Altered Carbon Season 2 Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

2. The Terrific Supporting Cast

The show's ensemble cast continues to be a major strong suit, with season two once again lending the meatiest supporting role to Chris Conner, whose charming A.I. Poe continues to be the heart and soul of the series.

Elsewhere Renée Elise Goldsberry is afforded a greatly expanded role as Takeshi's lover Quellcrist Falconer, and Torben Liebrecht is a hoot as the villainous grunt Colonel Carrera.

But easily the sharpest addition to the cast this season is Luke Cage's Simone Missick, who joins the series as bounty hunter Trepp and whose overpowering screen presence damn-near wrestles scenes away from even Anthony Mackie.

No matter how badly the script falters, as it often does, the cast does their level best to make it work, and without such strong casting, it'd be decidedly tougher to make it through some of the shoddier writing.