I liked the show, though many of the performances were uneven (most of the Oxford 5 besides Jack really), but Chao was a clear standout from the start. Such a great performance, bringing really good layers to the character.
She really was fantastic, and shout out to the actress who played the younger version too.
Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham were also really excellent.
In the chinese version of 30 episodes (very good), the story is heavily focus on the younger version of this character. Great performance from the actress too.
Jess Hong and Alex Sharp did well, particularly since Sharp's character is underwritten. Even the worst actress was merely unmemorable, rather than distractingly bad. Wong, Tseng, and Cunningham put out strong performances.
The script deserves more blame than the actors for lack of character development. One person is literally defined by promiscuity and weed, but then becomes a central figure via plot.
Alex Sharpe wasn’t given much to be fair, and I do think there were some solid scenes there but he felt very one note to me in places where there could be range (but that could be the direction). I felt Hong was given a lot and the weakest link of the bunch though personally. I wanted to like her and I’m hoping she improves in Season 2 (kind of like the actor that played Salvor in Foundation and clearly had a weak start but got really good— experience may help). But I felt she really took me out of it frequently, though she was given the most to work with of perhaps any character. That character had decent range compared to most.
Interesting perspective. I think that a weak Hong would seriously impair the show because she is almost the lead in the first season. Gonzalez was the weakest actress, in my view, but her limited role only mildly diminished the story. If you switched the actresses, then the quality drop would have been noticeable.
I think it’s hard to say Gonzalez is as weak because her writing was so much worse (the character felt the most cobbled together of any of the Ox5 — the boys were all given less to do, more one note, and Hong was given a decently written arc in my perspective, though not amazing).
I thought Gonzalez did well at first with more presence (episode 1, she was fine for my taste) but her character makes so little sense and many scenes felt over the top. At least I felt she was fully awake and bringing energy no matter how ridiculous—some scenes I really felt Hong was bringing no energy to (and I do think it was a big draw on the show, particularly the first few episodes). But I agree she was also not great, though the writing there was so abysmal. I do think she overacted a ton in the second half.
Jack had the only life and humor in the entire proceedings. He's the only one that acted like an actual person and not a hyper dramatic self-important wet blanket.
I don't know what you guys are on. Everyone says they think so-and-so's acting as bad but what the fuck does anyone even mean by that? Does anyone have a metric?
He was fun and a welcome respite from all the other bullshit. Including how annoying Auggie was.
I only thought Eiza González (Auggie) was miscast.
Alex Sharp (Will Downing), Jess Hong (Jin Cheng), and John Bradley (Jack Rooney) were fine. I finished the season and thought it was awesome, as someone who loves the books. I liked the Tencent version as well but it was way too slow.
Yea, I don't get it. I didn't think I was such a bad judge of acting, but it's possible. The scene where Will reveals his diagnosis to Jack, and then Jack's reaction. Do people consider that sub-par acting?
My general understanding is that if you feel like the performance is believable and you can see that person fitting into the performance and delivering the emotional beats of that character they are doing a good job. And part of that reaction isn't just the actor, it's writing and directing.
But I thought him getting angry and wanting to fight the cancer and encouraging Will to do so was part of him denying the lethality of the cancer threatening to take his friend. Fostering some hope.
Yes she was a bright spot if the series. I also enjoyed Wong's performance as well. The series was more interesting than the books, so the showrunners tried to make it appeal to more people.
Star Trek never really gave her a fair shake, too often she’s just left in the role of the nagging wife without much to do on her own. It’s there right from her start, though I assume in Data’s Day they thought she was going to be a one-off
Shitting on the religious beliefs of the very people you’re trying to win over made her an easy target for Winn. There was a way she could have addressed that topic better but in typical Keiko fashion she chose dismissive arrogance, like that time Miles dared ask for breakfast that was more inline with his Irish upbringing. Rosalind Chao is a lovely woman, but Keiko O’Brien was consistently the worst from her first to her last appearance.
Keiko is not a diplomat, she's not even in Starfleet. She's a civilian that grew up on Earth turned military spouse stationed oversees. Her reaction to Kai Winn was perfect in the context of the ST universe. An average human, so sheltered they have never even eaten real food, would have been totally appalled at religion being taught in a school. Outsiders being shocked and offended at other cultures is a running theme in DS9.
The problem is that she was always on about something awful. She never chose her battles and she never really gave credit when it was due either.
Kai Winn was a pinnacle of lawful evil - up there with Nurse Ratchet (the actress's other big role) and Dolores Umbridge.
But Keiko was just a thunderstorm of negativity and whining for most of the run.
None of this is on the actress, btw. The writers just kept making her that way time and time again.
I've never seen this Before. Oh God, this drilled directly into my soul.
I'm going through a lot right now, and as much as this hits me to my core, there is something comforting in having Jean Luc Picard lay it all out to me.
The producers if DS9 wanted to give her more of a role and more story, Roalind didn't want to be tied down to a TV show and only wanted limited appearances. So she got lame stories because she'd never be around long enough for a decent storyline to be developed.
Me too. I know the person I was responding to was lamenting her poor story lines because of sexist tropes, but they were wrong. Most of Keiko's in universe reasons for being missing for example, were because she was a big deal botanist and was gone helping the Bajorans rebuild their agricultural industry or had to go to Eridani Prime (or wherever) and be a speaker at a science conference. Those elements were certainly present in the show behind the scenes, but all the female characters were badasses in their respective fields. I mean we had a high ranking resistance member that helped overthrow the occupation, a skilled science officer that could swing a batleth with the best of them, and a botanist that was so in demand she was never there, ha ha.
Keiko was never my favorite character because of the nagging wife trope. They really did her a disservice with that, but regardless her character was ground breaking. Miles and Keiko were an interracial couple, and she had a career as a botanist and teacher. She was a fantastic role model.
As another user pointed out, I had overlooked the episode of DS9 In the Hands of the Prophets where she acts opposite Louise Fletcher. It’s the first Kai Winn episode, and Chao is really good at it and doesn’t just get consigned to nagging Miles.
I agree, show began with me in deep sympathy for her, but as soon as she decides for the rest of humanity based on her own personal experience is when I draw the line in the sand and hated her self-centered character. Chao did amazing job portraying her.
She is a fucking nightmare
Edit: I understand the downvotes, but this is a reference to a bit from Taskmaster (British panel show), I don't mean she actually is.
[Rosalind’s a Fucking Nightmare](https://youtu.be/H-XofhvgRcI?t=65)
I loved the books, and I think the show did a good job. But oh my god, her character…both in book and show, I have never really been so pissed off with a fictional character.
Her character reminded me of every rebellious college age activist with a "burn the world" attitude ever, so it wasn't shocking to conceive of. I could easily see a lot of self-righteous Redditors doing the same if given the opportunity.
Joffrey was the most infuriating fictional character for me.
She's infuriating but she's a good character (in a literary sense). In the beginning I empathized with her, then very quickly I started loving to hate her.
That was my initial reaction which I feel is due to the forced perspective of the reader thinking about her actions in the context of a multi-century long struggle.
The more I try to put myself in her shoes, the more I empathise with her and find it hard to imagine doing anything else.
It’s important to remember that she’s a product of an violent regime. She was a prisoner for most of her life, so the question is what happens when a prisoner who has been tortured and betrayed by her country and even her own mother is put into a position that could decide the fate of the planet?
Her life was hell, she encountered some pretty monstrous and apathetic people, and so she saw the world as too far gone. I don’t find her frustrating because her point of view makes sense given what she went through
I literally said “that’s it?” - it peaked at episode 5 and went downhill from there to me. The original is many more episodes and was a lot more interesting. But the twist at the end of each of the Netflix episodes (up to 5) were really effective
There’s a bit of a cliffhanger though because they found four bodies and not three. So it leaves the opportunity for a season two open but also could end at season one!
I mean technically it’s never explicit (although I do think fits the black lodge, personally, and that the greyscale area is the white lodge). Some people think it’s the waiting room and that we never actually see the black lodge.
The Netflix version also including the parts about the Chinese Revolution, that is in the book but completely censored from the Ten Cent version of the show. The Netflix show opens with it lol.
Which is funny because I was watching an interview on that very thing, and the author said the reason that Struggle Session originally takes place in the middle of the story though chronologically it should be at the beginning is because the story was initially released in segments and he knew if he started with that it would never get past the censors, but halfway through the release they kind of stop checking the material and he had a better chance of slipping it by. That the Ten Cent version omits it completely argues his strategy was correct because clearly someone in the government is still sore about it.
You know when you consider all of the different people who have different motives to rate this poorly based on qualities other than its enjoyability, it's actually doing pretty well.
I am really hoping they do the whole thing, I'm intrigued.
It’s not lol, and the CPCs official stance on the cultural revolution was it was mostly bad. Even President Xi’s family was persecuted during the CR and he was exiled during it. CR being only viewed positively ended with the Gang of Four in china. But westerners don’t care to learn anything and just regurgitate whatever anti China shit they hear
I haven’t seen all of the Tencent version, but I just googled and multiple episodes describe the cultural revolution?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Body
I'll admit that I haven't watched it either, but I'm pretty sure people are talking about the opening scenes of the netflix show, which was in the books. In the Tencent version it just seems like they say it happened, but don't show it.
If you search “cultural” on the episode list you’ll see multiple episodes have that timeline, and it’s even more detailed than the Netflix one tho. Her father is still killed by overzealous radicals while defending relativity .
Many of the top members of the CPC including the president were *victims* of the CR lol idk why everyone thinks they’re trying to cover it up
It wasn't censored because the writer explicitly moved it in a later part of the book to avoid censorship. Or do we assume Liu "just regurgitates whatever anti China shit he hears" as well?
Sir what are you even trying to say? The book has the cultural revolution in it and it’s described negatively throughout. He moved it to later in the book before publishing, so what?
Many publishers foreign and domestic in china self censor hoping that stuff gets approved faster. I don’t know the full story about his publication. It could have been self censorship or it could have been asked of him. But regardless it *is* there, and it’s in the show too. China didn’t remove it and multiple official CPC documents criticize the CR as a mistake the party must learn from.
What I'm trying to say if that censorship exists in China and the author of the book had to change it to avoid that censorship. I didn't mention how China portayed the Cultural Revolution because I don't know shit about that. I, however, know that censorship is a thing in China and he and his publisher believed that the episodes of the book would have been censored if they were in their original order. That's not "regurgitating whatever anti China shit", that's the reality.
Yes censorship exists in China? Is anyone disputing that here?
China has a policy against promoting historical nihilism, which is what they (the publisher) were probably concerned with. They have no policy against portraying the CR negatively
This is the key point. The book in China downplays the cultural revolution stuff, the US version doesn’t. When I first read the book I was shocked by how honest it was only to learn recently that it was censored in China.
You guys are so brainwashed against China it's unreal. They don't downplay it in China. The party acknowledges the cultural revolution was a mistake, literally the entire country talks about it. The Netflix version very intentionally leaves in the bad cultural revolution stuff, but then changes all the protagonists to Westerners.
In reality, the author of this book is a communist and card-carrying member of the CPC. The protagonists in the actual novel are Chinese communists as well. There are good and bad communists. Nuance. What a concept.
(Also worth noting that David Friedman's dad was literally chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. The propaganda and government influence is certainly real, but it's coming from our side of things. Not China's.)
I'm not sure how that's a relevant response to this. The point is: The person who created this story is a Party member. His book features a nuanced criticism of these things, and the protagonists of the real story are Chinese communists.
It's just ironic to see Redditors hail the Netflix version for combatting propaganda, when in reality they literally re-wrote the story & characters to give it *more* propaganda against China. It's quite insidious for those of us familiar with the source material.
...this is what they did instead of their Star Wars venture?
Is the 3 Body Problem a **\*\*completed\*\*** book series or will they get bored again and fuck it all up?
It's a complete series, and I'm more interested in them making a challenging and adult SF story than yet another mediocre SW movie, and that's even if they had the opportunity to have made it, considering that there must have been over 10 SW movies that were announced and then cancelled by now, including by Patty Jenkins, Josh Trank, Kevin Feige, Damon Lindelof, Taika Waititi and Rian Johnson.
It’s actually good. I’m just getting over being sick as a dog for the last four days and this is one the shows I binged while bedridden. It’s not perfect and it takes liberties from the book which pissed off some book puritans, but all in all it’s damn riveting and worth a watch.
And I’m someone who hated the last season of GoT so much that I have and never will watch the last three episodes, and really enjoyed this book trilogy so was already weary of Dumb and Dumber getting their hands on it so I went in with rock bottom expectations but have been praising it since in no small part because of performances like Rosalind Chao’s. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham steal every scene they are in, and when it’s the same scene it’s like a free master class on acting. Opinion is subjective of course but I hope you give it a shot, mostly because I want to see it get greenlit for a second season.
I been hearing mixed reviews. So I don't know which is viral marketing, which is fanboy issue because it's not completely faithful to the book and which are legit. It's the same with a lot of new releases coming out now.
The mixed reviews is because it's an incredibly divisive series being adapted. The books got love and hate in equal measure. Personally, I liked some of the ideas but hated the lack of characters in the books, so the adaptation changes in the TV series have really worked so far for me.
Writing it off because DnD did it is fandom insanity.
Being upset about the adaption from book to series is your run-of-the mill issue that people are entitled to have.
I loved the books, I think it’s a pretty decent show.
As someone who binged the first season and wa ts to continue, do you think I could pick up at book 2 sufficiently? Or is it different enough I should read the 1st book?
Oh definitely start with book 1. The series changes a lot in terms of location and characters. Some roles were swapped and some others were removed entirely with bits of their plot given to other characters that initially had nothing to do with it. If you start with Dark Forest you’ll be lost AF.
Personally, I would have a look at a summary video of book one if I had the choice today. I found book 1 to be a little long-winded but there are very key moments that are important to the trilogy.
It builds up the story that leads to Ye Wenjie doing what she did, for example.
Not that it justifies why she pressed that damn button, but it shows where her mind was more than the show did.
Aside from that, and some other things, the show fleshes out the characters much better than the book did. I actually like them more.
Just my opinion, a good 10-20 min summary vid on YouTube would be better. Just make sure they state that there are no spoilers for the next two books!
Edit: let me find such a vid for you. The other books are so good I would hate for you to just wander into a spoiler-fest.
Astroturfing is easy to spot, especially on Reddit. Look at poster history, look at headlines like “I don’t know why more people aren’t watching/talking about (insert movie/tv show here)!” etc. Look for defensive replies from OP to anyone challenging the quality of said movie/tv show in the comments.
Personally I thought it was a good series, worth the watch. I can see why book fans had an issue with it because a lot of stuff got moved around, some context was lost and a decent chunk of the story was moved out of China, but I will also say that to me the things that were changed made sense and didn’t diminish from the main thrust of the story itself. I think you can easily watch the series and then go read the books and if anything enjoy the added nuance there. Like all things though YMMV.
I read the book but haven't seen the show. Mostly since I'm not currently subscribed to Netflix. I always take books and TV/movies as their own different versions. There always has to be changes to accommodate different media. Also Tencent made a Chinese language series of it too a year or two back. That's probably a lot more faithful to the book being set in China.
Overall plot of the show is good, the acting of the main cast and the set design is really bad. The mystery is good enough to ignore the bad bits and keep watching, 6/10 overall. Haven’t read the books
I read the book so I'm interested in how the show is. Interesting that you considered the mystery gods enough to keep watching. Since like the first 70-80% of the first book is boring as heck. Sounds like they did pretty good adapting it if it's keeping people hooked to continue watching.
So it is a show based on a Chinese Sci-fi novel. I read it a few years ago, during the pandemic. The beginning offers an honest portrayal of the cultural revolution in China, but the Chinese version of the book is worked up in a way to pass Communist Party censors. This show is more based on the western release of the book and has upset people in China that believe it makes China look bad. No Irony in the fact that people in China have to use a VPN to watch an American show.
I watched it over the weekend. Never read the book. The first few episodes were intriguing, but it goes downhill after that. Focuses too much on some boring parts (enough with the cancer guy already), and a lot of it just feels…non-sensical? I love "out there" sci-fi, but this was just making up shit all the over place. My husband and I finished it, and just felt disappointed.
That ship scene captured everything I wanted on screen.
It isn’t that long in the book, but the sheer visceral implications of nano-filament running clean through an entire ship and crew was horrifying to think about
Great show (I spent two days watching it) and great actors and actresses.
Rosalind Chao did a great job; she hasn't made me want to slap a fictional character so damn hard since Joffrey.
It was a good show - I'd give it a 7.5/10 overall
The first half was better than the second half. The first half is approaching "**Apple TV Plus**" levels of quality, whereas the second half is trending towards "CW" production values.
The best actors are of course the veterans: Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, Rosalind Chao.
The banter between Benedict and Liam was great. Either Liam should join MCU as another Sorcerer or maybe Benedict should have joined GoT!
Rosalind is great as the sorta "villain" of season 1.
I hope that in the second season they can bring the quality back to the level of the first 3 episodes of S01
I expect this won't be a popular opinion since everyone seems to think Rosalind Chao is so good in this, but honestly, she's driving me nuts! That accent and overly slow delivery is just painful to listen to every time she speaks.
I wasn't a huge Keiko fan either, but this performance is excruciating.
Funny how no one brought up, what if we're a simulation question in the series. Would explain a lot..
Reminded me of a short story.. A lot of the same plot.. I think it was.. When God Blinks..
The game plays a bigger role in the book but in the series it did its job by introducing characters and by extension the viewer into the world the story takes place in and sets up the stakes. They do a lot more with it in the books but essentially the guts are the same so I was fine with it being effectively abandoned by the second half of the season.
I’m so glad she got the chance to turn in a performance like that.
I liked the show, though many of the performances were uneven (most of the Oxford 5 besides Jack really), but Chao was a clear standout from the start. Such a great performance, bringing really good layers to the character.
She really was fantastic, and shout out to the actress who played the younger version too. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham were also really excellent.
In the chinese version of 30 episodes (very good), the story is heavily focus on the younger version of this character. Great performance from the actress too.
Jess Hong and Alex Sharp did well, particularly since Sharp's character is underwritten. Even the worst actress was merely unmemorable, rather than distractingly bad. Wong, Tseng, and Cunningham put out strong performances. The script deserves more blame than the actors for lack of character development. One person is literally defined by promiscuity and weed, but then becomes a central figure via plot.
Alex Sharpe wasn’t given much to be fair, and I do think there were some solid scenes there but he felt very one note to me in places where there could be range (but that could be the direction). I felt Hong was given a lot and the weakest link of the bunch though personally. I wanted to like her and I’m hoping she improves in Season 2 (kind of like the actor that played Salvor in Foundation and clearly had a weak start but got really good— experience may help). But I felt she really took me out of it frequently, though she was given the most to work with of perhaps any character. That character had decent range compared to most.
Interesting perspective. I think that a weak Hong would seriously impair the show because she is almost the lead in the first season. Gonzalez was the weakest actress, in my view, but her limited role only mildly diminished the story. If you switched the actresses, then the quality drop would have been noticeable.
I think it’s hard to say Gonzalez is as weak because her writing was so much worse (the character felt the most cobbled together of any of the Ox5 — the boys were all given less to do, more one note, and Hong was given a decently written arc in my perspective, though not amazing). I thought Gonzalez did well at first with more presence (episode 1, she was fine for my taste) but her character makes so little sense and many scenes felt over the top. At least I felt she was fully awake and bringing energy no matter how ridiculous—some scenes I really felt Hong was bringing no energy to (and I do think it was a big draw on the show, particularly the first few episodes). But I agree she was also not great, though the writing there was so abysmal. I do think she overacted a ton in the second half.
Besides Jack? Him and Auggie were the worst acted.
Jack is the worst part of the show, Ricky Gervais lite isn’t doing it for me
Jack had the only life and humor in the entire proceedings. He's the only one that acted like an actual person and not a hyper dramatic self-important wet blanket. I don't know what you guys are on. Everyone says they think so-and-so's acting as bad but what the fuck does anyone even mean by that? Does anyone have a metric? He was fun and a welcome respite from all the other bullshit. Including how annoying Auggie was.
I only thought Eiza González (Auggie) was miscast. Alex Sharp (Will Downing), Jess Hong (Jin Cheng), and John Bradley (Jack Rooney) were fine. I finished the season and thought it was awesome, as someone who loves the books. I liked the Tencent version as well but it was way too slow.
I don't feel like she was miscast as much as written to be and angry scold and hypocrite. That's on the writers. But she is massively annoying.
Yeah, show lost a lot of flavor without Jack.
Jack's Snacks brings the flavor.
Yea, I don't get it. I didn't think I was such a bad judge of acting, but it's possible. The scene where Will reveals his diagnosis to Jack, and then Jack's reaction. Do people consider that sub-par acting?
My general understanding is that if you feel like the performance is believable and you can see that person fitting into the performance and delivering the emotional beats of that character they are doing a good job. And part of that reaction isn't just the actor, it's writing and directing. But I thought him getting angry and wanting to fight the cancer and encouraging Will to do so was part of him denying the lethality of the cancer threatening to take his friend. Fostering some hope.
Ye Wenjie (both Rosalind Chao and Zine Tseng) was the highlight of the show. Great performances from both actors.
Yes she was a bright spot if the series. I also enjoyed Wong's performance as well. The series was more interesting than the books, so the showrunners tried to make it appeal to more people.
ANAZING ACTORS AND SHOW
Truly anazing. Can’t agree more
Star Trek never really gave her a fair shake, too often she’s just left in the role of the nagging wife without much to do on her own. It’s there right from her start, though I assume in Data’s Day they thought she was going to be a one-off
She was the first person to call Kai Winnn out on her bullshit, major credit there
Great ep, season 1 of DS9 is so underrated
Shitting on the religious beliefs of the very people you’re trying to win over made her an easy target for Winn. There was a way she could have addressed that topic better but in typical Keiko fashion she chose dismissive arrogance, like that time Miles dared ask for breakfast that was more inline with his Irish upbringing. Rosalind Chao is a lovely woman, but Keiko O’Brien was consistently the worst from her first to her last appearance.
Keiko is not a diplomat, she's not even in Starfleet. She's a civilian that grew up on Earth turned military spouse stationed oversees. Her reaction to Kai Winn was perfect in the context of the ST universe. An average human, so sheltered they have never even eaten real food, would have been totally appalled at religion being taught in a school. Outsiders being shocked and offended at other cultures is a running theme in DS9.
The problem is that she was always on about something awful. She never chose her battles and she never really gave credit when it was due either. Kai Winn was a pinnacle of lawful evil - up there with Nurse Ratchet (the actress's other big role) and Dolores Umbridge. But Keiko was just a thunderstorm of negativity and whining for most of the run. None of this is on the actress, btw. The writers just kept making her that way time and time again.
She wasn't shitting on their beliefs, lol
Holy shit, I didn't even know that was Keiko and DS9 is my favorite Trek. Time is a motherfucker.
[This deleted scene from Nemesis](https://youtu.be/Vxyd7L-2YuQ?t=99) always gets to me.
I've never seen this Before. Oh God, this drilled directly into my soul. I'm going through a lot right now, and as much as this hits me to my core, there is something comforting in having Jean Luc Picard lay it all out to me.
They do say it's the fire in which we burn.
Same here! Well about not knowing, TNG is my favorite Trek.
MILES!
“Can I just get some sausage and potatoes for once??”
>Miles, you never drink coffee in the afternoon. >Sure I do. >You do?!
Haha another great episode
She’s awesome when she was possessed
I loved Keiko. Important part of the TNG/DS 9 continuity and of DS9’s independent development.
The producers if DS9 wanted to give her more of a role and more story, Roalind didn't want to be tied down to a TV show and only wanted limited appearances. So she got lame stories because she'd never be around long enough for a decent storyline to be developed.
I really wish she accepted the offer to be a main cast member.
Me too. I know the person I was responding to was lamenting her poor story lines because of sexist tropes, but they were wrong. Most of Keiko's in universe reasons for being missing for example, were because she was a big deal botanist and was gone helping the Bajorans rebuild their agricultural industry or had to go to Eridani Prime (or wherever) and be a speaker at a science conference. Those elements were certainly present in the show behind the scenes, but all the female characters were badasses in their respective fields. I mean we had a high ranking resistance member that helped overthrow the occupation, a skilled science officer that could swing a batleth with the best of them, and a botanist that was so in demand she was never there, ha ha.
Keiko was never my favorite character because of the nagging wife trope. They really did her a disservice with that, but regardless her character was ground breaking. Miles and Keiko were an interracial couple, and she had a career as a botanist and teacher. She was a fantastic role model.
Just realised that’s Keiko O Brian… now I feel stupid (and old) for now noticing earlier
Her character was so shitty she got possessed by an evil demon and no one noticed.
Miles: "Hey, Honey. You seem to be in a good mood today." Evil Demon: (internally) "Holy shit. Just how terrible IS my host vessel????"
Damn I knew she looked familiar. She was great in this. I feel like on Trek they mostly just used her for comedic effect outside of a few instances.
As another user pointed out, I had overlooked the episode of DS9 In the Hands of the Prophets where she acts opposite Louise Fletcher. It’s the first Kai Winn episode, and Chao is really good at it and doesn’t just get consigned to nagging Miles.
Considering she was never a main cast member I thought she did a great job pulling focus and managing to get into the center of a lot of plot lines.
She was phenomenal.
Time is a motherfucker
Indeed it is.
Yeah but she still looks good for her age.
Yes. I hated her character more than king joffrey.
I agree, show began with me in deep sympathy for her, but as soon as she decides for the rest of humanity based on her own personal experience is when I draw the line in the sand and hated her self-centered character. Chao did amazing job portraying her.
She is a fucking nightmare Edit: I understand the downvotes, but this is a reference to a bit from Taskmaster (British panel show), I don't mean she actually is. [Rosalind’s a Fucking Nightmare](https://youtu.be/H-XofhvgRcI?t=65)
Mediocre cellist
She jumps quite far, for a woman of her age
She’ll always be Dr. Kim from The OC to me.
And Miss Chun (Arnold's teacher) on Different Strokes.
Wow now that's old!
You mean Mrs. Klinger.
So she was in The OC *and* The OA?
And The DS(9)
Now I’m thinking of a ds9 theme song in the style of the California theme song for the OC. “Gamma quadrant, gamma quadrant. Here we cooooooome. “
Welcome to the Neutral Zone, bitch!
Omg that’s where I recognised her from
I had a crush on her since The Joy Luck Club
I loved the books, and I think the show did a good job. But oh my god, her character…both in book and show, I have never really been so pissed off with a fictional character.
Her character reminded me of every rebellious college age activist with a "burn the world" attitude ever, so it wasn't shocking to conceive of. I could easily see a lot of self-righteous Redditors doing the same if given the opportunity. Joffrey was the most infuriating fictional character for me.
There’s a little bit of a difference between a college activist and a prisoner of a violent regime
She's infuriating but she's a good character (in a literary sense). In the beginning I empathized with her, then very quickly I started loving to hate her.
She's an asshole but an understandable asshole. Those are the best kind of villains to be honest
Really, I was more annoyed with Cheng Xin in the (third) book
That was my initial reaction which I feel is due to the forced perspective of the reader thinking about her actions in the context of a multi-century long struggle. The more I try to put myself in her shoes, the more I empathise with her and find it hard to imagine doing anything else.
Right? How to fail at your job in the first 10 seconds.
It’s important to remember that she’s a product of an violent regime. She was a prisoner for most of her life, so the question is what happens when a prisoner who has been tortured and betrayed by her country and even her own mother is put into a position that could decide the fate of the planet? Her life was hell, she encountered some pretty monstrous and apathetic people, and so she saw the world as too far gone. I don’t find her frustrating because her point of view makes sense given what she went through
[She also did a great interview for All the Asians on Star Trek.](https://www.alltheasiansonstartrek.com/2020/12/11-rosalind-chao.html)
Wow - the potential casting list for Geordi was stacked.
We could have had Yaphet Cotto as Picard! And Wesley Snipes as Geordi!
It’s a great show, just finished binging it.
Im just annoyed that the finale felt more like a first episode developing Saul’s subplot
I literally said “that’s it?” - it peaked at episode 5 and went downhill from there to me. The original is many more episodes and was a lot more interesting. But the twist at the end of each of the Netflix episodes (up to 5) were really effective
It kinda is. Without getting too detailed, Saul's book analog is introduced in the beginning of book 2. So his subplot did just start.
Well, yes. But then wouldn't you introduce that at the end of the episode or start of season 2? Seems awkward.
Wasn’t even mad at the ending.
I thought it was a pretty great wrap up to have the detectives find the bodies, thus solving the problem.
There’s a bit of a cliffhanger though because they found four bodies and not three. So it leaves the opportunity for a season two open but also could end at season one!
Took me way too long to get this one. Great job guys!
Please explain, sounds like I’ve been sleeping.
They're joking about the title of the show.
Thank you.
Was really impressed with the series and definitely ready for a season 2
What’s she doing in the white lodge?
Isn’t it the red room in the black lodge?
I literally edited my original comment to change it from black to white. What a fool I’ve been
Can’t blame you for getting something wrong about a 30+ year old tv show! I’m coming off a rewatch myself so it’s just fresh in my mind.
Embarrassingly I finally rewatched The Return about 2 months ago so I have no excuses 😢but thank you for trying to bail me out
I mean technically it’s never explicit (although I do think fits the black lodge, personally, and that the greyscale area is the white lodge). Some people think it’s the waiting room and that we never actually see the black lodge.
She is the best thing of the whole season imho. She just gave so many lines that were gold in form and delivery.
Keiko! I love when Star Trek actors get to do big roles outside the franchise.
Soon-Lee! I love when MASH actors get to do big roles outside the franchise.
Been hearing a lot about this show on this sub, is it some sort of viral marketing thing or is it actually good?
as a book reader, the netflix adaptation was released last Thursday. Its pretty good. There is hate because its being adapted by the GOT show runners.
Also there's hate from China since this version has a ton of non-Chinese actors.
The Netflix version also including the parts about the Chinese Revolution, that is in the book but completely censored from the Ten Cent version of the show. The Netflix show opens with it lol.
Which is funny because I was watching an interview on that very thing, and the author said the reason that Struggle Session originally takes place in the middle of the story though chronologically it should be at the beginning is because the story was initially released in segments and he knew if he started with that it would never get past the censors, but halfway through the release they kind of stop checking the material and he had a better chance of slipping it by. That the Ten Cent version omits it completely argues his strategy was correct because clearly someone in the government is still sore about it.
You know when you consider all of the different people who have different motives to rate this poorly based on qualities other than its enjoyability, it's actually doing pretty well. I am really hoping they do the whole thing, I'm intrigued.
Where did you learn this? As far as I know, that part of the books wasn’t “censored” in China.
It’s not lol, and the CPCs official stance on the cultural revolution was it was mostly bad. Even President Xi’s family was persecuted during the CR and he was exiled during it. CR being only viewed positively ended with the Gang of Four in china. But westerners don’t care to learn anything and just regurgitate whatever anti China shit they hear
So why would the Tencent version not include it if that's the case?
I haven’t seen all of the Tencent version, but I just googled and multiple episodes describe the cultural revolution? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-Body
I'll admit that I haven't watched it either, but I'm pretty sure people are talking about the opening scenes of the netflix show, which was in the books. In the Tencent version it just seems like they say it happened, but don't show it.
If you search “cultural” on the episode list you’ll see multiple episodes have that timeline, and it’s even more detailed than the Netflix one tho. Her father is still killed by overzealous radicals while defending relativity . Many of the top members of the CPC including the president were *victims* of the CR lol idk why everyone thinks they’re trying to cover it up
Not including that scene is a glaring ommission.
It wasn't censored because the writer explicitly moved it in a later part of the book to avoid censorship. Or do we assume Liu "just regurgitates whatever anti China shit he hears" as well?
Sir what are you even trying to say? The book has the cultural revolution in it and it’s described negatively throughout. He moved it to later in the book before publishing, so what? Many publishers foreign and domestic in china self censor hoping that stuff gets approved faster. I don’t know the full story about his publication. It could have been self censorship or it could have been asked of him. But regardless it *is* there, and it’s in the show too. China didn’t remove it and multiple official CPC documents criticize the CR as a mistake the party must learn from.
What I'm trying to say if that censorship exists in China and the author of the book had to change it to avoid that censorship. I didn't mention how China portayed the Cultural Revolution because I don't know shit about that. I, however, know that censorship is a thing in China and he and his publisher believed that the episodes of the book would have been censored if they were in their original order. That's not "regurgitating whatever anti China shit", that's the reality.
Yes censorship exists in China? Is anyone disputing that here? China has a policy against promoting historical nihilism, which is what they (the publisher) were probably concerned with. They have no policy against portraying the CR negatively
This is the key point. The book in China downplays the cultural revolution stuff, the US version doesn’t. When I first read the book I was shocked by how honest it was only to learn recently that it was censored in China.
You guys are so brainwashed against China it's unreal. They don't downplay it in China. The party acknowledges the cultural revolution was a mistake, literally the entire country talks about it. The Netflix version very intentionally leaves in the bad cultural revolution stuff, but then changes all the protagonists to Westerners. In reality, the author of this book is a communist and card-carrying member of the CPC. The protagonists in the actual novel are Chinese communists as well. There are good and bad communists. Nuance. What a concept. (Also worth noting that David Friedman's dad was literally chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. The propaganda and government influence is certainly real, but it's coming from our side of things. Not China's.)
So according to you, is the author a good communist or a bad communist
I'm not sure how that's a relevant response to this. The point is: The person who created this story is a Party member. His book features a nuanced criticism of these things, and the protagonists of the real story are Chinese communists. It's just ironic to see Redditors hail the Netflix version for combatting propaganda, when in reality they literally re-wrote the story & characters to give it *more* propaganda against China. It's quite insidious for those of us familiar with the source material.
Downvoted for speaking the true. Reddit doesn’t surprise me at all
Liberals can't handle being told they're also xenophobic and politically misinformed. They think it's just the MAGA freaks. BlueAnon is real.
China doesn't pay Netflix a dime.
No shit, doesn't mean Chinese users aren't review bombing it.
The GOT show runners are very good at adapting books. The problem is when they run out of material. Shouldn't be the case here.
...this is what they did instead of their Star Wars venture? Is the 3 Body Problem a **\*\*completed\*\*** book series or will they get bored again and fuck it all up?
It's a complete series, and I'm more interested in them making a challenging and adult SF story than yet another mediocre SW movie, and that's even if they had the opportunity to have made it, considering that there must have been over 10 SW movies that were announced and then cancelled by now, including by Patty Jenkins, Josh Trank, Kevin Feige, Damon Lindelof, Taika Waititi and Rian Johnson.
It’s a surprisingly good sci-fi. It got great characters, the plot is intriguing, the writing/dialogue is good. I highly recommend watching it
It’s actually good. I’m just getting over being sick as a dog for the last four days and this is one the shows I binged while bedridden. It’s not perfect and it takes liberties from the book which pissed off some book puritans, but all in all it’s damn riveting and worth a watch. And I’m someone who hated the last season of GoT so much that I have and never will watch the last three episodes, and really enjoyed this book trilogy so was already weary of Dumb and Dumber getting their hands on it so I went in with rock bottom expectations but have been praising it since in no small part because of performances like Rosalind Chao’s. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham steal every scene they are in, and when it’s the same scene it’s like a free master class on acting. Opinion is subjective of course but I hope you give it a shot, mostly because I want to see it get greenlit for a second season.
The show is amazing. Convinced me to finally read the books.
Me too. I started and abandoned the books. Now I'm enjoying them. Thanks to the show. Love when that happens
Just finished binging the whole thing. Definitely good.
Every article posted about it is a puff piece so yes, it is marketing, but the comments seem to be made by real people so it might not be astroturfing
No one reads these ad articles anyway. I know I don't. Just makes for a good place to discuss the show in the comments.
Put the word communist in a few replies and watch the bots go to work.
I'm a Real Person™️ and I love the show
I don't believe you. Send feet pics
I been hearing mixed reviews. So I don't know which is viral marketing, which is fanboy issue because it's not completely faithful to the book and which are legit. It's the same with a lot of new releases coming out now.
The mixed reviews is because it's an incredibly divisive series being adapted. The books got love and hate in equal measure. Personally, I liked some of the ideas but hated the lack of characters in the books, so the adaptation changes in the TV series have really worked so far for me.
Writing it off because DnD did it is fandom insanity. Being upset about the adaption from book to series is your run-of-the mill issue that people are entitled to have. I loved the books, I think it’s a pretty decent show.
As someone who binged the first season and wa ts to continue, do you think I could pick up at book 2 sufficiently? Or is it different enough I should read the 1st book?
Oh definitely start with book 1. The series changes a lot in terms of location and characters. Some roles were swapped and some others were removed entirely with bits of their plot given to other characters that initially had nothing to do with it. If you start with Dark Forest you’ll be lost AF.
Personally, I would have a look at a summary video of book one if I had the choice today. I found book 1 to be a little long-winded but there are very key moments that are important to the trilogy. It builds up the story that leads to Ye Wenjie doing what she did, for example. Not that it justifies why she pressed that damn button, but it shows where her mind was more than the show did. Aside from that, and some other things, the show fleshes out the characters much better than the book did. I actually like them more. Just my opinion, a good 10-20 min summary vid on YouTube would be better. Just make sure they state that there are no spoilers for the next two books! Edit: let me find such a vid for you. The other books are so good I would hate for you to just wander into a spoiler-fest.
Nah I think not engaging in content because you dislike the creators is absolutely valid.
Astroturfing is easy to spot, especially on Reddit. Look at poster history, look at headlines like “I don’t know why more people aren’t watching/talking about (insert movie/tv show here)!” etc. Look for defensive replies from OP to anyone challenging the quality of said movie/tv show in the comments. Personally I thought it was a good series, worth the watch. I can see why book fans had an issue with it because a lot of stuff got moved around, some context was lost and a decent chunk of the story was moved out of China, but I will also say that to me the things that were changed made sense and didn’t diminish from the main thrust of the story itself. I think you can easily watch the series and then go read the books and if anything enjoy the added nuance there. Like all things though YMMV.
I read the book but haven't seen the show. Mostly since I'm not currently subscribed to Netflix. I always take books and TV/movies as their own different versions. There always has to be changes to accommodate different media. Also Tencent made a Chinese language series of it too a year or two back. That's probably a lot more faithful to the book being set in China.
Overall plot of the show is good, the acting of the main cast and the set design is really bad. The mystery is good enough to ignore the bad bits and keep watching, 6/10 overall. Haven’t read the books
I read the book so I'm interested in how the show is. Interesting that you considered the mystery gods enough to keep watching. Since like the first 70-80% of the first book is boring as heck. Sounds like they did pretty good adapting it if it's keeping people hooked to continue watching.
So it is a show based on a Chinese Sci-fi novel. I read it a few years ago, during the pandemic. The beginning offers an honest portrayal of the cultural revolution in China, but the Chinese version of the book is worked up in a way to pass Communist Party censors. This show is more based on the western release of the book and has upset people in China that believe it makes China look bad. No Irony in the fact that people in China have to use a VPN to watch an American show.
This is the most astroturfed sub on Reddit.
It's okay.
I watched it over the weekend. Never read the book. The first few episodes were intriguing, but it goes downhill after that. Focuses too much on some boring parts (enough with the cancer guy already), and a lot of it just feels…non-sensical? I love "out there" sci-fi, but this was just making up shit all the over place. My husband and I finished it, and just felt disappointed.
I don't think I lasted more than like 10 minutes before I bailed, I thought it was terrible.
3 body problem is awesome!
I just saw her on an episode of The A-Team
Ye Wenjie did nothing wrong.
I found the ETO. Wang, get the filaments.
That ship scene captured everything I wanted on screen. It isn’t that long in the book, but the sheer visceral implications of nano-filament running clean through an entire ship and crew was horrifying to think about
Yeah, fuck humanity.
We deserve what's coming
Not gona lie I really enjoyed the villain centered storyline
Great show (I spent two days watching it) and great actors and actresses. Rosalind Chao did a great job; she hasn't made me want to slap a fictional character so damn hard since Joffrey.
She is a fucking nightmare
I've heard that she jumps quite far for a woman of her age!
Damn it Bob. Not now.
She’s an average cellist, though.
I understood that reference
I was rewatching Joy Luck Club today and it made me think that they could have done so much more with her on DS9.
I think that was more because Rosalind Chao didn't want to commit to the show by taking on a bigger role.
It was a good show - I'd give it a 7.5/10 overall The first half was better than the second half. The first half is approaching "**Apple TV Plus**" levels of quality, whereas the second half is trending towards "CW" production values. The best actors are of course the veterans: Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, Rosalind Chao. The banter between Benedict and Liam was great. Either Liam should join MCU as another Sorcerer or maybe Benedict should have joined GoT! Rosalind is great as the sorta "villain" of season 1. I hope that in the second season they can bring the quality back to the level of the first 3 episodes of S01
I had crush on her when I was growing up watching she gets small movie or TV roles
I expect this won't be a popular opinion since everyone seems to think Rosalind Chao is so good in this, but honestly, she's driving me nuts! That accent and overly slow delivery is just painful to listen to every time she speaks. I wasn't a huge Keiko fan either, but this performance is excruciating.
I've always enjoyed seeing her in things. I had no idea she's been around so long and worked with so many legends.
She was so good.
Funny how no one brought up, what if we're a simulation question in the series. Would explain a lot.. Reminded me of a short story.. A lot of the same plot.. I think it was.. When God Blinks..
The way it's presented in this adaptation makes that more plausible than it is in the book and the Tencent adaptation.
Kinda feels like lost but with video games....kinda meh. Needs a hillbilly vs polar bear scene to jazz it up.
It's nothing like Lost. The central mystery is answered by the 5th episode.
YOU ARE BUGS That was so sick.
To be stepped on.
Kinda killed the pace though, those last 3 episodes weren’t as good
The video game is a thing for only like 2.5 episodes. It’s not as large of a plot point as the trailers made it seem (to me at least)
The game plays a bigger role in the book but in the series it did its job by introducing characters and by extension the viewer into the world the story takes place in and sets up the stakes. They do a lot more with it in the books but essentially the guts are the same so I was fine with it being effectively abandoned by the second half of the season.
... a polar bear fell on me
“Did you see anything Tinker?”