Altered Carbon

:

Season 1
  • Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Feb 2, 2018
Season #: 2, 1
Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
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Critic Reviews

  1. UPROXX
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Jan 30, 2018
    60
    Altered Carbon could become almost anything. But as with most Netflix series--as well as with most Meths--that limitless potential can too often lead to sedentary self-indulgence.
  2. The Detroit News
    Reviewed by: Adam Graham
    Mar 1, 2018
    50
    Big issues of body, mind, identity and technology shuffle around the Altered Carbon universe, but the show often drags its feet in order to fill its individual episodes’ running times.
  3. The Atlantic
    Reviewed by: Sophie Gilbert
    Feb 5, 2018
    50
    Altered Carbon is so busy trying to wow viewers by constantly one-upping the imagery and the intensity that it barely pauses to consider its story. The writing is also distinctly clunky: a hodgepodge of vacant platitudes and canned spirituality.
  5. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Feb 2, 2018
    50
    Every so often, Season 1’s disturbingly intense focus on flesh proves compelling, but Altered Carbon never fully comes to life.
  6. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Lloyd
    Feb 2, 2018
    50
    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.
  7. Yahoo TV
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    Feb 2, 2018
    50
    A lot of Altered Carbon is very silly, mostly whenever any of the principals converse. Trite dialogue prevails. ... If you like your sci-fi good-lookin’ and tough talkin’, I heartily recommend Altered Carbon. Me, if I want a dose of steely speculative fiction, I’ll reread my old paperbacks of novels by Pat Cadigan and Lewis Shiner.
  8. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Feb 1, 2018
    50
    An astounding ambitious production design. ... Every twist of the convoluted and ultimately unsatisfying plot puts Kovacs, and his combative police officer partner Kristin Ortega (the terrific Martha Higareda), into gruesome situations that edge into torture porn. [5-18 Feb 2018, p.10]
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  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    Feb 1, 2018
    50
    Altered Carbon tries to meld a dystopian class-warfare story and a hard-boiled detective story by simply piling on both the pseudo-philosophical blather (much of it delivered in voice-over by Renée Elise Goldsberry as a rebel leader and Kovacs’s former lover) and the film-noir clichés. ... Mr. Kinnaman wears a bad attitude as easily as most actors wear a shirt, but playing a reluctant Philip Marlowe-style gumshoe with the soul of a freedom fighter (the embodiment of the show’s dual nature) doesn’t suit him, and he lacks his usual spark.
  10. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Kelly Lawler
    Feb 1, 2018
    50
    When Carbon focuses on Bancroft's murder, it's most successful, unspooling a mystery entwined with vice and riches. But more often, it gets lost in extraneous subplots and characters. Visually, the series is so dark you can't see the action.
  11. The Daily Beast
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Jan 29, 2018
    50
    Though his supporting cast isn’t particularly memorable, Kinnaman’s devil-may-care gruffness keeps the mood rough around the edges. Unfortunately, Altered Carbon is so busy tying itself up in knots that it fails to grapple with the ethical questions--about what defines a person, and a life; about how morality can exist if mortality is conquered—that are at the heart of its tale.
  12. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Jen Chaney
    Feb 2, 2018
    40
    There are some compelling scenes and moments in Altered Carbon, but at no point do any of them convince me to care about what happens to the main characters.
  13. CNN
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Feb 1, 2018
    40
    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.

Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
30
#30 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 696 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 555 out of 696
  2. Mixed: 83 out of 696
  3. Negative: 58 out of 696
  1. scrotosaggins
    Feb 3, 2018
    10
    The cast, acting, music, cgi we're spot on. The ambiance give it a really unique feel almost like blade runner. I read the book a few monthsThe cast, acting, music, cgi we're spot on. The ambiance give it a really unique feel almost like blade runner. I read the book a few months ago and i'm really glad they didn't sell out and followed the book so closely, the small details are what really makes it. I can't speak highly enough of this show great book adaptation easy 10/10… Full Review »
  2. McGillotine
    Feb 3, 2018
    4
    If Altered Carbon intended to capture the look of Blade Runner it succeeded, however if it wished to reach the same heights of neo-noirIf Altered Carbon intended to capture the look of Blade Runner it succeeded, however if it wished to reach the same heights of neo-noir storytelling it sorely failed. Altered Carbon suffers the same fundamental flaws as seen in most sci-fi television programs of the current tv age, bad writing and sub par acting and while shows such as Black Mirror fight to break this trend, programs such as Electric Dreams and now Altered Carbon use their large budgets to make alot of noise while accomplishing very little.

    One of my gripes with this show (to put it gracefully) is the acting which is pretty awful with a few exceptions. Now i'll be honest i don't like Joel Kinnaman as an actor and with 'standout performances' in both Suicide Squad and Robocop many can agree that he is certainly unqualified to be a lead actor, Altered Carbon is no exception to this streak as he delivers once again another 'flat' performance. Kinnaman demonstrates his many abilities as an actor namely his capacity to speak in monotone and be as robotic as possible at all times showing his commitment to once again devalue any project he touches. Next we have Martha Higareda as a Latina cop who is tough as nails and's gets the job done, she is also a carbon copy every TV cop archetype that you've seen many a time in syndicated cop trash such as Chicago PD. The rest of the acting in this show doesn't really improve much and while some cast members including Ato Essandoh and Chris Conner have a chance to shine from time to time the feeling that most scenes were done in as few takes as possible makes production look rushed and unpolished.

    Writing is also notably weak, there is no real sense of character progression through the series and for a large period of time the main plot takes a backseat, to introduce character after character, followed by side plot after side plot, to unnecessarily bloat the plot and drag out a 10 episode season. This is made all the more unbearable with the addition of teen fiction inspired altered names, so instead of calling then rich people we're going to call them 'Meth's' and instead of calling him a professional mercenary we'll call him an 'Envoy' and f*ck it while we're clever we'll call host bodies 'Sleeves' and stored conscientiousness 'Stacks'. On top of all this for good measure Altered Carbon throws in some needless sex and the occasional blood orgy to wake up it audience only to put them back to sleep five minutes later.

    But surely this show has to get something right and visually it does a damn fine job, the only shame being that the only real talent involved in this show is wasted on making the half-wit performances of its lead actors bearable by wowing the audiences with it's physical world building talent. What i do admire is the level of detail put into the effects, whether it be the rain soaked streets, never-ending skyscrapers, the dim of a flicking neon lights or the cyberpunk decor, it is extremely clear that the behind the scenes crew really worked their magic and definitely need to be paid more.

    Altered Carbon is a difficult watch for the more seasoned viewer. However if you're looking to kick back and chill i would not look badly upon you if you did decide to watch Altered Carbon for a show that doesn't require any level of thought or observance to appreciate. However if you are looking for a show that allows you think and explore, you may aswell skip over this one.    … Full Review »
  3. sarakyel
    Feb 2, 2018
    4
    The novel titled Altered Carbon told the intricate story of a tricky investigation case with high social and moral stakes set in a transhumanThe novel titled Altered Carbon told the intricate story of a tricky investigation case with high social and moral stakes set in a transhuman world where obsolete concepts such as racism or sexual identity became a pure nonsense. But by stripping-down the original plot of its most interesting aspects - such as the struggle of antitheist protagonists against the ignorance of religious minds, or the political game played behind the colonization of remote worlds - the TV show turned this unique fiction into a cheap cyberpunk rip-off of Blade Runner in which poor good people of color fight against the hegemony of evil white rich people. Guess what happens when you decide to take its substance away from a great material in the hope of making it more appealing to a broad audience? You just end up with an beautiful but empty sleeve. Congratz Netflix for turning raw gold into fine lead.… Full Review »
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