Cyberpunk and noir go together like science fiction and western — one genre can exist without the other, but they are stronger when they team up. Sadly, the list of cyberpunk visual entertainment is minimal: Ghost in the Shell (that entire franchise), Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 and The Matrix trilogy are the only ones that come to mind. Altered Carbon is the latest addition to the list.
Altered Carbon follows Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman/Byron Mann/Will Yun Lee), an Envoy rebel “resleeved” 250 years after getting arrested. He is tasked with solving the murder of Laurens Bancroft by … Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy). In return, Kovacs gets a full pardon and enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life.
In this universe, humans are implanted with a cortical stack which stores their consciousness and memories. If their body dies, they can be transferred to a new one (called a sleeve), or a clone of themselves. Immortality is a possibility, but only if you know how to back yourself up.
So when Bancroft asks Kovacs to solve his previous iteration’s murder, the proper response is to be creeped out even though the characters themselves treat it like just another day in the office. The next ten episodes explore the realm of possibility this type of immortality presents to humanity, from being re-sleeved into a body that is not yours to the newfound violence associated with prostitution.
Altered Carbon’s pacing kept me at the edge of my seat, never daring me to look away from the screen for a moment lest I miss some crucial piece of world-building or an interesting clue that Kovacs will inevitably pursue. It commits to the cyberpunk aesthetic, reminding me of Blade Runner without outright mimicking it.
Where Altered Carbon falls short is its attachment to noir tropes. By the time the novelty of the world wears off, the narrative follows familiar beats, which tied up the ending in neat and predictable ways.
There is also a disappointing amount of penis shots and male prostitutes. The show does so well in terms of creativity that I expected it to explore other realms of possibility, so it’s disappointing to only see two male prostitutes in the background in ten episodes. And while there are maybe two glances of an actual penis (in the background), character Reileen Kawahara (Dichen Lachman) gets a fight scene featuring an army of nude clones.
While we’re stuck in this, dare I say it, background patriarchal philosophy, it’s not surprising then that every instance of being “cross-sleeved” is a woman stuck in a man’s body. We never see a man in a woman’s body.
Altered Carbon is cerebral and one of the most creative science fiction shows I’ve seen. I recommend it to fans of Blade Runner 2049 and anyone looking for something new in their science fiction. Available for streaming on Netflix.
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