Best Drama TV Shows on Netflix Right Now (2020)

44. Altered Carbon

Release Year: 2018

Creator: Laeta Kalogridis

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, James Purefoy, Martha Higareda, Chris Conner, Dichen Lachman, Ato Essandoh, Kristin Lehman, Will Yun Lee, Byron Mann

Altered Carbon represented the first series where Netflix dipped their toes in the noir cyberpunk genre. The series is based on Richard Morgan’s series of novels. The show is set in the distant future where death is no longer permanent. Consciousness can be downloaded and uploaded to a new sleeve (body) and your body can be whatever you want it to be, depending on how much you’re willing to spend.

Laurens Bancroft (Purefoy) was willing to pay a high price for Takeshi Kovacs to get a sleeve that is equipped with the finest military training as Joel Kinnaman beefed up to play the role. Kovacs was killed by a rebel army and placed in the body of a disgraced cop. Kovacs is uploaded 250 years after his death where he was on ice in an infinite prison so he can solve the murder of Bancroft. There is no memory from Bancroft so he hires Kovacs to determine who the person or persons were that killed him.

That’s just one of the storylines that will get you hooked on this visually stunning series that features plenty of action and fight sequences, not to mention, some gratuitous nudity, so shield your eyes if that’s not your cup of tea.

Next: The Vampire Diaries