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hopelesstvaddict · 6 years

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Sense 8 Review - Amor Vincit Omnia

Love conquers all indeed. Feelings permeated the series finale of Sense8 but love is at the heart of it. Love between its characters, who've never felt so real than in this installment; love for life as some of them come to learn, to accept and to embrace; love finally for its fans without whom this final chapter wouldn't even exist - and that starts with being as wild, crazy and real as it has always been.

Starting off directly as the second season finished off, Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) is still held prisoner by the nefarious BPO. The rest of the cluster holds onto Whispers (Terrence Mann) whom they plan to exchange for Wolfgang. It has to be said right away that one of the biggest strengths of the episode is its cast, of which none is left out. Not only do each of the main cast have its shining moment - however small yet never insignificant - but the show has made the smart choice to let the recurring cast in on the secret too. Fan favorites Hernando (Alfonso Herrera), Daniela (Eréndira Ibarra) and Detective Mun (Sukku Son) amongst others join Amanita (Freema Agyeman) and Bug (Michael X. Sommers) to combine their efforts and help the cluster which really cements the idea of absolute unity in this group of people - an extended cluster to the cluster.

Captivity is the occasion for Wolfgang to finally shed the last parts of his past which was glimpsed in bits and pieces in the previous seasons. Overall, that does not bring anything vital to the episode and one could sense that this would have been stretched over more episodes, had the occasion presented itself. Sense8 has never shied away from twisted relationships both in positive and negative ways. Wolgang's big family reveal reflects exactly who he is; more so, he thinks it defines him. Seeing him finally accept that he indeed does matter to many people and that these people are as willing to do anything for him as he would for them is very satisfying in terms of character development. It is just a tad disappointing that he is the sole character in this finale to benefit from flashbacks. The show of course already dedicated itself to other characters in the previous seasons and it certainly would have become more than overstuffed had it tried to dive into more than Wolfgang’s past but it reminds us of the tragic backstories of Riley (Tuppence Middleton) or Will (Brian J. Smith) back in the first season and how Sense8 excelled at telling character stories; unfortunately, circumstances call for mainly action in this series finale.

Wolfgang is also the catalyst for perhaps the most gasp-inducing - but in the end the most satisfying - twist of the episode. His star-crossed love story with Kala (Tina Desai) was a fan favorite from the start but there was always that one bug, Kala’s marriage. Worse, Rajan (Purab Kohli) is not a bad man and Kala does love him too - just not in the way she loves Wolfgang. Sense8 does away with this problem in the most unexpected way. In bringing Rajan to side with his wife and her cluster against BPO and going against the easy route - which would have been a variation of him walking away after learning the truth about his wife - the showrunners instantly make us viewers fall in love with him. Rajan goes against every cliche, every prejudice we could have had against him and seamlessly integrates the group. Of course, that he asks a minimal amount of questions and so willingly accepts the rest is a little easy but this decision is a staple of Sense8 as a show that prones diversity and open-mindedness; it also demonstrates how well they understand their characters. Kala could never be dissociated from Rajan nor could she be from Wolfgang.

It then comes naturally that she should be the one sensate to die. After two seasons of Whispers threatening to come after Riley - alledgedly the heart of the cluster and arguably the one least able to defend herself - it would have been too predictable to lose her. Instead she is right there with Will - more than ever the de-facto leader and mama-bear of the group - gunning and fighting because although she does not know a thing about guns, he does. The sensates elevate their powers in this installment and so does Kala, which is exactly what saves her. There are no rules, Bug tells her. And so she follows the advice. It does not however take away any of the power of the scene itself. Death has been discussed times and again over the course of the show. Entire clusters wiped out and the pain that is described to convey the loss of one of the clusters, we’re being told. Shared pain has already happened in the cluster. But the pain of death was beautifully portrayed here by each of the actors. The twist was unpredictable as it was anticipated also. Ominous warning signs were placed. Another TV show would have been too happy to use a sweet rooftop scene between Amanita and Nomi (Jamie Clayton) only to pull out the rug on one of them. It was too big of a risk, too big an operation, too important an episode, too easy a narrative device not to use it. Had the show gone on for a few more seasons, killing off one of the sensates would have made a great cliffhanger. As it is, the episode uses it well enough to bring out tears before veering away towards something more hopeful. Rajan and Wolfgang mourn the woman they both love but what is so refreshing is seeing that neither tries to outshine the other, not now nor after. It might be unlikely but seeing Sense8 go that route is bold and satisfying in itself.

If Sense8 drew strenghth from its characters, it always struggled with the story it wanted to tell. Clocking at 150 minutes, this final installment needs to wrap up its many loose ties. With all character stories solved with the exception of Wolfgang’s, the plot unfolds, convoluted and complex as ever but always compelling, bringing us from Paris to Naples. The two settings allow for some light and beautiful moments - from a shared family dinner to a shared musical experience - reminding us of the show's exacerbated enjoyment of life. It's also the occasion to bring back key characters - which just shows the love and care that was put into making this series finale. Here and there you can see that the numerous cast - Amanita and Hernando notably - was not always available to participate in all the scenes but they are never completely sidelined. Will's best friend and police partner Diego (Ness Bautista) participates in the final fight as does Wolgang's brother-in-arms Felix (Maximilan Mauff). Disgustingly amusing Puck (Kick Gurry) is also back while former BPO-involved members Mr Hoy (Sylvester McCoy) and River El-Sadawi (Amira Ghazalla) also play defining roles in defeating Whispers and returning baddie Lila (Valeria Bilelio) who sidelines the former as the real menace of this final war. Even as the mysterious Chairman is revealed and Jonas (Naveen Andrews)' last secrets regarding Angelica (Darryl Hannah) are exposed, Lila is ultimately the dangerous MVP. It is then extremely fitting that Will and Wolfgang are the ones to face off against their two most vicious nemesis. What makes it even more compelling is that once again, it is a complete teamwork which allows all of the characters to work off their respective strengths. Team Nomi of course supervises everything from outside while Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre) and co distract foes by being actors. The rest go off to show fighting prowess and gunning skills. The final point to the fight - if a little easy because it is so... final - is an extremely welcome throwback to one of Wolfgang's fiery moments from the first season.

It would not be a series finale without a wedding. An extended 30-minutes epilogue - à-la-The Return of the King - is dedicated to returning to what Sense8 does best, its character moments. In the eyes of Amanita, there's nothing more romantic than the Eiffel Tower. So that's what she gets as a setting for her big event - arguably the one thing fans would have been really crushed not to see had this final chapter not existed. The scene serves to remind us that beyond its story, beyond its messages, Sense8 is just like any other good TV show. It's a show that cares about its characters, values them and understands them. As groundbreaking and emotionally satisfying - and yes, tear-inducing - as that wedding is, it's also but above all about the joy of feeling what these people feel. As Amanita says, feelings are to be embraced as opposed to repressed, followed instead of erased. Feelings are forever intertwined with open-mindedness - with a little help from space cakes in the case of Nomi's mother - and they may well be what differentiates sensates from humans but they don't necessarily separates the two. Nomi and Amanita are proof of that. Love is the answer, Sense8 seems to try to tell us.

And of course, it wouldn't be Sense8 without an orgy. Group sex became Sense8's brand since its first season and each time it elevated itself. The show understandably refrains from it during the whole episode given the dire circumstances but a wedding night naturally calls for some under-the-sheets time (not that we see any sheets there). Sense8's sex scenes were always extremely erotic as well as looking like live pieces of art. It was always the physical representation of all the messages the show wished to convey - acceptance, open-mindedness, experience. As well as being the occasion to display the beauty of its actors and actresses, it showcases the strongest emotion upon and around which it has built itself. Extreme care and a considerable amount of time was devoted to construct each of the main couples as shown through a sweet montage from the first two seasons. Some were established in previous seasons and thus took a backseat (Will and Riley, Lito and Hernando, Capheus (Toby Onwumere) and Zakia (Mumbi Maina)) and some fully blossomed in this episode (Sun (Doona Bae) and Mun). But the scene - which this time included both Bug and Dani as a testament to the oft-repeated statement that they belong to the family - serves as a celebration of all forms of love, including those types of love we don't see often on screen. The cherry on top comes in the form of Rajan who deepens our new love for him by participating in the hottest threesome to ever grace our screens with Kala and Wolfgang - who embraces an only-glimpsed-until-now bisexuality. The trio establishes itself like a similar one to what Lito, Hernando and Dani already form. But while it's striking that Lito and Hernando love each other differently than they love Dani and her them in return, it is not clear what the feelings are between Wolfgang, Kala and Rajan. She clearly loves both and does not know how to choose as she tells her friends. She seemingly does not want to choose. Rajan and Wolfgang love her and also have a deep mutual respect for one another. Their openness to each other and to the relationship they're in begs the question of what the feelings between them might be or might become. Their willingness and exaltation to the effects of their sexual experience seemingly point in the direction of a potentially happy polyamourous relationship which is, when we think about it, such a Sense8-esque move in itself.

How symbolic of an image then that the show's final line and image are both testaments to the very nature of the series itself. A sated Rajan wonders about the existence of such things while the show fades to black on a rainbowed strap-on, echoing a provoking and outrageous image from the very first episode. Sense8 might have been cancelled too soon. But we should still be grateful to Netflix for bringing it nonetheless in the first place. The mere existence of this carefully crafted finale is a gift to fans - as stated by the final card. Sense8 is that rare TV show that genuinely likes its characters as much as its fans and succeeds in the rare feat of making us love all of them without exception. Sense8 is that rare TV show that carries a message and unapologetically sticks to it till the end. As Will asks, despite everything, would any of us go back to the way things were before ? Jamais.

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