3 Body Problem: Our Lord

March 27, 2024 11:07 PM - Season 1, Episode 4

Jin seeks justice after a death rattles the group. Investigators learn of an extremist group devoted to an otherworldly entity ahead of a major summit.

Decider: ‘3 Body Problem’ Episode 4 Recap: “Our Lord”

Vulture: 3 Body Problem Recap: A Lie About a Liar

posted by ActingTheGoat (11 comments total)

Ye Wenjie's learning the truth of how the TriSolaran's view humanity is chilling.

"We cannot coexist with liars"
posted by supermedusa at 9:48 AM on March 28 [1 favorite]

I should say that is the case for Mike Evans. sorry to confuse some plot points from ep 5, I watched them back to back.
posted by supermedusa at 9:57 AM on March 28

I'm not sure the "cannot abide liars" issue matters very much. Their fleet is already on the way. They have no way to return. Like Cortés, they've figuratively "burned their boats" and have no choice but to make Earth their home. Even if they were human, you'd assume they'd come as conquerors; they can't reasonably risk their survival on human beneficence.
posted by SPrintF at 11:52 AM on March 28 [2 favorites]

This is what confuses me about this point. The fleet is already on the way and already was set for conquest (we know this from the warning message Ye Wenjie receives to not respond). The Trisolarans need our planet and have made it clear they don't want us to continue to evolve technologically so we have a fair shot at defending ourselves from world domination. So why is the "you're liars" moment seem weighted as a huge reveal even though it doesn't change anything? This continues to rankle me.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:21 PM on March 28

I infer that the Trisolarans didn't know about The Big Bad Wolf when they set out. They were invited to come, took the message at face value and now it's too late for them to correct their mistake.

I've only gotten this far in the series, so I don't know if the notion of The Dark Forest is something that they're saving for Season Two. If the Trisolarans don't have a concept for deliberate deception, or they consider deception to be a form of insanity, then they may not have arrived at the grim idea of The Dark Forest.
posted by SPrintF at 1:31 PM on March 28

Or, thinking about it some more, maybe that's what the Trisolarans want us to believe.
posted by SPrintF at 1:41 PM on March 28

I should specify I haven't read the books, but in reading about the show have come across the Dark Forest and so I'm vaguely familiar.

My issue is with how the show presents that moment. It seems like the viewer is supposed to be like "OH NO" when the Trisolarans are like "Wait..YOU LIE?!" but that oh no moment happened for me the moment Ye responds to the do not respond warning. I'm still not sure why Mike Evans or even Ye Wenjie would be disturbed by the Trisolarans saying this when she was overtly told that was going to happen when she got the warning and contacted them anyway. Us being exterminated was a given, does it matter it's because we are liars?

Maybe it just doesn't make sense now and will once the Dark Forest happens. But currently I'm just like "Why?"
posted by miss-lapin at 3:37 PM on March 28

Way to out your informant by taking her away in front of everyone else. Sheesh that was bad.
posted by LizBoBiz at 6:53 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]

I have not read the books, nor seen the series past this episode. But the whole scene where the San Ti learn that humans can lie seemed like an obvious set up - at some point, humans are going to be able to defeat the invaders because we can lie and they can't.
posted by davidwitteveen at 10:25 PM on March 28

> Us being exterminated was a given

They could put some humans in a zoo
posted by ASCII Costanza head at 9:03 PM on March 30

This series is really straining my suspension of disbelief.
posted by DowBits at 9:04 PM on April 2 [1 favorite]