'3 Body Problem' Episode 1 Takeaway: Ye Wenjie makes startling discovery about Red Coast Base's bold experiment
Contains spoilers for '3 Body Problem' Episode 1
BEIJING, CHINA: Netflix's latest science fiction series, '3 Body Problem', is an official adaptation of Liu Cixin's novel 'The Three-Body Problem'.
The series is helmed by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, the pair who brought us the critically renowned epic fantasy series, 'Game of Thrones'. For this venture, they are also joined by Alexander Woo, who served as an executive producer of the series 'Manhattan'.
The narrative of the series unfolds over many timeframes, encompassing China, England, and beyond.
The plot begins during China's Cultural Revolution when a young astrophysicist named Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) is found to be working on an apparently inconceivable scientific phenomenon that has the potential to change the destiny of Earth.
Ye Wenjie refuses to sign the fake testimony in '3 Body Problem' Episode 1
The story opens in 1966 at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where a teenage Wenjie witnesses the gruesome murder of her father, a physics professor.
As Wenjie mourns her father's death, she is unexpectedly thrust into a logging work camp in Inner Mongolia.
While working there, she is approached by a coworker, Bai Mulin (Yang Hewen), who gifts her a Western book, 'Silent Spring', which, if discovered, may get Wenjie in great trouble because the book is deemed as propaganda.
Everything was going well as Wenjie and Mulin became closer and began a sexual relationship. However, one day Wenjie's book was found. She wouldn't admit that Mulin had given it to her.
She was subsequently taken into custody and asked to sign a fictitious testimony that included the names of scientists who were similar to her father.
If she did sign the document, she would be sealing the fate of those scientists, who would then be killed just like her father.
Ye Wenjie decides to work for Red Coast Base in '3 Body Problem' Episode 1
After refusing to sign the paperwork, Wenjie faced the wrath of her interrogator, who drenched her with water.
However, she receives a glimpse of hope when she is brought to the Red Coast Base and asked to work for the base owing to her great scientific ability.
Wenjie, a science genius, accepts the offer without hesitation and discovers that the facility is not used for weaponization.
In the last minutes of the episode, Ye Wenjie discovers the unexpected information that the facility is attempting to establish communication with aliens.
'3 Body Problem' is now streaming on Netflix
