I like my science fiction hard. I want stories where a strange thing is proposed, and then the writer takes a long look at what that would do to society. I don't like stories that are set in the future but in which everything is resolved with techno babble and space wizardry.
When I watched the first season of Altered Carbon I quite liked it. It had some issues, notably the excessive sexual violence against women, the star actor having only a single expression, and the departures from the books in ways that weren't useful, but I still had a positive watching experience. It did the thing I want science fiction to do where it built a consistent, believable universe and explored the consequences of a particular scientific discovery - the ability to move human consciousness from body to body and preserve it after the death of the meatsack.
I read all three books in the series and enjoyed them too. The followup books weren't as good as the first, but there was still something there that I appreciated. When I heard of season 2 I eagerly awaited the adaptation of book 2. The reviews were positive and particularly highlighted how it was better than season 1, so I had high expectations.
Those expectations were dashed. There were good things - I liked the queer and POC representation in the show better. The lead actor was a considerable improvement.
But the story.... ack. Instead of writing an installment that built on the first season, they decided to just randomly change physics and technology whenever they had a cool scene to write. The AIs in particular were a neverending sack of nonsense technobabble in the service of unnecessary details. Want to have a certain spot look a certain way? Mumble about nano swarms and then have it just happen. Want to threaten an AI? Mumble about code and have it just happen.
It makes me sad when writers clearly give up. Instead of building a compelling story in the world they have created, they just decide to change the world any time the facts get in the way of whatever thing they want to do. I can't be excited about threats to characters when the threats are nonsensical, nor thrilled by solutions when they are pulled straight out of somebody's ass. It is especially egregious when they use a solution for one thing and then refuse to use it for another because they want to make up some new stupid random thing to solve that.
Character abilities also shift without warning. Sometimes people are unbeatable fighting machines, and then in the next scene they get bested by some random chumps because they needed to get arrested because plot. Equipment randomly acquires or loses abilities for convenience, so it is hard to have any idea what anyone can do. At one point the characters are standing at the scene of a battle, completely surrounded by well equipped dead fighters. However, the next scene needs them to be at a particular gun store, so they announce that they need guns and head off to the gun store, leaving reams of excellent armament just sitting on the ground.
I can't get into a story that silly. Nothing feels serious or real, and the emotional moments end up being contrived instead of poignant. It is sad, because the source material gave them a ton to work with, and instead they created an entirely new story, one that is held together by the flimsiest of plots.
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