The second and third episodes of Altered Carbon begin Takeshi Kovacs’ (Joel Kinnaman) investigation into the murder attempt on his employer Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy). His search for suspects will lead him to an ally of convience in a former soldier (Ato Essandoh) who blames the billionaire for the death of his daughter (Hayley Law). Helping out his new friend (after he broke into his home, threatened him, and beat him up… twice), will get Kovacs in more trouble by the end of the third episode. There’s also the dangling thread of the girl who fell from the sky which currently feels completely superflous, but Ortega’s (Martha Higareda) involvement in hiding the body is an obvious tip that is more going on her than meets the eye. And don’t miss the first appearance of the mysterious ghost walker who spied on Kovacs sleeping with Miriam Bancroft (Kristin Lehman) and seems to have a special interest in the show’s protagonist.
After three episodes the only result of his investigation is that Bancroft, and the upper-crust society which compromises the bulk of the suspect list (who Bancoft invites to dinner to show off his new toy), aren’t worth his time or energy. The further I get into the series the more obvious that the mystery itself is one of the weakest aspects of the show while writers are spending much more time on character interaction, Kovacs past and present, and the world as a whole. The mystery will loom for several episodes, but in the immediate future Kovacs is going to be far more concerned with the trouble he’s gotten himself into looking into what happened to Vernon’s daughter which is also tied the the history of the skin he’s been walking around in.
