Death isn’t final in Netflix’s Altered Carbon season two

There’s a big misconception with movies or TV series being labeled as “adult”. It’s not about the R-rating, salty language, violence and gore, nor the fleshy bits and bobs bouncing around – it’s really about the tone and how the aforementioned fun stuff is integrated into the story as part of a cohesive whole without being gratuitous in the process. That’s not something you see all that often, and it’s what Netflix’s Altered Carbon season one (based on Richard K. Morgan’s novel of the same name) nailed to perfection.

Season two sees original showrunner Laeta Kalogridis taking a step back (but still executive producing the series) while Alison Schapker (Fringe, Lost) steps into the day-to-day duties. The other big change sees Anthony Mackie taking over from Joel Kinnaman as the main sleeve for our protagonist Takeshi Kovacs, as he continues his search for Quellcrist Falconer (the returning Renée Elise Goldsberry). It’s a search that sees Kovacs returning to his home planet of Harlan’s World to investigate a series of murders, which he’s shocked to discover are inexplicably linked to Quell, who in turn is being hunted by powerful forces.

Altered Carbon season two’s synopsis is as follows:

In Altered Carbon, society is transformed by new technology: consciousness can be digitized; human bodies are interchangeable; death is no longer permanent.

Season Two of the sophisticated and compelling sci-fi drama finds Takeshi Kovacs (Anthony Mackie), the lone surviving soldier of a group of elite interstellar warriors, continuing his centuries old quest to find his lost love Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). After decades of planet-hopping and searching the galaxy, Kovacs finds himself recruited back to his home planet of Harlan’s World with the promise of finding Quell.

Haunted by his past and responsible for investigating a series of brutal murders, Kovacs is stunned to discover his new mission to solve the crime and his pursuit to find Quell are one and the same. With the help of his loyal A.I. Poe (Chris Conner), Kovacs must now partner with new allies to outwit his enemies and find the truth: Who is Quellcrist Falconer?

Let’s take a look:

Well that last scene is a bit of a spoiler for those who haven’t read the subsequent novels, but no your eyes have not deceived you – that really was Kovacs (Mackie) versus Kovacs (Will Yun Lee).

Altered Carbon’s eight-episode-long second season will premiere in Netflix on 27 February. It also stars Chris Conner, Lela Loren, Simone Missick, Dina Shihabi, Torben Liebrecht, James Saito, Michael Shanks, and Sen Mitsuji.

Last Updated: February 12, 2020