Spoilers Altered Carbon Season 1

[JD]

On February 1st Netflix will be releasing the first season of their new sci-fi series, Altered Carbon, which is based on the novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan. The series takes place in a future in which our minds can be downloaded onto discs, called stacks, and then implanted into new bodies, called sleeves. The series follows a former soldier who is put into a new sleeve over 200 years after his original body is killed, and is then hired by a multi-billionaire meth, which is what they call people who keep implanting their stacks into new bodies, to investigate his attempted murder.
I've never read the book, but the show looks awesome, so I'm really looking forward to it.
I can't remember for sure, but I think I remember reading somewhere that this has the biggest budget of any Netflix Original so far.
Trailer

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Io9 article: Netflix's Altered Carbon Asks: Can Humans Handle Becoming Gods?

 

[Q2UnME]

Yea, I've seen the previews too and I'm eagerly awaiting the premier. It looks awesome and I'm intrigued by the premise. I hope Mrs. Q2 will watch with me, but she tends to be turned off by Sci-fi if there isn't compelling characters to hold her interest. A lot of technobabble and she tunes out.

Q2

 

[Ruaidhri]

Love the book. I imagine they'll have to tone down the violence and sex just a tad. But really looking forward to this adaptation.

 

[JD]

Netflix doesn't have to deal with network restrictions, so they probably won't have to tone things down to much.

 

[Christopher]

Netflix doesn't have to deal with network restrictions, so they probably won't have to tone things down to much.

Yeah. There are some shows on Netflix with graphic nudity, sex, and violence, like Marco Polo. While there are others like the Marvel shows that are a little more restrained. Sometimes it varies what is and isn't allowed. The Marvel shows have some pretty intense violence and a fair amount of sexuality and partial, non-graphic nudity, but avoid using the f-word; whereas the Canadian import Travelers has more of a standard commercial-TV level of violence and sexuality but drops f-bombs like they're cookie crumbs. So there's no predicting how far any given Netflix show will go.


As for Altered Carbon, Joel Kinnaman hasn't really left an impression on me in the two things I've seen him in (RoboCop and Suicide Squad, the latter of which I didn't even remember he was in), so I'm not sure I like the choice of him to play the lead. I was initially concerned about him playing the new body of a character originally played by Will Yun Lee, which sounded like yet another example of Hollywood whitewashing, but I recently read an interview with the showrunner saying that the racial dynamic there will be addressed in what sounds like a pretty thoughtful way.

On the other hand, that showrunner is Laeta Kalogridis, and I have not been impressed with her prior work that I've seen (which is just Birds of Prey and the Bionic Woman reboot -- though I gather she wrote the much-reviled Terminator Genisys too). So that's a cause for concern.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Love the book. I imagine they'll have to tone down the violence and sex just a tad. But really looking forward to this adaptation.

I've read on article that the showrunner removed one particular piece of violence because it wouldn't come off well on screen as oppose to the book. Spoilers in the article.

 

[Ruaidhri]

I've read on article that the showrunner removed one particular piece of violence because it wouldn't come off well on screen as oppose to the book. Spoilers in the article.

LOL, based on that article they haven't written out the spray-on prophylactics!

Good call by the show runner, I'd say, regarding the scene in question.

Was also happy to realize James Purefoy is in the show. Think he's a marvelous actor.

 

[jamesraykenney]

Love the book. I imagine they'll have to tone down the violence and sex just a tad. But really looking forward to this adaptation.

Uhhh... Netflix... "tone down the violence and sex"... Something here does not compute...
Ohhh, sorry... I was thinking of HBO and Game of Thrones... But still... Does Netflix have a child filter? That could make all the difference.

 

[jamesraykenney]

LOL, based on that article they haven't written out the spray-on prophylactics!

Good call by the show runner, I'd say, regarding the scene in question.

Was also happy to realize James Purefoy is in the show. Think he's a marvelous actor.

They had those in real life, what... 10, 15 years ago... Whatever happened to them...

 

[Forbin]

Yeah. There are some shows on Netflix with graphic nudity, sex, and violence, like Marco Polo.

Nude concubine kung fu may have been the greatest moment of martial arts ever on TV.

 

[Q2UnME]

Some early reviews are starting to pop up. Read one critic's review over at Entertainment Weekly that gave it a B-

Not bad, but not great .... which means I'll probably love it.

Q2

 

[guyute03]

Also looking forward to this while I enjoy several Sci-Fi anthology series at the moment. Lots of great things on TV now & coming

 

[JD]

I don't think anybody needs to worry about them toning down the violence.
IGN has posted a new exclusive featurette focused on the show's fight scenes, which look fucking brutal.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

So tonight it starts here. I'm thinking about watching it tonight. Or over the weekend.

 

[crookeddy]

Looks like it's a flop. 62 percent for a show is disastrous.

 

[John Clark]

Be taking a look at it shortly. I've skipped the reviews for now as I'd rather judge it for myself.

 

[EnderAKH]

Why do we all care so much lately on the Rotten Tomatoes scores? I find a couple of reviewers whose tastes I generally agree with, watch the trailers to see how it looks, and off I go. What do I care what its RT or Metacritic score is?

 

[crookeddy]

Why do we all care so much lately on the Rotten Tomatoes scores? I find a couple of reviewers whose tastes I generally agree with, watch the trailers to see how it looks, and off I go. What do I care what its RT or Metacritic score is?

They tell you the odds of you liking it.

 

[guyute03]

Watching the first episode right now. Enjoying it so far. Interesting universe and premise.

 

[JD]

I watched the first episode this morning, it wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it and will stick with it.