formerlyfreedom February 2, 2018 Share February 2, 2018 Quote After learning his sleeve's identity, Kovacs demands the full story from Ortega. A tip from Poe leads to a major breakthrough in the Bancroft case. Link to comment
ramble February 4, 2018 Share February 4, 2018 (edited) I’m losing interest. Ortega and her story bores me. I’m planning on skipping through the rest at this point. Hear about the mystery. See Poe. Why are all dystopian futures rainy? Why does every future that involves AI end up about sex? These aren’t real questions I’m just finding myself bored enough that my mind wanders... Edited February 4, 2018 by ramble 5 Link to comment
Whimsy February 5, 2018 Share February 5, 2018 19 hours ago, ramble said: I’m losing interest. Ortega and her story bores me. I’m planning on skipping through the rest at this point. Hear about the mystery. See Poe. Why are all dystopian futures rainy? Why does every future that involves AI end up about sex? These aren’t real questions I’m just finding myself bored enough that my mind wanders... Sorry you’re losing interest. This was my favorite episode so far. I wasn’t too into this show with the first episode but, to me, they’ve been getting better with each one. That weapon used on Ortega was horrendous. It took out huge chunks of her! And, even though it was a trope, I totally bought the connection between Kovacs and Ortega. I think Ortega sees Kovacs as his own person and not Riker. 11 Link to comment
Netfoot February 5, 2018 Share February 5, 2018 On 2/4/2018 at 1:25 AM, ramble said: Why are all dystopian futures rainy? Same reason they are so often gloomy. It makes it easier to conceal cheap background scenery. 7 Link to comment
thuganomics85 February 6, 2018 Share February 6, 2018 Good old Matt Frewer showing up in a bizarre get-up and hairstyle! He's always a treat. Hopefully we see him again, especially since it looks like he has Kovacs' past body (the one played by Byron Mann) as part of his fighting games. After they revealed that Kovacs' new body was Ortega's partner/boyfriend's past one, I knew a hook-up was only a matter of time, but I'm still surprised it happened this quickly. Kind of underdeveloped, especially on Ortega's end, but I guess it was suppose to be a combination of him in that body and some good old-fashioned hate lust for Kovacs. Guess I can't complain too much since while Martha Higareda might not be the greatest actress, she certainly has a great body. Speaking of Kovacs' hook-ups, it sounds like Miriam wants him to drop the case, because she thinks Banecroft actually did commit suicide and will take it out on Kovacs once he finds out the truth. Or so she claims. So don't trust her. Even if she's promising to help get him to her private island, where he can live out his days banging numerous Miriam clones (I think that was what was going on?) Should have known Ortega's partner wasn't long for this world. This mysterious guy does not fuck around! Not enough Vernon and Poe this go around. 7 Link to comment
shapeshifter February 6, 2018 Share February 6, 2018 1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said: Good old Matt Frewer showing up in a bizarre get-up and hairstyle! Was the hairdo supposed to be reminiscent of Max Headroom? Some day I probably should watch that show. (It aired 20 years into my 30 year boycott of television that began when I was 14.) 1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said: After they revealed that Kovacs' new body was Ortega's partner/boyfriend's past one, I knew a hook-up was only a matter of time, but I'm still surprised it happened this quickly. Kind of underdeveloped, especially on Ortega's end, but I guess it was suppose to be a combination of him in that body and some good old-fashioned hate lust for Kovacs I saw the hookup as being driven by Kovacs' expressions of romantic affection for Ortega—which seemed to come out of left field—sort of a glimpse of a subplot that could've been, not unlike the brief transgendering of Ortega's Abuela during the Day of the a Dead feast, or the mentions of religion in their world. Too bad scifi has to meet a high quotient of action and violence and a low quotient of character development in order to be assured of an audience and thereby advertisers—not that I want a soap opera. 4 Link to comment
CaptainTightpants February 7, 2018 Share February 7, 2018 I did like this episode quite a bit. Kinnaman's portrayal of Kovacs has grown on me a lot, and Poe is awesome although underused in this episode sadly. However a couple of things were bugging me. Ortega demonstrably lacks any skill you would expect to find in a detective based in a large and corrupt city. Even her partner tries to make Kovacs responsible for her safety and behavior, like she is some stupid kid. Which is disappointing, I had hoped this character would be more badass. That interrogation was laughable, I don't know how she still has a job with the attitude she pulls at the station. The fight scene is the elevator might be the grittiest and most realistic violence we have seen yet. It was not artistic in any way which made more of an impact in my opinion. But why isn't there any cameras in the elevator at the police station? I mean we have that ability now, and this is a technologically advanced future, shouldn't someone be aware of what is going on in the station? Kovacs was running around for minutes and nobody knew that 2 cops were getting murdered except him. It was also a little unlikely that a profoundly devout neo-religious nut like Ortega's mom grabs a shotgun and tries to commit murder as soon as she sees Ryker walk into the apartment. And I do wonder how Ortega affords that huge loft conversion when she is supposedly broke paying for the mortgage on Ryker's body. This episode did answer an earlier question I had about the Bancroft children though. Kovacs did confirm that Bancroft forces his children to stay in child-like bodies so that they aren't taken seriously as adults. So I assume his whole family hates his guts. I am loving this series. There isn't near enough real sci-fi on tv for my tastes, so this show is a very welcome addition. But there are some inconsistencies here. I hope we get a bit more streamlined plotting in season 2. Also the little pocket sized mustache killer is weird and creepy as hell. 4 Link to comment
Cruella February 8, 2018 Share February 8, 2018 23 hours ago, CaptainTightpants said: Ortega demonstrably lacks any skill you would expect to find in a detective based in a large and corrupt city. Even her partner tries to make Kovacs responsible for her safety and behavior, like she is some stupid kid. Which is disappointing, I had hoped this character would be more badass. That interrogation was laughable, I don't know how she still has a job with the attitude she pulls at the station. This episode did answer an earlier question I had about the Bancroft children though. Kovacs did confirm that Bancroft forces his children to stay in child-like bodies so that they aren't taken seriously as adults. So I assume his whole family hates his guts. I thought this convo was a little sexist TBH (and also cliched). Would they have it if Ortega was a guy? "My partner Jack here is very impressionable and hurts easily. I will hold you completely responsible for his well-being, dude, even though you barely know him, and he had been stalking you. If you ever break his heart, dude, I am gonna kill you". No, no they wouldn't. 17 Link to comment
shapeshifter February 8, 2018 Share February 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Cruella said: I thought this convo was a little sexist TBH (and also cliched). Would they have it if Ortega was a guy? "My partner Jack here is very impressionable and hurts easily. I will hold you completely responsible for his well-being, dude, even though you barely know him, and he had been stalking you. If you ever break his heart, dude, I am gonna kill you". No, no they wouldn't. Yeah, only if it was Ortega's abuela in the biker dude's sleeve. There's just barely enough here for me to see it through to the end. Maybe. Link to comment
MissLucas February 11, 2018 Share February 11, 2018 They almost lost me with the Ortega Kovacs hook-up. Sure plenty of eye-candy there but otherwise it felt like a trope the writers had to deal with on their check-list. Which is a pity because I liked Ortega's backstory. The moment when she expressed doubts about her partner (If this is a mistake) was really powerful and established a basis for understanding her actions and motivations a bit better. Too bad it lost a good deal of its significance due to the hook-up. 1 Link to comment
MisterGlass February 11, 2018 Share February 11, 2018 I did smile at seeing Matt Frewer. I've tried on this series but it's not getting me. They've worked hard with the scifi concepts and some of them are nifty, but I find some of the body swapping logistics flawed. The reaction to 'skin' damage and death is inconsistent. And I would expect first life religious characters to have their chips removed, not re-coded. I'm usually good with noir films and shady characters. In series format, at least in this series, I find I don't like any of the characters enough to spend more time with them. 2 Link to comment
tennisgurl February 17, 2018 Share February 17, 2018 I really liked this episode, and that elevator fight was freaking brutal. Ortega isn't the best detective ever (especially in such a corumpt city and police force) but she is a seriously tough hcick. That guy ripped out half her internal organs it looked like, and she still kept lunging at and even biting the creepy assasin guy. Sucks that it looks like her partner is gone. Or maybe not, its hard to tell in this universe. The Ortega/Kovacs hook up was rather out of the blue, but I did see them show some actual chemistry there, beyond Ortega being hung up on her boyfriend, and some of their banter was actually cute. "Well I did the talking Ryker mostly stood around looking angry" "I can do that" "Just cross your arms or something" *Kovacs awkwardly crosses his arms and tries to look EXTRA mean*. See, I can get behind that. If they held off on the hook up for an episode or two, I could have been alright with this hook up. I do appreciate that Ortega finally gets that Kovacs is an actual person who might be worth something, and not just some asshole riding around in the skin of her dead boyfriend. Matt Frewer arrives, and is weird and awesome, and thats exactly how you should use your Matt Frewer. Can he pop back up again for a few scenes? 5 Link to comment
wanderingstar February 18, 2018 Share February 18, 2018 It's a shame I'm finding this show so trite and uninteresting because it features actors that I like a lot. Ato Essandoh, Matt Frewer, Renee Goldsberry, Will Yun Lee. If you'd told me these actors would be in a show that I'd struggle to get through, I'd never believe you. Of course Ortega sleeps with Kovac-as-Ryker. Of COURSE. *rme* Maybe I'm just not the audience the creators of this show had in mind. Link to comment
Danny Franks February 18, 2018 Share February 18, 2018 It's difficult to understand how weird it must be to see the same faces, with different people behind them. But it's so much a part of reality, that it just rang false that Kovacs actually said "how do I know you are who you are? Before stacks, sure. But now, a face is just a face." With Meths, and their clone banks, there really, really would be better security and ID processes, to ensure that they're not being impersonated. Especially for people like the Bancrofts, who want to control everything in their worlds. I understand Ortega's dilemma, that the man she loves is now someone else, but it still doesn't make me appreciate Martha Higareda's acting. She's just so flat. Kinnaman is growing on me, though. He's showing a wry sense of humour that I quite like, and seems suitable for a noir story like this. Sure, she fucks him because she's still hot for Riker's bod. Or is it because Kovacs lack of charisma has somehow won her over, just a day or so after she saw him waving a decapitated head about? She looks fantastic without her clothes on, though. But that scene really didn't warrant the tender looks and romantic music they gave it. Sleeve mortgage was slipped into this episode too, to explain how bodies aren't just reallocated as soon as someone gets locked up for a few months. In a society like this, it's easy to see how vultures and corrupt officials would make a killing out of selling good sleeves 'under the counter'. And they gave us a brief look at a synthetic sleeve, which I recall from the book being capable of so many things human sleeves weren't. But apart from the easily available sleeves, so much of the rest of the technology just doesn't seem advanced enough to be 250 years after Kovacs originally lived on Harlan's World. I get that the show has a budget, but they could have done a better job of disguising things, and at least not make a point about someone using an 80s style tape as "old school". I'm sorry, but I thought the elevator fight was really poorly done. The editing wasn't great, and Ortega went from being on the verge of passing out to throwing kicks and punches about three times. Also, there was just too much gore for me. I find it stunning (though not really, given the proclivities of modern society) that it's the sex and nudity that this show came under fire for, from 'concerned' people. This show just seems to be so much less than it could have been, and I find that a real disappointment. As a fan of the book, and as someone who would love to see more cyberpunk on TV and in movies. 2 Link to comment
Clanstarling February 19, 2018 Share February 19, 2018 On 2/3/2018 at 9:25 PM, ramble said: Why does every future that involves AI end up about sex? These aren’t real questions I’m just finding myself bored enough that my mind wanders... Have you seen the Japanese work on sex robots? Seems like sex is one of the go-to uses for every new technology. To me, it seems reflective of human nature. On 2/6/2018 at 5:54 PM, CaptainTightpants said: It was also a little unlikely that a profoundly devout neo-religious nut like Ortega's mom grabs a shotgun and tries to commit murder as soon as she sees Ryker walk into the apartment. Eh, they are against spinning up souls once they're dead, but plenty of religious nuts don't have trouble with killing non-believers for a variety of reasons. So it doesn't seem that unlikely to me. She didn't try to off abuela, so it's clearly personal. 2 Link to comment
Swartz December 30, 2018 Share December 30, 2018 I'm glad I stuck with this show. I read a lot of reviews which said it gets better midway and I agree. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series 1 Link to comment
Ottis May 15, 2021 Share May 15, 2021 (edited) Catching up.... losing interest. Did we solve the crime? What’s the point of the show now? Ryker was set up? Little to no interest in Ortega and and her family. I like the world. I think what they are doing with it is uninteresting. Edited May 15, 2021 by Ottis Link to comment
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