They’ve become immortal gods amongst the people simply because of their centuries of accumulated wealth. Meths have their stacks remotely backed up and multiple clones of their body waiting for them so they can never die. This leads into the second big idea: unrestrained capitalism. Another example of this abuse of power is one woman putting a criminal’s stack into the body of a snake-arguably a punishment worse than death. While the married couple voluntarily does this, we see how inhumane and corrupt the rich has become. In S1E3, we see the meths pitting a married couple against each other in a gladiatorial fight to the death. This is really taken to its limits when we see how the ultra rich meths live. When human bodies are just like clothes you can change out of and replace, the definition of a human life dramatically changes. One of the main themes in Altered Carbon is the human body as a commodity and its ethical implications. Normally, overused flashbacks like this come off as a bit cheesy, but because of the nature of this show where a new sleeve often marks a new life, it works very well. We see how he learns to separate mind and body to overcome the construct. This is where the show gives us a flashback to Kovacs in his past life while he trains with his mentor Quellcrest Falconer (Renee Elise Goldsberry). However, Kovacs is able to push through this, even though the people in charge tout their constructs as so intense they drive their victims insane. The mind is plugged into a simulation, or “construct,” so no real damage is done to his body, but mentally he feels all the pain of getting his nails ripped off, his body torched, etc. For example, in S1E4, Kovacs is getting brutally tortured by a brutal gang member in VR. While this itself is a very compelling story, we are also treated to a second story that takes us through Takeshi Kovacs’s past life (where he is played by Will Yun Lee) through carefully placed flashbacks to his time as a CTAC officer as well an Envoy. Season 1 presents us with the mysterious murder of Laurens Bancroft. Every moment of this film, you feel like the world is gritty, lived-in, and most of all very real. Just take a look at a few shots from the show. Altered Carbon’s visuals are what you’d expect from a big-budget sci-fi film today. It amazes me how immersive and polished TV shows are now. Very much an homage to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Bancroft’s reason for decanting an extremely dangerous and highly trained revolutionary? To solve his own murder. He is awoken in a new sleeve several hundred years after his death at the hands of his old comrades by a wealthy meth by the name of Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy). Season 1 begins with Takeshi Kovacs (Joel Kinnaman), a CTAC officer (elite mercenary solider working for the government) later turned Envoy (elite mercenary revolutionary fighting against the government). The human body can be cloned, modified, and purchased, and it’s simply a vessel for the stack. Human bodies are referred to as “sleeves,” and once a body is injured or too old, you can have your stack removed and transferred to a new sleeve-if you are able to afford one that is. We are cast into a world in which humans are able to transfer their consciousness into different bodies with the help of “cortical stacks” that are installed in the back of their necks. Influenced by Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell, The Matrix, and more classic sci-fi media, Altered Carbon beautifully treads new ground for a live action TV show. Altered Carbon is cyberpunk, digitized human consciousness, class disparity, sex, drugs, and crime bundled into a polished show.
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