Article originally published as SENSE8 Review on Seat42F.
Netflix
has a new drama by The Wachowskis (The Matrix) premiering this week.
Entitled SENSE8, the story is truly global, following eight individuals
in seven countries who are connected to one another somehow, being able
to feel what the others feel and experience what they experience. There
is a violent act that seems to somehow figure into forging their
connection, and presumably there is a villain out there who will
endanger them.
If that sounds murky, that is
appropriate because SENSE8 is not clear in its intentions right out of
the gate. Throughout the first hour, a LOT of characters are introduced,
and each have their own plot lines threading the pilot, so there’s much
to keep track of. This is not the type of show one can casually watch
while cooking dinner; it takes total concentration and engagement to
even begin to sort out who everyone is and what the settings are.
The central eight are: Will Gorski
(Brian J. Smith, SGU Stargate Universe), a police officer in Chicago;
Jamie Clayton (Nomi Marks, Transform Me), a transgender political
blogger living in San Francisco with her girlfriend, Amanita (Freema
Agyeman, Doctor Who); Riley (Tuppence Middleton, Spies of Warsaw), an
Icelandic, drug-enjoying DJ who has immigrated to London; Wolfgang (Max
Riemelt, In Face of the Crime), a locksmith-turned-safecracker in
Berlin; Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre, Velvet), a closeted gay actor in
Mexico City; Sun (Bae Doona, Cloud Atlas), a businesswoman who has
gotten herself into professional trouble in Seoul; Kala (Tina Desai, The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), a woman considering marrying a man she
doesn’t love in Mumbai; and Capheus (Aml Ameen, Harry’s Law), a failing
bus driver in Nairobi.
As you can see, it is quite an
international cast, much more so than most “international” ensembles
that are at least half American. Each of these individuals very much
inhabits a different part of the world and exists within a different
culture, which should make their connection even more jarring than it
already is. Though, for some reason, the show chooses to use English
instead of subtitling, which might make it slightly more accessible, but
feels a little weird.
SENSE8 doesn’t try to bring the group
together geographically. In fact, the pilot barely brings them together
in the story at all, with a few flashes of what will become their new
state, but mostly focusing on their lives as they are now. What this
means is, SENSE8 is telling many different stories at once, and how they
will eventually all be brought into the same orbit remains quite a
mystery.
The catalyst for the series involves a
woman named Angel (Daryl Hannah, Kill Bill, Steel Magnolias), trapped
between her love, Jonas (Naveen Andrews, Lost), and the villainous Mr.
Whispers (Terrence Mann, The Dresden Files), but this thread seems just
as unconnected as the others at the start, so it’s hard to tell exactly
how Angel will play a part in the other eight’s lives, with the end of
hour one finally giving us a little info in that regard, but not much.
I can’t say that I enjoyed the first
episode of SENSE8 all that much. It took me a good forty-five minutes of
confusion and stress to even start to get a handle on what is
happening. Generally, that’s not how I like to begin a series. I see
that what is going on here is very complicated and I’m not sure there’s
an easier way to introduce so much, but at the same time, so few of the
characters start out with a compelling narrative that the barrier to
entry is great. There are scenes later in the episode, especially for
Jamie and Wolfgang, that get one interested and invested. But SENSE8
would work better if it began in that manner and then showed us more of
their average lives, providing a more immediate way in.
Because of this, I’m not sure if I’m
going to keep watching or not. The production is obviously very
high-value, with a variety of interesting places (those with 4K
televisions should appreciate this even more), and the acting seems
sincere and solid. I certainly would not not recommend it. The
question is, will the investment required, much more than your average
TV show, be worth the payoff? That, I cannot tell you at this time.
SENSE8’s twelve-episode first season will be available on Netflix this Friday.
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