Straczynski/Wachowski Sense8 on Netflix

[Mexal]

On Rotten Tomatoes it's got an audience rating of 91% (from 1351 users), critic rating of 69% (from 35 critics). Quite a difference!

Critics only saw the first 3 episodes which were tough. Netflix should have sent them the 4th too.

[Seventh Pup]

Netflix should have sent them the whole season. It is such a slow burn, but the payoff is so good.

The AV Club highlighted a few things I really liked. Like how in the beginning of the season Nomi is the Damsel in Distress, but by the end she's the one to coordinate the rescue mission. Riley visits who has been through hell, pulls her shit together to get her and Will off that mountain and to the safety of the boat. Will has been the most classic hero but now he is infected with Whisper's presence. Wolfgang is a bad man, and yet his ability to kill was what saved them from the helicopter. The characters roles for the most part aren't static. Though it would be nice if they let Sun be something other then a total badass.

I do think we will see Riley's skill set next season. She's a musician, a DJ I feel like it wouldn't be a stretch to think she would be good with things like patterns.

This is one of those shows that sticks with you after you finish it. I hope it gets to finish its five year plan!

[Lord Hanna]

On Rotten Tomatoes it's got an audience rating of 91% (from 1351 users), critic rating of 69% (from 35 critics). Quite a difference!

I never understood why people would listen to critics anyways. Why let someone else decide what is good or bad? Doesn't make sense to me.

This show ended up being amazing. Very slow to begin, but gets better and better each episode.

Anybody trying it needs to at least give it 5 episodes, though.

[Arkash]

Well, from what I gather around me, many people loved the show... even people that dont necessarly watch much TV gave it a try and I've heard only high praise from them !

[The King in Black]

This was like Bosch ; took it's time but was worth it, although many - a rectifications are needed for the second season ( mostly these guys already know that, and the problems were typical of the first season)

[Sci-2]

I've got 3 episodes to go and I'll say this is pretty enjoyable. I went into it thinking it was a long action film with some heart, perhaps some extra layering of LGBT themes we don't see otherwise.

Based on that I enjoyed it, basically it was like post S1 Heroes in an alternate timeline where Heroes had gotten its act together.

[protar]

On episode 8 at the moment and I'm enjoying it very much. It is slow paced, with a lot of focus on character depth and development, but it is at least good character development for the most part. Sometimes you've just got to accept a show for what it is - this isn't intended to be a fast show. And the concept is very interesting, the sequences where multiple sensates interact are the highlights. Towards the end of episode 8 in particular there's a sequence where four sensates coordinate their abilities in a pretty awesome action sequence. It was one of the most unique things I've seen on TV/Netflix in a long while.

My main complaint is that it feels like it could have been Sense6. I'm 2/3rds in and there's a disproportionate focus on some characters over others. Will and Nomi are pretty clued in about what's going on, getting wrapped up in government conspiracy stuff and very consciously using their Sensate abilities. But Kala has done very little and interacts almost solely with Wolfgang. And Lito (much as I love him) has barely interacted with the other Sensate's at all. He's in his own show. And it's a show I'd watch the shit out of - a dramedy about a gay mexican film star? Count me in - but...what's it doing here?

[Sci-2]

Lito's importance to the group comes in as the series goes on.

Kala's a weird character - I mean it seems her problem is self-inflicted as she isn't even entering into an arranged marriage. It's just her own dishonesty that made things hard for her.

I really hope this gets a Season 2 as it was a fun ride. Plus as the sensates get closer I can see more interesting possibilities for useful combinations of abilities, as well as the coolness of feeling someone else's environment. I guess b/c they are a cluster prejudices haven't come up and possibly won't, but there's some opportunity to explore how prejudices would be overcome by literally walking in someone else's skin.

Also I do hope Sun gets more of a story than being stuck in prison and getting let out when someone else needs some martial arts help. A good mix between them having lives and them trying to fight the conspiracy would be enjoyable television.

[protar]

Lito's importance to the group comes in as the series goes on.

I really hope so because I reckon he's my favourite sensate at the moment. I watched episodes 9 and 10 last night with his chat with Nomi and his team up with Wolfgang so that was cool.

But it definitely seems as though there are three tiers of sensate in terms of narrative: Will, Nomi and Riley are all very aware of their abilities and are fully caught up in the conspiracy. Sun and Capheus are sort of accessories to that plot and pop up to help out fairly often but don't really know what's going on. Kala, Wolfgang and Lito seem to have their own loose trio with Wolfgang in the middle. They've got practically nothing to do with the main plot at the moment because they aren't clued in to what's going on and they've yet to lend their skills to helping in the main conspiracy plot. And prior to episode 10 Lito was even more divorced from everything.

[Sci-2]

Yeah, actually I don't think that balance ever shifts even at the end. I just thought it at least showed why Lito and Kala were chosen.

Lito's thread was also one of my favorites btw. I kind of hope the conspiracy is slow moving and unable to gain much access to the 8 in Season 2. Would be nice to see the characters have time to get to know each other, as well as see more of Daniela and Hernando.

[DaveSumm]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in-universe, there isn't really any reason to expect any one sensate to be useful or have a particular skill, or have a bearing on the main conspiracy? I assumed they were just randomly chosen?

[protar]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in-universe, there isn't really any reason to expect any one sensate to be useful or have a particular skill, or have a bearing on the main conspiracy? I assumed they were just randomly chosen?

Well it's a genetic thing, but other than that I don't know? But just from a meta perspective, I was really hoping the balance would be more equal and each sensate would have roughly the same time devoted to them. Which is why I kind of feel like this could have been Sense6. I feel like you could cut Kala and Wolfgang without much issue. Honestly you could cut Lito too, but Lito is awesome.

[Mexal]

Well it's a genetic thing, but other than that I don't know? But just from a meta perspective, I was really hoping the balance would be more equal and each sensate would have roughly the same time devoted to them. Which is why I kind of feel like this could have been Sense6. I feel like you could cut Kala and Wolfgang without much issue. Honestly you could cut Lito too, but Lito is awesome.

Yea, you could definitely cut it down though it's pretty clear the producers are playing a long game with this one. I think the show develops, the skills each of the sensates bring to the table will be necessary as they were towards the end. Some stories got more air time in season 1 than others but I assume that will flip in future seasons as it tends to do with large sprawling casts. Orange is the New Black is a great example of this.

[protar]

Yea, you could definitely cut it down though it's pretty clear the producers are playing a long game with this one. I think the show develops, the skills each of the sensates bring to the table will be necessary as they were towards the end. Some stories got more air time in season 1 than others but I assume that will flip in future seasons as it tends to do with large sprawling casts. Orange is the New Black is a great example of this.

It's a risky game to play. When you advertise your show as "8 people around the world become mentally linked" and then come show time three of them are hugely more important than the others, that's kind of...I don't want to say false advertising, but it's misleading. I hear that the show is getting some fairly mixed reviews and while I'm liking it, I can see why. I really hope it gets a season 2.

[Kindly Old Man]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in-universe, there isn't really any reason to expect any one sensate to be useful or have a particular skill, or have a bearing on the main conspiracy? I assumed they were just randomly chosen?

I think this is right. My theory is that Whispers has taken down a bunch of sensate groups in the past, and we are focused on the group where the members have the collective ability to fight him.

[Kalbear]

Yeah - there's no specific thing of '8 people are picked because they're useful'. Though there are some hints that that might be somewhat true. Nomi mentions at one point why the people aren't more like her way of thinking - and the hippie mom of her girlfriend says that nature goes for diversity and variety, not specification. Which...isn't quite accurate, but I think that's where they're going with this pancultural cast. You could easily extrapolate that to the skills being part of why they're Sensates.

Alternately, their birth sensate - which we have no real understanding about how it works or what it does - could have picked them because of some criteria. We really don't know yet.

My suspicion is that they are accidents, albeit charmed ones. That being said, both the Wachowskis and JMS do like the Great Person stories as well as destinies being fulfilled.

I also have to say that this show has stuck with me in my headspace a lot more than most others. I enjoyed Daredevil, I thought House of Cards was fine, I liked GOT this season (and more other seasons) - but I find myself thinking a lot more about this show than I have others. The last show that had this kind of effect on me was the Wire, albeit for very different reasons.

[Mexal]

It's a risky game to play. When you advertise your show as "8 people around the world become mentally linked" and then come show time three of them are hugely more important than the others, that's kind of...I don't want to say false advertising, but it's misleading. I hear that the show is getting some fairly mixed reviews and while I'm liking it, I can see why. I really hope it gets a season 2.

I don't agree. There is a difference between "8 people around the world become mentally linked" and "8 people around the world become mentally linked and are integral to the overarching conspiracy in season 1". The very specific direction the producers went was with 8 people becoming linked while in the middle of their individual stories. We followed only the POVs of the 8 and as a result, we learn about the conspiracy as they do. It just so happened that Angelica's suicide happened in Chicago where Will is a Police Officer and Jonas visited him to help save Nomi who was caught up in the conspiracy. Riley came involved because of the connection between Will and herself plus her going home to Iceland where a major research facility was. The other sensates are in different locations around the world and it'd be hard to believe they'd be easily involved in the conspiracy, outside of lending their very specific skills until there was a way for them all to get together. Not to mention that given they were learning about their abilities within the context of their own stories, we needed to see the conclusion of those stories and by allowing us to see them through, we become more invested in the characters themselves and not just the conspiracy. I thought it was an inspired choice myself, especially given the producers have a 5 year plan in place.

As for reviews, I guess it depends. The initial critical reviews were mediocre given they were only shown the first 3 episodes which were not really illustrative of the magic this show could produce at moments. In some cases, like Sepinwall, those reviews changed once they saw the whole show. In other cases, maybe not, but my point is, I'm not sure if the mixed reviews you're seeing are from people who've seen the entire season.

[protar]

It didn't just so happen though. If this were real life sure. But it's a show - it's no accident that the bulk of the conspiracy is happening in the same location as Will, Nomi and Riley, while the others are more distant. And you know...they're psychically linked. It doesn't matter how disparate they are. They could still have integrated the others a bit more. It's a tough balancing act though, because it is incredibly satisfying when they do link up during dramatic moments. Those moments are some of the best bits of television I've seen in a while because it just makes the fight scenes so unique. And that might be ruined if they were always linked up. But ultimately, I would have liked a more even focus on the characters and I feel like the cast really could have been trimmed a bit. If I didn't personally love Lito I'd probably say his story was the most superfluous.

[alguien]

The first episode was okay, but the part where the lady at the hospital questions the policeman about saving the kid who got shot was, frankly, unbelievable and as subtle as a sledgehammer.

But it looks like most of you are saying things like "slow burn" and "pays off at the end," so I will try another few episodes and see where it goes.

[protar]

That was one quibble I had. They really pushed Will = Captain America in the first episode or so. And I didn't fail to notice that they rather transparently made the black cop the one with prejudice against the gangs.