The second season begins when Tripp scores for that man she has been chasing for some time. On the other hand, the planet celebrates Harlan's day during that period, and Kovacs is trying to devise a plan to escape. Meanwhile, Coyle combines fragments of her life and faces a path that may not be good, and Poe confronts reality.
It's no secret Mackie is a Hollywood veteran, but this is the first time he has had eight hours of screen time to stretch his legs as one character - and he is fantastic.
Thankfully, it seems creator Laeta Kalogridis and the series producers have taken this on board, and this time around there's not a ridiculously see-through gown or inexplicable nude scene in sight.
It still falls short of its potential, but Altered Carbon has probably done enough to ensure it runs for years to come. A lump of graphite, if not quite the full diamond.
Few TV shows manage to get the writing, acting, and directing right, but the second season of Altered Carbon will keep people talking for months, if not years after it hits the air.
I found myself desperately wishing for Altered Carbon to leave its world of endless lives, satellite back ups, and shapeless political revolutions behind, to focus... on the AIs discarded by humanity as yet another resource to be wasted and forgotten.
Initially, Kovacs investigating the death of yet another meth is worrisome, but Altered Carbon manages to switch gears and deliver a much more cohesive and emotionally grounded season.
The ideas behind the premise are so good, the potential to examine existential issues about identity and humanity and how they're tied up in our physical form are so great, that it's frustrating to see how often the show takes a too-shallow approach.
By the season finale, it becomes clear that this has stopped being the Kovacs show and, instead, an ensemble endeavour that manages to satisfyingly tie up a season arc while teasing storylines yet to be explored.
Altered Carbon also succeeds at the level of breathtaking spectacle. After a stuttering first season, a would-be blockbuster has belatedly but emphatically achieved lift-off.