After an absence of two years, Altered Carbon has returned to Netflix, helmed by both a new lead and a new showrunner. The pacing has been improved with the episode count being trimmed down to a more manageable eight from season one’s ten episodes. The result makes for a mostly entertaining second season that’s as equally convoluted as season one with none of the novelty or charm.
In the future of Altered Carbon, humans can change their bodies or ‘sleeves’, by separating their minds into digitized consciousness in the form of little blue chips called ‘stacks’. Takeshi Kovacs, a centuries old revolutionary, has been searching for his lost lover, Quellcrist Falconer, for decades. His search leads him to his home planet, Harlan’s World, where he first met Quell a long time ago. Now encased in a military grade sleeve (played by Anthony Mackie), he soon gets embroiled in a mysterious killing spree that’s targeting Meths (short for Methuselahs, who are functionally immortal). Things get more complicated from there and Kovacs ends up becoming the most wanted man on Harlan’s World.
Mackie’s Kovacs is noticeably different from Kinnaman’s portrayal in season one. Whereas Kinnaman was brooding and soft spoken, Mackie is charming, passionate and driven by his love for Quell. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work out for the best: it’s hard to find the chemistry between Mackie and Renée Elise Gooseberry whenever they are together onscreen. Will Yun Lee, who portrayed Kovac’s original body, returns in this season and he has an interesting dynamic with Quell and the other characters.
The story, which borrows from Richard K Morgan’s second and third book in the Takeshi Kovacs series, is a mixed bag.
It’s a big departure from the cyberpunk noir of the first season, focusing more on the romance between Takeshi and Quell, as well the unrest happening on Harlan’s World. Some of the developments feel contrived, especially the reason why the Meths are being killed and the climax that storyline sets up. Thankfully, we get one good side story with the AI Poe (Chris Connor), who is slowly losing his memory due to a glitch and finds himself confronted with the choice of restoring himself by reboot and in the process, lose all of his memories.
There is plenty of action in this season, and the choreography is mostly competent, though it falls short of the heights reached in the first season. Most of the action is character-centric, and some of them advance the story significantly, but there are points where there is an overload of action.
Altered Carbon season two isn’t exactly a disappointment, but it could have done so much better.
The first season laid down the foundation for an intriguing world with neo-noir undertones. This second season focuses too much on romance, leaving little room for character development and effective world building.
The third season will probably have to be an original story, since the second season combined elements of the second and third books. The best way forward would be to not expect too much from the series and see where it goes. There’s still plenty of enjoyment to be found in Altered Carbon, even if it’s not as polished or compelling as The Expanse.