3 Body Problem - S1E1 - Countdown

About a month prior, the major particle accelerators around the world started generating non-sensical  results. The results are from experiments that explain how the universe works. There is a centralized intelligence agency in London that is aware and investigating the deaths of particle physicists at the Oxford particle accelerator. The show is laden with references to science, physics, physicist and does a great job of drawing you in from this initial episode.

The show opens with a scene from 1966 China at Beijing, Tsinghua University that focuses on oppression of science and the might of the government. It introduces you to Ye Wenjie who likely had a major role in creating the "communications device" that seems to be speaking directly to the future physicists from 1960s China. It remains unclear if they are speaking to aliens in outer space or to the future physicists on Earth, but the physicists all seem to have a vision of a countdown that is so maddening it causes them to kill themselves. The episode ends on a somewhat of a cliffhanger/reveal as Auggie and Saul witness the stars disappearing and reappearing in the sky in a code that conveys the countdown sequence.

Major Characters

• Saul Durand - Creditted early on in the show as the person 
• Vera Ye - particle physicist from Oxford who kills herself early on in the show by jumping into a Cherenkov tank. 
• Ye Wenjie - mother of Vera Ye, daughter of Ye Zhetai (Physics Professor), likely had a major part of designing whatever communications device exists at Red Coast Base
  
• Sadiq Mohammed - particle physicist from Oxford found after he had killed himself in his apartment.
• Jin Cheng - main female protagonist (?)
• Prithviraj "Raj"- love interest of Jin Cheng
• Augustina "Auggie" Salazar - starts seeing a flickering yellow pattern that shows a group of numbers, like a countdown. Apparently this is happening all the time. She started a company called the "Nanotechnology, Research Center." She is told to shut down her company in an ominous way. She is also told to not let the countdown get to zero as nothing good happens then. She is given a decoder ring from a cereal box from 1963 Toasty-O-Sters
• Will Downing - has a crush on Jin
• Jack Rooney - Harvard dropout, hangs out with the physicists, runs "Jack's Snacks" Sort of the jokester of the group.
• Thomas Wade - The rich boss of Clarence, however seems to be important and powerful, maybe more so than depicted.
• Clarence Shi (Officer) - has been fired from Scotland Yard, MI5, OSCT, is the lead officer on the case and surreptitiously keeping track on
  

• Bai Mulin - fellow comrade and the person who gives Ye Wenjue "Silent Spring" who likely 

Trivia

• The Black Palace, Headquarters of the strategic intelligence agency in London
• BN20197F - coordinates of the first experiment
• Helmet - virtual reality "video game" that has a level one.
• Red Coast Project - the emissions from the system are modulated, indicating it is a communications device rather than a weapons system.

Political Statements

Good sci-fi is more than a jumble of special effects with some action sequences. It is a political commentary on the current times.The first episode directly dives into the formation of the communist party and rejection of science and God from the 1960s. The scene parallels what is happening in the world today as some may say this is what's happening  again in China and in the United States as well.

Lingering Questions

• What is the involvement of Evans Energy?
• What is the deal with the virtual reality helmet and why does Mike Evans want it so badly?
• How does Mike Evans know about the helmet?
  
• There are a lot of dead physicists, why and what is the connection?
  
• The mystery behind communications and with whom remains... Is the communications between the past Chinese and current Londoners or is it between the Chinese, Aliens and Londoners?