If you aren’t watching Sense8 yet, check out these eight reasons why you really should be! Now back to the episode reviews. Today we’ll jump in with episodes seven to nine, which is a slower chunk but also has my favorite sequence of the whole first season. As usual, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, these reviews will focus more on recapping and responses, and less on trying to explain the mythology of Sense8. Especially now that we’re into the second half of the first season. So let’s get caught up before we jump into the final chunk of episodes next week. And then we have to anxiously wait to season two.
PHOTO CREDIT: NETFLIX
These episodes deal with some new beginnings. Sun (Doona Bae) is settling into her new prison life, which I was initially really hesitant about. It turns out prison life suits Sun just fine, and she’s actually coming into her own really nicely. Meanwhile, in episode seven Riley (Tuppence Middleton) has made her triumphant return to Iceland, though she still has hesitations about if somehow her return means that she’s cursed to bring hardship to the people she loves. We’re starting to get more hints about what drove Riley from Iceland in the first place, and it’s hard not to feel for. Kala (Tina Desai) and Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) are also growing closer, continually poppin in on one another, but I still don’t feel as invested in their relationship (or Wolfgang in general) as I’d like to. Overall, this is a slower episode that focuses more on the individual character stories than it does the central plot.
In episode eight things start to come back together again. Kala is genuinely hurting for Wolfgang after his friend (cousin?) was attacked at the end of the last episode, and it’s hard not to wonder if it’s simply compassion or if she’s literally feeling what he is. In Nairobi, Capheus (Aml Ameen) is actively looking to get away from his crime lord underling employment, which is hard not to be nervous about. I want everything to be wonderful for him all the time. Things aren’t looking great for Lito (Miguel Ángel Silvestre) either, he’s at serious risk of being publicly outed. It’s going to come down to a choice between keeping his secrets and Daniela (Eréndira Ibarra) safe, but we’ll get to that in a bit because all I want to talk about now is Nomi’s (Jamie Clayton) great escape. When trouble comes once again knocking on her door, she needs to get away quickly, using skills from half of the other Sensate’s to do so. She flows seamlessly from using police skills, to fighting skills and even bringing Capheus in to drive the getaway car. And every second of it is awesome. It’s a shame that this sequence is so late in the series because this is the one I’d like to point everyone to to convince them to watch the show.
This week we wrap up with episode nine, Death Doesn’t Let You Say Goodbye. Riley meets another Sensate from a different cluster, the same one who subconciously convinced her to leave Iceland all those years ago, knowing she’d be at risk to those hunting them if she stayed. We get a fair bit of background info in this ocene, though not much that’s particularily relevant to the plot. Lito is actually the most interesting character in this episode. He opted to sacrifice Gabriela in order to protect his privacy, something that really didn’t sit well with his boyfriend. So now Lito is alone and has to deal with the consequences of everything that’s going on. While he’s in the process of breaking down, he has a great (and heartbreaking) conversation with Nomi at a museum in Mexico, once again drawing unexpected connections between what each character is going through. The episode ends with Lito in tears, pulling a trigger after he’s hit rock bottom.
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Buuuut alas, the results of that dramatic finale–arguably the most emotionaly dramatic scene of all three of these episodes–will have to wait until next week. I’ll be back to wrap up the final three episodes and then the waiting game begins for season two.
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