The Three-Body Problem: Chinese Version

January 17, 2023 5:55 AM - Season 1 (Full Season)

This is for discussion of the Chinese adaptation of Liu Cixin's The Three-Body Problem (FanFare Books discussion here). It is available on Tencent/WeTV, Tencent's YouTube channel, and Viki, under the title Three-Body. Trailer. MyDramaList. A nanomaterials expert sees a mysterious countdown superimposed in his field of vision and finds himself under military investigation. To unravel the mystery, he enters the VR game "Three-Body" developed by a secret organization ETO and discovers the truth behind the deaths of dozens of scientists and a tragedy from the days of the Cultural Revolution.
posted by needled (7 comments total)

30 episodes?!??! Cheezapalooza, Tencent. Any idea if it will continue to be free after a subscriber only premiere period, or is it all just a push to "Join" to their Youtube channel? At least they aren't dragging it out for half a year, looks like it should be done by Feb 14th, if you trust thetvdb.
posted by Kyol at 7:14 AM on January 17

Anyway, since I rustled them up:

Tencent's Three-Body Playlist on YouTube
Tencent's streaming service
posted by Kyol at 7:23 AM on January 17 [5 favorites]

“Three Body Problem Show Review (Some Book + Show Spoilers!)”—Quinn's Ideas, 17 January 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 9:01 AM on January 18

In my experience Tencent (and other Chinese streaming providers such as iQIYI) are pretty arbitrary as to what content is free indefinitely or free for a limited time. For example, after all episodes are released as free after a subscriber-only period, they may only be available free for a month, before say the first 6 episodes are free and you'll need a subscription to access the rest of the episodes. OTOH they run enough promotions so you could snag a one-month subscription for as low as $0.99 if you catch them at the right time.

They'll also arbitrarily adjust the release schedule, so being done by Feb. 14 could be optimistic.
posted by needled at 12:37 PM on January 18

Getting back to the show, I've watched 4 episodes so far, and as somebody who hasn't read the books yet, I've found it very unfriendly to non-book readers. From my experience watching c-dramas, it's also likely I'll need to watch more episodes before I get into the flow of the show.
posted by needled at 6:29 AM on January 19

I definitely think this show is for people who enjoyed the books. Just as a for-instance: Nothing at all is explained about who the woman at the radar station is and what she is doing in the first couple of episodes even though it's shown on the screen quite a bit.

So far I'm enjoying it. I envisioned Shi Qiang as more avuncular than abrasive, but other than that I don't have any complaints.
posted by ob1quixote at 8:04 AM on January 20 [1 favorite]

We're at episode 11 now. This TV adaptation is a lot better than I'd expected! My partner, who is not a sci-fi fan and has not read the books, is really enjoying it.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 11:55 AM on January 27