Altered Carbon

[Julius Seeker]

I'm a few episodes in and I really dig it.

It takes some obvious visual influence from the original Blade Runner. The world reminds me a little more of Shadowrun, in that there's much more violent crime. The idea of sleeves is that a person can slip from body to body, and effectively be immortal; similar to certain Asimov stories

Spoiler: show

Particularly with Daneel who maintains life over thousands of years by replacing his old bodies with newer ones. Although, in Asimov's universe, these bodies are synthetic,
a little different from the human clones used in Altered Carbon.

In case you didn't recognize it, the voice in the trailer is one of the starring characters, James Purefoy (Marc Antony on Rome).

It's a show that you have to watch three episodes on because the first one plays out as a bunch of very choppy/disjointed/stiff exposition scenes. The story and flavour of the series doesn't get going until during the second episode, with the third being the first that feels like the rest of the season from top to bottom.

Like Westworld, there's a lot of nudity.

The intro looks like it was made by the same guy who did Caprica and Westworld - although I am sure all three are actually done by different people.

[Shrinweck]

I've watched this show. It's decent. Netflix is getting better and better with their sci-fi stuff.

[Julius Seeker]

The general consensus is that it is a flawed series. I haven’t read through them yet as I want to avoid spoilers until I’m done.

I just finished episode 6, Takeshi’s sister (played by the one who did Anya from The 100) kicked some enormous ass! =D

[Shrinweck]

It could certainly be better but given how shitty most sci-fi is I thought it was an 8/10 if grading on the "Good lord a lot of sci-fi is shit" scale. Probably a strong 6/10 otherwise. The world building was pretty damn cool, though.

[Julius Seeker]

I like AC a little better than most people seem to. Its issues don’t bother me as much, but I understand them. It’s a more difficult to digest series due to the overuse of subplot, flashbacks, and poor transition; but these are things that can be fixed. There’s a lot of interesting content in the world they built - so that’s why I think it has a load of potential. I also like how, similar to Westworld, they don’t shy away from nudity - although some of the scenes feel a little Shatnered; still better than shying away from it, while putting a lot of extreme violence into it.

I wish they didn’t do the Snyderian style slow motion thing. That was my biggest nit-pick! I think slow-motion can enhance when used with purpose like in the Matrix or Last Samurai, but blatant Zack Snyder style arbitrary use to make a fight look more dramatic is cliche and bad - when it’s once in a blue moon (like Terminator 2) it’s fine, but NOT every 2.5 seconds.


I wish we had a better way of assessing things than number scales - I am bad with them, personally speaking. I try to make it so 0 is absolute bad, 5 is absolute middle, and 10 is absolute perfection - but usually it’s more like 8.5 is absolute middle.
I’ll try to avoid that here - For a number scale, with 5 being average (instead of something closer to crap) I’d give it an 8, easily. It’s not season 1 BSG or Westworld, but it’s better than Farscape, SG1, and the 100s the 100s first season (these all got better, Farscape got WAY better). I think what it’s doing right outweighs the roughness in other departments. I also think it’s a 9.5 for potential - of course I felt the same for Caprica, and that went down like the Berlin Wall.

Anyway, I got a kick out of one of the episodes taking place on another planet, which I am 99% sure is just outside Jasper.

[Julius Seeker]

I’m behind on a lot of shows right now since I’ve been mostly playing video games and watching films rather than TV series. But this one is at the top of my list, then Bihari, then The 100.

I don’t have much to say about it right now as I’m only 4 episodes in. A few things:
• It’s a new story with a largely new cast, although previous cast members pop in (I won’t go on, since there’s some big spoilers) and may play a bigger role later.
• The new actor playing Kovacs (or at least his new sleeve) was jarring at first, but grew into the role by the end of the second episode.
• much like season 1, there’s a lot of new world building stuff introduced, but this one moves more quickly through the introductory phase (I think season 1 was 4 or 5 episodes).
• The planet this takes place on is not the same as the first, this is Harlan’s Planet - and as a bit of trivia, it’s based on the 1985 Science Fiction short story collection called “Harlan’s Planet” which has several authors write short stories all taking place in this world.
• Kovacs is Snake Plissken. It’s something I’m surprised I didn’t pick up in the first season; but he’s a renowned and legendary mercenary, and everyone seems to know his past exploits when they hear his name, or figure out who he is. Snake was another character who was introduced with a long history already behind him, Kovacs is something like 300+ years, considering he was born in the 21st century and now lives in the 25th century.

First Impressions
So far, this season is much more refined than the first; although still a bit choppy, although l exposition is handled WAY better. Episodes 1-4 of season 2 are quite a bit superior to the first 4 of season 1.

I really don’t mind being lost at the beginning and finding my way to understanding the full context of what’s going on - in fact, I quite like the experience (Rogue One did it, and it’s my favourite Star Wars experience of all time). It doesn’t build on the first season at all other than continuing the Kovacs character and building his back story further. Much like the first season, the opening episodes were a bit hard to grasp, and it’s the third one (rather than the 5th or 6th) that I found myself really into it. I am not sure how most people will handle it, but shows that have done this sort of format in the past (like Fargo) tend to alienate fans who want more of the original story rather than something new; although, unlike Fargo, Altered Carbon maintains the style of the the first season.

Personally speaking, I had little interest in Altered Carbon until I heard James Purefoy was in it. He’s not anymore, but my motivation to continue forward has outgrown that. And speaking of actors, the second season is generally a bit better than the first (unlike Fargo, which season 2 was arguably worse, but season 3 - ironically the most disliked season - probably has the best acting).

Anyway, I’ll update my opinions once I’ve finished the season.

[Julius Seeker]

This one got cancelled. What is the rate of unfinished Netflix shows or premature cancellations? I can think of four shows I watched that got canceled just in the past year.

There aren't even any currently produced shows left on Netflix that I watch anymore except Archer and Better Call Saul, and the more irregular Black Mirror, Witcher, and Stranger Things. I'm pretty sure Archer and Better Call Saul can be acquired through other means.

[Eric]

Mindhunter getting cancelled hurt.

[Shellie]

This one got cancelled. What is the rate of unfinished Netflix shows or premature cancellations? I can think of four shows I watched that got canceled just in the past year.

There aren't even any currently produced shows left on Netflix that I watch anymore except Archer and Better Call Saul, and the more irregular Black Mirror, Witcher, and Stranger Things. I'm pretty sure Archer and Better Call Saul can be acquired through other means.

I have barely been watching any Netflix lately. I did watch all of Cobra Kai, but it was like eating Mc Donald's. You know it's bad, but there's just something about it you want once in a while. Cheesy as hell most of the time, but it was watchable when I couldn't find anything else appealing.