‘3 Body Problem’ wallfacers, explained

Few recent shows have had the sort of cultural cachet for sci-fi fans that Netflix‘s opus the 3 Body Problem is getting right now. It’s gotten a lot of attention in the sci-fi community, and it’s almost as if everyone has a take and everywhere you look someone else wants to write a think piece about it.

There are a ton of heady themes, including the “big questions” about existence, science, and whether we’re alone in the universe. In the last episode, the show introduces the concept of “wallfacers.” Read on to find out everything you need to know about them.

The 3 Body Problem is a show based on the first in a trilogy of sci books called Remembrance of Earth’s Past, written by Chinese engineer turned novelist Liu Cixin. It was a monster hit in China, and the translation in English was the first book by an Asian author to win the prestigious Hugo Award. The show has remained on the Netflix Top 10 charts since its debut on March 21. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

The plot is fairly simple: A scientist in the ’60s makes contact with an alien civilization and instead of heeding a warning about not contacting them again because they will conquer Earth, she makes the decision for all of mankind that it needs to happen. Fast forward to the present day, and the best scientists are either killing themselves or stopping work on their envelope-pushing projects due to mysterious circumstances.

We learn that the scientists see a countdown in their field of vision that will only go away if they do one of the two aforementioned things. Then, we find out it’s because of the aliens, who will make it to Earth in 400 years. The aliens don’t want Earth to develop technology that will thwart them so they’ve basically handicapped all of Earth’s science and its scientists. We also learn about Sophons, super sophisticated alien computers already on Earth that are all-seeing and all-knowing.

The problem the earth’s resistors have is that it’s pretty much impossible to fight an enemy that can see and hear everything you do. That’s where the wallfacer program comes in.

What Are ‘Wallfacers’ and What’s Their Mission?

Let’s be honest. There’s a lot we don’t know and a lot of questions that aren’t answered in the first season of the 3 Body Problem. People who’ve read the book know a lot of the answers, but show producers decided to pull from all three books and introduce plot points in different ways. For example, Wade does not appear until the third book.

The end of the first season leaves us with more questions than answers. What we know is that the wallfacers have perhaps the most difficult job that any human has ever had to tackle: how to defeat the aliens once and for all. Let’s talk about the ending first. Episode 8 starts with Saul (Jovan Adepo) having a one-night stand and then almost getting run over by a fleet of self-driving cars. He learns from Da Shi (Benedict Wong) that the San-Ti want him dead, but he doesn’t know why.

Before you know it, Saul is at the United Nations and finds out he’s been selected for the Wallfacer program with two other much more qualified individuals. He tries to get out of it but everyone thinks he’s just trying to be sneaky about how he approaches his new assignment. It’s a welcome bit of levity in the show. Earth’s leaders realize they can’t say anything out loud or plan anything in secret because the aliens have sophons.

This is how the wallfacer program was born. People who are selected as wallfacers are tasked with coming up with a plan to thwart the alien invasion but to only do it in their head. They are not to talk to anyone about their plans until it’s time to execute them, and they’re given limitless access to anything on Earth to help them in that endeavor.

In the canon of the show, the United Nations started the UN Planetary Defense Council (PDC) to figure out how to fight the aliens. The PDC passed The UN Wallfacer Act to help in this regard. Wallfacers have to keep their plans secret and never write them down or talk to anyone about them. They have a second use as well; distracting the San-Ti with their movements or pretending to work on one plan while secretly harboring another.

Because of the Wallfacer Act, they’re never held liable for any of their actions and aren’t allowed to be questioned or interfered with at any point. They can ask for any resource they want without question, and they’re allowed every request, no matter how outlandish it may seem. In the book, there are four wallfacers. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Frederick Tyler; former president of Venezuela Manuel Rey Diaz; Neuroscientist Bill Hines and astronomer Luo Ji (Saul in the show).

The show treats this a little differently. There are only three wallfacers: General Hou Bolin, Professor Leyla Ariç, and Saul. Saul actually spends most of the episode telling everyone he doesn’t want to be a wallfacer and attempting to get out of it. By the end of the episode, he realizes this isn’t going to happen.

Jovan Adepo, who plays Saul, spoke with TheWrap about how his character deals with the issue of being chosen as a wallfacer seemingly out of the blue, saying that Saul “hasn’t had any time to sit with it at all.”

“Every time he tries to get the answers from people, he gets like this half answer. It’s like a poem or something,” Adepo said. “By the end of our season, I think he’s surrendering to the idea that this is his new job … He doesn’t know what the hell is going on, which is frustrating because he’s super smart and he’s used to always knowing what’s happening.”

We’re going to learn more about whether the wallfacer program is successful in the second season, and we’ll see the introduction of wallbreakers as well (tasked by the San-Ti to find out the wallfacer plans). Netflix has yet to greenlight season 2, but things are looking good in that direction. 3 Body Problem is streaming now on Netflix.