3 episodes in. I'm only into Poe's story, to be honest. Mackie is dull as feck and his monologues are atrocious.
Not a chance this is getting a third season.
Not a chance this is getting a third season.
Television Altered Carbon
- Thread starter Dan
- Start date
Story turns to poo unfortunately.
Season two was a major disappointment to me. Mackie is really just a boring version of Kovacs, the story was bad, and it all just died a slow death.
Have not read the second book so I can't speak for how true it is to the source material. I know that it is generally rated substantially lower than the first, and that came across watching this season. Mackie is dull but the writing doesn't do him many favours.
Struggling to get into it. On episode 4 now. Feels pretty crappy against how much I enjoyed season 1.
Same. I'll watch the four remaining but it feels like a chore really.
Yeah same here - I’ll definitely finish the season but the amount of times I’ve found myself tempted to skip scenes was crazy.
I liked season 2 fine, but the supporting cast was less good and Joel Kinnaman really nailed it in season 1.
My wife loved the first season but has given up on this after 2. I’ll keep going but yeah Joel was great in the 1st
Yeah, seldom seen such a convincing on screen arsehole you want to root for.
That’s an apt description
He’s not the most talented, but he usually brings something extra to his characters! I like him. The mix of detective, cyberpunk and science fiction in the first season had a lot going.Too bad they couldn’t follow it up.Mackie really was shit.
Season two bored the hell out of me. Not even sure I can be arsed to watch the rest of it.
it's also a real shame they listened to critics of the first series and toned down the nastiness and seediness, it really took away from the show, and considering the books were like that anyway, it was stupid to do so.
Season two bored the hell out of me. Not even sure I can be arsed to watch the rest of it.
it's also a real shame they listened to critics of the first series and toned down the nastiness and seediness, it really took away from the show, and considering the books were like that anyway, it was stupid to do so.
Well dammit and I was looking forward to S2. Sometimes you wonder if they purposely run shows into the ground.
I'd say it's pretty clear that Netflix have absolutely no intention of renewing it.
Finished season 2. Meh. Really couldn't get into it. It's a shame because I really liked season 1 - which I only started watching (late) a couple of months ago and was really looking forward to season 2.
Have to say, watched the first 2 episodes and already lost interest completely. Does it get better as the season goes on? Comments in here don't sound encouraging.
It gets worse. In the beginning Mackie doesn’t really have to do anything else than look cool and be there while the story is presented. Later when he should do some acting it all falls apart.
FFS, the main reason I lost interest was him. Thanks for the reply.
No problemo. I advocate giving it a miss
I thought it was decent enough.
I enjoyed watching it though, Mackie was alright. Bad guy was alright. Trepp was ok. Poe was Poe.
But they crammed 2 books into 8 seasons, with huge chunks missing it was always gonna be s bit of a mess. So many things I wanted to see didn't end up happening, missing huge chunks everywhere:
Big ones being the... Aaaah feck it can't be arsed to list them. Opportunity missed, will not get renewed.
Big ones being the... Aaaah feck it can't be arsed to list them. Opportunity missed, will not get renewed.
Yeah, I found myself not paying attention properly. Season two was a real let-down.
Two eps to go. Not enjoying this season at all.
Yeah this is trash. It's not even 'ok' it's absolute garbage.
Mackie is terrible. He can't even stand still and look like the hard man convincingly
Mackie is terrible. He can't even stand still and look like the hard man convincingly
It's actually been well received, take that as you will.
Picks up in the last couple of episodes to be fair but it is a bit of a slog until then.
Critical reactions can be strange, the first season recieved very little attention, was something of a sleeper hit(even though it had the reverse problem of tailing off badly late in the season), but there has definitely been more of a buzz around this one.
Perhaps that contributes to the underwhelming public response, expected it to be good and it is all a bit meh.
I don't take it at all, I don't base my opinions and rate my taste on what others think.
If people like it, then that's fair enough. But for me it's terrible and they have clearly given up on it, "well received" or not.
It's funny because the first series didn't really get well received by critics but had a really high audience score and this series has been the total opposite.
I'm seriously not sure what the feck the critics were watching because it was so awful compared to season one. But I guess seeing as they got netflix to reduce the tits and sexual violence (all of which was in the book) by slandering it before they're happy now.
I'm seriously not sure what the feck the critics were watching because it was so awful compared to season one. But I guess seeing as they got netflix to reduce the tits and sexual violence (all of which was in the book) by slandering it before they're happy now.
Just saw that there's a spin-off animated movie released in a couple of weeks, Altered Carbon: Resleeved.
Wonder if it's a way to wrap everything up.
Wonder if it's a way to wrap everything up.
Unimpressed with S2. Apart from a couple familiar faces, you wouldn’t even know it’s the same series. They lost the entire look and feel of the first season for me, everything that made me really enjoy it. Mackie was pretty unconvincing, as were most of the characters to be honest.
Thought the first season was an 8/10, the 2nd did drift for me at the start but by the end couple of episodes I enjoyed it. Probably a 7/10 for me
Aesthetically, the show dipped in season 2. Season 1 captured that cyberpunk, Blade Runner look to a tee. This season considerably less so. Also, Joel Kinnaman never should have bowed out the show. He was fantastic in that role as Kovacs. Big fan of his ever since I saw him play the Republican nominee in House of Cards.
I went into this season with an open mind regarding Jonathan Mackie. Never seen him in a lead role before, so I hoped he'd impress, especially given his pending co-lead role in the Falcon and Winter Soldier series. But alas, he was soooooo disappointing. In fact, the whole thing was just fairly mediocre. Poe was by far the most intriguing aspect of this season.
I went into this season with an open mind regarding Jonathan Mackie. Never seen him in a lead role before, so I hoped he'd impress, especially given his pending co-lead role in the Falcon and Winter Soldier series. But alas, he was soooooo disappointing. In fact, the whole thing was just fairly mediocre. Poe was by far the most intriguing aspect of this season.
https://deadline.com/2020/08/altered-carbon-canceled-netflix-after-2-seasons-1203023456/
It's been cancelled.
I'm disappointed by that. Although the second season was a step down in quality, I still thought the show had a lot of story to tell.
It's been cancelled.
I'm disappointed by that. Although the second season was a step down in quality, I still thought the show had a lot of story to tell.
They butchered both the 2nd/3rd books to make this 2nd season (and didn't do a great job), don't think there was any point in taking it any further.... Which is a shame.
I wasn't that fond of the first season and therefore didn't start on the second. Definitely not going to bother with that now, seeing the reactions on here.
I think Market Forces could be a nice series or film as well. Some good material in there and a proper rendition could really bring out the societal criticism that underpins the book. I don't think I'd be very interested in a version of Black Man/Thirteen though; except if it'd focus more on the world of the book (some good ideas in there) and less on the main character (way too macho and one-dimensional).
I think Market Forces could be a nice series or film as well. Some good material in there and a proper rendition could really bring out the societal criticism that underpins the book. I don't think I'd be very interested in a version of Black Man/Thirteen though; except if it'd focus more on the world of the book (some good ideas in there) and less on the main character (way too macho and one-dimensional).
I'm gonna start reading the books. Do you know any other dystopian books along a similar theme, set in a cyberpunk city?
Anything Gibson? Doesn't have quite the same feel though. Morgan's heroes are all very macho and pretty aggressive. Gibson is a lot more psychedelic and immersive. If you like Altered Carbon, I'd just go for Market Forces and Black Man/Thirteen, also by Morgan.
First season was good. Second was shit. Not surprised it’s cancelled.
Didn't finish second season. No wonder it was cancelled.
Has some great HDR scenes if you want to test your TV and that's the best thing about second season
Has some great HDR scenes if you want to test your TV and that's the best thing about second season
Should have continued with Kinnaman.
Yeah, he was great.
When season 2 came out, I rewatched the whole of season 1 beforehand so I could pick up the continuity. The acting, cinematography and script all took a nosedive in the second season.
You could also tell that the network had given up on the show because of the lack of nudity and sexual themes. Those things are obviously not important when telling a story. But it showed that HBO wanted to make it more marketable and less R-rated. The show was on a hiding to nothing at that point. The grittiness and debauchery were some of my favourite parts in season 1. The adult themes made Altered Carbon S1 feel a little bit more human (as much as that's possible). Season 2 had none of that.
Last edited: