Really enjoying 3 Body Problem. The scene in episode…I think 3 with the army abacus really impressed me. Maybe it was just the sheer scale.
The other mind blowing thing was realising that Adrian Edmondson was playing one of the peripheral characters. Took me until ep 7
He's a quite good dramatic actor. He played Roger Hollis in the Kim Philby series A Spy Among Friends with Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce last year and was very good too. Though it is a bit jarring when he wears the serious glasses and suit and you think 'I know that actor but just can't place him ...'
So I binged 3 Body Problem over the weekend. I was really into it up until Episode 5, which was stunning I thought, and then it sort of tapered off for the last 3 eps. I wouldn't say it fell off a cliff, but it just wasn't as propulsive plot-wise, and focused more on the characters and the sick friend storyline which, meh.
I don't mind this adaptation bringing more international-based characters for the Netflix audience. Generally it kept the good, hard sci-fi bits and eliminated some weaknesses in the book (Di Shi is a fucking arsehole in the books: Benedict Wong brings more inherent Benedict Wong-iness, which can only be a good thing). Overall it's a success and I'm looking forward to the 2nd season.
And it has cameos from Kevin Eldon as Sir Thomas More and Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith as Turing and Newton.