Welcome to the coverage for Altered Carbon’s third episode of season one, “In A Lonely Place.” This time we get to see our detective, Takeshi Kovacs, in his favorite place to be, a party. So let’s put on our Sunday best and get ready for this week’s episode.
1. The Bug
When Kovacs wakes up, one of the first things Poe tells him is that he was hacked, and someone snuck a bug into his room. That bug recorded him and Bancroft’s wife hooking up that night. He doesn’t feel bad for what he did, but he’s more curious about who would go that far and why. Kovacs asks nearly everyone he comes into conversation with within this episode about it. When he does ask, he has this parent-like tone because he believes he’s going to find out who it is but still ends up with nothing. I think it’s an interesting twist for Kovacs because he is so used to being the smartest one in the room, so for something to get past his radar it bugs him. The man behind it has yet to be named and is only shown briefly, making the audience even more curious about who he could be and what his intentions are.
2. The Party
The big event in this week’s episode is Bancroft’s party, which is filled with guests that he believes may have a reason for killing him. Why invite all the people who want to kill him into his house? Bancroft gives a good reason in that, if Kovacs starts going around asking questions, no one is going to give him straight answers so why not just put them in a room with some liquor and see if they open up? It’s kind of hard to argue that kind of logic, but it gives the audience a better look than him going door-to-door with pointless questioning. This way, he gets through like three guests in five minutes until he gets some more background on his family.
Kovacs meets Bancroft’s son, Isaac, a drunk rich kid who likes to screw around and try to mess things up for his dad. His daughter, Naomi, takes her mom’s sleeve and likes to have sex with strangers in it. Why? Again, just a rich kid who likes to screw around. The audience learns that they might not like their dad but if he dies, for real dies, they end up penniless, so it also throws them out of the window for suspects. Also, it goes to show the audience how twisted this entire family is.
3. “Build A Pack”
In last week’s episode, Kovacs met Vernon Elliot and made an “ally.” This week, he asks him to have his back at the party. They’re both unsure of one another but Kovacs needs someone on his side and offers help with Elliot’s daughter’s murder. While picking up some weapons, Kovacs flashes back to when he was training to be an envoy and remembers the lesson of “building a pack.” His intelligence and strength will only take him so far alone. Elliot has his troubles, but he’s a man with some military background that could be useful. I thought it was a good lesson for him to flashback to because it was more than just having someone to watch his back; it was also about making the person feels trusted. This kind of emotional connection is something that Kovacs has already proven he knows how to pull when it is beneficial for him. He may not care, but he sure knows how to act like it.
4. The Fight
The entertainment at this Meth party is a married couple fighting to the “death” for a payday and the winner getting an upgraded sleeve. This feels like the equivalent of dog or cock fighting for anyone else, but with legit paperwork and some minor rules. Bancroft throws Kovacs in for some extra fun with the couple throwing in a bonus of both being upgraded if they kill him. It’s a pure power play scene for Bancroft to remind Kovacs that he can do with him whatever he wants. The crowd is also in it for the bloodlust, at one point they get some blood splashed on them and it feels like a person who was sitting front-row at a water show. Despite knowing that Kovacs was going to survive, it’s a fun scene of zero gravity fighting and some serious bloodshed. You can’t help but wish Kovacs would just punch Bancroft right in the face for pulling that kind of stunt, but he’s too smart to do that early in the game. For now, he takes his punches and walks out head held up high.
Continued below5. Fairy Tales
This episode also gives a flashback to when Kovacs was a child with his little sister, Rei, making up stories to help each other during a tough time in their life. The thing that stands out is that these are not typical child-like stories with happy endings. They tell a story about a man who murders children to create his kind of Frankenstein’s monster. It’s an interesting scene because, despite their young adolescent age, they’ve seen terrible things such as their mom being abused by their father and understand how cruel the world is. This is another insight into Kovacs and how his life has led him into the life of an envoy to protect his own and keep his feelings in check.
The significant line that comes from the flashback, “never face the monsters alone,” gets repeated in the final moments of the episode when he is awakened from a drug. With the continuous theme of “building a pack” and making some alliances, this is a key moment that will show if he has anyone that is going to find him to help out, or if he is going to have to stand on his own and beat these monsters by himself. You’ll just have to stay tuned until next week.
