Altered Carbon season 2 review: Anthony Mackie is breathtaking as visceral Takeshi Kovacs

Altered Carbon concluded its first season leaving Takeshi Kovacs (originally played by Joel Kinnaman, now played by Anthony Mackie) in a good place. The Last Envoy was finally free, and was last seen searching for his last love, Quell Falconer (Renee Elise Goldsberry). Season two picks up 30 years after this, and continues Takeshi’s quest to find some sort of information about his long-lost beau.

Thankfully, this relatively thin opening instantly accelerates, and launches Takeshi into a new corporate mystery filled with a number of unexpected results.

While the second season begins with an unendingly rich man hires Takeshi for protection from an assassin that is out to kill him, things ramp up quickly.

In what feels like an attempt to change-up plot points from the first season, Takeshi is quickly placed in the firing line, and is forced to choose his allies carefully even earlier than usual.

Thankfully, when the story does edge towards story beats which have already been explored, it ventures further into the cosmic aspect of the Altered Carbon universe.

While some viewers may find this a little off-putting, it certainly does freshen up the cyberpunk world built around Takeshi, and does a good job of making him feel fragile in a world without death.

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Coming in two episodes shorter than season one, the eight episodes run at a breakneck speed, and quickly dive into some of the harder-to-swallow aspects of Takeshi’s life.

However, with this more focussed look at Takeshi’s journey, it was disappointing to see so much time spent on the journey of new, minor characters.

One newcomer in particular – an AI – explores quite a significant story arc in the space of two-or-three episodes, before falling entirely into the background once again.

Takeshi also gains a new right-hand-woman – Trepp (Simone Missick) – who, similarly, makes for an uninteresting watch. In particular, Trepp’s storylines are so peppered throughout the season so sporadically, it becomes difficult to remember why you cared about her family in the first place.

The worst part about the various side-characters introduced in this new chapter is they detract from Anthony Mackie, and his spectacular take on the cyberpunk assassin Takeshi Kovacs.

It’s no secret Mackie is a Hollywood veteran, but this is the first time he has had eight hours of screen time to stretch his legs as one character – and he is fantastic.

While the first season of Altered Carbon saw Kinnaman show off Takeshi’s raw strength and aggression, Mackie brings the logical next step in his journey.

Mackie is powerful, calculated, and emotional throughout the eight episodes, and frequently lets loose his incredible talent as Takeshi begins to let his anger slip – as it did frequently in season one.

Previously, Takeshi welcomed death, and reaped fury upon anyone who attempted to kill him. Now, Mackie is nail-bitingly indignant to the concept of Real Death, as his stack has been spinning for over 300 years.

Oddly enough, Mackie comes alive even more as Takeshi when he is pitted against himself – Takeshi Kovacs played by Will Yun Lee.

The details surrounding the return of Takeshi Prime are excellent, and Yun Lee’s return is exceptional. He delivers a fresh take in the seemingly black-or-white war which rages around him.

The few scenes the two iterations of Takeshi have together are stand-out, and should be savoured by fans of the franchise.

Eight episodes certainly feels like the perfect compromise for a TV show of this caliber, as the budget looks better spent in almost every aspect of the story.

However the one disappointment the narrative holds is the ending.

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Without spoiling anything, the ending fails to deliver a definitive conclusion to the story it set up for eight hours.

As circumstances change throughout the show, fans could begin to expect a third season involving Takeshi, but should not be surprised if this is the show’s conclusion once-and-for-all.

Altered Carbon season two expands on almost everything season one built up. Some story seeds which were planted back with Kinnaman are explored further throughout season two. Takeshi feels like a more rounded character, and his desires are better communicated, granting viewers less time guessing on where his intentions lie. The story is fantastic – a true cyberpunk neon dream which should not be taken for granted. It has the perfect blend of science fiction, fantasy, and political intrigue to feel like the original Richard Morgan novels. Unfortunately, it fails to stick the leading flawlessly, and viewers may feel a little irritated by how things are wrapped up. Thankfully, Anthony Mackie is truly breathtaking as Takeshi Kovacs. His arrival is welcomed, and – if he doesn’t return for a third season – fans will truly struggle to see anyone else playing the Envoy.

Altered Carbon season 2 is available on Netflix now.

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