3 Body Problem (Show Spoilers Only)

[Rippounet]

Not officially. I'm going out on a limb and assuming a second season at least, given the viewership and reviews.

Of course, Netflix could always run out of money. One can never be 100% sure.

I really want this to happen. 

[Rippounet]

Double-post as something occurred to me.
It's probably too late for most people here, and I'll probably sound ridiculous, but fuck, I think it's worth a shot.
If the next seasons happen, avoiding spoilers may prove quite important.
D&D have already started teasing what happens next to build the hype, so it's best not to read or watch their interviews.
Book readers will be tempted to drop hints, so it's best to respectfully ask them to stop (please don't be that guy).
Unless you want to read the books, don't look them up, the titles are spoiler-ish.
Even the Chinese show is best avoided altogether if you don't want to learn a key plot point.
I think it would be really cool if we agreed to preserve the secrets of how the plot unfolds - it is really quite good. And that will be true even if and once the second season concludes... It's probably not my place to say, but a strict no-spoiler policy could help...
Based on what I read, it's not just that the show has the potential to reach GoT-levels of global hype, I reckon it's the plan - what D&D and quite a few others sold to Netflix. I dunno if it'll work, and maybe it doesn't matter to most, but I think it's cool not to ruin this for others.
I'll shut the fuck up now. I just really love this story, so maybe I'm making too much out of this.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

2 hours ago, Rippounet said:

Of course, Netflix could always run out of money.

Not bloody likely.

[Corvinus85]

Finished it. It was enjoyable. The part at the end with Saul was confusing and felt like it could easily be lazy writing as we've seen nothing of the character up to the moment at the UN to suggest he really was "the one". (of three)

Also, the way they showed the nanofiber sail and nuclear explosions propelling was confusing. I would have assumed the probe to be in front of the sail, not behind it, so it wouldn't get directly radiated.

Oh, and episode 5 was nuts.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

Finished it. It was enjoyable. The part at the end with Saul was confusing and felt like it could easily be lazy writing as we've seen nothing of the character up to the moment at the UN to suggest he really was "the one". (of three)

The baddies tried to assassinate him. Don't play with God. His selection is supposed to be mysterious. 

Quote

Also, the way they showed the nanofiber sail and nuclear explosions propelling was confusing. I would have assumed the probe to be in front of the sail, not behind it, so it wouldn't get directly radiated.

Inverse square blah blah. No radioactive fallout in space. The capsule would be shielded already just to prevent the brain being microwaved by cosmic rays.  

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

The baddies tried to assassinate him. Don't play with God. His selection is supposed to be mysterious. 

I get that but my issue that the audience should be allowed to speculate, but his character is too thin to do that.

[IFR]

4 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Finished it. It was enjoyable. The part at the end with Saul was confusing and felt like it could easily be lazy writing as we've seen nothing of the character up to the moment at the UN to suggest he really was "the one". (of three)

Also, the way they showed the nanofiber sail and nuclear explosions propelling was confusing. I would have assumed the probe to be in front of the sail, not behind it, so it wouldn't get directly radiated.

Oh, and episode 5 was nuts.

Irradiation of the probe wouldn't likely be a problem from the arranged nukes. Most of the "damage" from nukes is transference of energy through a medium like the atmosphere (kinetic and thermal energy). The craft would be configured for a smaller surface area so incident radiation is minimal (whereas the sail is designed with maximum surface area). Nukes could also be configured to reduce neutron flux, so it would largely be beta, alpha and gamma radiation (which can be shielded against).

The plan is impractical more from the standpoint that cosmic radiation of heavy nuclei would doubtless cause heavy irradation through the duration of the probe's travel.

[House Cambodia]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I get that but my issue that the audience should be allowed to speculate, but his character is too thin to do that.

The book character was deliberately chosen as a 'wildcard' with no serious background in order to befuddle the enemy. His first few years are a lot of fun in the second book - I hope D&D preserve that and don't cut it in the rush to cram in the action. But the point is, 'we' the audience can speculate along with the Sun-Ti and ETO.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I get that but my issue that the audience should be allowed to speculate, but his character is too thin to do that.

What? He's a nice guy physicist who takes care of his dying buddy; holds his alcoholic lady friend's hair when she voms; smokes a little herb from time to time (maybe too much really); and is pretty successful when it comes to casual sex.

His intuition was also correct when it came to the stars winking in episode 1. He's very capable despite not having much career ambition and his thinking can get a little nihistic at times. 

How much thickness do you need? 

Meaty. "Meaty", I tell ya. 

[Hippocras]

4 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

I get that but my issue that the audience should be allowed to speculate, but his character is too thin to do that.

He was one of 5 recruited by Vera, which already signals he was elite of his generation. Of those, she said he was the smartest. He was the winner of the most prestigious prize in the US for yoing physicists. We don't know what his research was but that would involve a science lecture that most viewers do not want.

But the most important reasons IMO? He is the glue connecting Auggie, Jin, and Will's floating brain and all of them are important,  but he is also a disconnected, unattached personality more suited to keeping his ideas to himself than the others (hence the drugs and one night stands). Also, his "deepfake" joke/theory. Which I think is going to matter quite a lot.

[Heartofice]

1 hour ago, Hippocras said:

He was one of 5 recruited by Vera, which already signals he was elite of his generation. Of those, she said he was the smartest. He was the winner of the most prestigious prize in the US for yoing physicists. We don't know what his research was but that would involve a science lecture that most viewers do not want.

The problem is show don't tell. He is described as very smart, but acts like some layabout stoner who barely says an intelligent thing the entire show. So when he gets picked it's almost as if they just chose some guy off the street with no skills whatsoever. Yes the show highlights that he is this wildcard choice that doesn't make a ton of sense, but it seems very extreme because of the way they have depicted him the entire time. 

[House Cambodia]

23 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

The problem is show don't tell. He is described as very smart, but acts like some layabout stoner who barely says an intelligent thing the entire show. So when he gets picked it's almost as if they just chose some guy off the street with no skills whatsoever. Yes the show highlights that he is this wildcard choice that doesn't make a ton of sense, but it seems very extreme because of the way they have depicted him the entire time. 

Yeah, the Chinese guy in the book is actually like this, but he comes across as convincing (and amusing) because the book takes time over fleshing him out. I think taking the book characters and reinterpreting them into this 'Oxford 5' in an eight-hour series inevitably leaves him lacking credibility. With 2 of the 5 bumped off now, maybe he'll get better development in the second series - well, he ought to be very much the dominant character of that set.

[Heartofice]

32 minutes ago, House Cambodia said:

Yeah, the Chinese guy in the book is actually like this, but he comes across as convincing (and amusing) because the book takes time over fleshing him out. I think taking the book characters and reinterpreting them into this 'Oxford 5' in an eight-hour series inevitably leaves him lacking credibility. With 2 of the 5 bumped off now, maybe he'll get better development in the second series - well, he ought to be very much the dominant character of that set.

I can very much imagine a version of the show where that character comes across as smart, but with some personal issues and not an obvious choice, but also not a totally unbelievable one.

I think it's an issue with the way the show has spent it's time. I didn't get a sense that any of the Oxford 5 were especially smart or good at their jobs, despite the show telling me. It's partly that they spend so much time just doing interpersonal stuff, talking about relationships, sitting around taking drugs or drinking. It's also the language they use I think, which I would describe as 'TV Sitcom' language. They don't talk like smart people, they don't act like smart people, and they don't look like smart people either. They look and act like people acting in a show. 

I don't know what it's like in the books, but it very much feels like a D&D thing. A desire to make characters relatable and more 'human' just makes them bland and cut out tv tropes. 

Edited April 8 by Heartofice

[Corvinus85]

Exactly, we're mostly told Saul is really smart, not shown. If Jin had been picked, I would have said OK. We get to see her solve problems.

[House Cambodia]

5 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Exactly, we're mostly told Saul is really smart, not shown. If Jin had been picked, I would have said OK. We get to see her solve problems.

Well no. I agree with the overall show-don't-tell criticism, but Jin is already known to the 'enemy' as the solver of The Three-Body Problem and the "brains" (pun intended) behind pioneering technology attempting to combat the Son-Ti. Saul is picked precisely because he 'flies under the radar'. That should become very apparent in the next series if D&D follow the second book.

[Heartofice]

18 minutes ago, House Cambodia said:

Well no. I agree with the overall show-don't-tell criticism, but Jin is already known to the 'enemy' as the solver of The Three-Body Problem and the "brains" (pun intended) behind pioneering technology attempting to combat the Son-Ti. Saul is picked precisely because he 'flies under the radar'. That should become very apparent in the next series if D&D follow the second book.

I think the point being made is of all of the Oxford 5, it's really only Jin who is shown to be 'smart', or at least comes across that way. It's her solving most of the problems during the show and she is the one doing the reasoning. The rest of the characters are mostly just wandering through the plot and dealing with their personal issues, or moaning about things. 

Jin couldn't be the one who was picked, but they could have given Saul more during the season to demonstrate that he is actually a smart dude, that he is able to think about things and there is a sort of reason why he might be picked.

[Hippocras]

36 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

Exactly, we're mostly told Saul is really smart, not shown. If Jin had been picked, I would have said OK. We get to see her solve problems.

Jin definitely seems smart. She is also impulsive, unrestrained, earnest, and connection-seeking. She is better able to help as someone the WF knows rather than herself being the WF.

4 hours ago, Heartofice said:

The problem is show don't tell. He is described as very smart, but acts like some layabout stoner who barely says an intelligent thing the entire show. So when he gets picked it's almost as if they just chose some guy off the street with no skills whatsoever. Yes the show highlights that he is this wildcard choice that doesn't make a ton of sense, but it seems very extreme because of the way they have depicted him the entire time. 

Well, since showing him being smart would mean showing him talking about and doing science in this case....

I get what you are saying, but the more they do that, the more they make the show too heavy on the science, which would please the hard core science people, but alienate 90% of the audience. They are not aiming for niche appeal here. For the show to be successful, they need to cut down the science lectures.

Saul has been shown as a listener so far. Listening to Will. Listening to Auggie. Words of wisdom to Jin even if she ignored them. The WF obviously can't be a talker. So...

Edited April 8 by Hippocras

[House Cambodia]

3 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

I think the point being made is of all of the Oxford 5, it's really only Jin who is shown to be 'smart', or at least comes across that way. It's her solving most of the problems during the show and she is the one doing the reasoning. The rest of the characters are mostly just wandering through the plot and dealing with their personal issues, or moaning about things. 

Jin couldn't be the one who was picked, but they could have given Saul more during the season to demonstrate that he is actually a smart dude, that he is able to think about things and there is a sort of reason why he might be picked.

Yeah, I get that and agree with the general point you're making. But In Saul's case, the point is, what we the audience don't see, the Son-Ti with their sophons don't see either. That's his secret sauce which should become evident next season.

[Corvinus85]

I think my other problem with the Wallfacers is that for now we don't know how their ideas are then supposed to be imparted. Or are they? Since the San-Ti should technically become a real problem only in 400 years, who succeeds the current Wallfacers? Or are they hoping to develop the cryogenics tech quickly enough to periodically freeze them as Wade is planning for himself? 

I would have thought that maybe people would have taken steps towards trying to develop telepathy technology. I don't see how just 3 individuals will be good enough to prepare humanity for the war. But maybe my skepticism comes from my views about the world and maybe the author's are different.

[Heartofice]

9 minutes ago, Hippocras said:

I get what you are saying, but the more they do that, the more they make the show too heavy on the science, which would please the hard core science people, but alienate 90% of the audience. They are not aiming for niche appeal here. For the show to be successful, they need to cut down the science lectures.

I agree, but I also think this is the problem. I'm making assumptions, but it does feel like this has all been dumbed down rather a lot, D&D thinking they need to make it appeal to everyone to make it work. Maybe that is true, but it feels like it's lost something. 

 

9 minutes ago, House Cambodia said:

Yeah, I get that and agree with the general point you're making. But In Saul's case, the point is, what we the audience don't see, the Son-Ti with their sophons don't see either. That's his secret sauce which should become evident next season.

Sure, but there are limits. Right now it's like they have brought some absolute random guy off the street, a guy who can barely tie his own shoelaces, to solve the problems of the planet. That does stretch the realms of believability somewhat.