I'll echo what many others have said regarding season 1... it was incredible. Ultra dark, hyper violent, brutal to the point of being shocking at times( and I am not easily shocked) an incredible Cyber Punk world that felt straight out of the grittiest Anime.
I can't say that I was a huge Joel Kinnaman fan prior to season 1 but his Takeshi Kovac was so right for the story and the world built around him it was almost hard to believe. Hollywood rarely gets these things right.
The supporting characters - Ortega, Poe , the Elliot family... they got it all right! Recently i read an article in the hack/fake woke publication of Indiewire that degraded Kinnaman's Takeshi because... he didn't smile enough. Yea. Clearly they weren't paying attention to what this character had been through, was going through or the overall tone of the entire premise. To wrap this up... i loved season 1.
Let me clear I didn't hate Season 2. It was fine. pretty good in some parts. But the casting in a few of the leads was just plain off. I like Anthony Mackie... i've seen some interviews with him and he seems like a really stand up guy. I think he was... fine in this. As an African American, I wanted to see him more than succeed but given what I've seen him do thus far I knew that might be a bit much to ask. Mackie is just... ordinary. He really is just a regular black dude and thats all i see in every role he ever plays. This is harsh I know but he's like furniture in a scene... even when he's talking I don't really notice him.
I hate saying this. But its just how I feel. In a world so vibrant, a world so alive as Altered Carbon Joel Kinnaman managed to stand out. You couldn't look away from that dude if you tried... didn't matter what was happening around him. He eclipsed every set piece and actor sharing the screen with him. Mackie just doesn't have that. In his defense, I don't think his Takeshi was written particularly well either.
He did fine but he was very miscast in this show. I'm so happy that they had so many African American leads(by so many i mean 3 lol) in this season and God I wanted to love it but with the exception of Quellcrist... the others were woefully miscast. In this kind of world they needed an actor whose mere presence draws attention ie Yahya Abdul is an example. There's no shortage of extraordinary black actors out there... they had options.
The bounty hunter: WOEFULLY MISCAST. I've seen her in some of the Marvel shows and again... she's fine. But man she did not fit into this world in anyway and her storyline was so unnecessary I just kept wondering why she was even there. African Americans get so few opportunities like this and yet when the industry does let us get a toe in the door they misfire and miscast.
They grabbed Mackie bc he's their idea of a black guy and we're a monolith right? This is how we look, how we talk and if we don't fit their idea they don't know what to do with us. So disappointing.
The other supporting characters weren't particularly interesting or empathy inducing either. I have to admit... it was hard to care.
I'm 6 eps in and I'll definitely finish because I believe in the show and see the potential for future seasons but I am bummed by this wasted opportunity.
The high points: I really love the actress Renee Goldsberry who plays Falconer. Loved her in season 1 and I'm happy they brought her back! Lots to uncover and discover with Quell. She's incredibly vulnerable, compassionate and empathetic and yet you never feel sorry for her. She's never a victim.
The biggest high point: Will Yun Lee... there's a scene in episode 6 where Quell and Takeshi 2 are talking and I swear all the vulnerability and pain of the character that I was hoping to see through Mackie all season Yun Lee showed in 2 minutes of the episode.
My great hope(and i may find out by seasons end) is that he is the Takeshi Kovac for season 3. He deserves it. Yun Lee has been around for a long time and he is wildly talented. Not just as the token asian martial artist but he is a true actor. This man has honed his craft over decades and deserves to steer this thing for awhile.
Season 1 had a very basic and yet extremely powerful story driving the whole thing...FAMILY. The dynamic between Tak and Rei was so incredible that I remember tearing up watching their scenes together. Bancroft and his family. The Elliots. Ortega and her mother, brother and the kids. It was all so simple. It was all so moving. We can all identify with what they were going through on some level. They lost that in S2.
Season 2 isn't awful but its certainly lost alot of tonal, writing and casting aspects that made it a major player in the sci fi game. S2 just feels like ordinary network tv scifi. 6/10
I can't say that I was a huge Joel Kinnaman fan prior to season 1 but his Takeshi Kovac was so right for the story and the world built around him it was almost hard to believe. Hollywood rarely gets these things right.
The supporting characters - Ortega, Poe , the Elliot family... they got it all right! Recently i read an article in the hack/fake woke publication of Indiewire that degraded Kinnaman's Takeshi because... he didn't smile enough. Yea. Clearly they weren't paying attention to what this character had been through, was going through or the overall tone of the entire premise. To wrap this up... i loved season 1.
Let me clear I didn't hate Season 2. It was fine. pretty good in some parts. But the casting in a few of the leads was just plain off. I like Anthony Mackie... i've seen some interviews with him and he seems like a really stand up guy. I think he was... fine in this. As an African American, I wanted to see him more than succeed but given what I've seen him do thus far I knew that might be a bit much to ask. Mackie is just... ordinary. He really is just a regular black dude and thats all i see in every role he ever plays. This is harsh I know but he's like furniture in a scene... even when he's talking I don't really notice him.
I hate saying this. But its just how I feel. In a world so vibrant, a world so alive as Altered Carbon Joel Kinnaman managed to stand out. You couldn't look away from that dude if you tried... didn't matter what was happening around him. He eclipsed every set piece and actor sharing the screen with him. Mackie just doesn't have that. In his defense, I don't think his Takeshi was written particularly well either.
He did fine but he was very miscast in this show. I'm so happy that they had so many African American leads(by so many i mean 3 lol) in this season and God I wanted to love it but with the exception of Quellcrist... the others were woefully miscast. In this kind of world they needed an actor whose mere presence draws attention ie Yahya Abdul is an example. There's no shortage of extraordinary black actors out there... they had options.
The bounty hunter: WOEFULLY MISCAST. I've seen her in some of the Marvel shows and again... she's fine. But man she did not fit into this world in anyway and her storyline was so unnecessary I just kept wondering why she was even there. African Americans get so few opportunities like this and yet when the industry does let us get a toe in the door they misfire and miscast.
They grabbed Mackie bc he's their idea of a black guy and we're a monolith right? This is how we look, how we talk and if we don't fit their idea they don't know what to do with us. So disappointing.
The other supporting characters weren't particularly interesting or empathy inducing either. I have to admit... it was hard to care.
I'm 6 eps in and I'll definitely finish because I believe in the show and see the potential for future seasons but I am bummed by this wasted opportunity.
The high points: I really love the actress Renee Goldsberry who plays Falconer. Loved her in season 1 and I'm happy they brought her back! Lots to uncover and discover with Quell. She's incredibly vulnerable, compassionate and empathetic and yet you never feel sorry for her. She's never a victim.
The biggest high point: Will Yun Lee... there's a scene in episode 6 where Quell and Takeshi 2 are talking and I swear all the vulnerability and pain of the character that I was hoping to see through Mackie all season Yun Lee showed in 2 minutes of the episode.
My great hope(and i may find out by seasons end) is that he is the Takeshi Kovac for season 3. He deserves it. Yun Lee has been around for a long time and he is wildly talented. Not just as the token asian martial artist but he is a true actor. This man has honed his craft over decades and deserves to steer this thing for awhile.
Season 1 had a very basic and yet extremely powerful story driving the whole thing...FAMILY. The dynamic between Tak and Rei was so incredible that I remember tearing up watching their scenes together. Bancroft and his family. The Elliots. Ortega and her mother, brother and the kids. It was all so simple. It was all so moving. We can all identify with what they were going through on some level. They lost that in S2.
Season 2 isn't awful but its certainly lost alot of tonal, writing and casting aspects that made it a major player in the sci fi game. S2 just feels like ordinary network tv scifi. 6/10