On the other hand, Altered Carbon is simultaneously a noir crime show that relies on sometimes-strong, sometimes-cheesy character development. This series' producers waste no time visually proving their admiration for Blade Runner and The Matrix-and when this show's fisticuffs, gunplay, and sword fighting are at their best, such shameless homages are easily forgiven. The world has changed thanks to so much body-swapping and other high-tech developments, and we see those concepts explored as a mix of broad, obvious strokes of plot development and thrilling action scenes. On one hand, we have a flashy, sexy, gorgeous-in-4K exploration of dystopian-future themes that are admittedly well-trodden territory. What unfolds can be described as two very good TV series battling each other for position and dominance. Kovacs, alongside his sometimes-partner-sometimes-rival Ortega (Martha Higareda), is taken aback by these cloud cities. Stackless bodies, as hinted to above, are known in this world as 'sleeves,' and these work as a point of controversy and contention among this future world's citizens (not to mention capital and bartering chips). Altered Carbon imagines a near-future world in which humanity has figured out how to cheat death: by slipping our personalities into discs in the back of the neck, known as 'stacks,' that can then bounce from body to body. Otherwise, this book's filmed series nails something really important in TV sci-fi: it raises obvious existential questions without talking down to viewers. Brutality and subtlety require different measurements in books and on screen, and this is possibly Altered Carbon's greatest failing. Bad guys don't look worse because more blood gushes or because we see how horrifically prostitutes are beaten. But in fulfilling a promise of book authenticity, Skydance Media's take on Altered Carbon turns words into blood and genitalia-and often with little character-development payoff. The compliment that I want to give this series is how awesome it could otherwise play for any sci-fi hungry teenagers in your life-for young adults coming to terms with identity, morality, and altruism. In my dream world, Netflix would create an entirely new edit of Altered Carbon's first season that pulls a few of its needlessly violent and sexual punches-let alone the egregious moments that gratuitously combine those two extremes. The locals don't take too kindly to upgraded sleeves 'round these parts.

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