How much of your disbelief can you suspend?
If you are willing to just accept the new Netflix series '3 Body Problem' without questioning its frequent leaps in logic, you are more likely to enjoy it.
An adaptation of Chinese author Liu Cixin's award-winning 2008 science fiction novel, 'The Three-Body Problem,' the intriguing show is one of the first big projects of the Netflix deal signed by 'Game of Thrones' showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are leading this project along with fellow executive producer, showrunner and writer Alexander Woo ('True Blood').
The first season has eight episodes and a diverse cast, including some 'Thrones' actors and recognizable movie stars like Eiza González ('Baby Driver') and Benedict Wong, a Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstay.
The show begins with great promise, presenting the viewer with mystery similar to 'Lost' that need to be solved. Unfortunately, after much is revealed, '3 Body Problem' loses a great deal of its initial promise, revealing itself to be a show unable to give its huge story the scale it needs to be believable enough.
The first episode, 'Countdown' — written by Benioff, Weiss and Woo and directed, like the solid follow-up 'Red Coast,' by Derek Tsang ('Better Days') — sets up the major players and the season's multi-time-period narrative.
'3 Body Problem' begins in Beijing in 1966 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and introduces the young version of Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng), a woman who has more than one reason to lose faith in humanity. The important character is portrayed in 2024 by Rosalind Chao.
In present-day London, we meet the members of the group the show's production notes refer to as the 'Oxford Five,' a group of young brainiacs who have stayed in touch after college and applied their intelligence to various projects. They are Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), a physics research assistant who feels it's too late for him to reach his full potential at around age 30; Jack Rooney ('Thrones' alum John Bradley), an outspoken chap who used his physics degree to create a successful snacks empire worth millions; Auggie Salazar (González), the chief science officer for a leading nanotech company; Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), a theoretical physicist with a strong desire for answers to big questions; and Will Downing (Alex Sharp), who chose to teach physics after realizing he couldn't make it in the