This Sci-fi Masterpiece Was Completely Ruined By Its Second Season
It is just tragic how a show with such a great start was basically killed by an extremely underwhelming next season.
Cyberpunk, a subgenre of science fiction, is perfect material to adapt to the screen, and many creators have tried, with mixed results.
However, there are many famous masterpieces such as Blade Runner ( 1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), Akira (1988), Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix trilogy and many more.
One of the more or less recent hidden gems of the genre came back in 2018, but was completely ruined by its second season.
Altered Carbon is a TV series based on the novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan.
It is set in a future where human consciousness is stored in an implant called a cortical stack, making the human mind essentially immortal, with the only way to kill a person forever being to destroy the stack.
But even in this case a person can return if there is a backup copy.
People change bodies, now called "sleeves", and live for hundreds of years, but not everyone can afford a new one, creating the divide in society.
The story of season 1 revolves around Takeshi Kovacs, a member of a rebel group called the Envoys that was destroyed long ago, who is brought back to life as his stack was kept in prison and given a new body.
He is hired by the wealthiest man alive, Laurens Bancroft, to solve the mystery of Bancroft's own suicide, which the 300-year-old magnate suspects was murder.
With great acting from Joel Kinnaman, who portrays Kovacs for most of the season, and others, a fantastically twisted plot that makes you question everything on screen, and great visuals, it is a perfect show for any fan of sci-fi or especially cyberpunk.
But you might want to ignore the second season, which basically killed the series.
According to the overwhelming majority of fans, the visuals were downgraded for some reason, giving the feeling that the budget was cut, and so was the acting.
They also add that Anthony Mackie, who portrays Kovacs' new sleeve, looks like he forgot how to act and gives an underwhelming and bland performance. And the plot became really weak and boring.
Fortunately, the first season is a completely self-contained story that you can enjoy without fear of unresolved cliffhangers.
So we encourage you to give it a chance if you haven't already.
Source: Reddit