Sense8 Trailer: Netflix Sci Fi series around gender and sexuality from the Wachowskis

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/7/15 at 7:09pm

I've been intrigued by this for a while--a serial format may actually work for the Wachowskis.  So is Lana Wachowski the first trans (co)creator of a major American TV show?  http://www.vulture.com/2015/05/watch-sense8-trailer.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKpKAlbJ7BQ

 

Updated On: 5/7/15 at 07:09 PM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 7:54pm

Has anyone watched?

I'm about 4 episodes in and it's...interesting. The logistics of the how they're all linked together and see each other doesn't make much sense.

[Fantod]

Posted: 6/5/15 at 9:23pm

It makes no sense, and the Wachowskis can never be relied upon to write dialogue that sounds natural, but there is a beautiful quality to the show. I really like it.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 6/6/15 at 4:15pm

I really loved it. Sure it needs work on its world-building, but I cared less about that than the character arcs. I loved that each character was handed with such care that the broader villain types seemed out-of-place and lacking nuance in comparison.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 6/7/15 at 8:30am

I'm hoping to binge on this today.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 4:05am

Beautifully shot but too contrived for my taste.  Glad others are enjoying it though.

[javero]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 7:56am

I forced myself to binge-watch the series with an open mind recently.

High points:

* special effects 

* attention to detail

* Nomi & Lito's struggles seemed palpable

Low marks:

* Too many characters, period

* Too many flashbacks

* The obligatory happy ending

* Nit: only 1 of the sensates seemed to have 2 parents

* Instead of breaking new ground with an international cast, the Wachowski's perpetuated certain ethnic & national stereotypes

* The tired trope of seemingly random strangers' lives being somehow interconnected due to either predestination or paranormal phenomena has been done already, only better.

* The orgy scene seemed heavy-handed

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Updated On: 6/8/15 at 07:56 AM

[Fantod]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 8:59am

I agree with many of those points javero now that I've finished the series (moving on to Breaking Bad now...finally), though I'd give it a 3.5 for boldness.

[javero]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 9:51am

@Fantod...I factored boldness into my score.  The birth sequence during the concert scene was the epitome of boldness albeit overdone with too many births.

IMHO the Wachowskis blew a golden opportunity to explore the nexus between Nomi's mom's inability to accept her as a female and the mom's difficult labor.  Yes, Nomi is a transwoman.  But, she will never have the experience of childbirth that her mom endured nor have to deal with monthly menses which the Wachowskis didn't shy away from.  There was an undercurrent of resentment on the part of the mom that was ripe for exploitation.

As an atheist, I'm not going to defend bible-thumpers who object to surgical gender reassignment on religious grounds alone.  However, I will suggest that it's disingenuous to dismiss the Christian faithful as mentally disturbed while giving those with Nomi's identity issues a free pass. 

Updated On: 6/8/15 at 09:51 AM

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 9:59am

I finished the whole thing in a little over 24 hours. Not because it was good (it wasn't) but because I just wanted to get it over with. 

There were moments where I thought the show lived up to the premise but most of the time it was just a pretty dull character study with unnecessary sci-fi elements. There really is no point for these people to show up in each others lives other than to half-heartedly attempt to mix up the tired old formula. During the entire 12 episodes there's about 15 mins devoted to explaining the overarching "mystery." Honestly the series is a snoozefest until the end of episode 7.

Of course it's really nice visually but I think I attribute that more to the location scouts than the Wachowskis because from a directorial standpoint it's pretty lackluster. While I did enjoy the visuals, there did NOT need to be that many characters. It's possible to service 8 characters at once but why? If there had been 4-5 sensates we would have been able to spend a little more time with each one and they could have been further developed. Most of them were just like "I'm Indian and have to be arrange married to a man I don't love" or "I'm African and life sucks because everyone is chopping each other up with machetes...also VAN DAMME." The gay and trans characters were the only ones I felt were fully realized characterizations of people. If there was a series just about them I would totally be on board and interested.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to take away from the ending. It was pretty deflated and boring. Plus I don't really know if Whispers was defeated...or if it even mattered. Can't say it made me look forward to a second season.

P.S. I did think the orgy scene was hot as fvck though.

[javero]

Posted: 6/8/15 at 10:31am

My apologies for the spoilers.  I wasn't thinking very clearly earlier this morning.  All I could hear was the voices of other sensates.

[JbaraFan1]

Posted: 6/11/15 at 8:59pm

If guesses can be SPOILERS, then I guess SPOILER (to be safe).  I could be wrong here, but it sure seems that it might fit:

 

 

^{Anyone else think that Amanita could be Capheus' little sister?}

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 6/29/15 at 4:06am

I thought it was mostly fantastic.  I loved how each part was based around a genre (ie the dialog for Lito's bits were so flowery.)  I think this is a great piece on the show (though they are wrong--Philip K Dick was an ass about gender issues.)

[Taryn]

Posted: 6/30/15 at 12:18am

I loved it, too. It was flawed and imperfect, but I loved it. (The racial issues in the first episode were especially frustrating.) I don't know, it just hit an emotion in me with this group of people who were able to reach out and help each other. It just had this optimism without being superficial or naive. I just totally fell for the connection of the group.

[BudFrump23]

Posted: 7/5/15 at 9:41pm

I'm really enjoying this show. I  don't really care about how they're connected, and am just enjoying each different "self" and the journeys they are on. (I am reminded of feeling this way about Lost. I was so interested in all of their flashbacks, and wasn't as intrigued by what was happening on the island, as rare as that may be.) 

I found the scenes in the hospital with Nomi especially frightening. One of my biggest fears is being unable to control my own health decisions for whatever reason.