- Title: 3 Body Problem – Countdown
- IMDb: link
The opening episode of 3 Body Problem introduces us to a world where the laws of science appear to be broken (although this is more told to use, over and over again, that properly shown or explained). Along with the unexplained phenomena of all particle colliders malfunctioning, the suicide rate in scientists, physicists in particular, has skyrocketed. Many are being haunted by a ticking clock which only they can see. And, somehow, what is currently happening appears to have something to do with secret experiments in China during the 1960s. Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng both star as Chinese scientist Ye Wenjie in the present and the turbulent past, who is the character most likely to have answers for what’s happening.
Adapted from the novel of the same name, our first episode “Countdown” does what it needs to do to set the stage for the odd activity while being overly mysterious as to just how the 60s flashbacks ultimately tie-in to the current storyline and why only some see this countdown. Our most important character in the current timeline is Auggie (Eiza González in a frumpy haircut) whose group of friends are mourning the suicide of one of their colleagues. Auggie is the only one of the group who is currently aware of the countdown.
We also get Benedict Wong as an investigator for the Strategic Intelligence Agency struggling to make sense of what is going on, Jonathan Pryce as a reclusive business man somehow linked to events, and Marlo Kelly as a mysterious woman who knows more about what is happening than apparently anyone on the planet and suggests the only “cure” for the phenomena is giving up scientific exploration. The episode ends strong with another big tease with the stars in the sky all going out, the universe “winking” to them in something like Morse Code, providing the exact same countdown which Auggie is now constantly haunted by.
