Sense8, And Why You Need to Watch
The Best New Show, So, Of Course, It Got Cancelled
Netflix has some great shows, I seem to watch them more than anything else. It's like, they really know me. They had me at, "from the creators of The Matrix and Babylon 5." And it's by the Wachowskis. The film, V for Vendetta. Cloud Atlas. Jupiter Ascending. Oh yeah, you got me, where do I sign up? Shut up and take my money! Just kidding. I was already on board the Netflix train before then. So I just had to push play. Nice.
Now, some articles I've come across, they really don't like Sense8. And that just baffles me. There's no accounting for taste, I guess.
Why write an article about something you hate? Don't people have other things to do with their lives? Or do those people hate everything? Probably the latter. I can see writing about something you hate, that seems inescapable, like a pop artist they keep playing on the radio. Or ideologies that are gucking up the country. But, other than that, why?
So, anyway, I will skim through an article and see what other things the writer loves/hates. So, the author hates the only good Stargate show and the movie, too? They love the worst Star Trek series? Well, that is useful, as I probably won't like their recommendations,and will love the shows/movies they pan. So, you see, liking and hating, loving and dissing, these are all subjective. But useful, so let's move on...
So, before you watch it and get angry at me, because you don't like it, let's discuss what other shows I like. I love The X-Files and Fringe. I love sci-fi. I love the new show Legion. I'm getting less and less into horror, as I don't need fodder for nightmares, I have enough. I love Orange is the New Black. And Breaking Bad. And I'm liking the new Hulu series, The Handmaid's Tale. And the Hulu series, Misfits. Although I'm still, after all this time, only on the first or second season. I also love the British series, Being Human. I haven't really watched the American version much, as it seems pretty much the same thing.
One show I never cared for; Lost. I tried to get into it with a couple episodes, but I just did not care for any of those characters. I did not care if they lived or died. Or if they were dead and in some sort of limbo. Didn't care. Didn't care iwhere they were lost, and if they ever find their way back. If you loved Lost, that's not a deal-breaker, I can understand it. I mean, it's J.J. Abrams, for floop's sake! That's why I was baffled that I couldn't get into it.
I love everything, EVERYTHING!, that Joss Whedon has created. Everything. From the beginning, which, for me, started with the movie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
And I like goofy comedies. This series is not a goofy comedy, but it has it's comedic moments, that's for sure.
Onto the Details of the Show...
So, the show, Sense8, is complicated, a bit. So, the run-down, with no spoilers, is that people, who are not human like we are, are born sensates. And they share many things with their cluster, the 7 others who were born the same moment they were born. (Get it? Sense8?) At a second time, they are born again, and that is when they become aware of the others, and can visit them whenever they want, and their lives begin to overlap. And if one of them is suffering, they all suffer. Mostly, they share the highs and lows of their feelings. And that, to me, is what is so appealing. Imagine, that! If you're a sensate, you have 7 others to share with, however far away, all of your life's big moments. You are never alone. Never completely alone. Unless you chose to be. Wow, how cool is that!
As sensates, they can step into their other's bodies, they need only ask for help. That's like having the knowledge and experience of 7 others, and all one must do is ask, step aside, and let them take over. I'll say it again, how cool is that?
Now, it's the characters and the action that makes this diamond sparkle. The fight scenes are spectacular. And the characters, I have fallen in love with all of them. And I don't know who I love more. I could never pin it down to one character.
So, if this sounds like something you'd like, watch it. 2 seasons and soon a special to end it, and wrap it all up. I'm hoping, against hope, that they bring it back with seasons and seasons to go, but... sad face, it doesn't look that way, at all.
Capheus "Van Damme" Onyango
Played by Aml Ameen in the first season, and Toby Onwumere in the second season. He's a big fan of Claude van Damme, and drives a bus in Nairobi, trying to help his mother as much as he can, as his mother's AIDS medicine is expensive, I'm sure.
Aml Ameen
Toby Onwumere
Sun Bak
Portrayed by Doona Bae. She is a kickboxing extraordinaire, and the daughter of a highly successful Korean businessman. And she also happens to have a master's degree in economics and works in her father's powerful company. The fight scenes alone, are delightful to watch and utterly amazing. But in context of the show, the butt kicking is almost therapeutic and cathartic, and definitely triumphant. Because of what she's had to endure, because of the embezzling. Which has nothing to do with her. But I've said too much already.
Doona Bae
Nomi Marks
Portrayed by Jamie Clayton, she lives in San Franscisco, and is a trans-woman hacktivist and blogger. Her partner, Amanita, is also a big part of the show. And we love her, too. And if you're a Doctor Who fan, you've known and loved her as Martha Jones.
Jamie Clayton
Kala Dandekar
She is a Hindu living in Mumbai, a university educated pharmacist. When she becomes aware of her cluster, it is at the same time she is engaged to be married to a man she admires very much, but does not love. Her character is played by Tina Desai.
Tina Desai
Riley Blue
Riley, a DJ, portrayed by Tuppence Middleton, seems to be the most troubled and vulnerable of the cluster, but don't think for a moment that she is the weakest. She's been through a lot of s*#t in her young life. From Iceland originally, we come across her as she is becoming more entangled in the drug scene, while living and working as a DJ in London.
Tuppence Middleton
Wolfgang Bogdanow
A locksmith from Berlin, with ties to organized crime. A criminal with a dark side, but lovable, with a heart of gold. You just need to remember, don't f#$k with Wolfgang or the people he loves. He's portrayed by Max Riemelt.
Max Riemelt
Lito Rodriguez
A famous actor in his country of Mexico, playing the roles of larger-than-life, macho heroes, and dangerous anti-heroes types. In real life, not so much. And we find him in the closet, trying to keep his relationship with this partner, Hernando, a secret, for fear of losing everything he's worked for. He's portrayed by Miguel Ángel Silvestre.
Miguel Ángel Silvestre
Will Gorski
Played by Brian J. Smith, he's a cop from Chicago. And a really good one. Aside from all the sensate stuff, that's not even to say his life hasn't been weird before all that happened. Weird paranormal stuff.
Brian J. Smith
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Did I mention that music on Sense8 is sweet! Well, it is.