In Netflix’s sprawling sci-fi epic 3 Body Problems, Mike Evans seems to be a man with noble intentions. One day he’s trying to save an endangered species of bird, and the other day he’s trying to save all of humankind. Except for the second one, he didn’t hesitate to co-found a cult in cahoots with an alien race, who clearly doesn’t have a good intention for humanity. Evans, along with his beloved Wenjie Ye, turns out to be the primary reason for the entire mess that causes all the problems in the show. The man’s not inherently evil, though, as he takes his last breath with the belief that what he’s doing has to be for the greater good. In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at the character and the motives behind his activities in the show.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Was Mike Evans?
Mike Evans came from wealth. His father was a magnet in the oil industry. But during his youth, Mike chose to stay in communist China and save a rare bird species from going completely extinct. He wouldn’t have even minded spending his life in the forest if it served his purpose.
In 3 Body Problems, we first see Mike in present-day London, when he appears as this mysterious old man attending the funeral of Vera Wenjie. We don’t know who this man is, but he’s definitely a person on the internet in this story. Only later will it be revealed that not only is Mr. Evans the father of Vera, but he should get the blame (at least partially) for her tragic death as well. What adds volume to the character is how brilliantly Sir Jonathan Pryce plays the part. Price is a modern-day legend when it comes to acting skills, and he does complete justice to the role; you know what he’s doing is certainly nothing good, yet you do feel at least a little bad for the poor old man. The younger version of Mike is played by actor Ben Schnetzer, who has done an impressive job as well.
How Did He Join The San-Ti?
Would it be too wrong to say that love made Mike join the enemy? Had he not met Wenjie in the forest of China back in 1977, his life probably would have taken a different course. But fate obviously had other plans for Mike, who met Wenjie again years later. By this time, he had inherited his father’s oil emperor, but more importantly, he had started his work for the San-Ti, who chose him as the messenger, to reach Wenjie, who started the whole thing by basically asking them to come to our world (and destroy it). From the first moment they met in China, it was quite evident that Mike Evans and Wenjie were meant to get involved romantically, and it only went that way when they met again. And together, the two of them found the cult and started calling the much superior alien race their lord.
What Was Judgment Day?
Judgment Day was the gigantic oil tanker vessel owned by Mike Evans and also the base of his operation. Mike picked Judgment Day because it allowed him to peacefully do his important work from the middle of the sea, a perfect location where nobody could bother him. And considering how Mike’s cult continued to flourish over the decades, we’ve got to admit that Judgment Day was the right choice after all. When Wenjie first visited Judgment Day, she was amazed to find a whole control room dedicated to communicating with their god, San-Ti.
Why Did Mike Evans Fall Out Of Favor With The San-Ti?
It’s rather unfortunate how Mike Evans, despite doing so many things, including giving his whole life to the cause, is shut out by the alien race and seen as a potential enemy. And it’s ironic how it happened because of his own mistake of reading the “Little Red Riding Hood” fairytale story to his “lord.” It’s also weird how the lord is basically a robotic female voice coming out of a radio, and it sounds a lot like a child. Maybe that’s why Evans thought it would be nice to read it some stories. What he didn’t consider is the fact that the alien race doesn’t understand the concept of lies, as they communicate with each other only with thoughts. In the fairy tale, the wolf lies to Red Riding Hood in order to enter the house, implying the wolf doesn’t have good intentions for her. While Mike was reading this story rather casually, the San-Ti took it in a very different context. They immediately start to see Mike, who has been nothing but loyal to them, as a threat to their race. What if Mike is not who he says he is? What if he’s lying to them? The San-Ti having these questions is very much justified under the circumstances. And the result of that is the never-ending silence that Mike Evans starts to receive from there on.
How Did Mike Die In The End?
Once San-Ti stopped communicating with Mike Evans, he was pretty much doomed. However, that didn’t stop him from continuing the “good work.” We see Mike telling the “lord” that even though she has pretty much disowned him, he will continue to be at her service. And Mike does keep his promise, considering he goes ahead with the plans for the summit, where he, along with Wenjie, gathers a lot of brilliant, scientific minds with the hope of recruiting them all into their cult.
Unfortunately, for Mike Evans, once he loses protection from San-Ti, the opposition, led by Wade and company, comes hard at him. As Judgement Day enters the Panama Canal, Wade and his gang literally destroy the whole ship with their advanced nanofiber weapons, courtesy of Augustine Salazer. Evans is understandably horrified to see people literally turning into gooey mesh of flesh and blood around him, but he keeps holding on to the red hard drive, which contains all the details regarding the San-Ti. In the end, he doesn’t survive, though, and dies in the same manner as everyone in his ship, and Wade snatches away the hard drive from Mike’s dead body.
Did Mike Evans really deserve to die? The answer to that is probably not, but we can’t exactly blame Wade and his group of people considering they were only trying to save the world from a much more advanced alien race that intends to destroy it. What I assume is that Mike Evans had a serious savior complex, which ultimately led the man to his doom. If only he had spent his time, energy, and money on something that could have actually helped the people of his own world!
