The Wachowski sisters and J. Michael Straczynski collaborated on the science fiction drama Sense8 for Netflix.
Sense8 Poster/ Source: Netflix
There are eight people that are thrown into each other's lives, secrets, and grave peril in Sense8's plot. Capheus, Sun, Nomi, Kala, Riley, Wolfgang, Lito and Will are being hunted by a clandestine organization that has been taken over by an enigmatic individual as they search for the meaning of their unusual connection.
The tale of Sense8 begins with a lady named Angelica, who murders herself to escape being captured by a guy dubbed "Whispers," "birthing" the telepathic link amongst eight strangers from diverse cultures and corners of the world. "Sensates" are human beings that can detect and interact with each other as well as share their knowledge, language and talents.
Daryl Hannah as Angelica / Source: Netflix
The eight finally realize that they now constitute a cluster of "sensates." On their adventure, we get a firsthand look at what it's like to be on the other side of the globe and see how they communicate face-to-face without the aid of any technology, make use of each other's talents, and grow closer as friends. A total of eight characters are depicted attempting to live their daily lives and figure out how and why they are linked in the first season of the show. While the Biologic Preservation Organization (BPO) and Whispers, a high-ranking sensate within BPO, are hunting them down, Jonas, a sensate who was linked with Angelica, comes to their help.
The Full Cluster/ Source: Netflix
Season two finds the eight characters adjusted to their newfound interconnectedness, and they now provide a hand to one another on a regular basis. Homo sensorium (the scientific name for sensates), the origins and purposes of BPO, the role of Angelica, and their powers and how to temporarily suspend them are all explained. Some of the sensates they encounter aren't nice. Jonas, who was seized by Whispers and is now in a cat-and-mouse game with Will, tries to help them and take care of himself at the same time.
Naveen Andrews as Jonas/ Source: Netflix
What makes their condition unusual (and also perplexing) is that they can frequently "feel" one other and then emerge out of nowhere in Germany via, say, India. The more this beautiful little visual trick occurs — which it does all the time — the less there is a need to explain it, resulting in the aforementioned urge to just go with it. If there is a fight in Nairobi and one of the sensates need the martial arts expertise of one of the others from Korea, that person pops out of nowhere. And there are battles. And it's exhilarating, even if it defies any normal narrative norms. In Sense8, you must abandon your rationality, accept your emotions, and simply go with the flow — a lot.
Tina Desai as Kala, Max Riemelt as Wolfgang/ Source: Netflix
And, like many Netflix originals, Sense8 is a drama that begs to be binge-watched. It exists on Netflix in large part because few other companies understood what the drama aspired to be, could not dare to take the risk of what amounts to a very long lead-up, and couldn't reasonably afford the expenditure for shooting all over the world. Sense8 is, in its own way, an exclamation point on what distinguishes Netflix from others: a large budget, an international audience, a belief that the streaming audience will ultimately find, and a need to have a lot of content from buzzy producers.
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