Spoilers 3% - New Brazilian Netflix Series

[Skipper]

From Wikipedia:

3% is a Brazilian, dystopian thriller series created by Pedro Aguilera, starring Bianca Comparato and João Miguel.[Developed from a 2011 independent pilot episode, it is Netflix's first original Brazilian production and the second produced in Latin America, after Club de Cuervos.

The show is set in a future wherein people are given a chance to go to the "better side" of a world divided between progress and affluence in the Offshore, and devastation and poverty in the Inland, but only 3% of the candidates succeed. Netflix gave the show a one-season order with an 8-episode first season.[5][6] Cesar Charlone, an Academy Award nominated cinematographer known for City of God and Blindness, served as directoralongside Daina Giannecchini, Dani Libardi, and Jotagá Crema. Tiago Mello serves as executive producer. The first season became available on Netflix worldwide November 25, 2016.

From IO9:
Here's Why You Should Be Watching Netflix's Brazilian Sci-Fi Series 3%

It’s admittedly not the most original concept at its core. The show is loosely similar to The Hunger Games in its focus on class warfare, with elements of the Unwind book series and other YA dystopian works. It doesn’t go into much detail about the world at large, or the history of their society. It’s not even the highest-quality show on Netflix. There’s one episode that looks like it was filmed entirely in a self-storage facility. But 3% has a powerful and unique human story that begins to reveal itself in later episodes.

Most importantly, it’s science fiction from a non-American perspective.

Dystopian sci-fi has homogenized over the years- partly because there’s so much of it, and also because diverse voices keep being pushed aside in favor of the latest “white American teen has problems with authority” storyline. 3% was shot and produced entirely in Brazil, in Portuguese (with optional English dubbing), and is based on an independent pilot episode from 2011. It’s dystopian science fiction through a Brazilian perspective, and there are themes and storylines present that you wouldn’t see in a normal Divergent-type show.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Queued. After Marco Polo S2 perhaps? Or maybe after Orange is the New Black S4. Or The Crown S1. Anyone got a spare Time Turner lying around??

 

[Snaploud]

I enjoyed the first season. I imagine it will need a bigger budget if we get a second season, but the director sure knew how to use what he had for season 1.

 

[Christopher]

Just finished this. It was very good, although the premise was a bit too reminiscent of a "reality show" for me. I also had some conceptual quibbles, like, how come the Process didn't have better methods of checking candidates' identity against their registration (or even bother to check behind their ears)? But it was an interesting story, and the character work was good. The technology design is interesting too, some nice subtle bits of futurism and worldbuilding. And one good thing about it being Brazilian is that the cast is very diverse. It was also interesting getting to listen to the Portuguese dialogue. It's not a language I've heard spoken much, but I was able to recognize a lot of similarities with what I learned in high school Spanish. (I gather the English dub is very poor, by the way, so it's best to watch it in the original language.)

 

[Snaploud]

^I didn't realize there was an English dub. I'm glad that wasn't the default. I enjoyed the Portuguese with English subtitles.

 

[Christopher]

^I think the English dub was the default. I had to set it for Portuguese with subtitles when I started out.

Probably a coincidence, but it occurred to me partway through that the colors of the candidates' tunics were like a dingier version of Starfleet uniform colors -- red, gold, and blue.

 

[Snaploud]

Probably a coincidence, but it occurred to me partway through that the colors of the candidates' tunics were like a dingier version of Starfleet uniform colors -- red, gold, and blue.

I wasn't sure at first if the colors meant anything, but it never seemed to become a plot point.

 

[Christopher]

I wasn't sure at first if the colors meant anything, but it never seemed to become a plot point.

It was probably just so the group scenes of the candidates would have some visual variety to them. Or to put the actors in the colors they looked best in.

Still, there could be something we overlooked. There was a lot of subtle worldbuilding here, information that was evident in the details of the design and tech but that never really got directly focused on or explained in dialogue. Like how it wasn't until the very end that we learned the significance of the implants on the 3-percenters' arms and why their clothing was designed to keep them visible. And it took me a while to understand that the rings they wore were computer interfaces and data storage drives (so the bit about "a magic ring that holds memories" wasn't just talk).