22 March 2024

3 Body Problem

This Netflix blockbuster has the potential to be “one of the great science-fiction television shows of all time”, says John Nugent in Empire. Adapting Cixin Liu’s celebrated 2008 novel was never going to be easy: the plot spans several millennia, involves a fair amount of theoretical astrophysics, “and is set, at one point, in the tenth dimension”. But with an estimated $160m budget, and producers including Game of Thrones veterans David Benioff and DB Weiss, the result is “thoroughly impressive”. The series begins with laconic detective Da Shi (Benedict Wong) investigating the mysterious deaths of elite scientists. What follows, across eight episodes, spans multiple genres: it’s part “police-procedural potboiler, part historical-fiction epic [and] part alien-invasion sci-fi”.

There’s certainly “an awful lot” going on, says Chris Bennion in The Daily Telegraph. One key plot point sees “a disembodied head being fired into space”; a set-piece involving a ship in the Panama Canal is “breathtaking in both its execution and its pointlessness”. It’s a shame about the “paper-thin characterisation” and “soggy dialogue”. But you can’t escape the feeling that this is exactly the sort of thing Netflix should be spending its billions on: “stratospheric, borderline-insane spectacle that reaches to the stars and back”; a show with the scope of “a manned mission to Alpha Centauri”. Yes, 3 Body Problem has its flaws. “But marvel at the ambition”, and wallow in a “glorious, gaudy galactic mess”.

3 Body Problem is available on Netflix here.
Eight episodes (trailer here).

The Morning Show

The Morning Show is one of those rare gems that “gets better and better” as it goes on, says Dana Feldman in Forbes. With “an extraordinary ensemble cast” helmed by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston (pictured), the Apple TV hit is set in an American television newsroom, with a spotlight on “the ever-present battle between fact and fiction”. Topics covered include Covid-19, the MeToo movement, and more recently the Ukraine war – all contextualised via the “complicated lives” of the show’s multi-faceted characters. The storylines are gripping; the twists and turns “nail-biting”. No wonder it’s just been renewed for a fourth season.

The Morning Show is available on Apple TV here.
Three seasons (trailer here).

Chicken Nugget must be “one of the oddest things” on TV right now, says Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. The South Korean Netflix drama has a weirdly simple premise: it’s about a woman who is transformed into a chicken nugget. It was clearly “made on the cheap”, and the premise is so weird you may well find yourself giving up after a few minutes. “But this would be a mistake.” A sequence in which the father of the fried-food protagonist grieves her predicament is “one of the most unexpectedly moving things I’ve seen in an age”. And from there, it gets “better and better”. Ignore the shonky production and give it a try.