CCTV/Tencent's Three-Body: Ep. 1 – “Physics has never existed, and will never exist”

Three-Body Problem: One of the oldest quandaries in mathematics and physics is called the three-body problem—the question of how three bodies, mutually attracted by gravity, will move in the future if their current positions and velocities are known. Isaac Newton first posed this problem, along with the simpler “two-body problem.” Later, in the case of three bodies, the question was found to be practically “unsolvable”...

— Richard Montgomery, Professor of Mathematics, Scientific American, August 1, 2019

Three-Body. Credit: Tencent Video

Main Cast: (Edward) Zhāng Lǔyī (张鲁一) as Wang Maio, Yú Héwěi (于和伟) as Shi Qiang, Chén Jǐn (陈瑾) as the older Ye Wenjie, Wáng Zǐwén (王子文) as a younger Ye Wenjie, Lín Yǒngjiàn (林永健) as Chang Weisi, and Lǐ Xiǎorǎn (李小冉) as Shen Yufei.

Director: Yáng Lěi (杨磊)

Screenwriter: Tián Liángliáng (田良良)

Airdate: January 15, 2023 to February 14, 2023

Where to watch: WeTV or Rakuten Viki.com

Two television series productions of the award-winning science fiction trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Liú Cíxīn (刘慈欣) (more popularly known as The Three-Body Problem, the name of the first novel in the series) are being released this year: a 30-episode adaptation produced by China Central Television (CCTV) and Tencent Video, and a Netflix version helmed by the same showrunners behind Game of Thrones.

After spending four years on the script, filming for CCTV/Tencent’s Three-Body (三体) began in July 2020 and took 126 days, or about four months, to film, according to Beijing-based Pandaily. This production, which apparently involved extensive discussions with the author and other experts, is currently airing and available to international viewers on the streaming platforms, WeTV and Viki.

With about a third of the series still left to air, Three-Body is being well received so far. As of February 2, 2023, it has a score of 8.1 from more than 191K ratings on the notoriously critical Douban review site, where anything above a 7 can be deemed respectable. I found the first episode compelling and well done cinematically. The accompanying soundtrack is also excellent so far. 

As it has been noted by many others, it will be interesting to see how they handle the Cultural Revolution backdrop of the first novel. Given CCTV’s position as China’s national broadcaster operating under the purview of the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA), however, it probably has a much better pulse on the ever-shifting censorship line, so it would not be surprising if most concerns were sorted before filming even began (unlike other drama productions that suffer from last minute hack-job edits to pass censorship reviews and make it to air). C-dramas also have a tendency to fall apart at the end, but given the amount of time and care spent on this production, I am hopeful it will not be the case here.

A couple of caveats: 

I don’t generally do recaps, but there was so much packed into this first episode, I felt compelled to record my observations and make notes. It’s unlikely I will recap every episode -- so any future posts may simply be a review of multiple episodes.

Some of my observations and questions may have an answer in the books, but I haven’t read the series yet, and don’t plan to until after I’ve seen both adaptations. If you have questions about an episode too, or if you’ve read the books, you’re welcome to share your insights on the episode in the comments.

(*If a book is fresh in my mind, I find myself often disappointed by the screen version, no matter how brilliant, because there will always be a scene or a line that I wish had been included or executed differently. In order to enjoy both mediums separately, I am probably in the minority in preferring to watch before reading the source book, unless I read it first and enough time has passed that I’ve forgotten the details.)

Episode One

The series opens with a prologue that begins as a journey through space -- from the fiery surface of the Sun, passing by each planet in the Solar System, and zooming out into the Milky Way galaxy -- that eventually transitions into a strip of five-holed punched tape, an old fashioned form of data storage, spitting out of a machine. In the background, the patriotic 1940s anti-Japanese propaganda song, “Unity is Strength” plays (I may have messed up my YouTube algorithms searching up this piece).

An unidentified woman appears to send a message, “The deciphering was complete”. This message is followed by a haunting: “BU_1827……YAO_5010……HUI_2756……DA_20” (“不要回答”) or “do not reply.” After she searches through a log book that suggests we are in 1979, she enters co-ordinates that shifts a giant satellite into a new position. Before we see her push a red button, the screen fades to white and into the opening credits.

With the exception of a flashback to around late summer/fall 2006, the rest of the episode takes place mostly in the summer of 2007, amid the backdrop of an exuberant China preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games. I was in Beijing that summer and remember the palpable Olympic excitement even though it was still a year away.

The story begins when a famous physicist, Yang Dong, dies by suicide on June 3rd -- she is the latest in a string of suicides around the world over the last two years involving top scientists. Prior to her death, she had been in charge of the first experiment at the 20 billion RMB Liangxiang Accelerator Base (apparently they filmed inside the real Beijing Electron–Positron Collider II).

We learn later that the frequency of these suicides have accelerated in recent months, and the driving cause appears to be similar -- that physics as humanity understands it, does not exist. Yang Dong leaves behind a note that reads, “All evidence points to the same conclusion: physics has never existed, and will never exist.” Once her body is found, the military quickly arrives on scene to take over the investigation. Captain Shi Qiang, an unorthodox, crusty, and brash police officer who was suspended for unknown reasons, is brought back by the military to assist with the investigation. He is considered a very experienced criminal investigator and anti-terrorism expert.

Two days later on June 5th (I don’t know if they intentionally skipped June 4th or why they even set these events immediately before and after such a highly sensitive date in China), Wang Miao, a professor of applied physics specializing in nanomaterials, receives a visit from the police and is asked to attend a special meeting at the Battle Command Centre. (As an aside, I found Wang Miao’s exchange with the authorities rather interesting, particularly in context of the pandemic, China’s Zero COVID policy and recent protests there. While unrelated, I wondered how much of the exchange captured the nuances behind how regular citizens react and interact when they get an unexpected visit from Chinese police.) 

The meeting, hosted by the Asian Defense Council, is attended by members of the United Nations and military representatives from unnamed countries around the world. General Chang Weisi, who is leading the investigation into the deaths, explains that among the combat zones in the world, China has emerged as a focal point and that the enemy has intensified its pattern of attacks. The targets? Elite scientists.

Wang Miao is singled out by authorities because he had been in contact with the Frontiers of Science, an organization well-known in academic circles whose goal is to test the limits of science. As Yang Dong’s boyfriend Ding Yi, a famous theoretical physicist himself, explains, “Since the second half of the twentieth century, physics has gradually lost the conciseness and simplicity of its classical theories. Modern theoretical models have become more and more complex, vague, and uncertain. So they hope to use the methods of science to discover the limits of science, to try to find out if there is a limit to how deeply and precisely science can know nature -- a boundary beyond which science can not go. With the development of modern physics, humans seem to have touched such a line.”

Many of the scientists who have died had some connection with the organization or were even members, according to General Chang. Following the meeting, we learn that Wang Miao was invited to join the Frontiers of Science by a foreign physicist named Shen Yufei, a nanotechnology researcher for a foreign-invested company. He had declined the invitation, and told General Chang and Shi Qiang that as a researcher in applied physics, he felt he did not have much to contribute to the group, whose focus centered on fundamental physics (this is the study of “physics at or below the atomic scale” such as nuclear or particle physics, and early Universe cosmology).

General Chang asks him to accept the invitation so he can help them understand the inner workings of the organization. Wang Miao declines again. Shi Qiang, possibly in a bit of reverse psychology, lauds him for saying “no” -- that he will live a lot longer if he does not get involved with the organization. Wang reassures him that he has no plans to die, but hopes to never see him again. Shi Qiang -- who was a soldier in Chang’s company two decades earlier -- cryptically responds, “Anyway, I certainly hope to see you again.”

As General Chang walks Wang Miao out, he is asked why the military is involved. Chang responds, “War has everything to do with the army.” Confused, Wang Miao asks, “War?” He notes that this is perhaps the most peaceful era in history. The General tells him that soon, he and everyone else will understand. He then asks Wang Miao if he has ever experienced a life changing event -- the kind where you wake up to find the entire world suddenly and completely changed. Wang Miao says he hasn’t -- that in fact, most of humanity has not. General Chang tells him that he -- all of humankind -- has been fortunate and lucky. But if it is luck, it must end one day: “Let me tell you right now, it has ended. Be prepared.”

We flash back to 10 months earlier, and a woman is speaking to a foreign professor about a set of abnormal data in his hands -- data that should not even exist yet, but is about to be produced by his student Yang Dong at the particle accelerator base. The woman tells him these are the data results that will be generated from the Liangxiang Accelerator Experiment Base. 

Shortly after, the professor receives the same set of data and he wants to know who the woman is and how she got the results. The woman observes a spider crawling along the window (earlier we saw Yang Dong doing the same before she died) and responds, “It tries hard -- climbing over the bricks, over the steel, the glass. Through the glass, it sees you and me. It thinks it couldn’t get in because it hasn’t found the crack on the glass yet. It believes a crack must exist. I can give it the crack, but it got not choice.”

We next see her praying at a Bhuddist temple and burning a photograph of the professor, while the professor himself appears to die by suicide in his home. (I am unclear if he used a manual defibrillator to stop his heart.)

As the episode draws to a close, we learn that Wang Miao was likely on the radar of the Frontiers of Science group because of his expertise in nanomaterials — specifically, a research paper he published that mentions a nano flying blade. Shi Qiang believes that he was targeted as well and tells the General that Wang Miao must be special.

The first episode concludes back in time once more, with the red button pushed, and a voice over -- presumably that of Ye Wenjie -- saying, “Coming here, I want to help you get the world. My civilization is unable to solve its own problems. We need your strength for intervention.” We see both past and present Wenjie and a series of artifacts from her past, including the ticker tape, and a research paper entitled, “Preliminary Study on the Establishment of Solar Math Model”.

There is a bonus scene between the credits showing Wang Miao exiting the building where the meeting was held. The scene closes with a wide shot of the building and a clear view of several antennas and satellite dishes on the rooftop. The scene was brief, and I’m not sure of the purpose for its inclusion as an extra scene.

I’m really loving the soundtrack so far, and want to close off with this song, “The Day of Unknown” by singer and composer Chén Xuěrán (陈雪燃). Interestingly, he graduated from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, before going to Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain. This haunting piece plays near the end of the first episode in a montage that draws together a few different threads in the episode and hints at what’s to come.