I didn’t know much about Altered Carbon getting into it other than very basic information, having not read the books. Set in a far future, it has plenty of similarities with other media, most obviously the Blade Runner films with the visuals and a lot of fictional future elements. I found that Altered Carbon, however, had a better mix of action and drama and all the mystery and personal dilemmas were very enjoyable – taking the story as a whole, I think I enjoyed the heck out of it a lot more than the BR films.
At the core of the show is the idea of life after death, or rather, continuation of life beyond a natural lifespan through the use of new bodies called sleeves when the previous ones happen to expire. This is achieved via stacks, devices carefully inserted behind your neck, which many in the show regard as your “soul”. As long as these devices are intact, individuals are alive, though perhaps in dormant form if not located in a body. Stacks have affected many aspects of humanity, even creating the difference between a “real death” and a “sleeve death”; more importantly, though, is the fact that different society classes don’t enjoy them the same way. Preferential treatment is given to the wealthiest, with the richest of all even producing sleeves identical to their own bodies and coming up with ways so that, essentially, they can live forever. The lower class, however, must agree to whatever they can get depending on their finances, which can be a harrowing process – in the very beginning we see how a little girl involved in an accident received the body of an older woman and the family simply had to “deal with it”.
Going from this, the show spends a great deal of effort in establishing what happens with those who are all-powerful, “near-immortals”. We are presented with minds that have long been corrupted, resorting to depraved and violent means of entertainment. Laurens Bancroft acts and believes himself to be a God walking among the living (hell, they even live above the clouds) and many aspects of the marriage becomes pretty much meaningless. The daughter and son stay in the same sleeves just like their parents for centuries, which throws a wrench in the process of… becoming adults?
The mystery surrounding Bancroft’s sleeve-murder appears to be the main plot point, but eventually the family becomes sort of a secondary part of the show. The lifestyle and behaviour of the Bancrofts are preparation for us to understand the reasoning behind a massive plot twist that happens later on, definitive for the climax of Altered Carbon.
The protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs, is a hardened man who has been through four sleeves until getting to the current, played by Joel Kinnaman. Early on we start getting bits of information that he is the last of the Envoys, warriors of days past – the seventh episode (for me, the best episode) details how he became an Envoy and also shows the important, character-defining relationships with his sister, Reileen, and the Envoy leader, Quellcrist. The apparent loss of both, as well as all the Envoys in a massacre, coupled with being “on ice” for a couple of centuries, turn Kovacs into someone who doesn’t really care much for living despite the miraculous offers Bancroft makes in exchange for having his murder solved.
You would think Kovacs, who has enemies and attracts all kinds of trouble as a former Envoy, would have enough on his plate already – but as it turns out, his present-day sleeve is that of a policeman who has even more enemies. This leads to beautifully made action scenes, plenty of shootouts and also some interesting torture scenes in virtual realities where anything can happen (I found cinematography particularly good in these instances). Overall, I think they achieved a really good blend of action, dramatic moments, exposition (maybe even better towards the latter half than at the beginning). Also, worth mentioning is that is has plenty of violence and is one of the shows where I’ve seen most nudity, which may disturb some viewers – however, I keep feeling this seems specifically done to sort of mirror the entertainment of Altered Carbon’s richest where “all goes”.
I will admit that there are a few moments where it becomes slightly hard to follow the story, particularly the twists and turns of the investigation. I don’t like how Kovacs more than once “suddenly realises” all that happened and it seems we’re supposed to know instantly as well… but I didn’t. But I can’t say that detracted from my overall enjoyment. I will say, though, that were not for the twists and scheming involving Reileen towards the second half of the season, I probably wouldn’t be as excited as I am. This character seems to put a fire under the plot the moment she becomes a more prominent character in ways I found completely unexpected, easily having some of the most memorable scenes. The naked swordfight is a particular, incredible moment – hard to top as one of the most impressive of 2018, maybe (and it is only February). And with everything we have been exposed to before, her corrupt/evil thoughts and motivations become understandable despite her love for Kovacs. A great villain!
I don’t want to make this too long (too late, lol) but I’m forgetting to mention the other characters. Kovacs is assisted by multiple individuals: buddy cop Ortega, the Elliot family and Poe, an AI that is an entire hotel (adding one more layer of “peculiar” into all this). All these characters have their own hardships to deal with, further establishing the world of Carbon as a tough one for everyone involved. (Maybe for Poe not so much as for the rest… but hey, they did say AI hotels have no customers anymore, Kovacs being a sight for sore eyes when he walks in). I think all these characters’ stories (and other recurring ones as well) have been quite entertaining to watch and concluded in satisfactory ways.
All in all, this is yet another Netflix show to recommend. Beautifully crafted, great production value, great actors and a story that makes it worth your while. We will see whether it returns for a second season – the ending is conclusive enough, yet at the same time leaving plenty of room for Kovacs to return (maybe in another sleeve?)
When I started watching season 1 I thought it was interesting albeit a bit hammy in its execution. As the season progressed I started to get more into it and got used to the style of the show (for better or worse). The plot of Altered Carbon revolves around some absurd tech from the far too distant future and the show doesn't waste time trying to make sense of it and only explains how the technology works for the story. The primary tech is "stacks" which allow people a form of semi immortality where their minds are backed up to small devices in their necks. This allows them to chnaged "skins" (bodies) either because their current one dies or they just want a new one. Some people have lived for hundreds of years and the richest people can backup their stacks to the cloud to avoid "real death" from their stack being destroyed.
Within the context of the show we are just supposed to accept this as being something so far advanced from our current technology that it cant be exlained and as such they can make whatever technology they need to move the story along. One of the most evident problems with this is the lack of consistency, while they have this ridiculously advanced mind preserving technology, the rest of the world is a stylised mix of far less impressive technology.
The main reason the show gets away with it at all is because the story is predominantly a mystery. The technology forms the backdrop and acts as a McGuffin in very aspects. For the most part, we are told what can and can't happen with the tech at whichever point the story needs it to have a different attribute and the focus of the story is on the relationships between the characters.
By the end of season 1 I was quite invested in the show and looking forward to season 2 even though the nature of such a story would necessitate changes to the cast. When season 2 came I was eager to watch but quickly realised that the original was so convoluted that too much time had passed and I was struggling to remember what had happened in order to understand season 2s motivations. I kept watching and picked it up after a couple of episodes but wasn't really enjoying the new cast, characters, plot and even more ridiculous, inconsistent technology. season 1 wasn't deeply philosophical but it skirted around the deeper ramifications of this future world and had glimpses of insight. Season 2 is more of an action soap opera with the central characters having emotional conflicts broken up by style over substance action scenes where lots of people die.
I still have a couple more episodes to go and although Mackie is good, he isn't compelling (perhaps more a problem with script and direction) other characters seem out of place and unbelievable as highly trained killers. Between fights they walk around with the posture and presence of sheep herders and lose their characters within tech centred plot devices. The highlight for me has been Poe (Chris Conner) who has brought much more to the story than his unrelateable tech issues.
[insert conclusion here]
Four episodes in, I feel like I have seen enough for some reasonably informed first impressions.
There is the criticism that the whodunnit at the center of the story is dull and in typical Netflix session stretched over a way too long period without sufficient movement. This point is absolutely fair as the very existence of our protagonist Takeshi is contingent upon this murder. If that bothers you, I can see why.
I still think that there is a great show underneath. First of all, let me say that the world looks gorgeous. You can see the money dripping out of every shot. Especially if you have a good HDR setup. Then you have strong characters with interesting developments, even if they happen mostly individually in the first half of the season. But most importantly, you have some of the strongest sci-fi world building that I've seen. This future feels lived in and well explored. The question of how a society evolves when death for all intents and purposes is a a solved problem is fascinating and Altered Carbon approaches it in a very thoughtful way. You get philosophical takes, explore the economical and societal consequences it carries and even the religious angles. This is the reason I keep watching.
Review by ZytheanVIP 3BlockedParent2018-02-02T14:29:05Z
Currently halfway through and I just want to tell everybody already: Go check this out!!!
Edit: Just finished it. It's truly a remarkable series!
Beautiful CGI images, although the keen eye might occasionally spot some glitches and errors, it was truly eye candy most of the time. The story ending feels like the show might be going for some kind of super/genius heroes team, but in a way that really makes you enthusiastic to see what more they are gonna do, after this epic first season story. Looking at the detective arc of the story, I incidentally saw Sherlock-genius schemes forming and was delighted to see this - although I missed much more than I could have thought - all came together in a marvelous way!
Also for the lovers of a good love story there is more than enough to enjoy. Containing numerous twists, brought in throughout the whole storyline. Giving you plenty enough of satisfaction, excitement and anticipation on this area...
There is plenty of more to find out than the above teasers, but then I would be actually spoiling a lot. Those are just some of the many reasons why you should watch it! ;-)
All concluded: A great new sci-fi hero story, with much more up its sleeve than you would expect!