Should You Try It: 3 Body Problem on Netflix

We’re rapidly coming to the end of March, but there’s still plenty of new shows to check out. Still, that can leave you trying to figure out which are worth the investment. That’s why we have this series, to break down the new shows. Today, I look at a big, new release from Netflix.

Series: 3 Body Problem

Where to Find It: All eight episodes of the first season are now streaming on Netflix.

What’s It About: This new series comes from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners behind Game of Thrones on HBO. The series is based on the novel of the same name from Cixin Liu, which is a dense science fiction work.

The series begins with Ye Wenje (Zine Tseng) seeing her father murdered. He’s a scientist who is killed as part of the cultural revolution in China in the 1960s. In the aftermath, Ye Wenje is taken into custody. Eventually, she gets to work at a secret government facility because of her own prowess in the sciences. It’s there she makes a discovery that will change the course of the world.

Flash forward to the present, and scientists are dying. This leaves a group of physicists, who were friends while at Oxford, scrambling. They’re also at the center of what’s happening, which includes a mysterious game world that seems to use previously unseen technology.

There to follow all the threads is a mysterious organization, led by Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) and relying on his top detective (Benedict Wong) to get to the bottom of who is trying to recruit—and kill—the top scientists in the world. Can they stop it all before it’s too late?

You Should Try It If: You like complex, layered dramas, a good science fiction story, or were a fan of the original source material.

One Man’s Opinion of 3 Body Problem

This is one of the more hotly anticipated series of the Spring. That’s owing to the pedigree behind the camera, in front of the camera, and the rich source material. The cast also includes Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Elza Gonzales, Jess Hong, Alex Sharp, and Jonathan Pryce, among others. It’s got great production values and a really polished look that should help to tell this deep story.

I don’t always binge through series, but I ended up doing that with this one, which dropped in its entirety on March 21. The first two episodes are a lot of world-building, and they end up being a bit slow. I was on the fence but decided to push through because of my respect for those involved. I’m glad I did.

This ended up being a really compelling journey that is among my favorite shows of 2024 so far. The eight episodes fly by, ranging from an hour to about 48 minutes. It’s a lot of dense story, but if you get rooted the action—and the emotional payoff—is worth the journey.