Sense8

Netflix does it again. After House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Daredevil, they now release one of the best series ever. Well directed and written, gorgeously shot and edited… From the opening sequence, you know you are watching something very special. Sense8 has the human element that Matrix lacked. It reminds me of The X-Files, but better. It is fantasy and science fiction, but not far-fetched. Not even for a single moment. It feels alive, real and very, very exciting and suspenseful.

Andy and Lana Wachowski go around the world to bring you this beauty... From the streets of Nairobi to the alleys of San Francisco through the smoggy Mexico City and the snowy mountains of Iceland, this show brings it all… and it is DEEP! The series brings elements of drama, suspense, comedy and action and differently from other Wackowski's movies; it brings characters we can relate. Every single one of them is incredibly well constructed and the cast performance is superb. It is impossible to watch this show without deeply connecting with those people. I cheered, I cried, I laughed, I bit all my nails and I feel in love with Kala, Riley, Lito, Nomi, Capheus, Wolfgang, Will and Sun. I adore those characters and at the end of the season, they were like my own family. This, my friends, is great cinema. Nothing else! …and it deserves much more! I can't wait for season two.

I very rarely write reviews here on IMDb, but after reading some of the other reviews of this amazingly diverse, colourful and new show I actually feel the need to do so.

There have been a few reviewers complaining about "all the gay and/or transsexual people in this series", going as far as claiming this to be "gay propaganda"(!). ... Well, okay. I admit that I am shocked because really?? Yes, there are gay and even one transsexual character in Sense8.. Oh, and they even get to be main characters! Wow. That really must be gay propaganda - because surely no Scifi TV show intended for the mainstream could possibly have normal, every-day gay characters in it -- that aren't even there for the usual comic relief. I mean, of course there are TV shows and films that have plenty of gay characters and plot, and that's apparently OK, because they're mostly intended for a gay audience. And most importantly, they advertise beforehand that the show "is gay". And Sense8? It had the bloody gall to not follow this fine established etiquette. (Boo hoo.)

Seriously. There's plenty of straight sex to be found in your average film/TV show and no one would ever call that "heterosexual and/or anti-gay propaganda". It's simply two (or more) people, in the nude, having, ya know, sex. Nothing new in the world of TV. Considering the fact that there are plenty of gay, bi, trans etc. people out there one might possibly find it strange how most shows or blockbusters have so little glbt lead characters... But no, instead we're confronted with a scandalised outcry because gay sex. And gay people's problems. (Okay, the slippery strap-on dildo wasn't really necessary, I'll give you that. But on the other hand, there're plenty of other TV shows showing similar or even more explicit sex scenes/stuff - and with those being of the straight variety there aren't half as many people complaining about it as here.)

In my (very humble) opinion, Sense8 is a very engaging, well-made and super interesting science fiction drama with a very interesting and varied bunch of characters. And I really mean interesting - there isn't even one character that I can't bond with, don't want to know more about or find interesting here, which on it's own is quite an accomplishment considering that there are 8 main characters who couldn't be more diverse.. Made even more intriguing by all these developing connections between culturally very different people.

The show is not fast-paced, and far from your average sci-fi action show. I get that this show might not for everyone and understand how one might be disappointed and call the series (too) slow - especially if one started watching this show expecting it to be a fast-paced, action-packed SF mystery.

This is, imo, more a drama about very different people who start connecting in the strangest of ways despite all their differences - may it be culture, gender, sexual preference, job (policeman vs. criminal) or social background. And in the first few episodes the show mainly concentrates on exactly that development - introducing each character, their history and the world they live in. (Yes, that includes a bit of "gay plot line" or "cliché"-characters as well - i.e. a parent not accepting their transsexual daughter or a guy being afraid of facing the possible consequences a coming out might entail.)

The so-called "clichés" are unfortunately still a harsh reality for lot's of people - may that be the poor African guy with an HIV-diseased mother, a women working in a business in which there's seemingly no place for a woman or a policeman confronted with a world in which saving a kid might possibly mean saving the very gangbanger who might kill your partner/friend at some point in the future.

Who the hell would wanna watch a show with characters that live totally happy, trouble and drama free lives anyway? Right, no one.

The mystery SF element unravels slowly, yes, but the show picks up and draws you right in with intriguing & very vivid characterisations. I recommend sticking with it, because the show and the 8 MCs really grow on you. :)

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Short update after having watched season 2:

Chapeaux. Season 2 was every bit as good as I hoped, even better. The show picked up some speed & the plot was gripping af. In short: I bloody loved it! Can't wait for season 3.

There are few people who can make good and bad films quite as polar opposite as the Wachowski's. They made the Matrix but almost destroyed their genius reputation with the follow-up films. Now they produce a series Sens8 which I must admit crept up on me. I don't like watching or reading previews because the wait kills me when I see something I really like. Such a film is Sens8.

It is an incredibly well written story. It's familiar to those of us who watched The Matrix, because of the philosophical and dramatic moments that pepper the storyline. When it came out on Netflix, I literally binged the entire first season. It's so well written that the director's even add ultra-realism, such as the feedback echo when two callers use their phones to call each other, along with many others. There is also some wonderful humor in this show - including a scene where a machismo-infused actor empathizes with another "sens8" who is on her period.

The story is that multiple people suddenly discover that they are beginning to share mindsets. They begin to appear to each other, especially when one is in trouble. Such a simple premise but it opens up so many possibilities for story lines.

I love this show and really urge you to watch it. You'll be glad you did.

So if you are one of those people that cannot keep along in Game of thrones, then this will be particularly hard to follow through. The notch is a little bit cranked up and with a lot of characters to follow.

I've seen 9 episodes so far and I can now feel the build up of the series is done, and the actual story is beginning. I can sense a lot of dynamic going on here between several different characters and you really start to care for each and everyone of them. That depends also on your own view of life, because love of every kind is represented. Horrors in all of its forms is presented and you probably need to be one of those empathic people to appreciate the story-telling. But when they start to join forces it creates this fantastic empowering feeling that you want to be a part of. The fight for some good, because you sense what they can become in the end.

This is not a show for your bigotry, this is a show for the time we live in.

The characters lives and issues is connected to our real world problems and you can sense that each of them is represented in a real person in our world.

What will happen when they all meet in physical form?

Thats what I want to know.

This series is riveting. watched the first six episodes back to back.

The concept of linked minds is interesting in it's simplicity. Modern technology has brought us closer together, this series looks at how things might be if we were even closer connected.

The characters are well defined and are believable. There is a strong focus on the individual stories of the main cast reminding me of Orange is the new black.

like Orange is the new black some people might object or take offense to some of the content, thinking it is to progressive or liberal. I hope these are few because these topic are important and help build the story and perhaps also teach us a bit more about the stereotypes we build about people we might be afraid of. We are all human and that is an important part of what I think the series try to tell us.