(Mild spoilers for Netflix’s "3-Body Problem" follow.)
Like many readers of Liu Cixin’s "Three-Body" series of novels, I was a bit taken aback by some of the decisions made in Netflix’s adaptation of the "3-Body Problem." Where was Wang Miao, the character through whose eyes most of the mystery in the first book unfolds — and who was this researcher in his place? Why are the aliens no longer called Trisolarans? What’s Samwell Tarly from "Game of Thrones" doing there?!
Some Chinese netizens were also displeased with the changes, though often for other reasons — upset that the primary location was changed from China to the U.K. and most local characters diversified into other nationalities. They might have a point, though: The parts of the show truest to the book, such as the depictions of the Cultural Revolution and any scenes involving the species-traitor Ye Wenjie, are by far its strongest points, with the travails of the characters in modern-day Britain much less interesting.