is way much better than Netflix version. The plot of the first episodes might be moving slowly, but trust me, you will fall in love with it in the end. Netflix version adapted the story too much, and it’s more like a fan-made derivative work. It has been adapted into a story more suitable for American people, similar to many other US TV shows that about a small group of elite people saving the world. This kind of adaptation loses some key character’s ideas and experiences, simplifying their motivations and flattening each character into a mono-dimensional figure. It feels like a show designed to provide a quick entertainment and short-time thrills, sacrificing much of the original work’s spiritual core, the humanistic concerns and so on.
@@traveler263 Oh my God! people actually caring about people, and don't give a f..k who f..ks who (as long as they are consenting adults) etc. etc. The Audacity 😱
I am currently reading the Frank Herbert - Dune books and am almost finished Heretics of Dune, with Chapterhouse : Dune left. And I was wondering what sci-fi saga to pick up next...and viola...here it is. Going to have to be these books and Im really looking forward to them after watching the Netflix series over the weekend 😁👍😁
I genuinely didn’t bother nor did I care about anyone else’s review of this show but yours. As far as I’m concerned you’re easily one of the best (if not the best) creators when it comes to the analysis and breakdown of sci-fi topics and stories. Thank you for all your hard work, it’s great to see your channel’s growth well-deserved success. Excellent review!
I am so impressed by the acting. Will Downing. Tatiana being so cold and creepy, but vulnerable in her scenes. But I can’t get enough of the red guard, I felt so angry and sad for her “But who will repent for me?”. I wish she gets major roles in future shows.
Its a GoT reunion plus every other British tv actor. Steven Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith as Newton & Turing and Adrian Edmondson as Auggies boss. It's just a shame they got rid of John Bradley so quickly.
I think you hit the nail on the head by drawing a line between the concepts and the characters. The ideas and concepts from Liu was what made the books stand out. Nobody really gives a dam about the characters. The characters in the TV show were heavily criticized, whether for deviating too much from the original or for being boring and one dimensional in general on the show. Both points accepted. But if you don't care too much about the ideas and concepts expressed in the show, then you are 'missing the point'. That's why I expected the books to be unfilmable because mainstream audiences, that are raised on diet of hollywood movies where 'anything is possible in science fiction' won't be too impressed with the science concepts introduced on the show.
Before listening to your review, I had a hard time making sense out of comments I've read and heard from people who haven't read all three books. I've read all three books twice, but I very mistakenly thought (going into this series) that if one read the first book, it would be enough. I now realize it's better to have read all three books, or to have read none of them, rather than to have read just one book, in order to keep an open mind about the series. Thank you for the review.
@@Dootje351 basically they show things that are in the same timeline. they introduced characters and story that were written physically later in the books but they are chronically in the same timeline.
@verynick liked it because they streamlined a lot of plot and characters by having the protagonists know and care about each other while also setting up payoffs that the books didn't have as a result. I know not everyone will like it, but my wife now wants to read the series after two episodes. That's a win in my book. 🎉
@@verynickI also loved the books and loved the TV adaptation. They had to make changes to make it flow better for TV, but the overall theme and struggles and crises are there so in my opinion it didn’t miss the point. Haters will hate and supporters will support, but don’t listen to people hating on others’ opinion. Everyone is entitled to it.
The show blew my mind (almost) every episode. I instantly ordered the books. Im reading book one while slowly re-watching season 1. I'm hooked. I have lots of theories about what is coming. All I can say is PLEASE HURRY UP and bring us season 2 !!
@@caelblanch2737 I can write a few. Everyone please know I have only seen the show and read the first few chapters of book one. These are guesses. I think the brain in space will be picked up by something and that character will return. The failure might have even been faked for some reason. I think the Wallfacers and a few other main characters will all jump through time using cryo freezing, so we will have them through the 400 years. The San-Ti are showing their hand by targeting very specific things. Nanotech fibers, particle accelerators, and even going after Saul are all clues that they have good reason to fear them. (Those are a few of my ideas.)
@@Grevlain You’re in for such an AMAZING ride with the books! Personally book 2 is my favorite but it’s really personal choice whether 2 or 3 is going to be your favorite. The world expands in ways you can’t even imagine! Have fun when you see the Droplet! 🫡
@@adamsmeltzer9959 Thanks Adam! And thank you for not spoiling anything. Im so happy to have found this story and show. I feel like a kid again with good thick Arthur C Clarke/Ben Bova-ish sci fi.
I binged watched the entire season today and OMFG. WOW. I'm telling everyone about it. So good. Smart decisions. It really sticks to the spirit if not the letter. Absolutely love it, and can't wait for season 2. It's trending #2 worldwide and i'm hoping people strap in!
@@MMOplayeerr I totally agree about the inconsistencies. Another is that the aliens are super deceptive (making their particle accelerator experiments yield wrong results and scrubbing video recordings) yet they don't understand lying? (EDIT: Reading your comment, turns out you already mentioned this.) Why doesn't that frustrate me? It's not that I didn't see the problems. It's that I like other aspects enough to forgive it (style, characters, science concepts, production quality, performances). We all have different thresholds for what we're willing to overlook, and I guess I'm pretty lenient. I'm not a hardcore "hard" sci-fi fan, but I imagine that most of the book's readers are, and I would imagine such inconsistencies would be just too much. (After all, science is all about ruthless consistency; if you're into that in real science, you probably won't accept anything less in a story about science.) I totally understand and respect that. Are the book's aliens consistent in these ways that the show's aren't?
@@MMOplayeerr I replied but the comment seems to be gone. In short, I noticed those inconsistencies too (first they're coming to conquer, then they're refugees hoping to be accepted, then they're coming to conquer, now they're letting tech solutions proceed anyway). So why did I still like the show? Because the characters, style, performances, intrigue/mystery, production quality were all so good (in my opinion) that I was willing to forgive them. But I can totally understand and respect someone else (especially a fan of "hard" sci-fi) not being ok with them.
@@MMOplayeerrin the books, the aliens were always going to invade and knew they couldn’t coexist with us purely from game theory principles. The show did not really nail that down, because of this scene as you describe, it does make the viewer think human/alien relations were fine until big bad wolf. The Pacifist who responded was of course being honest because the aliens can’t lie.
I read the books because of your channel several months ago, now i watched the first episode, and i just needed to come here to see your reaction, thanks! You did not disappoint.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 jeez man you are so grumpy. People have the right to have their own opinions. If your opinion the show is bad, well that's your opinion. Not everyone should or have to think the same. For me is worse people who think they are always right
I was surprised how how good of a job Netflix did with this. I was expecting another dumpster fire, tbh. It captures the beats of the books, character motivations, scale, and stakes pretty well. I'm looking forward to season two!
I’m gonna go so far as to say that I actually kinda like the Netflix adaption more than the book 😬. It definitely toned down some of the science exposition but sometimes those parts in the book dragged a little for me. I also love the changes they made with the characters and it feels more like a narrative whereas the book sometimes came off a little too stiff and technical.
@@emperormouse5487Tianming's character,or Will in the show was the best part for me. Every episode you got to see a little glimpse of him and when everyone is panicking, going crazy, trying to come up with ideas. He has learnt about his terminal illness and he's watched his close ones die, his story felt so grounded,he has accepted his end and is disconnected from everything else happening.
This was my reaction to the Chinese series. Actually good production and CGI at the end, even the VR scenes weren't that bad all things considered. I ended up binging 30 episodes in 2 days. Now, someone give me a reason to watch the Netflix one.
@@user-us3xi7se5b the Netflix one doesn’t completely butcher Ye Wenjie’s backstory which is a huge reason for her doing what she did. Also generally just seems higher quality. Better acting, directing, production design. The changes made from the book actually make sense and I think make it better in ways. It’s also a more holistic take on the 3 body series introducing important elements from all 3 books in a way that makes more sense when you’re watching a show. The tencent production just seemed unnecessarily longer than it needed to be and less faithful to the actual theme of the story and novel- despite being more faithful of an adaptation in that it didn’t really change or split the (admittedly poorly written) characters from the book in any meaningful way. The Netflix version in terms of “faithfulness” may not be the one for you if that’s what your looking for, but I actually thought it did the impossible and made one of my favorite sci fi story’s of all time even better- namely by splitting the book protagonist into several different people and making them all genuinely likeable and relatable people.
@@emperormouse5487 You've convinced me good sir. I guess I don't have to worry about the split. I just looked it up. Did they really take my favorite character and name him Clarence Shi? Please tell me they didn't ruin his character.
I just finished watching the entire first season in an entire day. I had never heard of this book until I stumbled on your channel not that long ago where you made a video about it. Thank you for introducing me to this fantastic series and maybe I'll delve deeper and read the books one day. As someone who's never read the books I can only speak for the show itself but I'm in awe of this entire story and looking forward to next season. Final thoughts, before I end my long winded thank you comment I want to say that there are several key moments that stood out to me the most. Number one when we see a very young Ye Wenjie re-encounters the woman who slaughtered her father and asks if she would repent, I feel that is the moment where her mind was made about humanity because the young woman, even with a missing hand felt no remorse for killing Ye Wenzie's father. In fact it seems like because of Ye Wenzie's intellect she despised her even more. The second instance was the very brutal and graphic boat scene, the cold calculation of being shred apart by an invisible attacker that has zero compassion for children, it's only purpose is to eliminate anything and anyone. That very moment made me question humanity as well from the Alien's perspective. Last but not least, Ji Wenzie's conversation with Saul. I know that her "joke" has a far deeper meaning and I'm very excited to see the implications of that very important conversation. What an absolute banger of a show and I knew the instant I finished watching the very last scene I needed to come and hear your perspective and to share my thoughts as well. God's speed and be well.
I'm reading sci-fi books to entertain myself, not to create a physics paper, if you are taking a bunch of sci-fin novels as something "serious" then you should be looking elsewhere pal@@mabaker
Thank you so much for the excellent review. From the start I preferred the Ten Cent version but managed to reprogram myself to be immersed in Netflix's Three Body. I think character development is not what the book’s genre is about but there is plenty of description in the books of how each feels about the various events. From listening to the audio books, I had a pretty good image in my head of what the characters are like and in some ways the Netflix version is faithful to that. But the Ten Cent version is probably more faithful to the Chinese perspective, often remarked upon, of the books. I think this perspective is a source of fascination that has been lost in translation! I can understand why the Netflix script writers would have thought that western audiences would have given the Netflix show a thumbs down if it had been structured in the manner of the book's slow burn.
this was a great review!!! a large portion of critiques from book readers demonstrates a lack of understanding for how TV adaptations work, IMO. the point isn’t to perfectly represent every single aspect of the book- it’s to preserve the spirit of it while also getting a wider audience interested in the story and concepts. Agree with pretty much everything you said here
While I didn't hate it as much as I expected, the Netflix adaptation failed. Where the Tencent version was indeed way too long, the Netflix version glossed things over in a way such that audiences understood what happened, but not why it was important. While censorship is a problem in China, censorship in America is worse. In American shows, science is portrayed as something to be exalted, not understood. Conversations about billiard balls and scientist turkeys were omitted. These are important conversations because they make the audience understand that science can end. Science can end on it's own without alien intervention. Consider the relationship between the scientist and the cop in the first book. They have a relationship where the scientist thinks deductively and the cop uses gut instincts. This was lost. Instead of acting like scientists, the characters are H&M models that spend most of their time hanging out in the club or by the pool. Where in the Tencent version, the numbers aren't seen until the third or fourth episode, in Netflix, the numbers appear in the same scene we are introduced to the character. The only reason we know she is a scientist at that point is that she sneakily said so to a man that wanted to talk with her as a means to put him down. While having characters from later books in the beginning streamlines the story, some of the characters have no purpose during the first half. It leaves audiences to wonder why they are important. Finally, the first book ends at a point of desperation and hopelessness for humanity, giving the story a cosmic horror theme. This, like the other themes of the book are lost. The adaptation ends in the middle of the sequels, leaving audiences feeling like there was no story. The events in the adaptation are the same as the book, but the mood and themes and understanding are lost. America will continue it's path towards stupidity as long as we keep dumbing down media that would challenge them.
I haven’t read the books yet but I did watch Tencent’s version after learning it’s true to the books. I was hooked and you are so right they explained science so well in the series. The actors in that show did a phenomenal job. The guy who plays Wang Mao looks like a scientist. The actors that played Ye Wenje were simply fantastic. They portrayed a complex character with layers and layers of complexity perfectly. The elder Ye Wenje in that show has grace charm intellect that you would find in a professor and at the same time a coldness a bitterness that hides behind that intellect. Every event in the show gives you chills and thrills, makes you wonder, makes you to think, what could be behind it? The universe flickering was such a powerful scene, and ‘do not answer’ scene was another level, one could feel goosebumps. The VR game actually looks like a game . Oh I can go on and on. Bottomline is that Netflix show is a mediocre adaptation that had the potential to be amazing but unfortunately it’s not.
Totally agree with you, especially about the characters. I think the "shallow characters" criticism of the books itself is a shallow criticism. The story works so well because it focuses on the mystery instead of having 5 characters having interpersonal drama, or even one really developed character that we spend a lot of time exploring. In fact, I think it would work better in a show. Seeing Wang Miao's reactions on the actor's face will develop his character a lot in the minds of viewers, compared to in the books where we mostly have his thoughts. Plus, having a single character to follow strengthens the story and attachment so much. I also agree with the bit about the Oxford Five being H&M models. I know so many of the changes are made because it's for the general audience, but how much dumbing down is too much? I think the show went too far.
The decision to split the protagonist from the first book into TWO characters is LITERALLY the dumbest decision the showrunners could have possibly made. Instead of one solid protagonist, you end up with 2 terrible ones! They even split the cop into two different characters (Wong/GoT dude). The CG was Tubi quality, the writing was amateurish and the acting was high school theater level.
My main issue with the show isn’t that it’s not “faithful”… it needed to change things and the books are far from perfect narratively… it’s that the show gets rid of all the mystery and horror of the first book. It reveals that aliens are behind the events at the start of the second episode rather than making us wonder about what the countdown is or what the blinking universe means or why scientists are committing suicide. It’s just in such a rush to get to Dark Forest. I get that Books 2 and 3 are where so much of the action happens, but that first book is such a great mystery thriller and I felt the show had very little respect for what makes that first book work so well.
Are you for real ?? I'm watching the Chinese Tencent version and I love how there is the sense of dread. That something is coming, something is happening and the mystery
I liked the tencent adaptation but holy shit was it slow and hard to get through. Im glad they sped up things and it will help a lot for the normies to get on board too
I agree. They should have just had the 1st season end with the 1st book. Maybe slightly afterwards. Even one or two more episodes of mystery would have benifited the show. That being said I did enjoy the show as a whole.
Quinn, it's funny but I haven't follow 3BP at all, but the moment I saw it being showcased on Netflix, I immediately thought of you. It's because of how much you sold the books, I figured I would give it a shot. Before I knew it, I binged watched the entire season in a day. I am looking forward to Season 2!
Quinn's Ideas' videos are the only ones I watch in normal speed lol otherwise I do 2x speed. These videos are actually worthwhile to listen to and pay attention to. Three Body Problem is my favorite book series for sure. Thanks for being comprehensive about the information in your vids.
@cleebe6905 So, what is the Tencent series? I've been reading about it in comments, and have no idea about it. I've not read the books and have only started watching the series
oh yes i agree, it was such a pain getting invested into a story and then boom, here you go B plot for 50 pages, you get invested into that and then boom, C plot.
@gerdsfargen6687 the Tencent series is available on Viki and Peacock (both need subs) and as far as i know the first three episodes are free on youtube and viki. It is a very faithful retelling of the first book though it is not flawless. I highly recommend it.
My only interaction with the book series are the videos that you put out explaining the series. That led me to watch this show, and I'm so glad I did. I binged watched the whole thing in one day and couldn't get enough. However, if I hadn't of watched your explanations there were parts of the show that I would've been lost.
That conversation around little red riding hood was fantastic. The lord , who Evans presumes is basically all knowing, turns out to not understand a story, or make believe. Its a bit funny and even a little frustrating when the lord repeatedly fails to grasp this simple concept and then things take a hard turn when the lord assesses Evans as a liar. It goes from kinda frivolous and fun to a titanic gaff in inter species dialogue. We are sucked into the same lax attitude that Evans is, while talking to the emmisaries of a godlike race who's whim could destroy our planet. Why *should little red riding hood be a sensative line of conversation? But this illustrates the provincial attitudes we fall into, and the dangers of sloppy language and assumption.
I read all three books in Chinese and watched both the Tecent and Netflix adaptations. I agree with your review in many aspects but I feel quite the opposite about the portrayal of Ye Wenjie. The death of Ye’s father was without a doubt a significant triggering event in her life but I see the stream of events in her later life as the main driving force of her character development. What caused her to loose all hope in humanity was not a single event as if a switch being flipped but the chronic erosion of innocence due to the glacial but seemingly unstoppable and all-encompassing advancement of ridiculousness and repression in that era, culminating to a series of betrayals Ye faced over the years. Attributing Ye’s motivation to a single event is, imho, a trivialisation of her character arc. Despite the censorship in the Tecent version, it actually did a better job in portraying Ye Wenjie. That being said, overall I still enjoyed the Netflix version more and I don’t mind cutting corners here and there to keep up with the pacing of the story.
I agree that the real kicker for Ye is all of the misery that she witnessed humanity doing around her in the forestry program, with that inciting incident only being the first thing that threw her off any hope of a normal life and onto the path she followed. Plenty of people have seen their family suffer and would still not be so misanthropic. And many people (like Mike Evans) have lived lives of privilege and yet pontificate from their ivory tower (in this case literally, and on a massive private ship no less) that humanity is the only problem and are just as willing to throw in to the same misanthropic subservience.
But that do show more than her father dying. They include: her mother betraying her, being sent to a miserable prison camp in Mongolia, witnessing the misery of the people there, watching the mass deforestation, reading Silent Spring, meeting and then being betrayed by her lover, more harsh treatment in jail that nearly kills her, witnessing more destruction of the natural world through the red coast project, betrayal again by her superior, and eventually meeting Evans who agrees with her about the horrors of humanity. The show includes all of that.
I agree. I think Ye’s deep disappointment for humankind was way better built up in the Tencent version. The reason she’s one of the Redemptionists is that there’s not only betrayal but also love and kindness from other people. Her “betrayal” to humankind is her deep love to this world.
I agree with you that I have stronger feeling for Ye Wenjie in Tencent’s version. Partly because of how the character was portrayed by the actor. I can feel the anger from Netflix’s Dr Ye, but the feeling I get from Tencent’s Dr Ye is the disappointment that has surpassed anger. But then, Netflix has only 8 episodes to cover everything plus a bit from book 2. Having said that, I still enjoy watching Netflix’s Three Body Problem. Hope this series can get people interested in checking out the books and dive deeper into the original storyline.
I am quite surprised by this. I finished the Netflix adaptation yesterday and I thought it was another Foundation, Rings of Power debacle. Happy to see you and others still enjoyed it though. I guess it just wasn't for me.
I read the first book before starting with the series and i stopped at the moment when ye wenjie kissed evans... I think they butchered wang miao completely by splitting him into 2 and auggie becoming a weird ass. Rooney was pretty decent until he died. The whole cultural shift is crazy. Freaking clarence running around. Whole nukes were cut out. The science is cut down to complete basics instead of a good explanation or exposition. Many important scenes were cut out or didn't happen yet (i stopped cause the kiss was too much for me) e.g. her relationships at the base which in turn are the whole reason for her actions. Also why the hell do you have to ship her with evans... The dialogues between evans and "the lord" were shit aswell. The most important dialogue is not about lying initially nor do the aliens think of a fictive story as a lie. The dialogue in the books was about communication. The way of communication is the reason why they don't understand and why they culturally didn't develop lying.
@@MK-il5vc I really hated that they removed the nukes and the explanation for the siphons was really poorly done as they made them super powerful just to show it off on the screen and ignored all the consequences it brought.
@@henkfinkers3931 yeah. I've calmed down a little bit now and i gotta agree that in itself it's definitely not a bad show and i can see why you would make it more simplistic and shift the culture. In the end it has to entertain the main stream. But i'm still pissed off by the hyperfocus on interpersonal emotions. Like i could've watched the kardashians or star wars instead but i chose this because of the SCIENCE fiction aspect
100% agree. Better than I expected. Even better than I hoped. Very few complaints here. It was a brilliant move to open the series with the one scene that was so conspicuously missing from the tencent show. It maybe felt a bit rushed compared to the tencent version, but with 8 episodes vs. 30, it’s much closer to just right than it is to not enough.
The perfect amount of episodes would have probably been 10, stretching the first 4 into 6. The max that would be good is 13, which would have been welcome but I think a lot of people would have started getting bored.
@@scottwatrous I don’t disagree. Somewhere between 2 and 4 more episodes would have been perfect. 22 more episodes would be absolutely bonkers for this, though. I liked the 30 episodes of the tencent version, but I’m probably in the minority here, and even then, it could have done fine with 20-25 But this is a different show, even if the source material is the same. I love them both
I recall that there have been some solid fan cuts of the Tencent taking it down to under 10 hours as well. Did really enjoy the Tencent (despite tuning out every so often during filler parts). The vibe and feeling of that show was really well done, you could feel the dread and realizations creeping up on the characters.
I LOVED the show. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, simply couldn't stop watching. Instant favorite for me. And I'm glad I watched it before reading the books because it's ALWAYS hard for a book fan of anything to accept the adaptation to the screen, so if I had read the books, maybe I wouldn't've enjoyed the show as much. And now I'm going to start reading the books too.
I bought these books over a year ago and haven’t gotten around to reading them. I just finished the first season of the show, and it has definitely inspired me to finally start reading them. Great show!
I really disliked how the characters, especially Wade and Clarence (Da Shi) were able to solve questions brought up by the plot...instantly by coming up with the best conclusion. It didn't seem they have to work to solve things..they just knew. I felt the dialogue was pretty lame between the characters and some one-liners really brought me out of the immersion. I liked Saul and Jin a lot, but really disliked the acting and character of Augustina by Eiza González.
This is the thing the Tencent adaptation does a lot better, the characters fail a ton before even figuring out some basic stuff, really makes every little bit of info or success feel more earned.
This is such a welcome surprise. Im actually relieved. The Three Body Problem now ranks as 1 in my favorite sci fi book series of all time. Im glad its not a disaster and will now watch it.
I didn't like the Tencent adaptation much either, it was too jolly and watered down. The tone was not right. Haven't watched the Netflix adaptation, we will see. It may get the tone right but of course the character swap is a huge nerf.
Finally got to watch your video! My personal timeline was I watched the Netflix series a little while back after being vaguely aware of the book series (probably due to your channel, seeing thumbnails and what not lol). I actually really liked the show and saw this video and wanted to watch it, but figured I really probably should read the books before watching this video lol. Went and just finished the first book and started this video again, watching minute by minute seeing if you'll mostly stick to non/light spoilers and mostly stick with the first book, which you did, so got to happily watch another Quinn video! And yeah, I agree with your assessment. Although I know most readers say the bulk of the real "meat" happens in the later books, even the first book has a lot of real big "heady ideas" and concepts, and I thought the show honestly did a really good job of adapting it pretty well for the most part. Some of the details get lost, like for example the creation of the Sophon is pretty streamlined in the show, but when you consider time constraints and pacing issues that come along with having to adapt something for the television format, I understand why it had to be done that way. And also, completely spot on about the characters or if we're being honest, the lack of characterization in the books lol. Not trying to be a hater, I really liked what I read of the first book but yeah, the characters are definitely just stand ins for the author to express his big heady scifi concepts. It's kinda funny how undeveloped they are aside from Ye Wenjie in the book. The fact that Wang Miao is introduced with having a wife and son in one of the chapters and then they're literally never mentioned ever again I thought was funny. I mean I don't expect them to show up in the plot all the time, but Wang, a husband and father, doesn't even once think of his wife or kid the entire time after that? That's crazy lol. I'm sure people will criticize the Netflix characterization and I'm not saying it's Oscar worthy high art, but it's at least competent in terms of building attachment and liking characters which help television audiences.
Never heard of the 3 body problem until I started watching your channel. I listened to all the videos and thought what a cool concept it was. So I was excited to see a live action adoption of it. I did watch the Chinese version, but I couldn't get into it. So I waited for the English version. I loved the series. I'm glad you did too.
I became interested in these books directly from your videos. This was before I knew the show was being made. I watched the show because of your videos. Thank you, you were correct that these books are one of the great works of modern science fiction. I enjoyed the adaption very much. To me the show felt like high concept Sci-Fi in the tone of The DaVinci Code. I'm looking forward to the future. I love your work, keep it up!
I am so glad you at least had a level head about this adaption. It is so sad seeing it get torn apart by people online, most book readers seem divided but I for one agree with everything you said. The only part of the show I felt iffy on was the conversation between Luo (Saul) and Ye at the cemetery I felt that replacing the conversation about cosmic sociology with Ye dropping some cryptic joke felt cheap.
The adaptations seem to make her backstabbing not convincing enough... at least Ye turned dubious to the true intension of her "lord" after a series of incidents, and she never expected human beings to be extinguished, unlike the sliced leader
I agree. I didn’t care for the joke story either, but perhaps they thought that Ye spelling out the cosmic sociology theory might reveal too much of the dark forest theory. If I remember correctly, the conversation happens very early in the books at the funeral, so we don’t think much of it, but in the show it might make the dark forest theory too obvious to viewers, which is why they decided to go more of the cryptic route.
@@CollectorsFix That's the cool thing about it. Its a science riddle, that you can figure out if you really pay attention. They hinted at the Dark Forest theory anyways with the game theory and fermi paradox book. In truth they just thought the words cosmic sociology and axioms are too nerdy. @TRYCLOPS1 is not wrong i don't think they like science. Or at least they think the average viewer will run if he hears "science" words.
Thanks a lot Quinn. You have confirmed my feelings toward the Show. I am one of those "Three Body Problem" books fans who believed Netflix done a good job in this adaptaion!
Just watched Season 1, thanks to you--it was really good and now I have got to read the book! Your channel is the best sci-fi channel on RUclips! Love everything you make
Quinn, you opened my eyes for these books like a couple of years ago. Having read them and now watched the show i completely agree that Netflix actually did a good job in season 1 here. The chinese series were definitely way too long and slow paced. I love how you make videos about 3BP or Dune and in couple of years some studio decides to make a movie or a show about it. Thank you GOAT ❤
My opinions: 1. Calling them the San Ti is a solid choice. Sounds a bit less silly. 2. Man some scenes with these characters was so forced. Mostly in the first few episodes. Just some weird moments of forced tention that struck me as immature and unnatural. And also forced sentimentality where that sentimentality didnt feel earned. 3. Overall i think they made a great choice to split the main character up into a handful of new characters. 4. The high concept game and universe and ideas, they really nailed. This cant be an easy book to translate to film. But much of what they show is exactly how i envisioned it. I was left with very similar feelings of awe that the book left me with.
I didn’t even know what 3 Body Problem was 3 weeks ago and now because of you I’ve binged the whole season and can’t stop watching your analysis videos 🔥🤣 thanks for showing me some new cosmic horror
i love your reviews so much, theyre so insightful and mindful of different factors and medias when it comes to adaptations vs books. I started following you after seeing your area X vids and am now thoroughly enjoying your dune series and I cant wait to hear more of your analyses on three body problem and its sequels!
The ship scene is honestly one of my favorites tbh... i love that it left alot of things to the imagination. It did not show the kids being slaughtered and allowed our minds to envision it. Really moving yet terrifying
Thank you Quinn! I kept saying "Yep! Yep! Yep!" on your descriptions -- spot on. And the one thing that really bothered me with the books were the personal/romantic relationships, which alternated between hollow and saccharine. The Netflix series is doing a much better job at creating these inter-character relationships. Much in the same way that Station Eleven did better than the book in a lot of ways
Took me a while to realize that Yun Tianming is already on episode 1 with his best bud whom he made a millionaire by accident in the books. I think that was an interesting change 😂
@@14112ido Amazing isn't it. I'm just glad that their relationship in the books evolved into more brotherly kind in the Netflix series.. Tianming in the books was way too dark and depressing. Every chapter could trigger anyone who's going through the same thing.
This was (imo) the best possible way to adapt this series. Cheng jin is the main character of Rememberence of Earth's Past. Having her relatively unchanged and surronding her with characters based on characters from the book works. None of these characters interact in the books, which is fine in boom form, but on the screen where things like facual expressions and reactions are important you need characters to actually interact with eachother. I would argue this adaptation is a strict improvement over the book. It captures every major beat without skipping anything. Tianming is so much better, introducing him at the start and having him actually talk to Cheng Xin makes way more sense. Luo Ji's character is instantly recognizable. Wang Miao was barely a character, so writing an entirely new one to take his place makes sense, even if she can be annoying at times (I understand how she feels even if I dont agree with her actions). Jack Rooney replaces a character that has one conversation with Tianming and is never seen again, but here he adds comic relief as well as a vector for the audience to understand the game being a video game nerd himself. The scenes that deal.woth Ye Wenje's past are beautifully done and have some of the best acting in the show. I like that Ye Wenje and her story is almost completely unchanged from the books, and her actors captured the character perfectly. People forget just how good Game of Thrones was when D&D had material to adapt. Can't wait for the "red wedding" moment in season 2, book readers probably know what Im talking about. 💧
The story could've done without them all being best friends, they could've intervened at later points even if the connection was Ye Wenjie. I think it's fine introducing all the characters at once but they reduced the scale significantly when the main characters are just one core group vs something that should been a global scale. They definitely changed Ye Wenjie a bit; some good like there's being actual relationship built there between her and her daughter who's barely mentioned in the later half and some okay like her killing her superiors, but overall, they did well especially the casting. As interesting as the second book is, I really doubt it'll be made. The first season cost them around 160mm from different sources, easily one of their most expensive project and it didn't really hit better numbers than other shows that got canned like 1899 which had half the budget.
@@sws212 Yeah I totally agree: making the main roles primarily characters from a single friend group severely reduces the scale of the story. In the books the main roles were all much more disconnected from one another, especially from book to book. With this cast of characters who will probably remain through the whole show, it'll feel more like "a (awfully convenient) gang of friends vs aliens" rather than "humanity vs aliens."
You mean that the book also treats science as a superpower that some people possess above and beyond anyone else and they alone can develop nanofibers and nuclear powered propulsion planning without any team or peer review? And that it also is as convoluted as to make them all friends as If reality only turned around 6 friends? And ironically takes the concept of the complexity of the three body interaction problem as the essence of thr show and then proposes a strategy using 3 people with unlimited power that do not know what each other is doing and they just hope they won't interfere with each other, creating literally a 3 body problem? This series seemed to me like another teenager narcissistic self insert story that pretends to be deep and intellectuall. It is based in very interesting concepts and the main idea is genius, but the performance... o really hoped that was all D&Ds fault and that the book was better.
@@WadeAllen001Yes! It feels as if it was the avengers of science vs aliens, as if science was a mutation or a super power that only some teenage friends had and everyone else was dumb.
Having read most of Three Body AND Dark Forest, I fully understood why they did what they did for the show. They didn’t miss any of the major beats why’ll using everything at their disposal to foreshadow and lead to the other points. It was a dance of writing and seeing why people change stuff for the show, it only makes sense. Everything flows and I 100% recommend a watch. If you haven’t read the books, it might be a little jarring but the show is meant for you to have a similar feeling from the books. Existential Dread. And let me tell you ya, they nailed that! Thank you Quinn!
Its so lovely to listen to your review after i made the mistake of looking at a reddit discussion thread. You're speaking with a love towards the books that is palpable.
it was so difficult for me to sit through the series...I had to force myself to watch it and each time I couldn’t last past 2 episodes.. I am happy about some things, but extremely disappointed how it presented the story over all. My main issue with the Netflix series is that it feels like a complete scale DOWN from the books. Changing some characters is fine..but putting all 3 books main characters in a class of “oxford 5” and apparently “Chengxin/Wangmiao”’s boyfriend is just ridiculous to me. The whole earth’s fate rely on a group of friends now? How childish. The series is missing that overwhelming, urging, pressing dread on the human kind I felt from the books.. why? Ok so the aliens revealed themselves now, mystery is unfolded, but still, at this point the only people who are trying to investigate and solve issues are Wade and DAshi the cop?! Project GuZheng is decided by a cop DaShi and WADE?! Our Earth has no other competent people left?! None of the rest of the world cares?! All of this makes me wonder, did Oxford sponsor the show?! Also YeWenJie’s character is portrayed very superficially in this series.. I felt like it’s missing a lot of depth she had in the books. Her romance scenes are completely a miss for me. ETO are not mindless religious followers, though some of them may be, but they are not that one dimensional as it’s portrayed... Anyways.. 8 episodes for sure will leave a lot of the plot out, I understand that. But what I don’t like is how a very grand idea is presented as a child’s imagination...group of friends/lovers try to save the world, completely miss the opportunity to make it an epic story about our entire human species.
I think the first book is more grounded and ironically more epic at the same time First of all you can really feel Ye Wenjie's complicated feelings towards humanity. Secondly, at the beginning the ETO is just seen as some other "Aliens will come soon" cult; so while the "cultist" kill themselves sometimes because of infighting (a thing they completely cut from the show) everyone who is not committed to their cause is just ignored. That's why I dont understand why they killed Jack in the show.
@@ThePostmarkeyeah what threat does Jack put.. He is the least scientist guy among the 5 that could defeat SanTi. Why making the efforts to kill Jack? Also, they only got 2 people in the uk to complete the game and just decided to kill half of them?? Is this how you recruit people?
Chinese one was way better in my opinion, even cutting the opening scenes! Like I couldn’t even finish the first episode. It was a soulless robotic adaptation like I suspect they just used AI to write the whole script. A group of friends reunited for the death of one of their friends and colleague and they’re all so casual like nothing happened. Like what the actual crap 🤷♂️ I will try to watch it just for the glimpses of the story presented in better graphics than the Chinese show. That will be the only reason to watch the Netflix show. Man idk I’m so disappointed in Netflix as a whole and the producers. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for GoT but as I watch the first episode they get none. They’re void of actual screenwriting talent and adaptation. They do have talent in filmmaking, special effects and art direction but that’s about it. Someone else should’ve gotten the role of ensuring this series wasn’t trashed.
for the most part i dont have a problem for the charactor changes , but i just hated the Ye Wenjie and Mike evans relationship , they should kept it platnoic as in the book , they should've instead keep the part where she was in love with her husband and in the end had to kill him along with the higher ranking officer to keep the secret
Bruuuuh you made my day validating my prediction about the insanely pivotal role Raj will play as that book character. He was one of my favorites in setting up the plot of Starship Earth.
thanks, Quinn. based on others' comments i was going to skip this to preserve the books (i haven't read them yet) but your review has made me reconsider. deep analysis, bruh.
I'm glad you liked it as a series, I thought it was a really impressive offering from Netflix as far as their adaptations go. I suppose everyone has their opinions, but there was so much negativity surrounding it, I assume from the GoT showrunners. With Raised by Wolves being cancelled, and Foundation not being for me personally, I'm glad this exists.
The show has its moments, but I was not particularly impressed overall, tbh. Not great, not terrible. What felt weird was how contrived and tiny the world seems. Ye Wenjie, obviously a pivotal character, has a daughter, Vera, with another very important character, and Vera, in turn, works with five students and _all five_ also become pivotal. One is even dating a naval guy who _also also_ becomes central to things. It's the Fermi Paradox but for characters: If there are 8 billion people in the world, how come the only ones we see already know each other? What are the odds of that? Out of everyone alive all the important ones are already old friends, family, roommates or lovers already, which is just… bleh. Doesn’t match the global - cosmic, even - stakes at all. Well, I suppose the Rooney guy wasn’t really that consequential, which is fine by me. Was kinda cheering for his swift exit.
I did not think of that but you are absolutely right! Having them all be one group of friends is the crux of much of the show's issues. It corrupts the foundation and is what makes it fall flat. They are not exploring the proper themes because they walled themselves off from them with that decision. Great observation.
You do realize that Vera's connection with these characters is what makes them important right? I feel like you forgot to pay attention while watching this show.
@@deeleigh1626 Thanks. Comparisons to Game of Thrones are perhaps cheap shots, but: It's interesting that GoT's world seemed larger despite the fact that it follows a bunch of nobles who are important _because_ they're all related. It's a bunch of family beefs with global consequences, whereas this is somehow the opposite. There already are global consequences, yet somehow the character relationships are almost more incestuous (figuratively speaking, unlike GoT). It also makes the comings and goings of characters in Three Body Problem stranger. Many are so defined by their group dynamic that their characters feel thin when they're the sole focus. Suddenly they're defined by their utility to the plot instead, more like classical sci-fi characters. Either approach to characterization can work, but they're not mixing well in this case. You can tell a war story (which this essentially is) simultaneously from a lowly civilian's perspective and from the top general's perspective, _but_ then they can't be the same person. Or people, in this case. And it's even weirder to have them go back and forth; half the time, our thrust-into-global-importance characters seemingly just clock out from saving the world and disappear from the screen, or go and hang out on a beach. An enviable work-life balance, I'll give them that, but disjointed to watch.
@@akhilnair1137 A little harsh, but ok. Yes, the group formed as students of Vera's and her death is where the (present day) story begins. Of course, Vera herself isn't nearly as important as her mother, who's the real pivotal character but okay, they know her too. But it still doesn't follow that every single member of the friend group should turn out to be a protagonist. Most of them left the field of experimental particle physics. One became a prodigious nanotechnologist in her own right (and is seeing the countdown because of _that_ work), another became a manchild junk food magnate, which... fine. It's like the epilog of another story, where we're told how our thrown-together protagonists went their different ways _after_ the events of the story - except this is where this story starts. And what about Vera's (or her mother's) other connections, the ones we just don't hear about? Colleagues, other students, friends? Unnamed members of the ETO who Wenjie definitely influenced? Or the other scientists unrelated to Vera or Wenjie who also saw countdowns, which means they're important, but who didn't become protagonists? I could see a story where one of the group is facing terminal cancer and that provides a different perspective on the the larger-than-life events unfolding, indifferent to all of them. But for that character to just happen to be the one who also gets shot into space in a spacecraft dreamt up by his secret crush in the group (whom he gifted a star bought with the inherited money of another friend in the group who got killed after playing a game that's key to everything) and built with help from another genius friend in the group, who experienced a Sophon-induced countdown and previously helped the first guy's crush's actual boyfriend cut a ship into ribbons to stop the secret father of their group's old teacher... that's a stretch, isn't it? Oh, and the last guy in the group becomes _the_ Wallfacer (and is in an on again/off again relationship with the nanotech genius, just for good measure).
@@ferchrissakes I'm sorry for being intentionally harsh, but I don't see how them not being in the same field has anything to do with your arguement. They were still in contact with each other, regardless of the fact that they were in different fields. And this connection is the reason why each of these characters were pulled into the main plot. Yeah, what about them? They were unnamed colleagues, students, and friends. They did not become protagonists. They're importance to the plot starts and ends with their unnamed presence in the show, and I fail to see why they need to be more. The cancer character became part of the main plot specifically because he was friends with the main group. Wade came up with the idea specifically because he was aware of them having a friend dying of cancer. And he has a crush on one of the other main characters, and brought a star for her, and inherited money from another main character because, again, they are part of the single main group, who are in contact with one another. Being in contact influences other people's lives. The same goes for the wallfacer. It's still not entirely clear why he is the one who was chosen to be the wallfacer, but it's pretty clear that it is most probably because he is friends with the main gang.
100% my exact thoughts on the series. I hope it takes off. I need to see the events in Death’s End portrayed on screen. I have to see how they handle scenes like Singer sending the dual vector foil or Tianming’s (Will’s) fairytales
I binged the Netflix series in two sittings, enjoyed it but was nervously waiting for your review! I'm so glad you liked it. Now I'm nervous about Netflix's intentions about next seasons approval...
Quinn, I have to thank you. You're the only reason I even heard of this series. And this show blew me away. I loved it so damn much!!! If it continues to be this good in future seasons, it'll end up being my favorite show of all time.
In regards to the netflix adaptation. Despite not liking the adaptation, if netflix can get more people to know this wonderful series i see it as a good thing. The first major error i see in the netflix series is that the butcher a lot of character development in regards to ye wenjie in a similar way the tencent series did, you cant see her emotional hatred for manking growing as they spend too little screen time in her past and straight up justo shorten her backstory in red coast base. The second point is that they just butcher the entire ETO and three body plot, i think they should have spent more time building up the cientific discoveries and theories the characters create inside the game, something the tencent series did right which also ties to a major point of the book: The book gives you hard science and game theory all the time, in a way that makes you question every scene be it in the three body game or in real life, thoose are ever present in the tencent series. Thrird point is that they simply killed yang dong character without creating any real emotional attachment that characters in the book have with her and also cutting ding yi chacracter in the process, said character which is important for some plot points in the second book. The last point is, they messed up the entire plot of the sophons and its creation by the trisolaris, in the series it is not made clear and a huge deal with why they have to kill an entire crew and passangers in a ship to get a hard drive, which in the book is a crucial plot point to find out the final secret the enemy has shared with the ETO, in the series it just go fast and with schock value, they also just cut the part which the trisolaris open up the dimesions just to find the horrors that live inside this said dimensions. In summary i think the series should have slow down its passing to allow the scientific and game theory concepts sink in and work better in the development of some major characters for the story without dabbing so much into the second book territory, i know they want to put the main characters of all three books into a time period of the story which they were essencially just sitting at home watching tv or something, but you dont have to kill important plot points to do that, i think that the series could have 4 more episodes as well. In the end i think it was a terrible adaptation for me, i did not like it at all but it serves its prupose which is to tell a story and get more people to know this amazing book series, so in the end despite not liking it im happy with what netflix did, just think it should have been handled diferently
One thing they did extremely well was how they handled both wade and jack rooneys characters, rooney was a fill in for the tiamings plot and they made an entire new character around it with a great backstory around it and not just some random rich friend from school as it was in the book
@@AndréCourrege While i agree with some of that, i really think this is going to be one of those series that once we have the whole series it will be easier to see the through lines. A lot of the issues people currently have can be explained or expanded upon in the next season and if you take it as one long extended series it might work better. It's one of those "trust the process" moments and its hard to trust netflix and modern day writers lmao
It’s just a trash adaptation. No need to bring up excuses for the producers lol. Trash is trash = a misuse of great talent, resources and great IP source material just because 🤷♂️
@@qaztim11 my greatest concern about the cast was that d&d made them look like a group of superfriends or something when they could have just made separate stories for each group, just like in GoT they should split them in their respective plots like wade and jin cheng and find a way to put da shi and auggie doing their own bussiness to figure out the ETO while the character that is supossed to be luo ji just do his own stuff in the meanwhile like dealing with a break up and having his mental breakdowns while fighting to write a story while all his former carreer colleges are dying
14:10 you’d definitely be correct there. I watched the show on Netflix without any prior knowledge of this series… as soon as I finished it I ordered a box set of the trilogy and have started reading!
I’m ok with the character changes and all that. But the problem is that the show forgets what made the book so good: science. It just doesn’t respect the science and treat all audiences as idiots. all the great moments are great because of the science and they just cared about the visuals, rushing from one set piece to another
I greatly enjoyed the show and the warmth that was introduced. Will’s character and how it was portrayed was very tasteful and overall I think it was a job well done. Small critique is maybe how one group of friends end up being the key to it all is a bit silly and that things seemed a bit rushed… but these are small critiques
Well, it's not that silly. The top scientists of the world, at least within a given area of research, are very much a clique, with constant interaction, both professional and personal, thanks to very frequent science conferences where everyone gathers.
Agreed, just so happens a tiny group that studied at Uni together all end up with integral parts in saving the world! But, having said that it does allow for a level of relationship building that makes it a great watch!
@@HellCatt0770At least they mostly hand wave it away because they all have direct links to Ye and so the center of the ETO. I mean it's a bit silly, but, it's a story so whatever. It's no worse than in the Expanse where Jim and everyone happens to be at the center of everything for decades, but, it makes just enough sense within the story that it's fine. All in good fun. That said, I really, really wish we had seen a lot more senior scientists and researchers early on. Like at least 2-3 scenes where they're in labs and university campuses full of other smart people.
Having watched this while reading the first book I was really thrown by the changes but after reading the second and third the adaptation has really grown on me seeing how things are being set up and I’m really looking forward to the next season.
Quinn, I disagree with what you said about how the characters take a back seat in the books. Cixin Liu's portrayal of the characters, in my opinion, reflected a lot and is a commentary of the madness that is humanity, and at the same time also a celebration of the human spirit. He truly gets what it is to be human, and to me that sets the series apart from every other stories I've read. IMO it has more emphasis on character over anything else. It was an amazing blend of hard science and humanity that is unique. 10:1310:13
Absolutely agree. I really liked main character's story from Dark Forest, overall portrayal of his development after he moved to the house near mountains (read it in Ukrainian so I won't even try to butcher his name lmao)
@user-jb5hp6px8s bro if they handle Ye Wenjie's backstory in this way, I wonder how well they're going to handle Cheng Xin's inability to push the button as the Sword Holder. Cheng Xin is going to be absolutely hated if the audience can't relate to her internal struggle.
Also I’d like to point out something about the Tencent show. The Chinese book version DOES NOT START with the execution of her father. This comes much later in the book. It’s a change that was made in the english version I believe. And in the Tencent show the backstory comes later in the tv series as it does in the book (but yes for sure its much less graphic than Netflix.. its more talked than showed). Clearly though that adaption is way too long… but Da Shi transposition on screen is absolute GOAT level so I still like it haha.
He meant to start the book with the execution tho. He delayed showing that as a form of self censorship for the chinese audience/goverment. Later when translating it for western audiences it was not necessary and it was put as he originally intended.
As a Chinese I’ve read the books and watched the Tencent show (which is available on Amazon Prime btw for ppl who wanna take a look), I agree with most of what you said. However, as of Ye Wenjie’s back story, I don’t like Netflix’s butchering much more than the omissions of Tencent. There’s clearly (self) censorship involved, but most Chinese audience can fill in the details by themselves. The Netflix show makes Ye Wenjie more of a pure devil. Her strength and wisdom that makes her the “commander” is gone. The two sexual scenes with Ye Wenjie and her affair with Evans really felt uncomfortable for book fans.
I agree with you about Ye and Evans' affair. It was an awkward and unnecessary addition. However, I felt that Ye was portrayed as a woman whose faith in humanity was destroyed at a very young age and whose brilliance and bitterness overcame any sense of prudence. From my watching, she seemed less of a monster and more of a cynic who viewed the nature of humanity as destructive, cruel, and evil and had hoped that a superior species might guide us out of this brutal adolescence in our development. She did not fully understand the motives of the Trisolarans. If she had and still stood by her decision to reveal Earth's position, then she would have been a monster.
I actually found out about the 3 body problem from you Quinn, so thank you. I really wanted to read it and then a show announcement popped up. Not only did I think it wouldn't get made but if it did, it would not have enough success to continue to a second season. The reason I say that is because of the show called "Raised by Wolves". Great sci-fi story and had a cult following but to HBO, that was not enough and forever left on a cliffhanger like Will floating into space. I'm glad things worked out the way they did and I still plan to read the series. Look forward to more great sci-fi stories/ movies =)
I began reading (listening... audio books) the Three Body Problem because of your videos covering it, and was immediately hyped when I saw the Netflix trailers. I immediately began proselytizing the show to my friends, and got all my roommates to sit down and watch it with me, all because I saw some random RUclips video talk about one of the most existentially terrifying sci-fi stories ever. So to hear your relatively glowing review of the show is affirming, to say the least. I finished The Dark Forest the day before, so I was a little lost with the Staircase project and Wade, but I'm excited to get that started, and have plenty of time before season 2. Thanks again for sharing your love for this series to the world. You made at least one fan out of me. :D
As a fellow “listener” of books, I dream of a day when we can just say “reading” without feeling the need to specify, as if listening is any less of a legitimate way to consume books. (I say that lightheartedly, mainly as a joke.. just incase that wasn’t clear) I’m super jealous of your proselytizing skills because I’ve been unable to convince any of my friends to read or watch the series. Which is why I’m now in this comment section replying to comments because omg I’ve gotta talk to someone about this show!! Lol
Quinn is a GOAT for this lol. I got into his videos for Dune lore which led to me seeing his Three Body Problem videos, I bought the books and got my husband into them. I probably would've skipped this show completely if it weren't for Quinn!
I loved the first audiobook version that was slightly westernized with Luke Daniels reading it, but then from the second book onward they switched to a different narrator and a more literal translation and I just couldn't get into it.
they leave in peace, if you are wondering that's the endgame of the story. humans create separate dimension initially to develop weapon, the dimension that aliens can't snoop but eventually, they'll co-exist. Not sure how many seasons they're going to drag this to come to that end line story.
Tencent didn't butcher Ye Wenjie back story...That was one of the aspects of the show anyone could see that they put tremendous effort into in fact the vast majority of the episodes were dedicated to that and the flashback segments. They really wanted the audience to understand her plight and struggles as a young revolutionary. So you really understand why she did what she did in the end. The Netflix show in comparison glossed over a large part of her backstory. Tencent opting out of showing the scenes that could be politically sensitive and could get the show runners in deep crap with the CCP makes sense. I'm stunned how you can be so tone deaf to these things. So I have to disagree with you here its the opposite Tencent did a way better job portraying Ye Wenjie than Netflix were able to accomplish here. No one is really putting the Tencent show on a pedestal. What we're saying is that if you want a closer adaptation to what's actually represented in the books watch the Tencent show as it will better reflect whats in the books. I'll be intrigued to see your thoughts and feelings when the entirety of both tv adaptations make its way to our screens in the next few years.
Not sure Quinn watched the entire Tencent show. I agree - the tencent version was so great with Ye Wenjie’s backstory. Even though we don’t see her father getting killed, that is referred to in the show. Plus we get to spend so much time with her at the Red Coast base, we get to see how she slowly rose up in ranks - important enough for them to actually tell her what the base was doing. We see her “kill” Lei and Yang Weining. I love how they handled those parts - it’s clear she’s not a villain through and through in the tencent version. She is someone you understand, even though you may not agree with her. She is also more sympathetic. I loved both actresses. The Netflix version paints her out to be a very simplistic villain - your usual Hollywood villain who is given a tragic backstory but lacks nuance in any way. The actress who played young Ye Wenjie in the Netflix version was probably one of the show’s strongest performances, but for me, the old and young Ye Wenjie from the tencent version are the best.
Her sending of the message in the Red Coast facility was soooo tense. I was on the edge! In Netflix - nothing, like ordering take out. As simple as that.
@@vrrhvrhova absolutely. I was so nervous during that scene and I was totally mind blown when she received the “do not answer” message. In the Netflix version, it’s so fast that I felt nothing
@@eydpotter I believe he's admitted he didn't really get into Tencent's adaptation. I believe showing her father dying isn't relevant. What's important is showing and sharing with the audience her pain and suffering from the loss, which is the catalyst for her ruthlessness and everything that transpires later on. The actress who played Young Ye Wenjie did an amazing job taking us along that journey.
The Chinese version of the book had a different arrangement . The Tencent one sticked to the Chinese version. However as a TV drama I think Netflix is better
I binge watched it yesterday. OMG - It was Amazing! The only reason I was excited to watch this series, was because I watched your other videos on the books. So even though I know the darkness behind what is going to happen, I never really understood it fully. I'm looking forward to seeing the next season! Thanks for the great review, and the recommendation to get into this story! Cheers!
If you enjoyed the show you should read the book, having watched the show will help you visualize some key events in the book and helps you understand what you didn't understand from Quinn's videos, and no, you're not gonna hate the show when you're done reading it
@@atheniamathueis6441u can enjoy it, but basically everyone in china hate it, the book actually have extremely strong historical and political references, but unfortunately no one on RUclips has realized that yet, and of course, the show is an insult to the deeper meaning of the book
I've never read the books. But way before the series came out I watched all your videos. It made enjoying the show that much more interesting because I had so much backstory from you ahead of time. Thanks for your content.
I'm glad you did this, because I was honestly going to write off the series. I still think this could have been a chance to showcase more Chinese actors given their representation remains relatively low in (western) media and this book is specific as to ethnicity/race/nationality, but your points about rounding out the characters gives me hope!
Why do Chinese people need more representation in western media exactly? What is the benefit? I'll just ignore the fact that Chinese is a nationality, not a race.
Yeah in that aspect it was dissapointing. This could have been a great Netflix project with a majority all asian cast in a western sci fi show that make sense narratively and production wise. Netflix could have done it like Beef, The Brothers Sun or Bling Empire. I am bumped by the fact there is only a ratio of 20%asian lead. This is why having less U.K would have be better, less whites actors more asian english speaker actors and more across the globe pov(like Sense8). Showing modern China would have not hurt. Luo Ji being now Saul Durand and Zhang Beihai now Raj Varma is conflicting. Since now we get Black and Indian representation which is great and need but in detriment of erasing the og Chinese men characters. The only way for the show to fix that concern is too have more Chinese characters in s2 and beyond and bring back another/split Luo Ji or new, multiple swordholder, multiple Space Force officer etc... Just like how they divided Wang Miao and merged characters in s1. Do the reverse for next seasons.
Honestly I think this is one of those books where the race-swapping doesn't bother me (I'm ethnic Chinese and read the books in Chinese) compared to a lot of other Hollywood movies and shows. The modern / future eras are mostly a mystery-show turned sci-fi, and I don't really think it plays up the cultural aspects of the characters much. The only part that really matters is the Cultural Revolution part and the Netflix show kept it. The characters in the original books were mostly Chinese because the author (Liu Cixin) is Chinese similar to how American authors tend to write American characters, but I don't think the core plot relies on that at all. There's also a simple fact that a story that happens in modern China with characters speaking 100% Chinese just doesn't have a lot of market appeal to the western audience (Netflix is banned in China anyway so they won't be attracting audience there) so moving to UK makes sense. And having an all-Asian cast in UK or say US would have been quite awkward. I just want a good Three Body Problem adaptation. I didn't need it to be somehow a vessel for more Asian representation (even though that would be nice too).
Thank you so much for all the Dune and Thee Body Problem content! It is wonderful. I don't have the money to buy the books right now and I love hearing your clifs notes until I get the book. I don't mind the spoilers you are a wonderful story teller. Thanks again!
The thing is that D&D works best when the have a complete story and other people thinking for them. When they have to think for themselves they collapse. That is why GOT failed at the end.
This man introduced me to the books years ago, his complimentary videos have been inspirational. Hearing that he's a SoIaF fan only makes me appreciate this man more. Super happy for your vids!
After watching this first season, I realize that D&D aren’t fully terrible, they just need to stick to what they’re good at: adaptations. They’re really good at adapting complex source material. Their track record shows that. It’s when they become responsible for the writing that problems arise. And I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of. There’s absolutely a market for adaptations. People want to see their favorite books come to the big screen. So as long as they’re adapting and not writing everything, I’m perfectly happy to give them credit where it’s due. GoT still hurts though.
After this show released, I don't blame D&D at all anymore. Game of thrones was the best show that was on when they had source material to adapt, they hoped Martin would finish the books by the time show gets to later seasons,Martin dropped the ball and we got what we got. That series is never getting finished unfortunately
Adaptation is also a legit skill. Like you think it would be easy to translate an existing work, but it is tricky. Different writing mediums don't speak to audiences in the same way. And you can fail even if you carbon copy lift from the books if you don't understand the changes between mediums A and Medium B. I think they have shown, yes, that possibly with a fully finished book series they can turn out a decent product. But let's see how 3 body problem does in the long stretch.
D&D still hold a big portion of the blame for the later seasons of GoT. But yes, it was really because there was not more source material to go off. That was clearly the main thing that went wrong. That said, they did start to play really fast and loose with all sorts of things - lore, character development, plot lines, everything - in the later seasons. And they reeeaaallllyyy rushed the ending because they were promised Star Wars or whatever. And there are things they lack in their show production. For instance, the dialogue in 3 Body Problem is preeeeetty clunky in a lot of places. I thought the dynamics between the friend group was very wooden and unnatural, especially early on when they were more of a regular group of pals. It definitely got better when the action ramped up and the characters were running around saving the world. But that clunkyness matches when D&D had to produce dialogue themselves in late Season GoT, which makes sense to me now that I’ve seen Quinn’s explanation that these 3 Body characters and their interactions are not from the book, but were written specifically for this series. They aught to find some highly rated dialogue writers to bring on board their future productions.
The first 6 seasons of GoT were amazing. When they stick to the source material they really know how to craft a compelling story on screen and their visuals are always stunning. The only real issues with 7 and 8 were story related
I only found out the book from my father, who talked greatly of the story. Although he didn't want me to read it because of the violence, I ignored his wishes and read the entire series in a week. It was a blast. I immediately fell in love with the story and all its scenes. As soon as I discovered that a netflix show was in the makings for it, I knew what I was going to by hyped for. Of course while surfing the internet about the book I discovered this channel. And I am really thankful that you made a review of the season, because I was really hoping that the story would be great, but I didn't want to get disappointed by watching the show first. Again, thank you for making this video
You’re the only one I feel is truly qualified to speak about this show. Everyone else I’ve watched doesn’t have the same depth and understanding of the source material and genre to give a truly nuanced and honest review
Didn't read the books but loved the show so much so I went and bought the books(and found your channel). Having now read the first book I think the changes were great for pacing and charcter motivations/impact. Actually found characters completing vs just the setting compelling. My wife who doesn't enjoy sci-fi also really enjoyed it and was bummed when it ended. After reading the book, I know there is no way she would have enjoyed it in that form.
I think the show did a lot of things better, but a couple things I thought book 1 did much better were the reveals. The moment where ye wenjie sends the message to the trisolarans is not nearly as impactful in the show. Still pretty excited for the next seasons as Dark forest is my favorite.
I agree with everything you’ve said in this review, however, if GoT is our litmus test, that started out just as strong and look where that ended up. So I’m gonna keep my expectations tempered for the rest of the series.
Quinn , I am a college student and while i do homework I have youtube on in the bacround for some noise. About a week ago you sent me down an absolute rabbit hole of Science Fiction. First it was Dune now it is the 3 body problem. I have tried to stay away from spoliers but the way you break everything down for me is a godsend. I love it. I started watching the netflex adaptation and I think I will stop until I get to read the series. I just wanted to thank you for opening me up to this newfound addiction that I have that is science fiction. I genuinely enjoy your podcast while doing homework now. Thank you.
I really enjoyed the series too. But the elements I didn’t like so much: Saul being part of the friend group. It was just tooooo much to have allll these key characters in a same friend group. Would have worked just as well to have Saul/luo ji as a newcomer or someone linked only with ye and not the rest of the friends. Also auggies doe eyed, lip quivering acting was too much.
Yes, I agree. I heard people thought Wang Miao's character was bland but I really really disliked Auggie. She just annoyed me to no end. Wouldn't mind if she actually would disappear forever in the next seasons as Wang Miao vanished in the books. The funny thing is: I would have actually liked to see him again - not her though.
I went in hopeful, but with doubts. All in all, I really liked the character changes you mentioned. That was one of the things I was worried about, but it added depth and built out the characters. It was really well acted, and i agree with you in regards to the the speed up pacing over the Chinese version. 30 episodes was easily 10 to 15 more than needed. I loved the inclusion of stuff from TDF and DE. TDF is probably my current favorite sci-fi book because of the ideas. I can't wait for season 2.
As a MASSIVE fan of the books, I was so happy to be able to say after binging the show in a day that I actually really enjoyed it! I felt that they weaved plot lines in really well, obviously exchanging characters in the book with new ones in the show, while still retaining all the necessary elements that the story needs to be whole. And it was so much fun seeing some things be expanded upon, especially Mike Evan’s and his cult of a ship. And Thomas Wade… I mean come on. That was an amazing adaptation and expansion on his character, I loved him. Ye’s story was flawless. Not all of the new characters worked at 100% the whole time, but they all did the job they were supposed to, and I can see myself really liking them more as the show goes on. I also loved trying to figure out which character from the book I was watching and then having the moment of “ahhhhh, you’re Tianming” or “ahhh so that IS Luo Gi” I would honestly say I really hope this gets a second season, it’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than I thought it was going to be and you WILL have a good time watching it wether you’re a fan of the books or not. My only concern is that I hope they get the proper budget and resources that the next books would require, with all the different eras that humanity goes through. 8/10, definitely recommend, I want to see this adaptation followed through to completion.
I've only watched the first two episodes, but I told my wife they could not have done any better with Ye's parts. Amazing. I do mostly like the Oxford Five and I think it was a smart decision, since the protagonist in the first book was really boring to me.
Netflix version was dumbed down for western audiences. Science,what science? High scientific concepts that would you make you unrested, what is that? High philosophical concepts,no need for that. Let's send aliens messages in Chinese Mandarin and they will answer because we all know that they are fluent in that.
The series lack obviously the depth of Cixin ideas but hey, you read the book for that! And, they are spreading the books in four season so I am sure they will have the right budget for it
My opinion is that the series captures the books ideas but not it’s spirit, three body problems is inherently a story told from a Chinese perspective and I think the series fails to capture Ye’s motives and the hard sci-fi theories that the book presents, especially with universe cosmic radio background blinking turned into just the sky flashing. There was no pool table example, no hunter or turkey analogy. I feel like Netflix dumbed down the series to suit a wider audience, which is fine but butchering the series core concepts because of it sucks. Now with the race swapping, I felt like it was largely unnecessary because book 2 and already has a wider cast from around the globe. The argument that an all Asian cast wouldn’t be successful fails completely due the success of Squidgame. I can understand if Netflix removed characters like Wang Miao for his lack of depth but replacing integral characters like Luo Ji feels pretty underhanded in my opinion, especially due to his popularity in the western and Chinese forums. Overall the Netflix adaptation is a good popcorn flix, but fails to capture the heart of the original novel.
For every squid game there are probably thousands of other shows with all asian cast that fail. The fact that this one survived doesn't disprove that generall all asian casts don't succeed.
@@exu7325 there are far more all asians cast shows that fail on Western media compared to all asian casts. This isn't about diversity this or diversity that.
@@lorenzomizushal3980There aren’t that many all Asian series produced in the west in the first place. The diversity tactic failed big a quite few times, like the Little Mermaid.
@@quarelay2486 we're not talking about "produced in the west" since squidgame isn't produced in the west and is successful we're talking about in general movies with all-asian cast, which includes foreign movies like squidgame. Even including those there are very few successful all-asian cast movies.
Great review, and as a reader of the books I totally agree with your analysis of the Tencent vs Netflix versions. One thing I didn't get in the new show is how Wenjie's "Don't play with God" Einstein joke was meant to convey the same crucial info as the principles of cosmic sociology.
When god plays the sax, don't play along with him, he will find you and broke you & your instrument. This heavenly universe will feels like hell afterwards.
"Don't play with God" is a metaphor for "never announce yourselves to the aliens". Einstein announced himself to God when he played the violin, and God kicked his ass. The idea is there is always someone more powerful than you when you announce yourself to the cosmos. The Angel that told Einstein to not play was telling him "do not answer."
I tried to get it at the library in my large city today, 34 copies checked out and I’m 49th in line to get a copy. The series definitely brought much attention to the books! I’m excited to get my hands on them after watching a few of your videos.
Oh my gods, great review. Several times I thought about what you were going to say and you nailed it. And I'm so glad you caught the connection between Augustina and AA because as soon as she called Cheng Jin boss I must have made a noise because my wife, who hasn't read the books (and her face when they revealed Ye Wenjie as the founder of ETO was PRICELESS) just looked at me weird lol
After finishing the book I don’t know what to think about the Netflix show tbh. It has its moments but overall I felt like I was watching some second rate drama instead of a hard science thriller.
Also while censored, ye wenji is a part of Three-Body. Episode 8-9 This is three body for kids. It removes most of the thought experiments that are core to the books.
Check out my new TWO HOUR Ultra-Deep Dive Netflix VS Book Comparison: ruclips.net/video/7P_eyH7EFBw/видео.html
If I may, I live in China and I work in the film industry. I talked with many Chinese professionals, they pretty much all share your views on the Netflix tv series.
I just subscribed. You have amazing and most informative videos. The soundtrack and video background with the narration is just great and calming. Even your voice relaxes me. Actually, this is better than meditation plus you learn something.
Even though I agreed Netflix offered us a good show, I have mixed feeling about this version’s Ye Wenjie….Ye Wenjie being such an important and complex character in thw 1st book… she became an angry Chinese old lady from China Town rather than a famous physicist/ scientist as stated on the book… the acting of both younger and older version of YWJ are so paper-thin… lack of substance … I actually appreciate the Tencent version of both YWJ actors. The incense burning part… the monks in the funeral are so stereotypical… and the Oxford 5… made the world so tiny all of a sudden… all key characters all of a sudden became classmates… quite unsure of this arrangement to be honest…
I live in Hong Kong a British expat. Loved the books and bought the TENCENT subscriiption. Largest project ever under taken. Like I state below loved it but carried a lot of the same character flaws as the book. The Cop the only real standout character. TENCENT would not greenlight S2 and then S3 with the same comittment. Only a spin off maybe. This pointed to Hardcore fans like myself getting through all the episode and the average chinese viewer falling off after a few episodes.
NETFLIX I was worried on multiple fronts. Not chinese focus, woke politics of ticking boxes, dumming down the concepts in favour of CGI effects and United States centric. What we got was so much better for visual media. Using the UK instead of the US worked. The Cop Chinese but born in Manchester, awesome. Combing characters into a small group with inter personal relationships worked and came across well. I understand the critisim of the Oxford 5 shrinking the world build, but it really helped move the story along. Otherwise exposition would slow it down and take 12 episodes.
This series allows my wife to watch along. The team need with the next 8episodes to do the same thing. CGI etc but also subtlely build the fear. That's the scary part of Book2, its not obvious but dawns on you why DARK FOREST and feels the fucking best explantion to the Fermi Paradox ones ever heard of.
Pulling of Book3 is gonna be a stretch but I hope they do it.
Who knows this may open the way to other impossible titles that I'd never thought get made and I liked...
I strongly recommend you to watch the Three Body Problem series by Tencent, which amazed me a lot. It is more loyal to the original novel, and in my view and many Chinese people, it is way much better than Netflix version. The plot of the first episodes might be moving slowly, but trust me, you will fall in love with it in the end. Netflix version adapted the story too much, and it’s more like a fan-made derivative work. It has been adapted into a story more suitable for American people, similar to many other US TV shows that about a small group of elite people saving the world. This kind of adaptation loses some key character’s ideas and experiences, simplifying their motivations and flattening each character into a mono-dimensional figure. It feels like a show designed to provide a quick entertainment and short-time thrills, sacrificing much of the original work’s spiritual core, the humanistic concerns and so on.
The only review that matters.
@@traveler263 Oh my God! people actually caring about people, and don't give a f..k who f..ks who (as long as they are consenting adults) etc. etc.
The Audacity 😱
@@traveler263 do you people sign a cult like document that states you must type this in at least one comment section a day or something? lol
Agreed!
Shut up weirdo
@@traveler263 ah, I see.
5 hours ago I told friends that what the Netflix series lacks is Quinn's discussion of the ideas.
Wouldn't be the first time that Quinn is more entertaining than the source material 😄
Istg he works fast, literally was checking in just out of curiosity and found this published already
Massive props to him
Facts for real lol@@harriehausenman8623
Started checking for Quinn’s video immediately after finishing the series
I am currently reading the Frank Herbert - Dune books and am almost finished Heretics of Dune, with Chapterhouse : Dune left. And I was wondering what sci-fi saga to pick up next...and viola...here it is. Going to have to be these books and Im really looking forward to them after watching the Netflix series over the weekend 😁👍😁
I genuinely didn’t bother nor did I care about anyone else’s review of this show but yours. As far as I’m concerned you’re easily one of the best (if not the best) creators when it comes to the analysis and breakdown of sci-fi topics and stories. Thank you for all your hard work, it’s great to see your channel’s growth well-deserved success. Excellent review!
Your nose has a little brown on it. *sniff* ooohhh you had your nose up this dudes butt while you were kissing it lolzzzz
Amen to this
I agree, I was immediately hooked on Quinn's videos right after they popped up on my feed.
The second I finished binging the show - Binged your channel all over again. The only opinion that I wanted. and I'm glad we share it.
cixin liu is like arthur c clarke , he dont give a shit about individual characters. its about big ideas.
Most hard scifi is like that. Turns out nerds aren't great with people
Huh, I never thought of it this way before 😅
that sadly doesn't work as a tv serial. my wife likes this very much and that's a sign they did a good job making it more personal
true, most of his characters are poorly realized and lack any sort of physical description.
Yup the books reminded me of Asimov a lot.
Sooo happy to see Sir Davos in this series bc he's a fantastic actor
I am so impressed by the acting. Will Downing. Tatiana being so cold and creepy, but vulnerable in her scenes. But I can’t get enough of the red guard, I felt so angry and sad for her “But who will repent for me?”. I wish she gets major roles in future shows.
Its a GoT reunion plus every other British tv actor. Steven Gatiss, Reece Shearsmith as Newton & Turing and Adrian Edmondson as Auggies boss. It's just a shame they got rid of John Bradley so quickly.
thats ser to you
I thought the character was cringe at time and not well written.
@@itsnothimorisit cool, i like his acting even tho script wasn't perfect
Netflix should hire you as a consultant for the future seasons!
Seconded!
Totally! Let's push for this to happen!
Agree
Agree 💯%
I think you hit the nail on the head by drawing a line between the concepts and the characters. The ideas and concepts from Liu was what made the books stand out. Nobody really gives a dam about the characters. The characters in the TV show were heavily criticized, whether for deviating too much from the original or for being boring and one dimensional in general on the show. Both points accepted. But if you don't care too much about the ideas and concepts expressed in the show, then you are 'missing the point'. That's why I expected the books to be unfilmable because mainstream audiences, that are raised on diet of hollywood movies where 'anything is possible in science fiction' won't be too impressed with the science concepts introduced on the show.
i have to disagree. the only reason i kept reading was because of luo ji
Before listening to your review, I had a hard time making sense out of comments I've read and heard from people who haven't read all three books. I've read all three books twice, but I very mistakenly thought (going into this series) that if one read the first book, it would be enough. I now realize it's better to have read all three books, or to have read none of them, rather than to have read just one book, in order to keep an open mind about the series. Thank you for the review.
so the show spoils all three books? im halfway through the second one.
@@Dootje351You should be fine if you are already halfway through the second book.
@@Dootje351 No, some scenes from the beginning of the second and third books are shown but nothing that is major/surprising enough to be a spoiler
@@Dootje351 basically they show things that are in the same timeline. they introduced characters and story that were written physically later in the books but they are chronically in the same timeline.
Thanks for letting me know guys! Ill go enjoy the show
The only review I was eagerly expecting. Before watching, I gotta say I read the books and actually enjoyed the Netflix show.
Ugh I’m still holding on watching it lol what makes you like the show?
@verynick liked it because they streamlined a lot of plot and characters by having the protagonists know and care about each other while also setting up payoffs that the books didn't have as a result.
I know not everyone will like it, but my wife now wants to read the series after two episodes. That's a win in my book. 🎉
@@verynickhe liked that it got dumbed down to interpersonal drama.
Same. I thought they adapted it very well for west audiences
@@verynickI also loved the books and loved the TV adaptation. They had to make changes to make it flow better for TV, but the overall theme and struggles and crises are there so in my opinion it didn’t miss the point. Haters will hate and supporters will support, but don’t listen to people hating on others’ opinion. Everyone is entitled to it.
The show blew my mind (almost) every episode. I instantly ordered the books. Im reading book one while slowly re-watching season 1. I'm hooked. I have lots of theories about what is coming. All I can say is PLEASE HURRY UP and bring us season 2 !!
Could you write some of your theories please. Im curious about what you’re thinking
@@caelblanch2737 I can write a few. Everyone please know I have only seen the show and read the first few chapters of book one. These are guesses. I think the brain in space will be picked up by something and that character will return. The failure might have even been faked for some reason. I think the Wallfacers and a few other main characters will all jump through time using cryo freezing, so we will have them through the 400 years. The San-Ti are showing their hand by targeting very specific things. Nanotech fibers, particle accelerators, and even going after Saul are all clues that they have good reason to fear them. (Those are a few of my ideas.)
@@Grevlain You’re in for such an AMAZING ride with the books! Personally book 2 is my favorite but it’s really personal choice whether 2 or 3 is going to be your favorite. The world expands in ways you can’t even imagine! Have fun when you see the Droplet! 🫡
@@adamsmeltzer9959 Thanks Adam! And thank you for not spoiling anything. Im so happy to have found this story and show. I feel like a kid again with good thick Arthur C Clarke/Ben Bova-ish sci fi.
Please read the books, there is so much more depth
I binged watched the entire season today and OMFG. WOW. I'm telling everyone about it. So good. Smart decisions. It really sticks to the spirit if not the letter. Absolutely love it, and can't wait for season 2. It's trending #2 worldwide and i'm hoping people strap in!
It's #1 in France since release. I really hope there will be seasons 2 & 3. Hope it wont be cancelled like 1899 with similar audiences...
Same here. I watched it over 2 days. I really hope they do a second season (and have a good enough budget to make it just as good).
@@MMOplayeerr I totally agree about the inconsistencies. Another is that the aliens are super deceptive (making their particle accelerator experiments yield wrong results and scrubbing video recordings) yet they don't understand lying? (EDIT: Reading your comment, turns out you already mentioned this.)
Why doesn't that frustrate me? It's not that I didn't see the problems. It's that I like other aspects enough to forgive it (style, characters, science concepts, production quality, performances). We all have different thresholds for what we're willing to overlook, and I guess I'm pretty lenient. I'm not a hardcore "hard" sci-fi fan, but I imagine that most of the book's readers are, and I would imagine such inconsistencies would be just too much. (After all, science is all about ruthless consistency; if you're into that in real science, you probably won't accept anything less in a story about science.) I totally understand and respect that.
Are the book's aliens consistent in these ways that the show's aren't?
@@MMOplayeerr I replied but the comment seems to be gone. In short, I noticed those inconsistencies too (first they're coming to conquer, then they're refugees hoping to be accepted, then they're coming to conquer, now they're letting tech solutions proceed anyway). So why did I still like the show? Because the characters, style, performances, intrigue/mystery, production quality were all so good (in my opinion) that I was willing to forgive them. But I can totally understand and respect someone else (especially a fan of "hard" sci-fi) not being ok with them.
@@MMOplayeerrin the books, the aliens were always going to invade and knew they couldn’t coexist with us purely from game theory principles. The show did not really nail that down, because of this scene as you describe, it does make the viewer think human/alien relations were fine until big bad wolf. The Pacifist who responded was of course being honest because the aliens can’t lie.
I read the books because of your channel several months ago, now i watched the first episode, and i just needed to come here to see your reaction, thanks! You did not disappoint.
Same, I got into the books because of this channel.
Me too
I really appreciate creators like this that don't get super toxic when talking about things they love and can keep an open mind on adaptation changes
Here’s hoping they Fock up something you care about to promote their propaganda
Naw he was paid for this review
@@randyx007 how you know?
@@lunatynaty because the show is a 6/10 at best. Or he just can't say negative things. Which is just as bad.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 jeez man you are so grumpy. People have the right to have their own opinions. If your opinion the show is bad, well that's your opinion. Not everyone should or have to think the same. For me is worse people who think they are always right
I was surprised how how good of a job Netflix did with this. I was expecting another dumpster fire, tbh. It captures the beats of the books, character motivations, scale, and stakes pretty well. I'm looking forward to season two!
I’m gonna go so far as to say that I actually kinda like the Netflix adaption more than the book 😬. It definitely toned down some of the science exposition but sometimes those parts in the book dragged a little for me. I also love the changes they made with the characters and it feels more like a narrative whereas the book sometimes came off a little too stiff and technical.
@@emperormouse5487Tianming's character,or Will in the show was the best part for me. Every episode you got to see a little glimpse of him and when everyone is panicking, going crazy, trying to come up with ideas. He has learnt about his terminal illness and he's watched his close ones die, his story felt so grounded,he has accepted his end and is disconnected from everything else happening.
This was my reaction to the Chinese series. Actually good production and CGI at the end, even the VR scenes weren't that bad all things considered. I ended up binging 30 episodes in 2 days. Now, someone give me a reason to watch the Netflix one.
@@user-us3xi7se5b the Netflix one doesn’t completely butcher Ye Wenjie’s backstory which is a huge reason for her doing what she did. Also generally just seems higher quality. Better acting, directing, production design. The changes made from the book actually make sense and I think make it better in ways. It’s also a more holistic take on the 3 body series introducing important elements from all 3 books in a way that makes more sense when you’re watching a show. The tencent production just seemed
unnecessarily longer than it needed to be and less faithful to the actual theme of the story and novel- despite being more faithful of an adaptation in that it didn’t really change or split the (admittedly poorly written) characters from the book in any meaningful way. The Netflix version in terms of “faithfulness” may not be the one for you if that’s what your looking for, but I actually thought it did the impossible and made one of my favorite sci fi story’s of all time even better- namely by splitting the book protagonist into several different people and making them all genuinely likeable and relatable people.
@@emperormouse5487 You've convinced me good sir. I guess I don't have to worry about the split.
I just looked it up. Did they really take my favorite character and name him Clarence Shi? Please tell me they didn't ruin his character.
I just finished watching the entire first season in an entire day.
I had never heard of this book until I stumbled on your channel not that long ago where you made a video about it.
Thank you for introducing me to this fantastic series and maybe I'll delve deeper and read the books one day.
As someone who's never read the books I can only speak for the show itself but I'm in awe of this entire story and looking forward to next season.
Final thoughts, before I end my long winded thank you comment I want to say that there are several key moments that stood out to me the most. Number one when we see a very young Ye Wenjie re-encounters the woman who slaughtered her father and asks if she would repent, I feel that is the moment where her mind was made about humanity because the young woman, even with a missing hand felt no remorse for killing Ye Wenzie's father. In fact it seems like because of Ye Wenzie's intellect she despised her even more. The second instance was the very brutal and graphic boat scene, the cold calculation of being shred apart by an invisible attacker that has zero compassion for children, it's only purpose is to eliminate anything and anyone. That very moment made me question humanity as well from the Alien's perspective.
Last but not least, Ji Wenzie's conversation with Saul. I know that her "joke" has a far deeper meaning and I'm very excited to see the implications of that very important conversation.
What an absolute banger of a show and I knew the instant I finished watching the very last scene I needed to come and hear your perspective and to share my thoughts as well.
God's speed and be well.
The books are all out so if you want no spoilers you better avoid his videos because he covered the whole book series
The books are amazing, specially the second book.
The ideas of the book itself are way too anthropocentric and illogical to take seriously but still a nice thought experiment and something to ponder.
@@mabakerlol how? It’s literally opposite of that
I'm reading sci-fi books to entertain myself, not to create a physics paper, if you are taking a bunch of sci-fin novels as something "serious" then you should be looking elsewhere pal@@mabaker
Thank you so much for the excellent review.
From the start I preferred the Ten Cent version but managed to reprogram myself to be immersed in Netflix's Three Body. I think character development is not what the book’s genre is about but there is plenty of description in the books of how each feels about the various events. From listening to the audio books, I had a pretty good image in my head of what the characters are like and in some ways the Netflix version is faithful to that.
But the Ten Cent version is probably more faithful to the Chinese perspective, often remarked upon, of the books. I think this perspective is a source of fascination that has been lost in translation!
I can understand why the Netflix script writers would have thought that western audiences would have given the Netflix show a thumbs down if it had been structured in the manner of the book's slow burn.
don't reprogramme your self .....ever , gain wisdom and strength
@@sumo9209 That was a metaphor
Quinn! Just wanted to give you and your channel credit for turning me onto this series!
this was a great review!!! a large portion of critiques from book readers demonstrates a lack of understanding for how TV adaptations work, IMO. the point isn’t to perfectly represent every single aspect of the book- it’s to preserve the spirit of it while also getting a wider audience interested in the story and concepts. Agree with pretty much everything you said here
I’m so glad I found your channel. I hope the algorithm picks up on your greatness, because you deserve it!
While I didn't hate it as much as I expected, the Netflix adaptation failed. Where the Tencent version was indeed way too long, the Netflix version glossed things over in a way such that audiences understood what happened, but not why it was important.
While censorship is a problem in China, censorship in America is worse. In American shows, science is portrayed as something to be exalted, not understood. Conversations about billiard balls and scientist turkeys were omitted. These are important conversations because they make the audience understand that science can end. Science can end on it's own without alien intervention. Consider the relationship between the scientist and the cop in the first book. They have a relationship where the scientist thinks deductively and the cop uses gut instincts. This was lost. Instead of acting like scientists, the characters are H&M models that spend most of their time hanging out in the club or by the pool. Where in the Tencent version, the numbers aren't seen until the third or fourth episode, in Netflix, the numbers appear in the same scene we are introduced to the character. The only reason we know she is a scientist at that point is that she sneakily said so to a man that wanted to talk with her as a means to put him down. While having characters from later books in the beginning streamlines the story, some of the characters have no purpose during the first half. It leaves audiences to wonder why they are important. Finally, the first book ends at a point of desperation and hopelessness for humanity, giving the story a cosmic horror theme. This, like the other themes of the book are lost. The adaptation ends in the middle of the sequels, leaving audiences feeling like there was no story. The events in the adaptation are the same as the book, but the mood and themes and understanding are lost. America will continue it's path towards stupidity as long as we keep dumbing down media that would challenge them.
Thanks for the nothing burger
@@goblin3810 don't thank me. I didn't make the show.
I haven’t read the books yet but I did watch Tencent’s version after learning it’s true to the books. I was hooked and you are so right they explained science so well in the series.
The actors in that show did a phenomenal job. The guy who plays Wang Mao looks like a scientist. The actors that played Ye Wenje were simply fantastic. They portrayed a complex character with layers and layers of complexity perfectly. The elder Ye Wenje in that show has grace charm intellect that you would find in a professor and at the same time a coldness a bitterness that hides behind that intellect.
Every event in the show gives you chills and thrills, makes you wonder, makes you to think, what could be behind it? The universe flickering was such a powerful scene, and ‘do not answer’ scene was another level, one could feel goosebumps.
The VR game actually looks like a game .
Oh I can go on and on. Bottomline is that Netflix show is a mediocre adaptation that had the potential to be amazing but unfortunately it’s not.
Totally agree with you, especially about the characters. I think the "shallow characters" criticism of the books itself is a shallow criticism. The story works so well because it focuses on the mystery instead of having 5 characters having interpersonal drama, or even one really developed character that we spend a lot of time exploring. In fact, I think it would work better in a show. Seeing Wang Miao's reactions on the actor's face will develop his character a lot in the minds of viewers, compared to in the books where we mostly have his thoughts. Plus, having a single character to follow strengthens the story and attachment so much.
I also agree with the bit about the Oxford Five being H&M models. I know so many of the changes are made because it's for the general audience, but how much dumbing down is too much? I think the show went too far.
The decision to split the protagonist from the first book into TWO characters is LITERALLY the dumbest decision the showrunners could have possibly made. Instead of one solid protagonist, you end up with 2 terrible ones! They even split the cop into two different characters (Wong/GoT dude). The CG was Tubi quality, the writing was amateurish and the acting was high school theater level.
My main issue with the show isn’t that it’s not “faithful”… it needed to change things and the books are far from perfect narratively… it’s that the show gets rid of all the mystery and horror of the first book. It reveals that aliens are behind the events at the start of the second episode rather than making us wonder about what the countdown is or what the blinking universe means or why scientists are committing suicide. It’s just in such a rush to get to Dark Forest. I get that Books 2 and 3 are where so much of the action happens, but that first book is such a great mystery thriller and I felt the show had very little respect for what makes that first book work so well.
Are you for real ?? I'm watching the Chinese Tencent version and I love how there is the sense of dread. That something is coming, something is happening and the mystery
Apparently, it should not take 20 episodes to build the mystery. 3 Body Problem is the weakest and can be told succintly.
I liked the tencent adaptation but holy shit was it slow and hard to get through. Im glad they sped up things and it will help a lot for the normies to get on board too
I agree. They should have just had the 1st season end with the 1st book. Maybe slightly afterwards. Even one or two more episodes of mystery would have benifited the show. That being said I did enjoy the show as a whole.
@@reservedartist1141 when you build it that much like tencent did you get an insanely boring show, like 8 episodes for the countdown, hilarious
Quinn, it's funny but I haven't follow 3BP at all, but the moment I saw it being showcased on Netflix, I immediately thought of you.
It's because of how much you sold the books, I figured I would give it a shot. Before I knew it, I binged watched the entire season in a day. I am looking forward to Season 2!
Quinn's Ideas' videos are the only ones I watch in normal speed lol otherwise I do 2x speed. These videos are actually worthwhile to listen to and pay attention to. Three Body Problem is my favorite book series for sure. Thanks for being comprehensive about the information in your vids.
I did like that they more smoothly interwoove Ye Wenjies story into the over all story instead of dumping most of it right in the beggining.
I want the Chinese perspective. On Netflix, not these boring characters
@@richlisola1 You have the 30 chapter Tencent series for that.
@cleebe6905 So, what is the Tencent series? I've been reading about it in comments, and have no idea about it. I've not read the books and have only started watching the series
oh yes i agree, it was such a pain getting invested into a story and then boom, here you go B plot for 50 pages, you get invested into that and then boom, C plot.
@gerdsfargen6687 the Tencent series is available on Viki and Peacock (both need subs) and as far as i know the first three episodes are free on youtube and viki. It is a very faithful retelling of the first book though it is not flawless. I highly recommend it.
My only interaction with the book series are the videos that you put out explaining the series. That led me to watch this show, and I'm so glad I did. I binged watched the whole thing in one day and couldn't get enough. However, if I hadn't of watched your explanations there were parts of the show that I would've been lost.
That conversation around little red riding hood was fantastic. The lord , who Evans presumes is basically all knowing, turns out to not understand a story, or make believe. Its a bit funny and even a little frustrating when the lord repeatedly fails to grasp this simple concept and then things take a hard turn when the lord assesses Evans as a liar.
It goes from kinda frivolous and fun to a titanic gaff in inter species dialogue. We are sucked into the same lax attitude that Evans is, while talking to the emmisaries of a godlike race who's whim could destroy our planet. Why *should little red riding hood be a sensative line of conversation? But this illustrates the provincial attitudes we fall into, and the dangers of sloppy language and assumption.
I read all three books in Chinese and watched both the Tecent and Netflix adaptations. I agree with your review in many aspects but I feel quite the opposite about the portrayal of Ye Wenjie. The death of Ye’s father was without a doubt a significant triggering event in her life but I see the stream of events in her later life as the main driving force of her character development. What caused her to loose all hope in humanity was not a single event as if a switch being flipped but the chronic erosion of innocence due to the glacial but seemingly unstoppable and all-encompassing advancement of ridiculousness and repression in that era, culminating to a series of betrayals Ye faced over the years. Attributing Ye’s motivation to a single event is, imho, a trivialisation of her character arc. Despite the censorship in the Tecent version, it actually did a better job in portraying Ye Wenjie. That being said, overall I still enjoyed the Netflix version more and I don’t mind cutting corners here and there to keep up with the pacing of the story.
I agree that the real kicker for Ye is all of the misery that she witnessed humanity doing around her in the forestry program, with that inciting incident only being the first thing that threw her off any hope of a normal life and onto the path she followed. Plenty of people have seen their family suffer and would still not be so misanthropic. And many people (like Mike Evans) have lived lives of privilege and yet pontificate from their ivory tower (in this case literally, and on a massive private ship no less) that humanity is the only problem and are just as willing to throw in to the same misanthropic subservience.
But that do show more than her father dying. They include: her mother betraying her, being sent to a miserable prison camp in Mongolia, witnessing the misery of the people there, watching the mass deforestation, reading Silent Spring, meeting and then being betrayed by her lover, more harsh treatment in jail that nearly kills her, witnessing more destruction of the natural world through the red coast project, betrayal again by her superior, and eventually meeting Evans who agrees with her about the horrors of humanity. The show includes all of that.
I agree. I think Ye’s deep disappointment for humankind was way better built up in the Tencent version. The reason she’s one of the Redemptionists is that there’s not only betrayal but also love and kindness from other people. Her “betrayal” to humankind is her deep love to this world.
I agree with you that I have stronger feeling for Ye Wenjie in Tencent’s version. Partly because of how the character was portrayed by the actor. I can feel the anger from Netflix’s Dr Ye, but the feeling I get from Tencent’s Dr Ye is the disappointment that has surpassed anger. But then, Netflix has only 8 episodes to cover everything plus a bit from book 2. Having said that, I still enjoy watching Netflix’s Three Body Problem. Hope this series can get people interested in checking out the books and dive deeper into the original storyline.
Couldn't agree more. They really did cover a lot in here and did a great job adapting it. @@nrschlosstein
I am quite surprised by this.
I finished the Netflix adaptation yesterday and I thought it was another Foundation, Rings of Power debacle.
Happy to see you and others still enjoyed it though. I guess it just wasn't for me.
Same here. The Netflix show doesn't do it for me
I wanted so much more for Foundation, but it is an unreal undertaking.
I read the first book before starting with the series and i stopped at the moment when ye wenjie kissed evans...
I think they butchered wang miao completely by splitting him into 2 and auggie becoming a weird ass. Rooney was pretty decent until he died. The whole cultural shift is crazy. Freaking clarence running around. Whole nukes were cut out. The science is cut down to complete basics instead of a good explanation or exposition. Many important scenes were cut out or didn't happen yet (i stopped cause the kiss was too much for me) e.g. her relationships at the base which in turn are the whole reason for her actions. Also why the hell do you have to ship her with evans...
The dialogues between evans and "the lord" were shit aswell. The most important dialogue is not about lying initially nor do the aliens think of a fictive story as a lie. The dialogue in the books was about communication. The way of communication is the reason why they don't understand and why they culturally didn't develop lying.
@@MK-il5vc I really hated that they removed the nukes and the explanation for the siphons was really poorly done as they made them super powerful just to show it off on the screen and ignored all the consequences it brought.
@@henkfinkers3931 yeah. I've calmed down a little bit now and i gotta agree that in itself it's definitely not a bad show and i can see why you would make it more simplistic and shift the culture. In the end it has to entertain the main stream. But i'm still pissed off by the hyperfocus on interpersonal emotions. Like i could've watched the kardashians or star wars instead but i chose this because of the SCIENCE fiction aspect
100% agree. Better than I expected. Even better than I hoped. Very few complaints here. It was a brilliant move to open the series with the one scene that was so conspicuously missing from the tencent show.
It maybe felt a bit rushed compared to the tencent version, but with 8 episodes vs. 30, it’s much closer to just right than it is to not enough.
The perfect amount of episodes would have probably been 10, stretching the first 4 into 6. The max that would be good is 13, which would have been welcome but I think a lot of people would have started getting bored.
@@scottwatrous I don’t disagree. Somewhere between 2 and 4 more episodes would have been perfect.
22 more episodes would be absolutely bonkers for this, though. I liked the 30 episodes of the tencent version, but I’m probably in the minority here, and even then, it could have done fine with 20-25
But this is a different show, even if the source material is the same. I love them both
I recall that there have been some solid fan cuts of the Tencent taking it down to under 10 hours as well.
Did really enjoy the Tencent (despite tuning out every so often during filler parts). The vibe and feeling of that show was really well done, you could feel the dread and realizations creeping up on the characters.
Science isn't "a filler"
For context the runtime of the ten cent show was 4x as long if your only including first book material
I LOVED the show. I was hooked from the beginning to the end, simply couldn't stop watching. Instant favorite for me. And I'm glad I watched it before reading the books because it's ALWAYS hard for a book fan of anything to accept the adaptation to the screen, so if I had read the books, maybe I wouldn't've enjoyed the show as much. And now I'm going to start reading the books too.
I bought these books over a year ago and haven’t gotten around to reading them. I just finished the first season of the show, and it has definitely inspired me to finally start reading them. Great show!
I really disliked how the characters, especially Wade and Clarence (Da Shi) were able to solve questions brought up by the plot...instantly by coming up with the best conclusion. It didn't seem they have to work to solve things..they just knew.
I felt the dialogue was pretty lame between the characters and some one-liners really brought me out of the immersion.
I liked Saul and Jin a lot, but really disliked the acting and character of Augustina by Eiza González.
This!
She kinda looks like Rachel Zegler to me :D
Yeah, the show feels rushed and doesn't have that atmospheric vibe like I am getting with constellation.
This is the thing the Tencent adaptation does a lot better, the characters fail a ton before even figuring out some basic stuff, really makes every little bit of info or success feel more earned.
Yes! The Augustina character is horrible and there isn’t an ounce of suspense or build up.
This is such a welcome surprise. Im actually relieved. The Three Body Problem now ranks as 1 in my favorite sci fi book series of all time. Im glad its not a disaster and will now watch it.
Was expecing a giant flop as well, It's good to see that for once, it's actually good. Will give it a chance.
Avoid it with all cost because if you like the books you won't like the Netflix take starting with there incredible take on stars flickering.
It is trash especially when you have read the books and seen the Tenent adaptation of the first book.
I didn't like the Tencent adaptation much either, it was too jolly and watered down. The tone was not right. Haven't watched the Netflix adaptation, we will see. It may get the tone right but of course the character swap is a huge nerf.
The Netflix adaptation was trash. But hope you like it. Not for me and I am passionate about the books. Such a disappointment from the start 🤷♂️
Finally got to watch your video! My personal timeline was I watched the Netflix series a little while back after being vaguely aware of the book series (probably due to your channel, seeing thumbnails and what not lol). I actually really liked the show and saw this video and wanted to watch it, but figured I really probably should read the books before watching this video lol. Went and just finished the first book and started this video again, watching minute by minute seeing if you'll mostly stick to non/light spoilers and mostly stick with the first book, which you did, so got to happily watch another Quinn video!
And yeah, I agree with your assessment. Although I know most readers say the bulk of the real "meat" happens in the later books, even the first book has a lot of real big "heady ideas" and concepts, and I thought the show honestly did a really good job of adapting it pretty well for the most part. Some of the details get lost, like for example the creation of the Sophon is pretty streamlined in the show, but when you consider time constraints and pacing issues that come along with having to adapt something for the television format, I understand why it had to be done that way.
And also, completely spot on about the characters or if we're being honest, the lack of characterization in the books lol. Not trying to be a hater, I really liked what I read of the first book but yeah, the characters are definitely just stand ins for the author to express his big heady scifi concepts. It's kinda funny how undeveloped they are aside from Ye Wenjie in the book. The fact that Wang Miao is introduced with having a wife and son in one of the chapters and then they're literally never mentioned ever again I thought was funny. I mean I don't expect them to show up in the plot all the time, but Wang, a husband and father, doesn't even once think of his wife or kid the entire time after that? That's crazy lol. I'm sure people will criticize the Netflix characterization and I'm not saying it's Oscar worthy high art, but it's at least competent in terms of building attachment and liking characters which help television audiences.
Never heard of the 3 body problem until I started watching your channel. I listened to all the videos and thought what a cool concept it was. So I was excited to see a live action adoption of it. I did watch the Chinese version, but I couldn't get into it. So I waited for the English version. I loved the series. I'm glad you did too.
I've been aware of the dark forest and the fermi paradox for years but never realised the dark forest was a term adopted from this series.
This was great, but I also liked the Tencent version as well. Nice to have two takes on the series!
I became interested in these books directly from your videos. This was before I knew the show was being made. I watched the show because of your videos. Thank you, you were correct that these books are one of the great works of modern science fiction. I enjoyed the adaption very much. To me the show felt like high concept Sci-Fi in the tone of The DaVinci Code. I'm looking forward to the future. I love your work, keep it up!
I am so glad you at least had a level head about this adaption. It is so sad seeing it get torn apart by people online, most book readers seem divided but I for one agree with everything you said. The only part of the show I felt iffy on was the conversation between Luo (Saul) and Ye at the cemetery I felt that replacing the conversation about cosmic sociology with Ye dropping some cryptic joke felt cheap.
The adaptations seem to make her backstabbing not convincing enough... at least Ye turned dubious to the true intension of her "lord" after a series of incidents, and she never expected human beings to be extinguished, unlike the sliced leader
I agree. I didn’t care for the joke story either, but perhaps they thought that Ye spelling out the cosmic sociology theory might reveal too much of the dark forest theory. If I remember correctly, the conversation happens very early in the books at the funeral, so we don’t think much of it, but in the show it might make the dark forest theory too obvious to viewers, which is why they decided to go more of the cryptic route.
Shows the screenwriters didn’t do their homework and don’t get the story well. They probably don’t even like sci-fi 🤷♂️
it felt like a punch in the guts, ngl. :(
@@CollectorsFix That's the cool thing about it. Its a science riddle, that you can figure out if you really pay attention. They hinted at the Dark Forest theory anyways with the game theory and fermi paradox book.
In truth they just thought the words cosmic sociology and axioms are too nerdy. @TRYCLOPS1 is not wrong i don't think they like science. Or at least they think the average viewer will run if he hears "science" words.
Thanks a lot Quinn. You have confirmed my feelings toward the Show. I am one of those "Three Body Problem" books fans who believed Netflix done a good job in this adaptaion!
Just watched Season 1, thanks to you--it was really good and now I have got to read the book! Your channel is the best sci-fi channel on RUclips! Love everything you make
This show had more plot holes than I could even count. D&D really bungled up the entire thing
Quinn, you opened my eyes for these books like a couple of years ago. Having read them and now watched the show i completely agree that Netflix actually did a good job in season 1 here. The chinese series were definitely way too long and slow paced.
I love how you make videos about 3BP or Dune and in couple of years some studio decides to make a movie or a show about it. Thank you GOAT ❤
My opinions:
1. Calling them the San Ti is a solid choice. Sounds a bit less silly.
2. Man some scenes with these characters was so forced. Mostly in the first few episodes. Just some weird moments of forced tention that struck me as immature and unnatural. And also forced sentimentality where that sentimentality didnt feel earned.
3. Overall i think they made a great choice to split the main character up into a handful of new characters.
4. The high concept game and universe and ideas, they really nailed. This cant be an easy book to translate to film. But much of what they show is exactly how i envisioned it. I was left with very similar feelings of awe that the book left me with.
Spot on about finding new book fans. I watched season 1 and immediately started reading/watching explanations of the series and science.
I didn’t even know what 3 Body Problem was 3 weeks ago and now because of you I’ve binged the whole season and can’t stop watching your analysis videos 🔥🤣 thanks for showing me some new cosmic horror
Binged it? Took me 2 sittings to slog through the first episode 💀
@@chriscunningham8703 I feel sorry for your attention span.
@@akhilnair1137 I can only take so much bad acting & poor dialogue 💀
@@chriscunningham8703 now I feel sorry for your taste in acting and dialogue.
@@akhilnair1137 you must be easy pleased 💀
i love your reviews so much, theyre so insightful and mindful of different factors and medias when it comes to adaptations vs books. I started following you after seeing your area X vids and am now thoroughly enjoying your dune series and I cant wait to hear more of your analyses on three body problem and its sequels!
The ship scene is honestly one of my favorites tbh... i love that it left alot of things to the imagination. It did not show the kids being slaughtered and allowed our minds to envision it. Really moving yet terrifying
Thank you Quinn! I kept saying "Yep! Yep! Yep!" on your descriptions -- spot on. And the one thing that really bothered me with the books were the personal/romantic relationships, which alternated between hollow and saccharine. The Netflix series is doing a much better job at creating these inter-character relationships. Much in the same way that Station Eleven did better than the book in a lot of ways
Took me a while to realize that Yun Tianming is already on episode 1 with his best bud whom he made a millionaire by accident in the books. I think that was an interesting change 😂
Oh God you're right. Jack Rooney is a reference to Tianming's friend who got rich from his idea.
@@14112ido Amazing isn't it. I'm just glad that their relationship in the books evolved into more brotherly kind in the Netflix series.. Tianming in the books was way too dark and depressing. Every chapter could trigger anyone who's going through the same thing.
This was (imo) the best possible way to adapt this series. Cheng jin is the main character of Rememberence of Earth's Past. Having her relatively unchanged and surronding her with characters based on characters from the book works. None of these characters interact in the books, which is fine in boom form, but on the screen where things like facual expressions and reactions are important you need characters to actually interact with eachother.
I would argue this adaptation is a strict improvement over the book. It captures every major beat without skipping anything. Tianming is so much better, introducing him at the start and having him actually talk to Cheng Xin makes way more sense. Luo Ji's character is instantly recognizable. Wang Miao was barely a character, so writing an entirely new one to take his place makes sense, even if she can be annoying at times (I understand how she feels even if I dont agree with her actions). Jack Rooney replaces a character that has one conversation with Tianming and is never seen again, but here he adds comic relief as well as a vector for the audience to understand the game being a video game nerd himself. The scenes that deal.woth Ye Wenje's past are beautifully done and have some of the best acting in the show. I like that Ye Wenje and her story is almost completely unchanged from the books, and her actors captured the character perfectly.
People forget just how good Game of Thrones was when D&D had material to adapt. Can't wait for the "red wedding" moment in season 2, book readers probably know what Im talking about. 💧
Loved your analysis to the video above. As a non-book-reader, I LOVED the show but wanted to know what the book readers thought.
The story could've done without them all being best friends, they could've intervened at later points even if the connection was Ye Wenjie. I think it's fine introducing all the characters at once but they reduced the scale significantly when the main characters are just one core group vs something that should been a global scale. They definitely changed Ye Wenjie a bit; some good like there's being actual relationship built there between her and her daughter who's barely mentioned in the later half and some okay like her killing her superiors, but overall, they did well especially the casting. As interesting as the second book is, I really doubt it'll be made. The first season cost them around 160mm from different sources, easily one of their most expensive project and it didn't really hit better numbers than other shows that got canned like 1899 which had half the budget.
@@sws212 Yeah I totally agree: making the main roles primarily characters from a single friend group severely reduces the scale of the story. In the books the main roles were all much more disconnected from one another, especially from book to book. With this cast of characters who will probably remain through the whole show, it'll feel more like "a (awfully convenient) gang of friends vs aliens" rather than "humanity vs aliens."
You mean that the book also treats science as a superpower that some people possess above and beyond anyone else and they alone can develop nanofibers and nuclear powered propulsion planning without any team or peer review? And that it also is as convoluted as to make them all friends as If reality only turned around 6 friends? And ironically takes the concept of the complexity of the three body interaction problem as the essence of thr show and then proposes a strategy using 3 people with unlimited power that do not know what each other is doing and they just hope they won't interfere with each other, creating literally a 3 body problem?
This series seemed to me like another teenager narcissistic self insert story that pretends to be deep and intellectuall. It is based in very interesting concepts and the main idea is genius, but the performance... o really hoped that was all D&Ds fault and that the book was better.
@@WadeAllen001Yes! It feels as if it was the avengers of science vs aliens, as if science was a mutation or a super power that only some teenage friends had and everyone else was dumb.
Having read most of Three Body AND Dark Forest, I fully understood why they did what they did for the show. They didn’t miss any of the major beats why’ll using everything at their disposal to foreshadow and lead to the other points. It was a dance of writing and seeing why people change stuff for the show, it only makes sense. Everything flows and I 100% recommend a watch. If you haven’t read the books, it might be a little jarring but the show is meant for you to have a similar feeling from the books. Existential Dread. And let me tell you ya, they nailed that! Thank you Quinn!
I have read the book before and I cant remember the staircase project? Where was it?
Its so lovely to listen to your review after i made the mistake of looking at a reddit discussion thread. You're speaking with a love towards the books that is palpable.
it was so difficult for me to sit through the series...I had to force myself to watch it and each time I couldn’t last past 2 episodes.. I am happy about some things, but extremely disappointed how it presented the story over all.
My main issue with the Netflix series is that it feels like a complete scale DOWN from the books. Changing some characters is fine..but putting all 3 books main characters in a class of “oxford 5” and apparently “Chengxin/Wangmiao”’s boyfriend is just ridiculous to me. The whole earth’s fate rely on a group of friends now? How childish. The series is missing that overwhelming, urging, pressing dread on the human kind I felt from the books.. why? Ok so the aliens revealed themselves now, mystery is unfolded, but still, at this point the only people who are trying to investigate and solve issues are Wade and DAshi the cop?! Project GuZheng is decided by a cop DaShi and WADE?! Our Earth has no other competent people left?! None of the rest of the world cares?! All of this makes me wonder, did Oxford sponsor the show?!
Also YeWenJie’s character is portrayed very superficially in this series.. I felt like it’s missing a lot of depth she had in the books. Her romance scenes are completely a miss for me. ETO are not mindless religious followers, though some of them may be, but they are not that one dimensional as it’s portrayed...
Anyways.. 8 episodes for sure will leave a lot of the plot out, I understand that. But what I don’t like is how a very grand idea is presented as a child’s imagination...group of friends/lovers try to save the world, completely miss the opportunity to make it an epic story about our entire human species.
I think the first book is more grounded and ironically more epic at the same time
First of all you can really feel Ye Wenjie's complicated feelings towards humanity. Secondly, at the beginning the ETO is just seen as some other "Aliens will come soon" cult; so while the "cultist" kill themselves sometimes because of infighting (a thing they completely cut from the show) everyone who is not committed to their cause is just ignored. That's why I dont understand why they killed Jack in the show.
@@ThePostmarkeyeah what threat does Jack put.. He is the least scientist guy among the 5 that could defeat SanTi. Why making the efforts to kill Jack? Also, they only got 2 people in the uk to complete the game and just decided to kill half of them?? Is this how you recruit people?
@@yls8845 Agreed. In addition, you will piss off the other person who finished the game and turn them against you 'cause you killed their friend...
Chinese one was way better in my opinion, even cutting the opening scenes! Like I couldn’t even finish the first episode. It was a soulless robotic adaptation like I suspect they just used AI to write the whole script. A group of friends reunited for the death of one of their friends and colleague and they’re all so casual like nothing happened. Like what the actual crap 🤷♂️
I will try to watch it just for the glimpses of the story presented in better graphics than the Chinese show. That will be the only reason to watch the Netflix show. Man idk I’m so disappointed in Netflix as a whole and the producers. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for GoT but as I watch the first episode they get none. They’re void of actual screenwriting talent and adaptation. They do have talent in filmmaking, special effects and art direction but that’s about it. Someone else should’ve gotten the role of ensuring this series wasn’t trashed.
for the most part i dont have a problem for the charactor changes , but i just hated the Ye Wenjie and Mike evans relationship , they should kept it platnoic as in the book , they should've instead keep the part where she was in love with her husband and in the end had to kill him along with the higher ranking officer to keep the secret
Bruuuuh you made my day validating my prediction about the insanely pivotal role Raj will play as that book character. He was one of my favorites in setting up the plot of Starship Earth.
thanks, Quinn. based on others' comments i was going to skip this to preserve the books (i haven't read them yet) but your review has made me reconsider. deep analysis, bruh.
I'm glad you liked it as a series, I thought it was a really impressive offering from Netflix as far as their adaptations go. I suppose everyone has their opinions, but there was so much negativity surrounding it, I assume from the GoT showrunners.
With Raised by Wolves being cancelled, and Foundation not being for me personally, I'm glad this exists.
The show has its moments, but I was not particularly impressed overall, tbh. Not great, not terrible.
What felt weird was how contrived and tiny the world seems. Ye Wenjie, obviously a pivotal character, has a daughter, Vera, with another very important character, and Vera, in turn, works with five students and _all five_ also become pivotal. One is even dating a naval guy who _also also_ becomes central to things. It's the Fermi Paradox but for characters: If there are 8 billion people in the world, how come the only ones we see already know each other? What are the odds of that? Out of everyone alive all the important ones are already old friends, family, roommates or lovers already, which is just… bleh. Doesn’t match the global - cosmic, even - stakes at all.
Well, I suppose the Rooney guy wasn’t really that consequential, which is fine by me. Was kinda cheering for his swift exit.
I did not think of that but you are absolutely right! Having them all be one group of friends is the crux of much of the show's issues. It corrupts the foundation and is what makes it fall flat. They are not exploring the proper themes because they walled themselves off from them with that decision. Great observation.
You do realize that Vera's connection with these characters is what makes them important right? I feel like you forgot to pay attention while watching this show.
@@deeleigh1626 Thanks. Comparisons to Game of Thrones are perhaps cheap shots, but: It's interesting that GoT's world seemed larger despite the fact that it follows a bunch of nobles who are important _because_ they're all related. It's a bunch of family beefs with global consequences, whereas this is somehow the opposite. There already are global consequences, yet somehow the character relationships are almost more incestuous (figuratively speaking, unlike GoT). It also makes the comings and goings of characters in Three Body Problem stranger. Many are so defined by their group dynamic that their characters feel thin when they're the sole focus. Suddenly they're defined by their utility to the plot instead, more like classical sci-fi characters. Either approach to characterization can work, but they're not mixing well in this case. You can tell a war story (which this essentially is) simultaneously from a lowly civilian's perspective and from the top general's perspective, _but_ then they can't be the same person. Or people, in this case. And it's even weirder to have them go back and forth; half the time, our thrust-into-global-importance characters seemingly just clock out from saving the world and disappear from the screen, or go and hang out on a beach. An enviable work-life balance, I'll give them that, but disjointed to watch.
@@akhilnair1137 A little harsh, but ok. Yes, the group formed as students of Vera's and her death is where the (present day) story begins. Of course, Vera herself isn't nearly as important as her mother, who's the real pivotal character but okay, they know her too. But it still doesn't follow that every single member of the friend group should turn out to be a protagonist. Most of them left the field of experimental particle physics. One became a prodigious nanotechnologist in her own right (and is seeing the countdown because of _that_ work), another became a manchild junk food magnate, which... fine. It's like the epilog of another story, where we're told how our thrown-together protagonists went their different ways _after_ the events of the story - except this is where this story starts.
And what about Vera's (or her mother's) other connections, the ones we just don't hear about? Colleagues, other students, friends? Unnamed members of the ETO who Wenjie definitely influenced? Or the other scientists unrelated to Vera or Wenjie who also saw countdowns, which means they're important, but who didn't become protagonists?
I could see a story where one of the group is facing terminal cancer and that provides a different perspective on the the larger-than-life events unfolding, indifferent to all of them. But for that character to just happen to be the one who also gets shot into space in a spacecraft dreamt up by his secret crush in the group (whom he gifted a star bought with the inherited money of another friend in the group who got killed after playing a game that's key to everything) and built with help from another genius friend in the group, who experienced a Sophon-induced countdown and previously helped the first guy's crush's actual boyfriend cut a ship into ribbons to stop the secret father of their group's old teacher... that's a stretch, isn't it? Oh, and the last guy in the group becomes _the_ Wallfacer (and is in an on again/off again relationship with the nanotech genius, just for good measure).
@@ferchrissakes I'm sorry for being intentionally harsh, but I don't see how them not being in the same field has anything to do with your arguement. They were still in contact with each other, regardless of the fact that they were in different fields. And this connection is the reason why each of these characters were pulled into the main plot.
Yeah, what about them? They were unnamed colleagues, students, and friends. They did not become protagonists. They're importance to the plot starts and ends with their unnamed presence in the show, and I fail to see why they need to be more.
The cancer character became part of the main plot specifically because he was friends with the main group. Wade came up with the idea specifically because he was aware of them having a friend dying of cancer. And he has a crush on one of the other main characters, and brought a star for her, and inherited money from another main character because, again, they are part of the single main group, who are in contact with one another. Being in contact influences other people's lives. The same goes for the wallfacer. It's still not entirely clear why he is the one who was chosen to be the wallfacer, but it's pretty clear that it is most probably because he is friends with the main gang.
100% my exact thoughts on the series. I hope it takes off. I need to see the events in Death’s End portrayed on screen. I have to see how they handle scenes like Singer sending the dual vector foil or Tianming’s (Will’s) fairytales
I binged the Netflix series in two sittings, enjoyed it but was nervously waiting for your review! I'm so glad you liked it. Now I'm nervous about Netflix's intentions about next seasons approval...
Getting nervous about what someone else thought instead of standing by your own opinion 😂
@@Misfit6mm literally said I enjoyed it, can't you read? ffs
Quinn, I have to thank you. You're the only reason I even heard of this series. And this show blew me away. I loved it so damn much!!! If it continues to be this good in future seasons, it'll end up being my favorite show of all time.
In regards to the netflix adaptation.
Despite not liking the adaptation, if netflix can get more people to know this wonderful series i see it as a good thing.
The first major error i see in the netflix series is that the butcher a lot of character development in regards to ye wenjie in a similar way the tencent series did, you cant see her emotional hatred for manking growing as they spend too little screen time in her past and straight up justo shorten her backstory in red coast base.
The second point is that they just butcher the entire ETO and three body plot, i think they should have spent more time building up the cientific discoveries and theories the characters create inside the game, something the tencent series did right which also ties to a major point of the book:
The book gives you hard science and game theory all the time, in a way that makes you question every scene be it in the three body game or in real life, thoose are ever present in the tencent series.
Thrird point is that they simply killed yang dong character without creating any real emotional attachment that characters in the book have with her and also cutting ding yi chacracter in the process, said character which is important for some plot points in the second book.
The last point is, they messed up the entire plot of the sophons and its creation by the trisolaris, in the series it is not made clear and a huge deal with why they have to kill an entire crew and passangers in a ship to get a hard drive, which in the book is a crucial plot point to find out the final secret the enemy has shared with the ETO, in the series it just go fast and with schock value, they also just cut the part which the trisolaris open up the dimesions just to find the horrors that live inside this said dimensions.
In summary i think the series should have slow down its passing to allow the scientific and game theory concepts sink in and work better in the development of some major characters for the story without dabbing so much into the second book territory, i know they want to put the main characters of all three books into a time period of the story which they were essencially just sitting at home watching tv or something, but you dont have to kill important plot points to do that, i think that the series could have 4 more episodes as well.
In the end i think it was a terrible adaptation for me, i did not like it at all but it serves its prupose which is to tell a story and get more people to know this amazing book series, so in the end despite not liking it im happy with what netflix did, just think it should have been handled diferently
One thing they did extremely well was how they handled both wade and jack rooneys characters, rooney was a fill in for the tiamings plot and they made an entire new character around it with a great backstory around it and not just some random rich friend from school as it was in the book
@@AndréCourrege While i agree with some of that, i really think this is going to be one of those series that once we have the whole series it will be easier to see the through lines. A lot of the issues people currently have can be explained or expanded upon in the next season and if you take it as one long extended series it might work better. It's one of those "trust the process" moments and its hard to trust netflix and modern day writers lmao
It’s just a trash adaptation. No need to bring up excuses for the producers lol. Trash is trash = a misuse of great talent, resources and great IP source material just because 🤷♂️
I wouldnt call it trash,except for the casting of the main 5, holy shit is the acting/direction bad at times.
@@qaztim11 my greatest concern about the cast was that d&d made them look like a group of superfriends or something when they could have just made separate stories for each group, just like in GoT they should split them in their respective plots like wade and jin cheng and find a way to put da shi and auggie doing their own bussiness to figure out the ETO while the character that is supossed to be luo ji just do his own stuff in the meanwhile like dealing with a break up and having his mental breakdowns while fighting to write a story while all his former carreer colleges are dying
14:10 you’d definitely be correct there. I watched the show on Netflix without any prior knowledge of this series… as soon as I finished it I ordered a box set of the trilogy and have started reading!
I’m ok with the character changes and all that. But the problem is that the show forgets what made the book so good: science. It just doesn’t respect the science and treat all audiences as idiots. all the great moments are great because of the science and they just cared about the visuals, rushing from one set piece to another
Exactly!
I've been waiting for this video the second I saw the trailer. I absolutely love your videos covering the books!
I greatly enjoyed the show and the warmth that was introduced. Will’s character and how it was portrayed was very tasteful and overall I think it was a job well done.
Small critique is maybe how one group of friends end up being the key to it all is a bit silly and that things seemed a bit rushed… but these are small critiques
Well, it's not that silly. The top scientists of the world, at least within a given area of research, are very much a clique, with constant interaction, both professional and personal, thanks to very frequent science conferences where everyone gathers.
@@SerbAtheistthis is definitely implied or the case in the first book.
Agreed, just so happens a tiny group that studied at Uni together all end up with integral parts in saving the world! But, having said that it does allow for a level of relationship building that makes it a great watch!
@@HellCatt0770 No it’s just lazy and dumb writing.
@@HellCatt0770At least they mostly hand wave it away because they all have direct links to Ye and so the center of the ETO. I mean it's a bit silly, but, it's a story so whatever. It's no worse than in the Expanse where Jim and everyone happens to be at the center of everything for decades, but, it makes just enough sense within the story that it's fine. All in good fun.
That said, I really, really wish we had seen a lot more senior scientists and researchers early on. Like at least 2-3 scenes where they're in labs and university campuses full of other smart people.
Having watched this while reading the first book I was really thrown by the changes but after reading the second and third the adaptation has really grown on me seeing how things are being set up and I’m really looking forward to the next season.
Quinn, I disagree with what you said about how the characters take a back seat in the books. Cixin Liu's portrayal of the characters, in my opinion, reflected a lot and is a commentary of the madness that is humanity, and at the same time also a celebration of the human spirit. He truly gets what it is to be human, and to me that sets the series apart from every other stories I've read. IMO it has more emphasis on character over anything else. It was an amazing blend of hard science and humanity that is unique. 10:13 10:13
Absolutely agree. I really liked main character's story from Dark Forest, overall portrayal of his development after he moved to the house near mountains (read it in Ukrainian so I won't even try to butcher his name lmao)
@user-jb5hp6px8s bro if they handle Ye Wenjie's backstory in this way, I wonder how well they're going to handle Cheng Xin's inability to push the button as the Sword Holder.
Cheng Xin is going to be absolutely hated if the audience can't relate to her internal struggle.
@@felixaimarketing lots of cut jumps, and dramatic music. that is their limit of expressing a character.
Also I’d like to point out something about the Tencent show.
The Chinese book version DOES NOT START with the execution of her father. This comes much later in the book. It’s a change that was made in the english version I believe. And in the Tencent show the backstory comes later in the tv series as it does in the book (but yes for sure its much less graphic than Netflix.. its more talked than showed).
Clearly though that adaption is way too long… but Da Shi transposition on screen is absolute GOAT level so I still like it haha.
He meant to start the book with the execution tho. He delayed showing that as a form of self censorship for the chinese audience/goverment.
Later when translating it for western audiences it was not necessary and it was put as he originally intended.
Also Western audiences may not know about the cultural revolution so it helps to have the context presented at the start
As a Chinese I’ve read the books and watched the Tencent show (which is available on Amazon Prime btw for ppl who wanna take a look), I agree with most of what you said. However, as of Ye Wenjie’s back story, I don’t like Netflix’s butchering much more than the omissions of Tencent. There’s clearly (self) censorship involved, but most Chinese audience can fill in the details by themselves. The Netflix show makes Ye Wenjie more of a pure devil. Her strength and wisdom that makes her the “commander” is gone. The two sexual scenes with Ye Wenjie and her affair with Evans really felt uncomfortable for book fans.
the tencent show is also available for free on youtube
I agree with you about Ye and Evans' affair. It was an awkward and unnecessary addition. However, I felt that Ye was portrayed as a woman whose faith in humanity was destroyed at a very young age and whose brilliance and bitterness overcame any sense of prudence. From my watching, she seemed less of a monster and more of a cynic who viewed the nature of humanity as destructive, cruel, and evil and had hoped that a superior species might guide us out of this brutal adolescence in our development. She did not fully understand the motives of the Trisolarans. If she had and still stood by her decision to reveal Earth's position, then she would have been a monster.
Ye wen jie is such a well fleshed out character in book, then Netflix totally destroyed it，awful adaption
Quinn said "Netflix adaptation is more faithful than the Tencent version", which I can NOT agree with.
I actually found out about the 3 body problem from you Quinn, so thank you. I really wanted to read it and then a show announcement popped up. Not only did I think it wouldn't get made but if it did, it would not have enough success to continue to a second season. The reason I say that is because of the show called "Raised by Wolves". Great sci-fi story and had a cult following but to HBO, that was not enough and forever left on a cliffhanger like Will floating into space. I'm glad things worked out the way they did and I still plan to read the series. Look forward to more great sci-fi stories/ movies =)
I began reading (listening... audio books) the Three Body Problem because of your videos covering it, and was immediately hyped when I saw the Netflix trailers. I immediately began proselytizing the show to my friends, and got all my roommates to sit down and watch it with me, all because I saw some random RUclips video talk about one of the most existentially terrifying sci-fi stories ever. So to hear your relatively glowing review of the show is affirming, to say the least. I finished The Dark Forest the day before, so I was a little lost with the Staircase project and Wade, but I'm excited to get that started, and have plenty of time before season 2. Thanks again for sharing your love for this series to the world. You made at least one fan out of me. :D
As a fellow “listener” of books, I dream of a day when we can just say “reading” without feeling the need to specify, as if listening is any less of a legitimate way to consume books. (I say that lightheartedly, mainly as a joke.. just incase that wasn’t clear)
I’m super jealous of your proselytizing skills because I’ve been unable to convince any of my friends to read or watch the series. Which is why I’m now in this comment section replying to comments because omg I’ve gotta talk to someone about this show!! Lol
Quinn is a GOAT for this lol. I got into his videos for Dune lore which led to me seeing his Three Body Problem videos, I bought the books and got my husband into them. I probably would've skipped this show completely if it weren't for Quinn!
I read the Chinese version 2013
I loved the first audiobook version that was slightly westernized with Luke Daniels reading it, but then from the second book onward they switched to a different narrator and a more literal translation and I just couldn't get into it.
they leave in peace, if you are wondering that's the endgame of the story. humans create separate dimension initially to develop weapon, the dimension that aliens can't snoop but eventually, they'll co-exist. Not sure how many seasons they're going to drag this to come to that end line story.
Tencent didn't butcher Ye Wenjie back story...That was one of the aspects of the show anyone could see that they put tremendous effort into in fact the vast majority of the episodes were dedicated to that and the flashback segments. They really wanted the audience to understand her plight and struggles as a young revolutionary. So you really understand why she did what she did in the end. The Netflix show in comparison glossed over a large part of her backstory. Tencent opting out of showing the scenes that could be politically sensitive and could get the show runners in deep crap with the CCP makes sense. I'm stunned how you can be so tone deaf to these things. So I have to disagree with you here its the opposite Tencent did a way better job portraying Ye Wenjie than Netflix were able to accomplish here.
No one is really putting the Tencent show on a pedestal. What we're saying is that if you want a closer adaptation to what's actually represented in the books watch the Tencent show as it will better reflect whats in the books. I'll be intrigued to see your thoughts and feelings when the entirety of both tv adaptations make its way to our screens in the next few years.
Not sure Quinn watched the entire Tencent show. I agree - the tencent version was so great with Ye Wenjie’s backstory. Even though we don’t see her father getting killed, that is referred to in the show. Plus we get to spend so much time with her at the Red Coast base, we get to see how she slowly rose up in ranks - important enough for them to actually tell her what the base was doing. We see her “kill” Lei and Yang Weining. I love how they handled those parts - it’s clear she’s not a villain through and through in the tencent version. She is someone you understand, even though you may not agree with her. She is also more sympathetic. I loved both actresses. The Netflix version paints her out to be a very simplistic villain - your usual Hollywood villain who is given a tragic backstory but lacks nuance in any way. The actress who played young Ye Wenjie in the Netflix version was probably one of the show’s strongest performances, but for me, the old and young Ye Wenjie from the tencent version are the best.
Her sending of the message in the Red Coast facility was soooo tense. I was on the edge! In Netflix - nothing, like ordering take out. As simple as that.
@@vrrhvrhova absolutely. I was so nervous during that scene and I was totally mind blown when she received the “do not answer” message. In the Netflix version, it’s so fast that I felt nothing
@@eydpotter I believe he's admitted he didn't really get into Tencent's adaptation. I believe showing her father dying isn't relevant. What's important is showing and sharing with the audience her pain and suffering from the loss, which is the catalyst for her ruthlessness and everything that transpires later on. The actress who played Young Ye Wenjie did an amazing job taking us along that journey.
The Chinese version of the book had a different arrangement . The Tencent one sticked to the Chinese version. However as a TV drama I think Netflix is better
DnD fucked a lot up with Game of Thrones, but they also gave us the Tywin-Arya tango and uh... and that's pretty much it.
I binge watched it yesterday. OMG - It was Amazing!
The only reason I was excited to watch this series, was because I watched your other videos on the books. So even though I know the darkness behind what is going to happen, I never really understood it fully.
I'm looking forward to seeing the next season! Thanks for the great review, and the recommendation to get into this story!
Cheers!
if u know anything about the book u will hate the Netflix show
If you enjoyed the show you should read the book, having watched the show will help you visualize some key events in the book and helps you understand what you didn't understand from Quinn's videos, and no, you're not gonna hate the show when you're done reading it
@@vilx1308having read the entire trilogy doesn't make me feel entitled to judge people for enjoying the show
Read once again what it was written because the comment doesn't say that.
@@atheniamathueis6441u can enjoy it, but basically everyone in china hate it, the book actually have extremely strong historical and political references, but unfortunately no one on RUclips has realized that yet, and of course, the show is an insult to the deeper meaning of the book
I've never read the books. But way before the series came out I watched all your videos. It made enjoying the show that much more interesting because I had so much backstory from you ahead of time. Thanks for your content.
I'm glad you did this, because I was honestly going to write off the series. I still think this could have been a chance to showcase more Chinese actors given their representation remains relatively low in (western) media and this book is specific as to ethnicity/race/nationality, but your points about rounding out the characters gives me hope!
Why do Chinese people need more representation in western media exactly? What is the benefit? I'll just ignore the fact that Chinese is a nationality, not a race.
Yeah in that aspect it was dissapointing. This could have been a great Netflix project with a majority all asian cast in a western sci fi show that make sense narratively and production wise.
Netflix could have done it like Beef, The Brothers Sun or Bling Empire.
I am bumped by the fact there is only a ratio of 20%asian lead. This is why having less U.K would have be better, less whites actors more asian english speaker actors and more across the globe pov(like Sense8). Showing modern China would have not hurt.
Luo Ji being now Saul Durand and Zhang Beihai now Raj Varma is conflicting. Since now we get Black and Indian representation which is great and need but in detriment of erasing the og Chinese men characters.
The only way for the show to fix that concern is too have more Chinese characters in s2 and beyond and bring back another/split Luo Ji or new, multiple swordholder, multiple Space Force officer etc...
Just like how they divided Wang Miao and merged characters in s1. Do the reverse for next seasons.
Honestly I think this is one of those books where the race-swapping doesn't bother me (I'm ethnic Chinese and read the books in Chinese) compared to a lot of other Hollywood movies and shows. The modern / future eras are mostly a mystery-show turned sci-fi, and I don't really think it plays up the cultural aspects of the characters much. The only part that really matters is the Cultural Revolution part and the Netflix show kept it. The characters in the original books were mostly Chinese because the author (Liu Cixin) is Chinese similar to how American authors tend to write American characters, but I don't think the core plot relies on that at all. There's also a simple fact that a story that happens in modern China with characters speaking 100% Chinese just doesn't have a lot of market appeal to the western audience (Netflix is banned in China anyway so they won't be attracting audience there) so moving to UK makes sense. And having an all-Asian cast in UK or say US would have been quite awkward.
I just want a good Three Body Problem adaptation. I didn't need it to be somehow a vessel for more Asian representation (even though that would be nice too).
Thank you so much for all the Dune and Thee Body Problem content! It is wonderful. I don't have the money to buy the books right now and I love hearing your clifs notes until I get the book. I don't mind the spoilers you are a wonderful story teller. Thanks again!
Do you live in a remote area where there are no libraries nearby? I read the trilogy and spinoff book all from the library...
@@yordankrushkov8488i listen to audiobooks on yt for free in my sleep lol
The thing is that D&D works best when the have a complete story and other people thinking for them. When they have to think for themselves they collapse. That is why GOT failed at the end.
This man introduced me to the books years ago, his complimentary videos have been inspirational. Hearing that he's a SoIaF fan only makes me appreciate this man more. Super happy for your vids!
After watching this first season, I realize that D&D aren’t fully terrible, they just need to stick to what they’re good at: adaptations. They’re really good at adapting complex source material. Their track record shows that. It’s when they become responsible for the writing that problems arise.
And I don’t think that’s anything to be ashamed of. There’s absolutely a market for adaptations. People want to see their favorite books come to the big screen. So as long as they’re adapting and not writing everything, I’m perfectly happy to give them credit where it’s due.
GoT still hurts though.
After this show released, I don't blame D&D at all anymore. Game of thrones was the best show that was on when they had source material to adapt, they hoped Martin would finish the books by the time show gets to later seasons,Martin dropped the ball and we got what we got. That series is never getting finished unfortunately
Adaptation is also a legit skill. Like you think it would be easy to translate an existing work, but it is tricky. Different writing mediums don't speak to audiences in the same way. And you can fail even if you carbon copy lift from the books if you don't understand the changes between mediums A and Medium B. I think they have shown, yes, that possibly with a fully finished book series they can turn out a decent product. But let's see how 3 body problem does in the long stretch.
D&D still hold a big portion of the blame for the later seasons of GoT. But yes, it was really because there was not more source material to go off. That was clearly the main thing that went wrong. That said, they did start to play really fast and loose with all sorts of things - lore, character development, plot lines, everything - in the later seasons. And they reeeaaallllyyy rushed the ending because they were promised Star Wars or whatever.
And there are things they lack in their show production. For instance, the dialogue in 3 Body Problem is preeeeetty clunky in a lot of places. I thought the dynamics between the friend group was very wooden and unnatural, especially early on when they were more of a regular group of pals. It definitely got better when the action ramped up and the characters were running around saving the world. But that clunkyness matches when D&D had to produce dialogue themselves in late Season GoT, which makes sense to me now that I’ve seen Quinn’s explanation that these 3 Body characters and their interactions are not from the book, but were written specifically for this series. They aught to find some highly rated dialogue writers to bring on board their future productions.
The first 6 seasons of GoT were amazing. When they stick to the source material they really know how to craft a compelling story on screen and their visuals are always stunning. The only real issues with 7 and 8 were story related
The GoT problem is mostly GRRM'S fault. He wrote the story into a corner that not even he has been able to solve.
I only found out the book from my father, who talked greatly of the story. Although he didn't want me to read it because of the violence, I ignored his wishes and read the entire series in a week. It was a blast. I immediately fell in love with the story and all its scenes. As soon as I discovered that a netflix show was in the makings for it, I knew what I was going to by hyped for.
Of course while surfing the internet about the book I discovered this channel. And I am really thankful that you made a review of the season, because I was really hoping that the story would be great, but I didn't want to get disappointed by watching the show first. Again, thank you for making this video
14 :]@@F-gi6ly
You’re the only one I feel is truly qualified to speak about this show. Everyone else I’ve watched doesn’t have the same depth and understanding of the source material and genre to give a truly nuanced and honest review
Didn't read the books but loved the show so much so I went and bought the books(and found your channel). Having now read the first book I think the changes were great for pacing and charcter motivations/impact. Actually found characters completing vs just the setting compelling. My wife who doesn't enjoy sci-fi also really enjoyed it and was bummed when it ended. After reading the book, I know there is no way she would have enjoyed it in that form.
I think the show did a lot of things better, but a couple things I thought book 1 did much better were the reveals. The moment where ye wenjie sends the message to the trisolarans is not nearly as impactful in the show. Still pretty excited for the next seasons as Dark forest is my favorite.
One review to rule them all.
They dumbed it down too much for me. The stars blinking instead of the CMB pulsing was a big fail imo
I agree, it feels like "3bodies for dummies", too many shortcuts, too much science skimmed through.
They kinda had to do that for the general audience.
@@samsulh314 No, they don't. That's just an elitist viewpoint. I honestly feel insulted watching Netflix's adaptation.
Nah, the best part was the message sent in Mandarin to the silent and they answering.
Tencent did it and used this opportunity to educate the population and make them interested in science but the west doesn't seem to be capable.
I agree with everything you’ve said in this review, however, if GoT is our litmus test, that started out just as strong and look where that ended up. So I’m gonna keep my expectations tempered for the rest of the series.
The big difference is these books are completed instead of having to wing it off outlines.
Quinn , I am a college student and while i do homework I have youtube on in the bacround for some noise. About a week ago you sent me down an absolute rabbit hole of Science Fiction. First it was Dune now it is the 3 body problem. I have tried to stay away from spoliers but the way you break everything down for me is a godsend. I love it. I started watching the netflex adaptation and I think I will stop until I get to read the series. I just wanted to thank you for opening me up to this newfound addiction that I have that is science fiction. I genuinely enjoy your podcast while doing homework now. Thank you.
Omgg same here dude but I’ve been in the science fiction RUclips since January
I really enjoyed the series too. But the elements I didn’t like so much: Saul being part of the friend group. It was just tooooo much to have allll these key characters in a same friend group. Would have worked just as well to have Saul/luo ji as a newcomer or someone linked only with ye and not the rest of the friends. Also auggies doe eyed, lip quivering acting was too much.
Yes, I agree. I heard people thought Wang Miao's character was bland but I really really disliked Auggie. She just annoyed me to no end. Wouldn't mind if she actually would disappear forever in the next seasons as Wang Miao vanished in the books. The funny thing is: I would have actually liked to see him again - not her though.
I went in hopeful, but with doubts.
All in all, I really liked the character changes you mentioned. That was one of the things I was worried about, but it added depth and built out the characters. It was really well acted, and i agree with you in regards to the the speed up pacing over the Chinese version. 30 episodes was easily 10 to 15 more than needed.
I loved the inclusion of stuff from TDF and DE. TDF is probably my current favorite sci-fi book because of the ideas.
I can't wait for season 2.
As a MASSIVE fan of the books, I was so happy to be able to say after binging the show in a day that I actually really enjoyed it! I felt that they weaved plot lines in really well, obviously exchanging characters in the book with new ones in the show, while still retaining all the necessary elements that the story needs to be whole. And it was so much fun seeing some things be expanded upon, especially Mike Evan’s and his cult of a ship. And Thomas Wade… I mean come on. That was an amazing adaptation and expansion on his character, I loved him. Ye’s story was flawless. Not all of the new characters worked at 100% the whole time, but they all did the job they were supposed to, and I can see myself really liking them more as the show goes on. I also loved trying to figure out which character from the book I was watching and then having the moment of “ahhhhh, you’re Tianming” or “ahhh so that IS Luo Gi”
I would honestly say I really hope this gets a second season, it’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than I thought it was going to be and you WILL have a good time watching it wether you’re a fan of the books or not. My only concern is that I hope they get the proper budget and resources that the next books would require, with all the different eras that humanity goes through. 8/10, definitely recommend, I want to see this adaptation followed through to completion.
I've only watched the first two episodes, but I told my wife they could not have done any better with Ye's parts. Amazing. I do mostly like the Oxford Five and I think it was a smart decision, since the protagonist in the first book was really boring to me.
So well said! 😌 It's exactly how I felt about the American version of the show. I was scared of how it would go... but it was honestly brilliant.
Netflix version was dumbed down for western audiences. Science,what science?
High scientific concepts that would you make you unrested, what is that?
High philosophical concepts,no need for that.
Let's send aliens messages in Chinese Mandarin and they will answer because we all know that they are fluent in that.
The series lack obviously the depth of Cixin ideas but hey, you read the book for that! And, they are spreading the books in four season so I am sure they will have the right budget for it
I would refer if the Chinese version got that budget instead 🤷♂️
I'm definitely going to read the books after randomly finding this show on Netflix and finding your channel. great material!
My opinion is that the series captures the books ideas but not it’s spirit, three body problems is inherently a story told from a Chinese perspective and I think the series fails to capture Ye’s motives and the hard sci-fi theories that the book presents, especially with universe cosmic radio background blinking turned into just the sky flashing. There was no pool table example, no hunter or turkey analogy. I feel like Netflix dumbed down the series to suit a wider audience, which is fine but butchering the series core concepts because of it sucks.
Now with the race swapping, I felt like it was largely unnecessary because book 2 and already has a wider cast from around the globe. The argument that an all Asian cast wouldn’t be successful fails completely due the success of Squidgame. I can understand if Netflix removed characters like Wang Miao for his lack of depth but replacing integral characters like Luo Ji feels pretty underhanded in my opinion, especially due to his popularity in the western and Chinese forums.
Overall the Netflix adaptation is a good popcorn flix, but fails to capture the heart of the original novel.
For every squid game there are probably thousands of other shows with all asian cast that fail. The fact that this one survived doesn't disprove that generall all asian casts don't succeed.
@@lorenzomizushal3980 There are thousands other shows with "diverse" cast that fails too. It's just a bad excuse.
@@exu7325 there are far more all asians cast shows that fail on Western media compared to all asian casts. This isn't about diversity this or diversity that.
@@lorenzomizushal3980There aren’t that many all Asian series produced in the west in the first place. The diversity tactic failed big a quite few times, like the Little Mermaid.
@@quarelay2486 we're not talking about "produced in the west" since squidgame isn't produced in the west and is successful we're talking about in general movies with all-asian cast, which includes foreign movies like squidgame. Even including those there are very few successful all-asian cast movies.
Great review, and as a reader of the books I totally agree with your analysis of the Tencent vs Netflix versions. One thing I didn't get in the new show is how Wenjie's "Don't play with God" Einstein joke was meant to convey the same crucial info as the principles of cosmic sociology.
When god plays the sax, don't play along with him, he will find you and broke you & your instrument. This heavenly universe will feels like hell afterwards.
Hmmm today I will play the violin
@@pixynowwithevenmorebelkanb6965 noooooooo 😭
That joke is gonna come back like halfway thru season 2, she knew what she was doing. Smart woman.
"Don't play with God" is a metaphor for "never announce yourselves to the aliens". Einstein announced himself to God when he played the violin, and God kicked his ass. The idea is there is always someone more powerful than you when you announce yourself to the cosmos. The Angel that told Einstein to not play was telling him "do not answer."
Hell yeah I’ve been waiting for quinn to say something
I tried to get it at the library in my large city today, 34 copies checked out and I’m 49th in line to get a copy. The series definitely brought much attention to the books! I’m excited to get my hands on them after watching a few of your videos.
Oh my gods, great review. Several times I thought about what you were going to say and you nailed it. And I'm so glad you caught the connection between Augustina and AA because as soon as she called Cheng Jin boss I must have made a noise because my wife, who hasn't read the books (and her face when they revealed Ye Wenjie as the founder of ETO was PRICELESS) just looked at me weird lol
After finishing the book I don’t know what to think about the Netflix show tbh. It has its moments but overall I felt like I was watching some second rate drama instead of a hard science thriller.
Same thoughts after just a couple of episodes. Confused now, I don't know if I want to continue watching or not. Quinn actually pushed me towards NO.
Also while censored, ye wenji is a part of Three-Body.
Episode 8-9
This is three body for kids. It removes most of the thought experiments that are core to the books.
It removed them because they would be awful for television.