What a shame! Netflix cancels the cyberpunk sci-fi series "Altered Carbon"

Foreign media Variety confirmed that Netflix has canceled the science fiction series "Altered Carbon". The first season of "Altered Carbon" was broadcast in 2018, and the second season was replaced with a black protagonist and aired in February this year. According to people familiar with the matter, the reason for Netflix's decision is that the cost and ratings of the series do not match.

It is worth mentioning that last week Netflix also cancelled two series, "Parallel Society" and "This Is Not OK", because the rising medical and safety costs caused by the new coronavirus led to higher budgets. However, both series have second seasons, which are also the final seasons.

"Altered Carbon" takes place in a futuristic world where the human brain has been digitized and people can transfer their consciousness from one body to another. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Richard K. Morgan and follows the adventures of interstellar warrior Takeshi Kovacs, who was played by Joel Kinnaman in the first season and Anthony Mackie ("The Falcon") in the second season.

Like similar cyberpunk works, in "Altered Carbon", computer and information technology have developed to an extremely high level, the boundary between humans and machines has begun to disappear, and society has become highly ordered. In this world, humans can digitize and store their consciousness. When the body dies, the consciousness can continue to survive through transmission. And this phenomenon is possible thanks to a technology: the cortical register. This is a chip that stores a person's memory, personality, and so on. Everyone's consciousness can be downloaded to the register of any body, just like a memory card, which can be placed in the body and can be taken out at any time and inserted into another body. A person can even carry multiple registers with him, just like carrying several people. This also causes reflection: Are highly cyborgized humans still humans? What price do humans have to pay in the pursuit of immortality?