Altered Carbon Omnibus Review (Netflix - S1&2 + Book Review)
S1 is Fire and S2 is Fired
This will be a review of both S1 and S2 plus a bonus review of the first book in the series. So lets get started…
Altered Carbon on Netflix is simply a masterpiece of Cyberpunk film making. It follows the book (Written by Richard K. Morgan) fairly well, adding and changing things in certain places for the sake of the series narrative. Don’t worry… If you loved the book (Bonus Review of Book Below) you will be VERY happy with these 10 episodes that cover it.
I believe I sat there smiling for several episodes just because I was finally able to see these characters come to life. I’m not going to go over the plot, other than to say that in the future people will be able to wear the bodies of others (sleeves) and that’s also one way to travel from planet to planet. The characters and acting was wonderful. The sound and atmosphere and even the CGI was beautiful. I’m serious when I say that this may be the BEST show I’ve ever watched on the Netflix platform. We all know Bladerunner has been the film to judge all Cyberpunk on since its inception but I do believe that Altered Carbon surpasses both Bladerunner and Bladerunner 2049 for creating a fully fledged world that is both interesting in the genre and will make the viewer believe that this world could exist. If you are a true Cyberpunk fan then you will love this show.
Strangely… this was the first time I’ve binged something and I felt like going back to watch it again because it was so damn good!!! So if you haven’t checked out Altered Carbon S1 on Netflix yet… GO CHECK IT OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We now jump to Altered Carbon S2 and I was in a state of shocked disappointment after watching this travesty. This is nowhere near as good, interesting, or even visual as S1 was.
To start with, it doesn’t follow the next book at all. The only thing from the second book used, is that Kovacs' sleeve is that of a black man (Anthony Mackie). Gone is the military slant and the infiltration of occupied land to reach a “stargate” that will take the group to an alien spaceship. It’s just been thrown out and replaced with a boring plot that never really goes anywhere. Why would you deviate from the book???
The writing is really not up to par either. After finding out that a former CW (The Flash) showrunner had taken over, it kind of makes sense. The show isn’t very deep, stylized, or involving now. It’s surface fluff that would fit on the CW. The nudity and violence of S1 has been so toned down for S2 so that you could play almost this entire season on the CW. There’s nothing here to keep your attention. Even the production values have fallen off. In S1 we had interesting sets, CGI, and things to look at. Here we have dark hallway after dark hallway. I think Killjoy’s (SYFY) now has more interesting things to look at per episode than this show. Did Anthony Mackey’s paycheck use up the budget???
The Showrunner and Anthony Mackie have said in interviews that they wanted to deviate from the way Kovacs was portrayed in season one. That makes no sense at all. This isn’t Doctor Who. Sure they can change bodies but their personality and mannerisms and self, does not, and should not change. This is just being willfully ignorant and dismissive of the source material. When in doubt ALWAYS refer and go back to the source material
The show also uses the cliche trope of all the women being super fighters and genius level smart while all of the men get their asses kicked while just doing stupid shit. Kovacs keeps getting his ass handed to him in the various fights. Several times by women and then also by a generic guard. Envoy indeed... The only time Kovacs kicks ass is when Trepp (the female bounty hunter) switches bodies with him and becomes an ultra bad ass. Meanwhile, Kovacs is in VR getting his ass kicked by Falconer. Even the bad guy is taken out at one point by the bad girl. It's just ridiculous PC Woke SJW writing. It ignores the character of Kovacs and how he should be for a "Birds of Prey" girl power slant. This trope is so overused now and the "dude in distress" angle is just old.
Altered Carbon S1 = A+ WATCH IT!!! (It stands on its own)
Altered Carbon S2 = F SKIP IT
S2 is why this show got canceled.
If a movie like Bladerunner exemplifies “cyberpunk” then Altered Carbon could quite possibly be THE cyberpunk template that epitomizes the genre in book form, even more so than Neuromancer.
Written in first person, we are taken into the world Takeshi Kovacs, an Asian Envoy from Harlan’s World, sent to Earth via Needlecast to be resleeved in an caucasian body, and solve the suicide/murder of Laurens Bancroft, who claims that he could not have killed himself. Sound confusing? You have to think on this one and that is part of what makes it such a great cyberpunk tale. In the world of Altered Carbon, the human body is just a sleeve. Your consciousness is actually you, and it can be placed in different bodies (sleeves). Bancroft supposedly killed himself before his next conscious backup, so he’s missing time between his death and his last backup. That’s why he hires Takeshi Kovacs to solve the what and why of his death.
Along the way, we get twists and turns that you really have to think about. I have to say, reading it though on the second pass, I knew what to look for (kind of like going back to rewatch the Sixth Sense, as everyone did, when they found the twist), so I actually enjoyed the story even more this time around. It’s a real noir detective story, and you really do have to keep up with the information that is released to you, because sometimes, those names and characters will show up later and you will get that light bulb moment of, “Oh yeah… whoa!!!”
If you like Cyberpunk, then it is definitely a good book to read. Be warned, book 2 and 3, while both good, do stray from the Cyberpunk genre.