Some things in Altered Carbon have always bothered me:
The characters’ relationship with the central gimmick of “stacks” seems a bit inconsistent. It would be one thing if it were a new technology, but apparently it is hundreds(!) of years old, so it should be routine, and indeed even the non-rich are able to afford them. (Why do people opposed to the idea, like Catholics, have a stack implanted in the first place?) So it is routine for the entire brain to be electronically wired (or is it wireless?) to the extent that the original brain and body are not essential - sounds ultra-high-tech, complicated and expensive - so why aren’t there mass-produced robotic bodies available for the price of a new car, even if basic clones are expensive for some reason? Why are only the rich able to afford extra bodies? And why isn’t everybody continuously backed up onto the cloud in real time (data storage should be cheap)? Why no thriving online-only community (better than being stuck in cold storage or dead)?
Kovacs happens to be squeamish about editing his own mind or splitting/merging it (the latter being illegal), but why would the average person avoid it, not to mention the Methuselah oligarchs?
I loved it. I do have criticisms, but overall, this was a great show. I hope it returns for a second season.
Rei dies in the end, but even though they stopped her current update, wouldn’t she have a backup/previous update that could be loaded up in the future? Or were we told no backups exist and she has been real-deathed?
In the book, does it turn out Bancroft really did commit suicide or is there a murderer? Just curious.
It was implied that she is really dead, which is one of the things that did not quite make sense, because as you say even if her current update and a few other backups have been corrupted, she would have more backups at a different data center.
IIRC he kills himself to forget about the prostitutes he murdered while on drugs (the backups are only periodic).
I believe the other team members sent a computer worm into her computer network and corrupted her other backups. She might have been able to retrieve an older backup from somewhere else, but he blew out her stack. Game over.
Maybe that’s the bit I misunderstood. I thought the backups were precisely in case something happened to one’s stack, whereas an intact stack could simply be popped into any available body. (I realize that for the story to come to an ending there has to be a way to defeat the bad guy, but “upload a virus” seemed a bit too easy. Maybe they really did have time to locate and corrupt each and every backup center.)
In the books, the stacks are much smaller (described as around the size of a cigarette filter) and are surgically implanted in the base of the brain/top of the spinal cord soon after birth. They aren’t removable and they aren’t transplantable. When you upload to a new body, all that is moving is a bunch of ones and zeros being transferred from one installed stack to another installed stack. There is no mention (that I recall) of installing a stack into an adult body that didn’t already have one. (I don’t know how the show would handle it differently with the stacks being the size of a Buick and covered with blinkenlights.)
You’re right, of course (but see below). The stack itself seems to be some sort of solid-state storage that backs up the brain it is connected to in real- or near-real-time. A disembodied stack is not itself conscious; it needs to be connected to an organic brain or loaded into a computer to activate the personality.
It is mentioned in the third book that a stack can indeed be installed in an adult body, whose mind can then be backed up and/or a new personality installed. As for physically removing them, Kovacs spends a lot of time ripping stacks out of people’s spines; it’s not said they can be removed without damaging the sleeve, but since they can be carefully installed, who knows. All in all, a stack seems to be a sort of solid-state drive wired to the nervous system.
If I were one of the oligarchs of that world, I would at least take a lot more care encrypting my mind and implementing a robust backup strategy. It is also mentioned that anti-virus software exists, in light of which the climax of the first book is hard to reconcile, but then again Earth is said to be a backwards “shithole” so they may not have access to the best military-grade stuff.
Fantastic choice. Hopefully the new season has a sharper story and sharper villain. I enjoyed the first half of the first season a lot, the second half not so much.
I don’t know the new lead but I’d be willing to give Season 2 a chance, even tho I didn’t (and will not) finish watching S1. Depending on what they do for the plot, of course. If they go to Broken Angels for source material, great; I’m in. If they make up something new (which is what I would do if I were a producer) I’ll have to see what they cook up.
You’re thinking of the other guys… Tak’s sleeve in “Broken Angels” was an “Afro-Caribbean combat sleeve”, and he keeps it through the whole thing IIRC.
I’ve essentially refused to watch the show because of the screwy way they describe the Envoys- their position as the baddest of the bad, their position in the UN military hierarchy, and how/what they did is a big part of what makes Kovacs what he is; having them be rebels, etc… kind of torpedoes a big chunk of what makes the character what he is.