Altered Carbon

[MurkeNyou]

I did not. I still have a hard time believing that regular people, the lower class that they are, basically have the same [BLACKOUT]medical care [/BLACKOUT]that our modern time has. I mean this is at least 250 years into the future. Well, I mean, they are somewhat more advanced. But not by much.

Well, you really believe this class system would get better in a future like that? Wealth ferments evil. Long standing rule.

 

[squeekness]

Watching episode five. Is it sad that I'm old enough to recognize immediately that Carnage from Fight Dome was the guy who used to be Max Headroom? My, how the years fly by.

 

[Breogan]

Watching episode five. Is it sad that I'm old enough to recognize immediately that Carnage from Fight Dome was the guy who used to be Max Headroom? My, how the years fly by.

I kept waiting for him to glitch and loop.

 

[squeekness]

I kept waiting for him to glitch and loop.

Hee hee, that would have been perfect, but the young kids wouldn't have gotten the joke.

 

[Elayis]

For a second I thought it was Doug Jones.

 

[chamber-music]

Altered Carbon showrunner discusses possible season 2 shakeup
http://ew.com/tv/2018/02/12/altered-carbon-season-2-finale/

Spoiler

The first season roughly followed the first book by Richard K Morgan. Will the second season follow his second book, Broken Angels, or will it be its own thing?

That’s a very expensive book! With space battles and giant portals and huge warships that are orbiting the planet and a thermonuclear explosion. Richard came and worked with us in the writers’ room for a couple weeks to try and hammer out a story that was able to use elements of the second book without creating the vastness that is the second book. Also, the stuff we created in the first season that conflated some elements from the third book — like bring Quell (Renee Elise Goldsberry) into the story earlier — that also altered the structure significantly. So now you have this character who wasn’t in the second book and I hope if we’ve done our job people will be very invested in this love story. So that becomes very much a part of what we’re doing . … The idea was to mimic what the books do, which is to go from planet to planet and not stay in the same city. So the intent would not be to return to Bay City for the second season. Part of what I love about the books is the degree to which they hold up a mirror to the idea of faster-than-light travel by entangled consciousness downloading. That’s what needlecasting would be; you’re re-creating a consciousness far faster than the speed of light on another planet — and that’s just too cool not to do something with. Richard and I have a plan, I don’t know how people will feel about the plan, but we do have one!

The second book also has a 30-year time jump…

I’m not ruling that out, especially in a world where you can clone people or 3D print people. The emotional passage of time is always a good thing. I wouldn’t want to do a 250-year jump again, but I like in the second book where emotionally Kovacs is at due to what’s happened to him in the interim.

 

[KevTravels]

The weakest part of the series was, unfortunately, Joel.

 

[KevTravels]

So a season 2 without him should be an improvement.

 

[squeekness]

I like Joel.

 

[Dr Lee]

i thought he was fine....

 

[Elayis]

Kinnaman was fine, my issue with his character is that a lot of his dialogue was pretty bad, especially when he was trying to crack a joke or be a wiseass. Felt really forced and stilted, like it was ghostwritten by George Lucas.

 

[coluanprime]

I finished it this weekend, here are some scattered thoughts.
-Renee Elise Goldsberry was fantastic. Despite spending most episodes beside 7 spouting random slogans, she had a solid emotional performance that made me not notice.

-Joel Kinnaman, while not as good as Will Yun-Leel, has a very nice butt and brought a fair amount of charm.

-Hiro Kanagawa, while appearing in basically every show filmed in Vancouver, actually got to act in this series and proved enjoyable
.
-While the production/costume design was very well rendered and pretty, it was not exactly fresh.

-Dichen Lachman is far better actress than I thought because she made Reileen one of the most compelling characters on screen despite not having a plot that was even remotely sensible.

-Between DCTV, the X-Files, the Magicians, Riverdale, Fringe, and a bunch of other shows, I know Vancouver way too well. (This might have contributed to the production design occasionally feeling cheap b/c I'm familiar with the locations which meant they sometimes lacked the awe that they usually would convey.)

-Hayley Law's character and arc was really enjoyable and Riverdale is definitely under using her.

 

[KevTravels]

He was OKAY, a good actor but i felt he was lacking compared to everyone else. All of those around him seemed to be more intriguing.

 

[Dugath]

Really liked this.

The wife and I found it fairly entertaining.
I was always a super huge fan of Dichen and thought she did a great job, made her character very interesting.

Besides I think she is amazingly beautiful and never thought I would see as much of her as we did.

 

[Lencho01]

Finally got around to seeing this. I liked it. The twist was kinda "Eh" for me.

 

[squeekness]

I liked it but it kinda fizzled out a bit at the end. Still a strong series.

 

[Flash525]

Episode 6 or 7 for me (I forget which it was now - but I've just finished watching the flashback one where he (again) meets his sister. It also occurred to me that these characters are, for all implied purposes, already dead. Right?

I mean, the ability to transfer consciousness is great and all, but that's provided it's backed up, and if ones consciousness is backed up but then said person has a six hour bender and is killed, those six hours of life are lost - completely, so is the stored consciousness actually 'them' or is it just, essentially, a memory stick?

 

[squeekness]

Now that's the question isn't it? It may be that that is where the idea of soul comes in. Is it you or not?

 

[Flash525]

Now that's the question isn't it? It may be that that is where the idea of soul comes in. Is it you or not?

I suppose it would depend upon what one deems as oneself; is it the physical body, the emotional or mental presence of oneself, or ones memories that determine the individual - or maybe, as you've identified, a soul of sorts.

If you believe it's the physical aspect, then what happens if you lose an arm or a leg? What happens when you cut your nails or your hair? Do you lose a part of yourself?

If you believe it's the emotional or mental aspect, then if you were a sufferer of Alzheimer's or Dementia, would what remains of you merely be a shell?

If your brain were removed from your body and placed in a new organic, or even robotic body, does that mean you've died? What is your physical body?

I believe in one of the earlier episodes, the policewoman/detective had a conversation with her grandmother (inhabiting the body of that criminal) and they had a discussion about this - more about letting the soul rest.

It certainly brings up some interesting thoughts though!

 

[Deck Rickard]

Finished this show today. LOVED it. I felt like it got better as it went along. I REALLY didn't see the plot twist with [BLACKOUT]Reileen coming. Very interesting and compelling villain. I loved how they gradually revealed how much of a sick, evil **** she really was. When you realize her lair is basically Eli Roth's Hostel... wow.[/BLACKOUT]

I really liked Kinnaman but I do agree that Will Yun Lee was better and I hope that [BLACKOUT] Kovacs' new body will be his. I'm sure they could find a way to explain it. That said, I would like to see Kinnaman return as Ryker for at least a few episodes, because he excels at playing unhinged, drugged up cops. I feel like his best scene in the series was in the Ryker flashback.[/BLACKOUT] I also really liked Byron Mann as Kovacs and Dimi. He was great on Hell on Wheels and he was great here.

LOVED Martha Higareda and Renee Elise Goldsberry as Kristin and Quell. I'm sure Renee will be back for season 2, and hopefully Martha will as well. Talk about a pair of badass women. I especially loved how it was Quell that trained Kovacs and made him the hero/antihero that he is. It felt very feminist. Really, aside from the copious female nudity (though we also saw plenty of male nudity), the show had a pretty good feminist slant overall.

James Purefoy and Kristin Lehman also played perfectly despicable one-percenters of the future. Is it just me, or did anyone else get Trump White House vibes from them?

Bancroft = Trump
Miriam = Ivanka
Isaac = Don Jr.
Prescott = Omarosa

Probably just a coincidence because this supposedly follows the book pretty well, but they really reminded me of them, especially with [BLACKOUT]Bancroft being a woman abuser and a rapist, Miriam being an evil schemer always strutting around like a runway model, Isaac being a ****-up and Prescott being a social climber who gets ousted and turns on Bancroft.[/BLACKOUT]

Oh! And Elliott and Poe were great sidekick characters. Elliot's story with his wife and his daughter was really touching and I loved how that wrapped up. And [BLACKOUT] Poe's demise really gave me the feels. Great use of an AI character.[/BLACKOUT]

All in all, the show wasn't perfect... People still smoke cigarettes in the future? And how are people able to walk around outside on those cloud cities without freezing to death? Did they explain that? But whatever. I loved the hell out of this show and since we won't be getting a third Blade Runner movie any time soon, more seasons of Altered Carbon will suffice. Let's hope they happen.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Finished this and loved the hell out if. Sure it had elements of a lot of genre work but it did it all so well. I think this is Kinnaman's best screen work to date. The obvious influence in this season's story was the hard boiled film noir detective and I think he pulled it off magnificently, because he infused the character with great humanity, intelligence and charm while still being a man haunted and shattered internally. Will Jun-Leel also matched him as the original Kovacs. The cast around them was also top and I never felt a false note from any of the performances myself.

Production design, dialog, all tops. I will echo to a lesser degree than some that yes, there were quite a few times that I felt they didn't make many aspects of this universe as clear as they could. On the other hand it's a mystery, no? So information is gonna tend to be doled out piecemeal. Also, there are, besides the clear intention of what path we leave our main character going down at the end of the season, lots of threads and hints of story elements that will get more fleshed out in future installments, which I suspect would lead to a more "cosmic" storyline or arc.


This was in my opinion one of the best Science Fiction shows I have seen in a long time. I hope it was not just a one off and it comes back for a second season.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Still thinking about this series days after finishing it. Sad that it's not seemed to find a great following among the Hype posters.

Here are some fan tribute videos, pretty well done in my opinion focusing on the emotional journey of our main protagonist, Takeshi Kovacs. For those that have a taste for the show... Enjoy. SPOILERS ABOUND IN THESE VIDEOS. If you are interested in the show don't spoil yourself by watching these videos.


Renée Elise Goldsberry - Ain't No Grave:

Spoiler

Takeshi Kovacs was a specially trained and enhanced soldier on BOTH sides of a clash between those that think humanity can be gods and those that know death is the natural partner of life. He eventually finds himself killed and awakens hundreds of years in the future in a body that is not his own.

[YT]2nHzfde4_DY[/YT]

Too Far Moon, Til My Heart Stops:

Spoiler

Takeshi Kovacs has a true star he follows, even when he doesn't want to. The love of his life, the woman who set his soul free... Quell Falconer.

[YT]Kj_pIceQ4GA[/YT]

(I just) Died in Your Arms, cover by Hidden Citizens, Epic Trailer Version:

Spoiler

Takeshi Kovacs takes on his own sister in a sword fight as the futuristic, above the clouds facility plummets to Earth.

[YT]v47tPwMkAPQ[/YT]

 

[Deck Rickard]

Finished this and loved the hell out if. Sure it had elements of a lot of genre work but it did it all so well. I think this is Kinnaman's best screen work to date. The obvious influence in this season's story was the hard boiled film noir detective and I think he pulled it off magnificently, because he infused the character with great humanity, intelligence and charm while still being a man haunted and shattered internally. Will Jun-Leel also matched him as the original Kovacs. The cast around them was also top and I never felt a false note from any of the performances myself.

Production design, dialog, all tops. I will echo to a lesser degree than some that yes, there were quite a few times that I felt they didn't make many aspects of this universe as clear as they could. On the other hand it's a mystery, no? So information is gonna tend to be doled out piecemeal. Also, there are, besides the clear intention of what path we leave our main character going down at the end of the season, lots of threads and hints of story elements that will get more fleshed out in future installments, which I suspect would lead to a more "cosmic" storyline or arc.


This was in my opinion one of the best Science Fiction shows I have seen in a long time. I hope it was not just a one off and it comes back for a second season.

Totally agree, man. I’m not sure why this show hasn’t really seemed to resonate with people at the Hype but hopefully it’s found enough of an audience that it gets a second season. If it doesn’t, Netflix only has themselves to blame for undercutting by releasing that Cloverfield movie right after releasing this and pulling attention away from it.

 

[flickchick85]

I wanted to like it a lot more than I did, considering how much I love this genre. But I found it to be an oddly generic exercise in it, with some spotty acting to boot. It was fine, though. I enjoyed it enough to watch a 2nd season. Just didn't dazzle me.

 

[KevTravels]

I'm surprised there weren't any blogs annoyed with an Asian actor being downsized due to a white actor

(though of course, it's presented like how it is in the book).