Poe is a strong supporting character in Altered Carbon, the Netflix noir sci-fi series. He owns the Hotel Raven and provides the much needed comic relief with some throwback from the otherwise dark, tense mood in the setting of the thriller. He is an AI, but, has lots of human qualities. He is fiercely loyal towards Takeshi Kovacs and is a close ally. He kills enemies, can be your psychiatrist, and plays games with his fellow AI business owners too. Interestingly, the books had Hendrix as the AI, but, the estate didn’t give the rights to the show citing the reason that it is a very violent project. Today we shall be sharing with you the ten most adorable Poe moments from Altered Carbon.
The Introduction
He entered as a legend and fans cried when he seemingly died due to a malfunction caused by Mister Leung and team.
Social media handles buzzed with RIPs for months. During the first few scenes after his introduction, some gangsters attacked Kovacs. At the time, he had not yet made any payments in advance. Poe famously said, “Good sir, I can not assume guest prerogatives without payment.” As soon as Kovacs makes payment with a touch of his hand, he goes on to kill every single attacker without thinking who they would interrogate later.
Tender And Gentle
Poe develops a very sweet relationship with Lizzie as her therapist. He treats her very tenderly and understands her. Some of the most humane and soft sides of Poe shine through in the screen space he occupies with Lizzie Elliot. Strangely, the AI of the books was not as empathetic and did not have such a strong presence. Through constant efforts, he brings her back to her senses, but not before training her in every fighting art and teaching her some very cool moves.
Exceptional Customer Service
Poe shows a remarkable attitude of pleasing his guests by often getting out of the way. He even offers VIP services to guests of exclusive sexual tastes, here, Kovacs. How did he know of Kovacs’ dark and sinful past? Easy, he is an AI of talents and can access any data from almost anywhere.
Certainly, he pokes his nose a bit too far into his guests’ personal affairs, but, everyone would agree it is just in the best interests of the guest, so, it’s totally cool.
Confrontation By Vernon
When Kovacs was being tortured in the creepy Wei clinic by the Dimi2, his friends were getting restless and desperate to find his whereabouts. Suddenly struck by a thought, Vernon asks Poe why doesn’t he track Kovacs as being an AI, he has access to lots of data. To this, Poe suddenly gets in defensive mode and says with puppy eyes that he would not, as he respects his guests’ privacy. Vernon immediately catches his lie and accuses him of stalking Kovacs. As a matter of fact, he does keep an eye on every move of Kovacs.
Celebrates Halloween
Poe looks his cute best when he dresses up for Halloween and comes all dolled up to his hotel’s lobby where Vernon finds it extremely awkward and asks him if he is really serious. He says he adores all Hallows Eve.
He is passionate about the history, the tradition, the amalgamation of various cultural celebrations including Dia de Muertos, Thanksgiving and of course Halloween which he is immaculately dressed for.
Loves Human Company
Poe likes being in human company. He is like a child who just won’t back down and keeps coming back to his parents despite the fact that humans don’t treat him respectfully. He likes reading minds, stalking his favorite people, and peeping into their intimate affairs. Time and again he displays compassion towards others, too. When Kovacs calls their team friends and says he needs all of them, his eyes light up. He would rather chill with his human friends and play detective, than gossip and play poker with his fellow AIs.
Client Of Discerning Means
When Takeshi Kovacs is re-sleeved and assigned a task, he has to find his footing in the real world. Since hotels are a thing of his time, he finds comfort in the idea of staying in one. Little does he know that the AI hotels are a thing of past now and no one has set a foot in the Hotel Raven for half a decade now.
When Poe sees his new guest entering the lobby, he lights up and welcomes him in a very Edgar Poe style. Just the way that he grins, warms the heart and eases all the tension off which was established right from the first scene.
More Humane Than Humans
Poe is passionate about humans, the flesh and bone creators who have invented his species. He loves learning about the races, culture, human psychology and even dresses up like one. The funny thing is he is addicted to gambling too and has enormous debts. When he undertakes a voluntary assignment from Kovacs, of healing Lizzie Elliot back to his senses, Vernon gets to know about this and turns furious about the direction of Poe’s therapy. Recalling that he is the hotel, he drops a glass and asks Poe if he can feel pain. In turn, Poe menacingly in his view, but, adorable in ours, says he can feel anger while pointing the beams of his guns towards him.
Did My Speech Stutter?
Towards the finale, in a scene, Kovacs says he is only interested in his freedom and he will do anything to achieve that. Poe tried to say something to which Kovacs aggressively objects and Poe, quite cutely says that he didn’t stutter, but, it was a trifle laden with obscenities. He has a good knowledge of human slangs too as he often points out talking to his guests and AI friends. A few times, he has called private detectives “gumshoes,” with an expression that says he totally understands the phrase.
The Final Scene
The final scene portrays an RD, a real death of one of the strongest characters of the first season, Poe. Mister Leung assuming that he is not a believer, malfunctions his whole system, thereby murdering him. Poe looks like a solid hologram whose limbs start reducing to thin air one by one. Even while he was dying, he was concerned about Lizzie and pepped her up before sending her back to reality. That just won fans’ hearts. Laeta, who has adapted the novel series into the show, has done a perfect job by introducing Poe and writing him so brilliantly. Of course, Chris Conner lived the character and made it unforgettable for years to come.
