- Title: Altered Carbon – Experiment Perilous
- wiki: link
Discovering there is as second consciousness within Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry), Kovacs (Anthony Mackie) calls on the help of Dig 301 (Dina Shihabi) and Poe (Chris Conner) to load both of them into VR where they hope to separate and contain the second personality obsessed with killing the founders. “Experiment Perilous” offers explanation for several of the season’s questions including Quell’s abilities to permanently kill someone and rain down Angel Fire, a skill that Governor Danica Harlan (Lela Loren) desperately wants for herself, by revealing the second personality is actually an Elder seeking vengeance for the murder of the last of her kind. The other Kovacs (Will Yun Lee) and Jaeger (Torben Liebrecht) hacking into the VR doesn’t prevent Kovacs from saving Quell but it does allow the trapped elder a means of escape back into the real world.
The VR environment is a bit of a mixed bag that feels a tad limited on budget in spots (actually reminding me of classic Doctor Who) but works well enough as a backdrop for the number of big reveals. Along with the revelations, “Experiment Perilous” is also notable for Trepp (Simone Missick) taking Kovacs’ body out for test drive to save her wife and son, Dig and Poe continuing to get closer (ending in yet another tearful goodbye when Dig is forced to shutdown realizing she is leading the enemy to them), the first look and an Elder, and (now Elder-powered) Jaeger taking over as the season’s big bad. If Kovacs and Quell can avoid the Protectorate breaking down their door they’ll have a new threat to deal with as after the Elder finishes with the last remaining founder it may decide to turn its attention on the rest of the humans inhabiting the world.
