Seven Years Later, This Netflix Sci-Fi Series Is Super Underrated

Over the years, streaming juggernaut Netflix has dazzled viewers with a number of eye-catching science fiction series. The most celebrated of the bunch is easily Black Mirror, but the platform has plenty in the way of noteworthy sci-fi programming beyond that beloved anthology effort. One title in particular that we think deserves more love than it seems to get is the 2018 Netflix original series Altered Carbon. Although the program only lasted for a total of two seasons before the streamer pulled the plug, the striking visuals, twisty narrative, futuristic setting, and commentary on societal caste systems resonated with subscribers.

Although Altered Carbon seems to live in the shadows of other platform originals, that’s not necessarily an indication of the program’s efficacy.

Why Is Altered Carbon So Underrated?

Sometimes, when a property evades its target audience it’s because the marketing budget doesn’t allow for an adequate level of promotion, but that’s not the case with Altered Carbon. The show stands as one of the most expensive series ever produced by the streamer, with each episode costing the platform an estimated $7 million.

If an absence of marketing isn’t to blame, what is? Some attribute the show’s lack of long-term success to a few different factors. One of the most noticeable is the recasting of the lead character Takeshi Kovacs in Season 2.

Joel Kinnaman initially features as Kovacs, existing as the face of the character for the duration of the inaugural season. Yet, in Season 2, actor Anthony Mackie steps into the role, serving as a new vessel for the lead character’s consciousness to exist within.

RELATED – Altered Carbon’s Cancellation Has Fans Heated Online

The lead actor isn’t the only change fans noticed between Season 1 and Season 2, some viewers also consider other elements of the second season inferior to the first. Although the second season fared better with critics, a vocal faction of fans expressed displeasure with the acting and storyline, in addition to the aforementioned transition to a new vessel for the lead character’s consciousness.

The streamer ultimately cancelled the series after just two seasons, in part due to the hefty price tag required to produce. If viewership had remained strong, that would likely have been a surmountable obstacle, however, there’s plenty of evidence that shows that fans didn’t connect with Season 2 as easily as they did the first.

In August of 2020, the streamer announced that the second season of Altered Carbon would also be its last.

Altered Carbon Was a Journey More Than a Decade in the Making

When series creator Laeta Kalogridis initially optioned the 2002 Richard K. Morgan novel Altered Carbon, she had designs on creating a film, rather than a TV series. However, turning the property into a feature proved easier said than done.

Kalogridis reportedly struggled to find a distributor for the project in feature form. 15 years after she first secured the rights to the 2002 novel, Netflix greenlit a small-screen series based on the IP.

In case you aren’t overly familiar with the setup or it has been a while since you last watched, the show imagines a world where human consciousness is stored on a disk-like device (called a cortical stack) that attaches to the vertebrae. The benefit of such an innovation is that our memories and consciousness aren’t as tied to our physical form, allowing the potential for our human identity to be transferred into a new vessel after death.

Within the world of Altered Carbon, luxuries like consciousness transfer are primarily available only to the financial elite, often known as Meths.

On the whole, underrated sci-fi series Altered Carbon delivers a widely beloved first season, with which fans are almost unanimously taken. Though Season 2 proves slightly more divisive, there are still plenty of viewers who would love to see the program continue.

The Altered Carbon series canon consists of two seasons of television and an anime prequel feature set more than two centuries prior to the events of the series. There are no future plans for more seasons of the show or spinoff films. Should that change, we will keep you in the loop.

Have you experienced this under-seen effort on Netflix? Let us know how you feel about the program in the comments section below.