Sense8: What’s Going On?

“So I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed. Just to get it all out, what's in my head. And I, I am feeling a little peculiar.”

Every so often an episode of a new series defines that show. Sometimes it is a character, sometimes it is a scene or a phrase of dialogue. Here it is all three, plus a perfectly chosen song that captures a moment and brings together our eight protagonists in a way that feels revelatory.

Riley doesn’t have much to do in this episode, except what she does best: choose the music. While Wolfgang might’ve been in front of a karaoke machine, it’s Riley that actually chooses the song, a song that feels transcendent in the moment. She sits and vapes while looking out over London, and it feels as though she is somehow the catalyst for a moment that is incredibly important to all the characters, even if they don’t really understand it yet.

Riley does have two other good scenes, one where she wakes up to Shugs having sex with his girlfriend rather loudly, and Kala visits and reacts like someone who has never actually seen sex before. Then at one point Riley listens to a voice mail from her father who is begging her to come home to listen to him play at the symphony again. The way she smiles says everything we need to know about their relationship. She has some kind of trauma about her home, but her father clearly has nothing to do with those feelings.

I loved towards the end when Nomi shows up next to her and they are singing together, as though asking if either knows what the hell is going on. They are seeing things, hearing things and even touching things that shouldn’t be real or possible. Nomi’s brain scans were probably real, meaning their actual biology is shifting and changing to suit this incredibly weird connection they share.

Thankfully Jonas finally explains some of the rules to Will. There are two things that a sensate can do: "Visit," where they can appear to another sensate even outside of their respective cluster. This allows for pretty much complete contact as though the other person is there. Except from the outside it is completely one-sided. It is hinted that when you are visiting somewhere else, they can marginally control their own actions. Such as Wolfgang continuing to sing karaoke despite visiting with Kala.

"Cluster" and "sharing" are the other big terms we learn. Cluster refers to the eight sensates that were birthed together. Specifically, Angelica and Jonas were in a cluster, and our protagonists Nomi, Kala, Riley, Sun, Lito, Wolfgang, Will and Capheus are in another cluster. They are uniquely connected to one another and can do something called sharing. This is far more than just visiting. It allows them to share knowledge, skills and even take each other’s places, literally controlling each other's actions. Like Sun fighting for Capheus, or in this case, Will picking open Nomi’s cuffs and getting her on her feet so she can finally escape Dr. Metzger and his lobotomy.

While the rules are nice to finally hear, the implications of those rules change things, especially for Will who is getting the hang of what it means to be a sensate. He doesn’t just randomly share with Nomi like Sun did with Capheus; this time he actively tries to connect to her and help her after Jonas’s warning. His relief and joy when he actually makes it happen is such a lovely moment.

Poor Nomi. She has been imprisoned and abused, told she was incompetent and constantly deadnamed. Then drugged and sent to have her skull cut into without her consent, which not only would’ve robbed her of her autonomy but her mind as well. While we don’t exactly know what Dr. Metzger was planning to do to Nomi, I got the impression from Jonas that it would be catastrophic. Has Jonas seen the results of this surgery before? He was basically indicating that this would be some kind of surgery like corpus callosotomy (or split-brain surgery), which is only performed as a last resort to stop epileptic seizures and has lasting and strange complications.

There is a fun little scene between Lito, Hernando and Dani that feels kind of relevant. Lito is upset about his conversation with Joaquin and neither Hernando nor Dani fully believe the story. Meanwhile Hernando is making them food, which Lito eats and doesn’t bother to comment on. It kind of shows us that Lito is very self-absorbed and a bit lost in his own drama. While Dani immediately praises Hernando’s work, it feels a bit like her presence creates a strange balance in Lito and Hernando’s relationship. They don’t seem to be remotely bisexual, but this almost feels like the beginning of a polyamorous relationship.

Capheus had some development that might be problematic later on, as he was tasked by Silas Kabaka to hold onto a bag until midnight. Obviously someone is going to come looking for the bag, likely the Superpower Gang, who actually work for Silas. The reward of course is far too important for him to pass up: a supply of clean drugs for his mother. There was also a small drop of information that they don’t have running water in their home, which is something the rest of the sensates might take for granted.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Wolfgang and Felix selling half their diamonds and going out on a spending spree. This just feels incredibly reckless and irresponsible. Aren’t they supposed to be hiding the fact they stole those diamonds? Not just from the cops, but from the criminals they beat to the score? Shoes are fine; hell, even going out to a karaoke bar is fine, but going to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in the city is a mistake. That’s very visible and without a good enough reason.

The bright spot to Wolfgang’s night out was his interactions with Kala. They have glimpsed each other in passing, but here they actually make full eye contact and there is something that sparks instantly. Perhaps it is a part of the sensate connection, but they are left speechless by each other. They literally sing to one another, as if just meeting was revelatory. Which is really cute given how completely different they are from one another. Meeting Wolfgang has also thrown Kala’s impending marriage into question, although I thought it was cute when her sister asked if she was dreaming about Rajan and she just nodded.

Ending with Sun and her whiny, corrupt brother who has been the cause of the financial issues at her company. Issues her father was not aware of, and will cause ruin for her family and their legacy. Sun’s conversation with her father was frustrating, because it is quite clear she is the one running the business while her father goes to client meetings and her brother breaks the law. So of course she is the irrelevant one, and suggests that she should confess to the crimes to save face for her brother and father.

On one hand, it proves that Sun is loving, loyal and brave. That she is willing to sacrifice herself to save her family from ruin. It says a lot about her character that she is willing to take such a life-altering action for people that don’t value her and maybe don’t even love her. On the other hand, we have a family that clearly doesn’t care about her, value her, or even really see her for who she is and what she brings to the table. Sun’s brother was literally sniveling and snot covered, begging not to go to jail. In that moment I wanted her to say that he deserved jail. I guess we’ll see where this goes, but I cannot imagine it will be great for her.

Bits:

The place Wolfgang and Felix meet the fencer is the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

The diamonds that Wolfgang stole are from Mumbai, which is where Kala is from. Kala also has a strange conversation with a man who hands her a flyer with pictures of her future husband and father-in-law on it; he then tries to get her to fight alongside them to protect their religious freedoms from progressive ideas.

The karaoke song is "What’s Up?" by 4 Non Blondes.

Quote:

Amanita: "Four Non Blondes? Perfect soundtrack for a lobotomy."

This was the first great episode and really proves the concept they are going for here. Plus the song at the end elevates things, creating almost an anthem for the series.

4 out of 4 Non Blondes

Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.

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