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The Three-Body Problem Ep. 16 Review: A Math Savant & A Murder Plot

The 16th episode of The Three-Body Problem speeds the plot up again to set things up for what's coming in the remainder of the series.

In episode sixteen of The Three-Body Problem, lots of plot happens again to set up what comes next. Things previously hinted at are finally spelled out loud so that viewers understand what's going to happen next. That includes new scenes not in the book to move things along.

Introducing Wei Cheng, The Three-Body Problem's Math Weirdo

Shi Qiang (Lu He Wei) and Xu Bing Bing (Li Ze Hui) go to the Frontiers of Science headquarters to interrogate Shen Yu Fei (Li Xiao Ran) only to meet her math nerd husband Wei Chang (Zhao Jian), who had been lurking in the background all season. They're just in time to see him achieve a breakthrough in his calculations. Wei Chang is barely housebroken, practically a hikikomori (Japanese for dysfunctional shut-in) with literally zero social skills who only cares about solving a math equation – the Three-Body Problem. Zhao Jian plays him as both tragic and funny, a barely functional human kept like a house pet by his wife to do his math who likes to sneak booze to celebrate his breakthroughs. His scene with Shi Qiang and Shen Yu Fei's reaction is hilarious. All the odd and quirky character moments in the show are the handiwork of series writer Tien Liang Liang who works overtime to humanize the characters (and add new ones) to inject emotion into the story over author Liu Cixin's dryness.

Another Fail State for The Three-Body Problem Game

Meanwhile, Wang Miao's (Edward Zhang) latest session in the Three-Body Problem game ends in a predictably hilarious fashion. Isaac Newton and John von Neumann, or rather, their players, are confident they've been able to calculate the next sunrise for a Stable Era using the thirty million soldiers they've turned into a giant computer. Newton tells the Qin Emperor it's safe for the civilians to rehydrate and get on with their lives. Then one of the royal astronomers runs in, panicking, reporting not only that all three suns are about to rise together, aligned in a straight line with the world at the end of it. What's the bad news? Well, that means the world is caught in the combined gravitational pull of three suns combined, which means everyone is going to get pulled up into the air towards the suns. Whoops.

Thus, this world ends, and players are invited to log in again for the next civilization. And Wang Miao gets a phone call from one of the game's sysadmin asking to verify his identity before he can continue with the game. Wang Miao has entered the elite tier of players who have gotten this far, and there's going to be a meatspace gathering of players he will be invited to in a few days.

The Bad Guy's Obligatory Declaration of his Badness

Pan Han (Johnny Zhang) shows up at the Frontiers of Science with a gun to force Weng Cheng to stop his work on solving the Three-Body Problem. He shoots Weng Cheng's computer and considers shooting Weng Cheng when Shen Yu Fei confronts him. We finally hear their ideological split. Pan Han isn't really a member of the Frontiers of Science but leads a different faction from the larger organization they're part of. Shen Yu Fei leads the Redemptionist faction that wants their "lord" to save Humanity and establish a utopia. Pan Han has been leading the Adventist faction that wants humanity to be wiped out for despoiling the planet, and he's fine directing his followers to blow up research facilities and kill scientists. In the book, this leads to a shootout where Pan Han tries to kill Wei Cheng but kills Shen Yu Fei instead before Shi Qiang and the cops burst in, and he escapes. The show holds off on Shen Yu Fei and Pan Han's eventual fates here since there's more to be revealed first.

Pan Han also claims that he is the one who can hear the "lord's messages now, not her faction. Shen Yu Fei has her first crisis of faith and contacts their commander to ask which side they're on. Meanwhile, Pan Han continues to use independent journalist Mu Xing as his useful idiot to push his anti-Science and anti-Technology agenda that's part of his campaign. Mu Xing (Yang Rong) may not be totally buying what he's selling as she's still secretly recording all their conversations. Every scene with Mu Xing is new to the story since she's barely a single sentence in the book.

Like a British Crime Drama, the Clues Come Together

Shi Qiang is still pressing General Chang to get him the classified files on Science Grandma Ye Wen Jie when Wang Miao gets annoyed that she's been moved to the top of Shi's suspect board. While it was Shen Yu Fei who introduced Wang to the Frontiers of Science and the Three-Body Problem game, Shi reminds him that it was Science Grandma who encouraged him to join the Frontiers of Science who helped him see the universe flicker by sending him to the right place, who gave him her expertise that helped him move the game to the next levels. Then Xu Bing Bing tells Shi Qiang that Shen Yu Fei has taken a train to Hai City to head towards the rural town where she owns a red ginseng factory, and that's when it finally hits Wang Miao – Science Grandma had given him a box of red ginseng that a friend had given him. That friend had to be Shen Yu Fei, and Xu Bing Bing just found out that Science Grandma has booked a ticket for Hai City on the same train Shen is on. Suddenly all the clues come together, and they must chase down both Shen Yu Fei and Science Grandma.

At the halfway mark, this is when the show changes.  And this is the free episode of the week until Monday. Have you noticed how much this show is shot like a Scandinoir thriller?

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