Posted in: Review, streaming, TV | Tagged: chinese science fiction, Liu Cixin, TenCent, The Three-Body Problem

The Three-Body Problem Ep. 30 Review Part 2: The End of the Beginning

The Three-Body Problem finale says farewell and finds hope in the shadow of despair when the maverick cop saves the day with a pep talk.

So where does The Three-Body Problem finale go with about fifteen minutes left after the revelation that humanity is doomed to be defeated by an invading alien fleet that's arriving over four hundred years later? First, with despair.

The Aftermath of the End of Physics

Wang Miao and Ding Yi, the scientists with the most emotional investment in the murder investigations – Ding Yi losing the woman he loves and Wang Miao equally haunted by her death – retreat to Ding Yi's apartment to commiserate and get drunk. They talk about the end of Science. Wang Miao sees a photo of the female scientist who researched ball lightning that's an easter egg nodding at Liu Cixin's novel before The Three-Body Problem and Iqiyi's upcoming series adaptation. That puts Ball Lightning in the same universe suggesting a Li Cixin universe.

Science Grandma Ye Wen Jie is sentenced to life imprisonment for betraying the human race. That's interesting, considering you would expect the Chinese government to execute her, considering they've executed people for far less than that. Anyway, they grant her permission to revisit Red Coast one last time before her sentence begins. Xu Bing Bing and two policemen escort her as they climb the mountain to the site where the radio dish used to reside before it was dismantled and taken away. Only a plaque commemorating the base is left. Ye Wen Jie looks up into the sky and declares this the twilight of humanity, which she set in motion when she revealed Earth's location to the Trisolarans.

The Maverick Cop Saves the Day Again

Shi Qiang goes to Ding Yi's apartment to find Wang Miao and Ding Yi both drunk and indulging in despair. There's no more advancement in Science thanks to the sophons' interference preventing reliable information in any Physics research. If humanity is unable to make any further understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe, they can't develop advanced technology. Sure Wang Miao and continue to develop nanotechnology within the limits and create weapons, and Ding Yi can develop ball lightning weapons from his current research, but it goes no further than that. It's over. They might as well just live lives of drunken decadence. Da Shi is only willing to indulge in their partying and wrecking Ding Yi's apartment up to a point, and Wang Miao probably told his wife he was working late, but this has to stop, and it's Dai Shi who puts an end to this silliness. Smart people being dumb again, as far as he's concerned. He hilariously calls them "nano coward" and "ball lightning coward" and drags them out of the apartment to go on a field trip to his hometown just outside the city.

Shi Qiang takes them to a field where a locust infestation has been going on for as long as he can remember. He reminds them that despite all efforts to wipe them out with poison, gas, and genetic manipulation, the damn locusts continue to thrive. Is the gulf between them and humans the same as the gulf between humans and the Trisolarans? If humans are bugs to the Trisolarans, they haven't accounted for the fact that throughout history, bugs have never been eradicated. They keep on keeping on with what they have. The cop who may be dying from radiation poisoning after shooting a nuclear dirty bomb is the one who wakes the scientists up. They pour their beers on the fields in a gesture of respect for the locusts and a vow to keep fighting no matter the odds, and that's how The Three-Body Problem ends: with a promise to survive.

It's not a triumphalist rah-rah celebration of a country as you see in Hollywood movies like Independence Day but something more muted but no less stirring. China – and, by extension, humanity – come out as the underdogs, hopelessly outmatched and seemingly outplayed by a far superior enemy. That enemy has a high chance of winning, especially after sabotaging human society, but the humans are bugs, and bugs will survive no matter how many of them die. They don't know how yet, with the odds stacked against them, but they're determined to survive. This is an adult Chinese view of winning in the face of terrible odds.

More of The Three-Body Problem Coming

But wait, this is not the end. This is just the beginning. Tencent announced that the studio will be producing The Three-Body Problem: The Dark Forest, adapting the second book in the trilogy.  The first season has been a success, with apparently over one hundred million viewers in China. Even before the series premiered, The Three-Body Problem and its sequels were considered the biggest franchise IP in China, with a huge fan following and already a line in collectibles. The studio also announced. The Three-Body Problem: Da Shi, a spinoff miniseries starring everyone's favourite loose cannon cop Shi Qiang to bring the gap between seasons, with Yu He Wei reprising his role. The spinoff is probably going to premiere before The Dark Forest, which will take at least two years to adapt. Centering on a fan favourite character whose adventures are more grounded than cosmic Science Fiction as a transition between series is a good idea. It'll be interesting to see if the miniseries covers Da Shi's history in the military or his move from the police department to an operative in the Earth's highly classified defense force against the Trisolarans or both. Da Shi  (Shi Qiang's nickname to his friends, which means "Big Shi") is the only character from the first novel to have a major role in the second. Either way, The Three-Body Problem is here to stay.

The epilogue of The Three-Body Problem already teases the appearance of the main character of the second book, The Dark Forest: at a coffee shop, Wang Miao's wife is buying their daughter a snack while a man wearing a Tsinghua University badge sits at a table nearby writing a blog about his fantasy girlfriend. Fans of the books will know this is Luo Ji, a lazy, unambitious academic who will end up the most important player in the upcoming war. They hadn't been greenlit for a second season yet when they shot it, so they could only tease the character.

And that's it for The Three-Body Problem, a milestone for being the first major Chinese Science Fiction television series that's a serious prestigious drama. It's notable for being the most faithful adaptation of a book anywhere for years and a big deal for China. That's why we wanted to cover it when virtually no other Western outlet did. Thanks for sticking with us.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!