The series follows Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who sees her father beaten to death during a struggle session in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, who is conscripted by the military.
Reviewing security footage, Auggie (Eiza González) deduces that the woman she previously saw, Tatiana (Marlo Kelly), was responsible.
The San-Ti however struggles to understand the concept of fiction and interprets the story to be a testament to humankind's capacity for deception, chillingly informing Evans that they cannot co-exist with those that deceive – then abruptly ceases contact.
She is stunned when Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao) – mother of Jin's recently deceased friend – introduces herself as its leader and that the purpose of the Earth-Trisolaris movement is to help the San-Ti arrive and take over the Earth.
Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "How do you build trust and faith in people so alien to you who have such a different set of values and beliefs?
"[5] Johnny Loftus of Decider wrote, "“In nature, nothing exists alone.” If the way Chinese physicist Ye Wenjie and Mike Evans the hot rich hermit shared that line in 3 Body Problem Episode 2 felt to you like it had more than one meaning, your payoff arrives in 1982.
"[6] Dan Selcke gave the episode a "C+" grade and wrote, "It's time we start getting more information about everything, because until we do it's hard to know the true stakes of this story.
"[9] Jerrica Tisdale of Telltale TV wrote, "The actions of these characters don't reflect well on the world but also offer a gruesome truth about brutal “solutions.” Many may pick them but the results are damning and destructive.
"[10] Greg Wheeler of Review Geek gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "in terms of plot progression there's really not a whole lot to sink your teeth into here and beyond the promise of the San-Ti coming, there's not much else noteworthy to comment on.