All 8 episodes of 3 Body Problem, ranked worst to best

All eight episodes of 3 Body Problem, a new sci-fi series from the people behind Game of Thrones, recently dropped on Netflix. Based on the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy by author Liu Cixin, the books present us with an unnerving vision of what it might be like for humanity to encounter an extraterrestrial species, as well as the scientific knowledge to make the twists and turns sound convincing. The Netflix show isn't quite as scientifically rigorous, but it's ambitious, well-made and eager to please.

3 Body Problem is a thought-provoking sci-fi drama that's hopefully finding an audience even as you read this, but not all episodes are created equal. Let's go through the eight episodes one by one, ranking them from "worst" to "best," "worst" and "best" both being subjective terms.

Beware SPOILERS below!

8. Episode 4, "Our Lord"

3 Body Problem is a dense show with a lot o different players and moving parts. The first half of the season is spent setting up for the main meat of the story, and sometimes it blasts through the particulars to get there. That seems especially true in Episode 4, "Our Lord," which is the shorter on the eight episodes on offer.

"Our Lord" isn't a bad episode, it's just stretched a little thin. At this point we're still getting up to speed on the nature of the San Ti, the extraterrestrials who have apparently already left their dangerously chaotic planet and are on their way to conquer Earth. Here we learn more about the cult of humans who worship the San Ti from Earth, acting as their away team. Their leader, Mike Evans, lets slip that humans are capable of lying, something that comes as a shock to the San Ti. Evans' conversations with the San Ti are the best parts of the episode, unsettling without overselling it.

At the end of the episode, this cult gathers under their leader Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao), who we've met before but who we didn't realize was this involved. While we're still taking in that information, government operatives crash the gathering and arrest everyone.

It's all a little too fleet and neat, if still creepy and intriguing. Also, many of the characters in 3 Body Problem don't start to feel like three-dimensional people until later in the show's run, so it's hard to be too concerned about them as they work their way through unimaginably weird scenarios.

7. Episode 3, "Destroyer of Worlds"

Once again, the show rushes through a ton of setup so it can get us all the information we need to start pondering what it means to be human in a universe where humanity is low on the food chain. At least the setup is visually interesting. Early in the season, a couple of the characters play a video game known as Three Body, which unknown to them simulates the conditions on the home world of the San Ti, which is extremely inhospitable to life. The set pieces in there are pleasantly ludicrous. Would that real video game have reached this point by now.

This is the episode where the main characters learn that the San Ti are real and coming to see them. That's a pretty big cosmic revelation, but instead of ending the episode there, "Destroyer of Worlds" keeps going and concludes with the murder of Jack Rooney (John Bradley), the show's comic relief character. It's a pretty prosaic way to end an episode that officially reveals we're not alone in the universe, and seems like a dunderheaded move for a seemingly omnipotent species like the San Ti. Plus, again, this early in the series, we're not attached the characters yet, so Jack's death doesn't mean as much as it could.

6. Episode 7, "Only Advance"

By the time 3 Body Problem reaches the penultimate episode of the season, it's found a solid groove for itself. The characters have developed some dimension and everyone knows about the threat of the San Ti, so now the name of the game is finding a way to defeat. "Only Advance" introduces one of the weirdest: government operative Thomas Wade (the excellent Liam Cunningham, of Game of Thrones fame) wants to put someone's brain inside a probe and launch it through space in the hope that the advancing San Ti fleet will intercept it and use their advanced technology to reconstruct the person inside, who will then serve as a spy for humanity. The brain in question belongs to Will Downing (Alex Sharp), who's dying of cancer and figures this could be a good way to be of use to humanity, or at least to Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), the girl of his dreams.

I like how 3 Body Problem continually throws new sci-fi concepts at us. The brain-in-the-probe bit is probably the weirdest, but it mostly still works because by this point we like Will and the other characters. Ye Wenjie, the woman who used to lead the group of humans who worshipped the San Ti, also gets an emotional moment as she returns to the place where she first contacted the aliens back in the 1970s. She has regrets since then, and feels conflicted about her part in this interstellar drama. She's come here to enjoy one last sunset. It's a nice, melancholy way to close out her story.

5. Episode 6, "The Stars Our Destination"

Episodes 6 and 7 are among the quieter episodes of the series, but they're necessary for getting us invested in the characters. For me, "The Stars Our Destination" was when those characters really started to feel like people I wanted to root for. Up until this point, I'd thought characters like Will Downing felt almost extraneous to the plot, but in this episode he reveals a deep well of feeling that's important to hold onto when you're fighting not just for the survival of the human race, but the human spirit. The characters start to take on bigger meaning here, which is ultimately what will give a show like this staying power.

We also get some crazy sci-fi stuff, like always; Jin presents her plan to accelerate a probe towards the San Ti fleet by hanging hundreds of nuclear in outer space and then detonating each one as the probe passes by. They call it a "staircase." As some people start to despair at the prospect of being overtaken by a vastly more advanced alien species, it's inspiring to see people like Jin and Thomas Wade try and fight back, even if Wade is a prick about it.

5. Episode 1, "Countdown"

I've said before that it takes a while for us to warm up to the characters in 3 Body Problem. At the start, it doesn't demand much from them, instead commanding our attention with creepy vibes and existential horrors. Why does the scientist Auggie Salazar (Eiza González) suddenly have a ghostly countdown floating in front of her eyes at all times? How and why does the universe "wink" at her at the end of the episode? These are spine-tinglings questions made all the moreso because they lack answers, at least for now. They're great ways to hook viewers.

Meanwhile, the premiere also has lots of scenes set in the past, where we meet a young physicist named Ye Wenjie (Zine Tseng) who has perhaps the least luck of any person who has ever lived. It's hard watching her suffer though traumatic experience after traumatic experience during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, but there's an important reason why it's necessary...

3. Episode 2, "Red Coast"

In "Red Coast," Ye Wenjie makes the decision upon which the whole story turns. Embittered by a cruel world that took away everyone she loved, when she gets the chance to summon an extraterrestrial race to Earth, hoping that they may be able to set this place to rights, she takes it, and in so doing, may doom humanity. We may not agree with her choice, but we get why, and the scene where she makes it is drawn out with agonizing tension by director Derek Tsang. It's one of the best scenes in the series.

Back in the present, we're introduced to the Three Body video game, which is a treat for the senses, for both Jin and the audience. "Red Coast" is a setup episode, but the kind that has you on the edge of your seat anyway.

2. Episode 8, "Wallfacer"

The season finale of 3 Body Problem introduces yet another very interesting sci-fi concept: that of the "Wallfacer," a person chosen to plan the defense of Earth against invading aliens with the caveat that they can't speak about their plan to anyone, lest the aliens overhear and plan counter-measures. They'll be given whatever resources they need, no questions asked. The most powerful people on Earth will do whatever they command, no questions asked. It's a lot of power to put in the lap of a lowly researcher like Saul (Jovan Adepo), and we sympathize as he tries to come to grips with the ludicrous situation he finds himself in.

Also, this finale depicts what happens with "Operation Launch Will's Brain Into Space." It doesn't go well, and by this point we like Will and his friends enough to feel crestfallen alongside them. But there's no time to rest with the San Ti on the way. The gruff bodyguard Clarence reminds Jin, Saul and us that even if we're nothing but bugs to the San Ti, bugs are notoriously hard to kill and have been here despite everyone hating them for thousands of years. It's time to get to work. Go bugs.

The finale is thought-provoking, stirring and emotional, everything good about the series in one episode. Netflix, please renew this show so I can see more!

1. Episode 5, "Judgment Day"

"Judgment Day" feels like an end to the first half of the season, before things settle down to focus more on the inner lives of the characters. This episode concludes this more lore-heavy part of the season with as big a bang as possible, nailing two spectacular set pieces one after the other.

The first is probably the scene this season will be remembered for. Mike Evans and his group of alien-worshipping followers live on a big boat called Judgment Day. Thomas Wade needs to capture it without tipping off any of the occupants and giving them time to destroy whatever records are on board, so he enlists Auggie's help in devising a dastardly scheme.

Using Auggie's microscopically thin nano-wires, Wade and his team slice the ship into ribbons as it passes through the Panama Canel. No one on board knows what's happening; they just see people explode into bloody bisected bits and flee to the back in an attempt to escape. Director Minkie Spiro puts us firmly in their shoes, and holds the camera long enough for us to stop and think about what a confusing horror this experience must be. It's a creative, unforgettable action sequence.

Then, at episode's end, the San Ti decide to step up their propaganda game and terrify us humans into submission, using their nine-dimensional sophon particles to block out the sky and write the words "You are bugs" on every TV, computer and phone screen in the world, impressing upon us just how advanced a civilization they are, and how little hope we have. The rest of the season will show us that human beings rally anyway — bugs rule — but in the moment, you can understand why some people would want to throw in the towel.

If we can expect more episodes like this in 3 Body Problem season 2, Netflix would be mad not to renew the show.

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