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Altered Carbon

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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64

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 128 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 128 Ratings

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Altered Carbon

Now Playing: Altered Carbon

Altered Carbon

Series Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date: February 2, 2018

Summary: The sci-fi series based on Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel Carbon is set 300 years in the future where soldier Takeshi Kovacs (Will Yun Lee/Joel Kinnaman) awakens in a new body when he is freed from prison by Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy), who wants him to solve his murder.

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction

Recent Episodes

tbd
S2:E8. Broken Angels
Air Date: February 27, 2020
tbd
S2:E8. Broken Angels
Air Date: February 27, 2020
tbd
S2:E7. Experiment Perilous
Air Date: February 27, 2020

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

64

Positive:

17

Mixed:

16

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

100

San Francisco Chronicle

David Wiegand

Jan 30, 2018

Season 1 Review: Think of Altered Carbon as a cyberpunk “Game of Thrones,” except that winter is already here, three centuries into the future. Read full review

80

Vox.com

Emily VanDerWerff

Feb 5, 2018

Season 1 Review: For a series that makes a lot of basic storytelling stumbles and often seems to feature characters who can only speak in exposition, Altered Carbon’s first season is surprisingly gripping, especially in its superior back half. This is probably the best first season of a Netflix drama since The Crown’s first year dropped in late 2016. Read full review

75

Slant Magazine

Michael Haigis

Feb 1, 2018

Season 1 Review: When the season does intermittently sag beneath the weight of its extensive world-building and philosophical inquiries, Altered Carbon still manages to enthrall audiences with a winding detective mystery told in timeless noir fashion. Read full review

67

TVLine

Kimberly Roots

Jan 22, 2018

Season 1 Review: When the series gets too far away from the Bancroft investigation, Altered Carbon stumbles. Read full review

55

TV Guide

Tim Surette

Feb 19, 2020

Season 2 Review: The second round of the cyberpunk noir series will feel familiar to those who watched Season 1, as it's mostly a take-the-good-with-the-bad combination of sticking with what worked and not learning from its own mistakes. ... Altered Carbon has an amazing sandbox to work with, but the story doesn't always know how to play in it. Read full review

50

Los Angeles Times

Robert Lloyd

Feb 2, 2018

Season 1 Review: The series is convoluted, digressive and long. ... Eventually, you do arrive at the end, which has a certain mathematical balance and, despite (or perhaps because of) some corniness, prompts deeper feelings than you might have expected. Read full review

40

CNN

Brian Lowry

Feb 1, 2018

Season 1 Review: Netflix has taken more than a few flyers on big, splashy, time-wasting projects, and Altered Carbon -- a sci-fi experiment gone awry -- joins that pantheon of the quickly forgettable. Based on Richard K. Morgan's novel, the series looks great -- starting with Joel Kinnaman, who spends a lot of time showing off his commitment to the gym -- but in terms of substance, offers little more than an empty sleeve. Read full review

SEE ALL 33 REVIEWS

Write a Review

6.9

User Reviews

10

jugadorhardcore

Jul 14, 2019

I wonder which scifi and cyberpunk series the press considerate better than altered carbon, since they put a 6. In it genre is the best ever!

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

10

Nthy

Mar 1, 2020

Perfection, there aren't any shows like it. Is like blade runner mixed with a little cloud atlas.

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

9

Ripslash

Jan 6, 2023

Season 1 is a 10/10 no doubt. Season 2 was still excellent, just a little more contrived.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

6

AWESOM-0

Jan 17, 2020

Not terrible but it does miss the mark on some of the important things that made the novel good. Not just talking details, but about some of the little things that made the characters likable.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

5

yusep

Mar 7, 2020

Season 1 - 8 - good
Season 2 - 1 - disaster

Average 4.5 - sad it ended this way.

Season 1 - 8 - good
Season 2 - 1 - disaster

Average 4.5 - sad it ended this way.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

4

MeritCoba

Sep 10, 2020

I really don't care what the novel told, since I didn't read it and even if I did program makers are in my opinion free to tell their own stories. And us to criticize them for it. A comparison is valid, just to spite the makers if the source material is better, and here is the thing: I hopeI really don't care what the novel told, since I didn't read it and even if I did program makers are in my opinion free to tell their own stories. And us to criticize them for it. A comparison is valid, just to spite the makers if the source material is better, and here is the thing: I hope that novel was less boring than this.

The first season was interesting because it introduced us to a new world with new things to explore. I liked the Poe character. I liked the sleeved idea less as it opened a can of worms that never got fixed. If you can just re-sleeve death stop to have meaning and if death stops to have any meaning, it should impact your society profoundly. But its impact isn't really explored and it feels shallow and just a cool feature to the story. Yes, it is suggested that only the most wealthy can pay for it, but this is never felt to be an issue. lead to revolts or whatever.

Also the protagonist, while played by a likable actor, was pretty cliche. Some kind of resistance fighter that got brought back to life to solve a murder he had no stake in. His main drive is reconnecting with his lost love. It never is explained why this particular guy is resurrected, except well, that he is.

The problems surface in season two where we see the main hero being re-sleeved twice in the first episode alone. Wait, wasn't this something only the rich could afford? So how come he can do it twice? It feels like he is just having a change of clothes. It is devoid of meaning and feels more like an excuse to shove in other actors or to have people killed without consequences.

And the story. Well, the protagonist gets hired by a rich dude to protect him from unnamed killers, but he gets killed before the protagonist is back from being re-sleeved. So our protagonist has to solve the murder because that way he can find his lost love.

Wait a minute:... that is almost beat for beat the story from the first season!

But really. I don't care to find out who killed this person that I hardly know nor do I care if our hero finds his love because he probably won't as we need to allow for a third season. This quest is just a MacGuffin. What really made me stop watching was when they came up with the Yakuza. Seems the protagonist wasn't just a resistance fighter but apparently also in league with one of those groups. Oh and he hates the rich, except for the Yakuza boss: he respect him.

The final nail in the coffin was when Yakuza boss started to reminisce about the past. Those were the times.You know, murdering and murdering and murdering. And also drugs pushing, forced prostitution and extortion. Oh wait, not this guy of course. He never wanted that. Because you know, homicidal gangsters are in their hearts well-meaning good guys who are just misunderstood, or forced to do stuff against their will by society and the cops. Blame them, not us.

Yeah, right.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

0

Serg888

Jul 19, 2020

It's so meh and doesn't let you invest in any characters. You just don't care about the story it's trying to tell. Just meh !!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 39 REVIEWS

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Seasons & Episodes

64

Series Overview
Season 2

65
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E8. Broken Angels
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E8. Broken Angels
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E7. Experiment Perilous
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E7. Experiment Perilous
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E6. Bury Me Dead
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E6. Bury Me Dead
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E5. I Wake up Screaming
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E5. I Wake up Screaming
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E4. Shadow of a Doubt
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E4. Shadow of a Doubt
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E3. Nightmare Alley
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E3. Nightmare Alley
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E2. Payment Deferred
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E2. Payment Deferred
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E1. Phantom Lady
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
- tbd
  S2:E1. Phantom Lady
  Air Date: February 27, 2020
Season 1

64
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: February 2, 2018