Remember the mind-bending thrill you got the first time you watched the Matrix movies? Sexy, action-packed, provocative, intriguing, culture-shifting… The Matrix Trilogy was so relevant that it is still referenced in pop culture constantly, 18 years after the original movie. And then there was V for Vendetta, the dystopian political thriller that made everything that neo-fascists hate, cool as hell. Well, the Wachowskis have captured that magic once again in their Netflix original series, Sense8.
Sense8 was created by The Wachowskis (The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta, Jupiter Ascending, Cloud Atlas) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, Changeling). And it’s produced by Cindy Holland (Stranger Things, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, A Series of Unfortunate Events). *Fair warning*: the fact that “the Wachowskis“ used to be known as “the Wachowski brothers”, is slightly indicative of some of the direction of the show. Sense8 is very LGBT friendly, like many Netflix originals, and I hope you won’t let that hold you back from watching because this series is freakin fantastic.
Sense8 is the story of 8 strangers, Capheus, Nomi, Riley, Will, Wolfgang, Lito, Kala and Sun, from around the world, that suddenly find themselves mentally connected to one another when they, all together, psychically witness a violent death. With their mental connection, comes many things, including the ability to physically interact with one another when they want to.
It’s downright hilarious when some of them meet by appearing in each other’s lives, they think they’re going crazy. Because of their mental connection, they sometimes share feelings that one member might not have any idea why they’re experiencing:
Sun *crying*: Please stop screaming.
Lito *screaming*: I’m not screaming! Hernando, there’s a Korean lady standing next to me, crying.
Sun *crying*: I’m not crying.
Lito *screaming*: You’re not crying like I’m not screaming.
And in the beginning, they have to talk aloud to each other and it leads to some humorous and awkward situations around coworkers and significant others. But later, they start learning what they’re capable of and it leads to epic scenes where characters will sort of step in for one another to fight, lie, drive, or some other various activities where they each have skills. And with their ability to physically interact, comes lots of very steamy physical interaction, and a few members of the cluster start to grow strong feeling for other members.
There is an extreme downside to their newfound “sensate” abilities; they are hunted by a similarly empowered sensate called Whispers, who can sometimes tap into their psychic link to track them. Fortunately, they are helped by many friends and allies from their past and another sensate named Jonas who helps them hide from Whispers.
The first season is a wonderful introduction into the lives of our cluster of sensates, each bringing unique skills and knowledge to the table. It’s very satisfying to see our team take over for others and perform tasks like safe cracking, MMA fighting, hacking, detecting, empathizing, acting, driving, and…chemisting? And as a team, they begin to fight back against their hunter.
In the second season we dive much more into the history of our sensates, other-cluster sensates, and their hunter. We also get to see more incredible fights, connections between our cluster growing deeper, and more enjoyable “skill share” moments. In their fight against Whispers, they are learning how to hide better and get to do a bit of actual fighting back. And in their real lives, many exciting developments are taking place with their careers, new threats, and engagements.
This series is one of my favorites, it’s so weird and awesome, and like me, it’s definitely an acquired taste. But if you are open-minded and appreciate great television, I hope you’ll check it out. It’s beautiful, action-packed, thought provoking and has an excellent soundtrack; doesn’t get much better than that.
TL;DR If you liked the Matrix, you like good music, you’re a fan of other Netflix original shows, and you’re cool, check Sense8 out NOW!
-Morgan@1063RL