After a massive uproar from fans worldwide when Sense8 was supposed to be canceled last year, Netflix decided to give the series a proper ending before finishing the series for good.
Created by Matrix-directors Lilly and Lana Wachowski, the science fiction drama centers on eight individuals from different parts of the world. These eight strangers share a ‘cluster’ together which links them mentally and emotionally, makes them ‘visit’ one another telepathically while communicating and sharing their individual skills with each other. Like Sun Bak (played by Doona Bae), a Korean kickboxer of Seoul’s underground world, whose professional fighting skills saves other ‘sensates’ when in danger. Or Nomi Marks (played by Jamie Clayton), a hacktivist who uses her hacking skills to access confidential information, and sharing them with her cluster.
The series focuses on the sensate’s mystery of their psychic connection while also being hunted by the BPO (short for Biologic Preservation Organization), lead by an unknown man called Whispers (Terrence Mann) who sees them as a threat and plans to capture them one by one.
Fans of the Wachowskis may see some familiar traits of the director’s previous work – science fiction action we know and love from The Matrix, and cross-cultural elements from Cloud Atlas, a film the Wachowskis co-directed with Tom Tykwer (director of ‘Run, Lola, Run’). The series is also noticeable for emphasizing on subjects the creators felt were rarely explored in science fiction shows, like sexism, sexuality, religion, gender, and politics. Therefore, the series speaks to a global target audience.
Even though the creators originally planned a five-season run, Netflix surprisingly pulled the plug on June 1st, 2017. Sense8 was canceled after two seasons, ending with a cliffhanger. Fans were outraged and disappointed. Hashtags and online petitions from fans around the globe created a massive outroar. Even Netflix was surprised as #renewsense8 was trending on Twitter. “I’ve been working here about a year, and every month we have hundreds of titles leaving, we didn’t get many [of] the complaints when ‘The Get Down’ was cancelled (which was also a big title from Netflix), they lasted for like a day and weren’t overwhelming”, commented a customer service agent from Netflix, “when Sense8 was officially cancelled it was unbelievable, there weren’t enough agents to handle the chats.”
Netflix eventually fired back with a response, claiming they read all the comments and tweets but were unable to make a change. However, as it seemed the decision was irreversible, co-creator Lana Wachowski published a letter through social media on June 29th 2017, announcing a return to finalize the storyline: “The passionate letters, the petitions, the collective voice that rose up like the fist of Sun to fight for this show was beyond what anyone was expecting. In this world, it is easy to believe that you cannot make a difference; that when a government or an institution or corporation makes a decision, there is something irrevocable about the decision.”
The numbers were always challenging, according to Lana, defending Netflix as they did support the series as well. Production costs may have also been an issue, as the show is filmed on location, filming in seventeen different parts of the world during their two-season run. To wrap up the series in good terms, a two-hour special was eventually negotiated, with the entire Sense8 team on board.
The season finale will be available for streaming on Netflix on June 8, 2018. You can watch the newest trailer here:
