Origins.

If you love science fiction, well that is basically it, if you love science fiction then you should watch this series. I’m not saying it is perfect but how many shows are in the first season? When I watched Altered Carbon I instantly thought it was a Phillip K. Dick short story adapted for TV and to my surprise it was not. Altered Carbon is a 2002 science fiction novel by Richard K. Morgan. it is set in a dystopian future and there are some similarities between this and Blade Runner but there is enough to also set itself apart from that franchise successfully. I will say I am going to read the novel to see how true the series has been to the original source. this is not written to explain the plot for you but merely point you in the right direction . . . . Well only if you love science fiction.

Reasons.

So why would you watch this show? Well I will try and explain what I liked about it without giving away too much. Set 300 years in the future, Takeshi Kovacs is the only surviving soldier of a group of elite freedom fighters who were defeated in an uprising against a new world order. His mind was imprisoned for centuries until impossibly wealthy businessman Laurens Bancroft offers him the chance to live again. This show is very brave and when I watched the first episode I couldn’t believe how beautiful this looked visually. This won’t be blockbuster movie quality effects but it very close and it really worked for me. Sometimes you need to use your imagination to put yourself in that world a little more and any science fiction fan knows this. I personally was really impressed and I really did believe in that vision of the future.

I must admit non-of these actors had been on my radar before. Joel Kinnaman plays the main character, Takeshi Kovacs who is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Dolph Lundgren. I’m quite disappointed to read he may not be season 2 due to taking another part, that could be damaging to season 2 in my opinion. The actor who does steal the show for me is Chris Conner who plays a digital hotelier called Poe, this character is complex, funny and shows a really interesting way to view life itself. Finally, we come to the story that brings this show together. I must be honest that after the second episode I was a little worried this was just going to be a rehash of the Blade Runner plot. Its only after episode 3 that it becomes a very interesting and complex storyline, if not a little confusing. I had to keep rewinding the show to just make sure I had heard something right and for me, that is good storytelling. The show basically asks about life and death and that makes me question the decisions I would make in those situations. What was a bit of a surprise to me about this show is that it felt like an adult version of Arrow which I really enjoyed. Lots of fighting and because of the adult content some nudity also, which you need in a dystopian future, right? It seems to have a lot of influences from shows and movies released in the last 20 years but hopefully in time it will find its own place. There are more good reasons to watch this show than bad ones and I really hope it gets the chance to keep pushing the boundaries of my mind.

Reactions.

Okay I have just checked Rotten Tomatoes and this series is actually doing quite well with a critic review of 61% and an audience review of 92%, I have also read a couple of reviews from certain sites that are not very impressed with the show. It seems we will be getting a second season so I am very happy about that. Last night I checked Twitter and I was seeing some really positive tweets and a couple of bad ones but they are quite hard to find.

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