The science fiction landscape is marvelously cluttered nowadays. Between multiple reboots ofStar Trek, Amazon’s unwavering commitment toThe Expanse, and the inexorable momentum ofStar Wars, nerds have a steady supply of provocative techno-fantasy worlds in which to wander for the foreseeable future. Yet while the current science fiction landscape is notable for its diversity, sci-fi premises tend to fall into particular buckets: space, robots, and time travel being three of the most prominent subgenres.
One Netflix show, however, sketched the limits of these categories with its ambitious conceptualization of a future society defined by the replaceability of its members’ bodies.Altered Carbonhit all of the philosophical benchmarks of its dystopian concept, but it also wore the concept thin in its uneven execution.
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Altered Carbonpremiered as Netflix was ramping up its offerings of original content, adding an array of new shows that ranged from the kid-friendlyA Series of Unfortunate Eventstothe gritty dramedyOzarkto the quietly prestigiousMindhunter. Starring Joel Kinnaman and not-yet-mainstream Renée Elise Goldsberry, it is based on the novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan and tells the story of a society where human personas are encoded into synthetic brain chips, or “stacks.” A person’s life is tied to their undamaged stack; their body is merely a replaceable “sleeve.” If the body dies, the stack can be plugged into a new sleeve, and life goes on.
Into this paradigm emerges Takeshi Kovacs, “The Last Envoy,” whose stack has been moldering in prison for his participation in an anti-establishment crusade that has since been relegated to history. Kovacs is recalled to life by Laurens Bancroft, to solve Bancroft’s attempted murder. Bancroft is one of the “Meths”: members of society’s highest echelon, with resources to re-sleeve in perpetuity, which has earned their kind a nickname that references the biblical Methuselah. Bancroft’s very resurrection — and continued survival — is an affront to Kovacs, who was imprisoned for a rebellion that was meant to prevent such people as the Meths from existing.
Despite the sci-fi premise,Altered Carbonherein presents asa low-key noir detective story. Kovacs reluctantly investigates the murder while his own story is told in flashbacks, until the two narratives converge in a final reveal.
The key caveat of the stack-sleeve model is that it reinforces class distinctions: because new sleeves are expensive, only the wealthiest echelon of society can afford to replace themselves at will. Moreover, these so-called Meths ofAltered Carboncan use their resources to promise sleeves to the underlings who serve them — not only are their own bodies disposable, but the people who work for them become disposable by association. While this problem is clearly defined throughout the show,Altered Carbon’s greatest narrative weakness is that it provides no alternative to such stratification. Nor is it clear in flashbacks that Quell’s Rebellion was driven by such a goal, as the ideological impetus for the Envoys takes a backseat to scenes of intense preparation for the oncoming cyberpunk dystopia.
Science fiction exists, fundamentally,to explore the enduring qualities of humansagainst the backdrop of humanity’s potential; to ask whether any level of technological achievement will fundamentally change the way people behave. By eliding any controlling ideology,Altered Carbonbegins by refuting this question, leaving itself little room for philosophical exploration. If numerous centuries and the solution to mortality are not, as it seems, sufficient forces to funnel humanity into utopian existence, viewers must conclude that class stratification cannot be overcome by humans. Yet this premise alone is not enough to box inAltered Carbonentirely; there are still provocative questions the narrative could explore within such an environment. It makes some attempt to do so, but fails to execute them effectively, resulting in a jumble of broadly enticing constructs. Ultimately, this falls flat for lack of philosophical follow-through.
Take, for instance, the Raven Hotel, an AI hotel that serves as Kovacs’s lodging while he is investigating the murder attempt. In the world ofAltered Carbon, AI has achieved sentience — beyond that, it has become passé as a social construct. The implication is thathumans and AIs have parted ways: humans view AIs as clingy exes, while AIs view humans as beneath their notice or help. Yet Kovacs chooses to slum it with one of these AIs, the sentient operating system of the Raven Hotel, who is integrated inextricably into his physical establishment. The hotel thus provides any and all services the Envoy requires (even some heavy weaponry, a new spin on the idea of hotel security), through the interface of cheerful, whimsical avatar Poe — who doubles as a sidekick to Kovacs.
Poe is one of the show’s more delightful characters, contributing both to the neo-noir vibe (his gothic fascination with neo-noir echoes the most famous bearer of his name) and to the human pathos of the show. The latter function is a neat bit of irony; the transcendent form of cognition is better equipped to empathize with humanity because he is interested in humans. As a result, some of the show’s weightiest emotional beats are provided by a character who the audiencewould not naturally associate with human emotion. Unfortunately, though, the neat trick is just that — a trick, as his most poignant narrative arc (helping Lizzy through her trauma) does little to impact the central storyline. Without a stronger tie-in, it is a mere sideshow.
This, at the end of the day, is the weakness ofAltered Carbonas a show. There are a lot of sideshows, but no main event. Its most provocative aspect lies not in its questions so much as in the many interesting science fiction tropes it presents — but without satisfying throughlines, those presentations lack resolution. By all means, audiences may be entertained watching it; viewers may even find themselves pondering interesting questions on their own. But the show will not support those questions with anything resembling satisfying answers — and that can be a hard sell for viewers accustomed to the weighty dilemmas ofAltered Carbon’s predecessors.
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