So much payoff, some welcome character warmth, and a strong foray into more details of the world of the Aerium makes this one of the strongest Altered Carbon episodes since the first three. The series has promised big budget, high concept sci-fi thrills and, in this episode, it delivers.
Kovacs is coming up against the murderously twisted love and loyalty of his sister to disastrous effect. One wonders why he doesn't fight back, especially now that she's demonstrated how far she's willing to go to manipulate him into her idea of what their ideal future is. In this episode, we finally learn the details of what Rei has been up to, and see Kovacs begin to stand up to her.
As is true with the best of Altered Carbon, the visuals, acting, and writing are all solid in this episode. Supporting characters have become more and more central as Kovacs has slowly let them in, despite the tendency for Envoys to gather a small, expendable pack of locals to further their purposes. He's forming attachments, which feels better than lashing out at everyone to keep them at arm's distance. Lizzie is becoming more and more interesting as Poe helps her heal from the psychological torture she endured. Poe is consistently one of my favorites, the old-tech AI with more humanity than the humans.
And, after the first few episodes, the DHC/re-skin concept didn't seem to be explored again until recent stories, which is welcome. This time, sex workers who are part of a disturbing, extreme entertainment experience of which their deaths are the climax, are assumed to be re-sleeved in exchange for being willing to be killed for the pleasure of the extremely wealthy. A dark abuse of life and death that demonstrates the decadence of the Meths.
Speeding to a conclusion now. One more episode!
