I watched the pilot episode of Altered Carbon. My dad was turned off because “it’s just too weird.” I didn’t like it either, but after some thought, I decided it was because there was no vested interest in the characters.

The main character is a super-soldier assassin anti-hero, in a future dystopia filled with who-cares-who-these-people-are, and he’s been hired by some rich dude who was (almost) assassinated but there’s no emotional investment in why it matters. The main character is really just looking into it because he has nothing better to do.

I read an article that lambasted critics for being turned off by the series and not bothering after the first few episodes. The writer of the article said they should have given the show a fair shake by hanging on for 10 or more episodes at least. But I don’t agree with that sentiment at all. First impressions are important, and time is a precious commodity. If you can’t capture my interest in the first few episodes, then you’re wasting my time that I could be using on something else that doesn’t take 7 hours (45 minutes x 10 episodes) of viewing time to maybe start piquing my interest.