Posted in: TV | Tagged: episode 12, Liu Cixin, TenCent, The Three-Body Problem, three-body

The Three-Body Problem Episode 12 Review: A Gamer's Paradise

Tencent's The Three-Body Problem Episode 12 offers more of the VR game at the heart of the mystery as well as some inside gamer jokes.

Episode Twelve of The Three-Body Problem leaves the Cultural Revolution after the last episode's cliffhanger and takes us back to the present day – well, 2007, the year the book was originally published in China and, therefore, the story's present. Ye Wen Jie, aka Science Grandma's origin story, once again takes a backseat while the investigators regroup.

The Mystery of Science Grandma is Put on Hold

Shi Qiang (Yu He Wei) reports to General Chang (Lin Yong Jian)  to tell him what he and Wang Miao (Edward Zhang) have uncovered so far. The Three-Body Problem game is a major factor somehow since General Chang tells Shi that the players include prominent scientists and intellectuals from all over the world.  Shi Qiang tells General Chang he really needs to investigate Ye Wen Jie because Science Grandma is an astrophysicist, and some of her file is still classified. Shen Yu Fei at the Frontiers of Science has been in touch with her, and she's somehow not dead.

Farming the Three-Body Problem

Shi Qiang, Wang Miao, and Xu Bing Bing (Li Ze Hui) decide they need more eyes in the Three-Body Problem game, so they throw Sha Rui Shan (Kong Lian Shun) a bone. An avid online gamer, he enlists his guild so they can play the game as a group to figure out what the point of the game is. He's so into it and organizes a raid like it was World of Warcraft. He later reports that he and his guild initially just went around killing people. Wang Miao says he's glad he didn't log into the game when they were playing because they probably would have killed him too. Sha Rui Shan's scenes are played for comedy again, this time with gamer in-jokes. Obviously, killing is not the objective of the game. It's almost too bad none of this was shown, and again they just talk about what they did. It would have been funny.

Everybody Always Dies in the Three-Body Problem

Wang Miao logs into the Three-Body Problem game again to find the 139th civilization there during the latest stable era. Players take on the identities of famous figures in history like Confucius, who was flash-frozen in the previous civilization after thinking he's found a principle to define the movement of the sun. Wang Miao encounters a player who has taken on the mantle of philosopher Mozi, who has built a primitive computer that models the universe. Mozi believes his model of the universe can now predict when the sun will set and rise again, but the sun abruptly flares up and burns away the civilization and everyone in it. Wang Miao realizes that the point of the game is to solve the Three-Body Problem so that civilization can survive and thrive in the game world. Once again, the game scenes look like expensive PS5 cutscenes, but the series is produced by Tencent, one of the biggest video game companies on the planet.

The Worst Babysitter

While Wang Miao is busy playing the Three-Body game, he sends Shi Qiang to pick up his daughter from school since his wife is suddenly busy. "You're not worried?!" asks Xu Bingbing. Shi Qiang keeps the kid occupied while Wang Miao is in the game, so he plays the cool uncle, buying her all the food her parents won't let her eat and taking her rollerskating, much to Wang Miao's chagrin. And even she wouldn't let him smoke.

Adapting Book to Television

All the character bits in this episode were written for the show to keep the audience engaged emotionally with the characters, including the comedy moments. The original book of The Three-Body Problem is not known for any comedy. The writer and director know the book inside-out and make interesting decisions to adapt it for television. The opening scene, where Shi Qiang sums up his investigation, is a way to recap for the viewers. The Shi Qiang of the book is a big, burly guy, but the actor playing him isn't. instead, Yu He Wei plays him with so much brash comic energy that fans have accepted him as the character. The pacing of the show is still slow, with scenes of mundane chat and activity that a US show would have cut just to get to the point. Even some fans are questioning the pace, but the makers are sticking to their choice.

The Three-Body Problem is streaming on Tencent's YouTube channel.

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