Altered Carbon

On February 2nd, 2018, two days before the Super Bowl, Netflix released Altered Carbon. Now, the right question to ask is what does the Super Bowl have to do with a dystopian futuristic tv show. Well honestly, the two don’t correlate whatsoever. What I do remember, however, is how unlikely it was me to be on Netflix at the peak of football season, especially because of my dissatisfaction with the streaming service as of late. I recall vividly camping out in our unfurnished attic with a massive pizza, binge watching Altered Carbon. I may have gained a few pounds but alas, no complaints. For me, there wasn’t any anticipation for Altered Carbon like most of shows I find entertainment in. Casually, I just came across a brief add for the show and began watching … and didn’t stop.

Altered Carbon truly shows what it would be like if we could live forever. In a dystopian future, humans have discovered the everlasting mysteries of the soul and brain, combining the two together into a miniature device called a Stack. The Stack, sort of like a USB hard drive, is placed into one’s body. As expected, the rich live forever where the poor starve and suffer. With the right amount of money, you can look and be whoever you want to be. This becomes quite mind-boggling. Full grown adult bodies are grown out of bags and are sold to the newest customer who wants to enhance his or her life. In the show, the viewer may see the portrayal of the effects of 80-year old in a 20-year old’s body. Or even crazier, the vice versa, a 10 year-old in a 60-year old’s body.

The main character, Takeshi Kovacs, is a morally ambiguous war-criminal who is awaken from sleep after 200 years of imprisonment. Just like that, he is given a new body and is tasked by the wealthy to solve a crime. Takeshi is skilled and cunning, with certain intuitive abilities that allow him to outthink almost anyone. Imagine bringing Albert Einstein or Isaac Newton into this world, with a younger body, but maintaining their prestige and experience as a known genius. This would be both daunting and intriguing.

Altered Carbon is really picked from a small group of tv shows that successfully maintains a great story with even better acting, an ultimate surprise in recent Netflix showings. Specifically, this is the case with Joel Kinnaman, who portrays the main character Takeshi. He is tasked to portray a whole new culture with his character in a futuristic setting. Albeit, I wasn’t sure about his casting because his only main role I have seen from him was in Netflix’s “The Killing”, which had many flaws. In a blockbuster movie such as Suicide Squad, Kinnaman played a supporting character, but never maintained the spotlight. Ultimately, his portrayal of Takeshi is really what put this show over the top for me.

Season 2 is set to come out in February 2020, with a whole new cast. Takeshi Kovacs is still the main character but he will be portrayed by the well-known Avengers actor, Anthony Mackie. It seems the premise of second season will be Takeshi taking on a different body. Anthony Mackie is a well-established actor, but he will most certainly have his work cut out for him portraying the personality traits of Takeshi, while still staying consistent to Kinnamen’s version. Hopefully, the show will continue its success, specifically in the acting department, while maintaining pure entertainment for the viewer.

My Rating: 8.4/10

IMDb Rating:8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 68%

TV.com: 8.6/10