(Review updated after Season 2).
Takeshi Kovacs wakes up after 250 years in hibernation. He is now in a different body, a fact made possible by modern technology. Humans are able to upload their profile into a device embedded in their bodies, a "stack". This allows humans to be immortal, as long as their stack is not damaged: if their body, or "sleeve", dies they can transfer themselves into a new sleeve and continue existing. The recently-murdered Laurens Bancroft, one of the wealthiest people in the world, now hires Kovacs to find out who murdered him.
Season 1 wasn't brilliant, but was entertaining nevertheless. It started off in very intriguing fashion - the stack technology, Kovacs's past, Bancroft's murder, the cop who keeps following Kovacs. However, character engagement was limited, largely due to Kovacs, played by Joel Kinnaman (of Robocop infamy), being an incoherent meathead and the show leaning more towards action than intelligent plot development.
This is particularly so in the middle section - Episodes 5 and 6. I was ready to give up on the show until a good twist in Season 7 breathed new life into it. From then on it was generally a pretty slick, action-filled ride with some good twists and turns. The stack idea is novel, and fairly confronting once you think about it, and the writers do well to not let technological inconsistencies creep into the plot.
On the downside, the backstories were overly elaborate, which did set the momentum back a bit.
Season 2 wasn't necessary - Season 1 ended with enough closure - yet it was made anyway. It adds nothing interesting to the story and just demonstrates how heavily the series relies on the novelty of the stack-and-sleeve concept. Once the novelty of that wears off, this series is a conventional, style-over-substance action drama. And the novelty wore off around Season 1 Episode 5...
Season 1:7/10. Season 2: 5/10.
Takeshi Kovacs wakes up after 250 years in hibernation. He is now in a different body, a fact made possible by modern technology. Humans are able to upload their profile into a device embedded in their bodies, a "stack". This allows humans to be immortal, as long as their stack is not damaged: if their body, or "sleeve", dies they can transfer themselves into a new sleeve and continue existing. The recently-murdered Laurens Bancroft, one of the wealthiest people in the world, now hires Kovacs to find out who murdered him.
Season 1 wasn't brilliant, but was entertaining nevertheless. It started off in very intriguing fashion - the stack technology, Kovacs's past, Bancroft's murder, the cop who keeps following Kovacs. However, character engagement was limited, largely due to Kovacs, played by Joel Kinnaman (of Robocop infamy), being an incoherent meathead and the show leaning more towards action than intelligent plot development.
This is particularly so in the middle section - Episodes 5 and 6. I was ready to give up on the show until a good twist in Season 7 breathed new life into it. From then on it was generally a pretty slick, action-filled ride with some good twists and turns. The stack idea is novel, and fairly confronting once you think about it, and the writers do well to not let technological inconsistencies creep into the plot.
On the downside, the backstories were overly elaborate, which did set the momentum back a bit.
Season 2 wasn't necessary - Season 1 ended with enough closure - yet it was made anyway. It adds nothing interesting to the story and just demonstrates how heavily the series relies on the novelty of the stack-and-sleeve concept. Once the novelty of that wears off, this series is a conventional, style-over-substance action drama. And the novelty wore off around Season 1 Episode 5...
Season 1:7/10. Season 2: 5/10.