Sense8 | Season 1 | Review
Channel: Netflix
Writer/director: The Wachowskis & J. Michael Straczynski
Release date: June 5, 2015
Do you know who wrote & directed The Matrix? For some reason, I didn't until just now when I looked up the Wachowskis and saw it in their filmography. I had been watching the first season of the Netflix science fiction drama series Sense8 and was wondering who these brilliant people were (writing & directing alongside J. Michael Straczynski) and why I'd never heard of them before. It makes sense now because while The Matrix was an ambitious, unique movie, ahead of its time, the ambitiousness of Sense8 as a series causes me to question how Netflix even considered it. Let alone renewed it for a second season despite it receiving 0 marketing, at least here in the UK. Sense8 has a multinational ensemble cast with filming spanning at least 8 different countries. Now, that's gotta be some kind of record, but can sheer ambition work in the Wachowskis favour a second time?
Sense8 is about a group of psychics, strangers who live all across the globe, but who can connect with each other in various ways. While psychic powers are not an original idea by any means, the show does a good job of making this particular brand unique. Characters can 'visit' each other, as if they are in the same room, talking with each other, but also sharing senses and thought processes. They can also allow other psychics to take control of them, endowing them with that particular character's skills. The Korean character, played by Bae Doona for example is a martial artist. While the American police officer, played by Brian J. Smith, knows how to shoot....This is all starting to sound a bit like a video game isn't it?! At first the visiting scenes make up a large part of the episodes as the characters get used to the abilities and we, the audience, are introduced to the characters. These scenes are slightly over used in my opinion, as sometimes it will just be one character seeing another who isn't really there while that character sees yet another. All without moving the plot along in the slightest. Occasionally, some of the edits between these scenes will simply be too quick and the viewer will become disoriented, not knowing who is where.
So yes, this season is a really slow burner but on the flip-side, this means we spend much more time getting truly invested in the characters rather than being given hurried exposition. It helps then, that all the characters in Sense8 are really likeable and the actors give tremendous performances. Well, except for Freema Agyeman, she outright sucks, is really bad at the American accent and is also the most poorly written character. When the tone is otherwise pretty serious, her character becomes a stereotyped, lesbian, San Francisco dweller. Often played for laughs and always making forced jokes at every situation, no matter how dire. She is girlfriend to the hacker character Nomi and had no prior knowledge of her hacker skills...yet when things start kicking off, suddenly she is some sort of apprentice hacker, backing Nomi up because she had to be given something to do. It seems Agyeman is often cast for how she looks rather than her acting skills and this is certainly the case here.
I don't want to go too much more in to the characters because of potential spoilers but I would rather like to talk about the other LGBT characters in the series. Namely, all the characters. I feel like this is an important aspect of the show in a time when so many people are calling for "fair representation" because not only does the show deliver what these people are asking for. (In a big, big way which I won't spoil) but it does so in a way that is completely organic, non-shoehorned, doesn't make a big deal out of it and is simply intrinsic within the characters of the show. Let's not forget about the ethnic diversity in the show. Culture & religion also play a big part and are represented really well.
My only qualm is that foreign languages are only used in very specific scenes to achieve a certain effect. All characters speak English, but to the audience rather than each other. If you're gonna attempt a series as high brow as this, you might as well go all the way and have people speaking their native languages, as they would be in real life. The visiting scenes could be in English, as they are anyway, despite the audience being led to believe that the languages are transferable between psychics.
Despite the earlier mentioned slow pacing of this season, many episodes are structured like a great post rock song, all the pieces start fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle, tensions rise until you are left at a climax like no other. The best of these scenes are when 3 or more of the characters are working together & bouncing thoughts between themselves, making for some of the most unusual chase & infiltration sequences I have seen in a series since Prison Break. The music, whilst not the most original or entertaining in its own right, actually plays just as important a role in the show as any character. It is a consistent bridge across entire episodes, keeping the show moving, but more importantly helping mitigate any disconnection the audience would have from jumping constantly between characters in different places.
Sense8 has been renewed for a second season releasing in 2017 and the settings have been expanded from 9 to 15 different cities. I'm hoping that the series can still maintain focus despite expanding its setting. This could easily end up as a Heroessituation where after a strong 1st season, the story just kinda goes off on one. It could also be the other way round, and Sense8 could turn out to be one of the most thrilling series out there!
If you need anything more to be sold on Sense8 I would suggest simply watching its phenomenal title sequence and I'd be very surprised if you didn't want to carry on watching.
Pros:
Awesome soundtrack.
Unique action sequences.
LGBT themes that aren't forced or jarring.
Cons:
Slow burning opening episodes.
Agyeman's character has nothing to do.