‘Sense8’ goes out with a bang

Daryl Hannah

The action-packed finale of the web series “Sense8,” which launches globally on June 8, is guaranteed to tickle viewers’ fancy, especially when it shines the spotlight on polarizing issues that have long driven a wedge between liberals and conservatives.

In the Netflix series’ case, can a trans woman find a fairy tale ending for her romance with her lesbian lover? Is it justifiable for a woman in an arranged marriage to seek love elsewhere? And should a closeted actor declare his true feelings for his secret lover in public and risk losing his lucrative career in acting?

There’s more to “Sense8” than its big themes and stubborn characters, however. In fact, other TV programs can learn a thing or two from the sci-fi show, which has utilized its fans’ zeal and enthusiasm in a positive way:
After releasing its two-hour Season 2 opener in December 2016, Netflix announced that it had decided to cancel “Sense8” barely a month after releasing 10 more episodes in May 2017.

But the show’s avid followers would have none of it. So, reacting to strong fan demand, the streaming network decided to give its beleaguered “sensates” a new lease on life—and the closure they deserve.
That, however, doesn’t mean they all get to live … uhm … happily ever after, that is.

Will they ride happily into the sunset while dancing to Clean Bandit’s “Rather Be”? Will they succumb to Whispers’ deadly machinations?

We know the answers, but to enjoy the show’s complex and convoluted plot twists and turns, viewers need to find out for themselves how the octet and their allies manage to continue proselytizing about beauty and harmony in diversity and the kind of love that refuses to be held hostage by society’s restrictive norms and double standards.

For the uninitiated, “Sense8” follows eight strangers from different parts of the world who realize that they’re mentally and emotionally connected to one another: Capheus (Toby Onwumere) is a Jean-Claude Van Damme-loving matatu driver in Nairobi. Sun (Doona Bae) is a kickboxing star in Seoul. Nomi (Jamie Clayton) is a trans woman “hacktivist” in San Francisco. Kala (Tina Desai) is a pharmacist in Mumbai who’s married to a man she doesn’t love.

Sensates need to work together as a team to survive.

Riley (Tuppence Middleton) is an Icelandic DJ living in London. Wolfgang (Max Riemelt) is a safe-cracking locksmith in Berlin who’s connected to organized crime. Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre) is a gay Spanish actor living in Mexico with his secret boyfriend, Hernando (Alfonso Herrera). And Will (Brian J. Smith) is a police officer in Chicago who’s haunted by an unsolved murder.

Their bond is established soon after sensate Angelica (Daryl Hannah) gives birth to their “cluster” and activates their psychic connection with one another.
She then kills herself to avoid getting captured by Whispers (Terrence Mann), a sensate who has turned against his own kind, and the Biologic Preservation Organization (BPO) that wants all sensates eradicated.

Will and company can sense, communicate and feel each other’s emotions. They also use their collective knowledge, skills and languages to their advantage.

In the series finale, while the sensates are gathered in Paris, Wolfgang is hounded by visions of his battered mother, whom he was unable to defend from his monstrous, incestuous dad.
The revelation about his mom’s real identity is shocking, but that’s par for the course in a show that loves breaching and smashing thematic borders.

Even as he is pursued by goons with guns, Wolfgang must come to terms with his “secret” romance with Kala, who’s torn between him and her kind and affectionate hubby, Rajan (Purab Kohli).

Sun also gets her make-or-break moments with Detective Mun (Sukku Son), who’s in Paris to find out if their interrupted romance in Seoul is worth pursuing.

For his part, Lito enlists the help of a cluster mate to “channel” the appropriate emotions he needs for the biggest break of his acting career.

It’s fascinating to see the sensates coming together as they cross swords with BPO and interact with Jonas (Naveen Andrews), a well-meaning member of Angelica’s cluster, when they’re faced with Whispers’ forces of death and destruction.

They work their collaborative magic when they start “borrowing” each other’s skills to get through their difficult days.

But, when one of them takes a deadly hit during a cat-and-mouse chase and the ensuing melee, they realize they need to do away with inconsequential distractions and work together as a team to survive!