Sense8 - New Netflix show from the Wachowskis

[Moonbat]

Anyone else watching this? Once only done two episodes so far but it isn't bad. A bit wachowskish but has got great potential. I'm warming to it.

I should say more about this but I'll wait to see if anyone replies.

 

[Lenny]

Finished it this afternoon - interesting idea, and, for the most part, done well. I was surprised how restrained it was, considering the Wachowskis love their cinematic set-pieces, but that kind of works in the favour of the cinematic set-pieces as, when they do come around, they have more impact than if there was one every five minutes. And they're good. So very, very good.

I expect good things from a second series, should it get one.

 

[The Bluestocking]

I'm having the day off today and just tried the first couple of episodes.

I loved THE MATRIX but The Wachowskis have been very hit-and-miss since then. SENSE8 is walking the line between hit and miss for me. I'll give it one more episode - if I can't get engaged I'll hold off watching the rest. Sometimes one needs to be in the mood to watch something, perhaps.

 

[Moonbat]

I've watched quite a few episodes now and I'm really enjoying it, it looks amazing. Someone said the locations were the real stars, lavish, rich and wonderful locations across the world. It certainly looks good.
I'm not sure what skills some of the characters bring, we have a fighter, a cop, a hacker, a thief, an actor - which are all skills that might get someone out of a tricky situation, save their life and what have you, but how is the bus driver, the pharmaceutical rep (not sure if she was a pharmacist or a salesperson) and a DJ going to do to save people in the heat of the moment. Don't get me wrong being a DJ (as she has been depicted) is a skill but I can't imagine a situation where someone needs to get a party going so well that it saves lives??

 

[GMCox]

I was really looking forward to this but I thought it was a slackly written mess!

What the writers have done here is come up with an incredible premise that brings together potentially interesting characters from all over the world, characters that wouldn’t in normal circumstances have met, never mind interacted with each other.

That is everything I love in a premise and is why I'm such a big fan of Lost and Heroes, but unfortunately the premise is not enough and the whole thing comes over badly characterised and sluggishly paced.

J. Michael Straczynski (who some people just seem to forget is even involved) said Sense8 feels like a twelve hour movie broken into three acts.

That is the problem here, it is written that way and shouldn't be. The whole idea of doing a twelve hour television show like a movie seems stupid from the get go as people would need a lot more patience than they’re likely to have when sitting down to watch it.

Although it does get better as it goes along the first four episodes being given over to just introducing doomed this from the start.

If it is unsuccessful then I hope television executives don’t use sense8 as an excuse to consign science fiction television to a past where some people already think it belongs.



Graham

 

[The Bluestocking]

J. Michael Straczynski (who some people just seem to forget is even involved) said Sense8 feels like a twelve hour movie broken into three acts.

That is the problem here, it is written that way and shouldn't be. The whole idea of doing a twelve hour television show like a movie seems stupid from the get go as people would need a lot more patience than they’re likely to have when sitting down to watch it.

DAREDEVIL was written to be what is essentially a 13-hour movie broken up into 13 episodes on Netflix and it worked beautifully. So it can be done and does fit the whole "binge-watching" habit most TV viewers are quickly acquiring. Done right, this means we get much deeper character development and storyline than a traditional 2-hour movie can provide.

The issue with SENSE8 is that it became too sprawling - too many characters and writing that wasn't tight enough to sustain the storyline(s). I stopped watching after episode 3.

 

[willwallace]

I think Daredevil was done more or less with the same idea in mind, a 12 hour movie made as a tv show and it worked for me.

Sense 8 is a really odd show. Only got through 2 episodes so far and it feels very confusing. I am starting to get the underlying concept and it's a good one, but there's a lot of confusing jumps during the episodes that make it difficult to figure out what is going on. I do like it, though.

 

[Moonbat]

I've got to about episode 9 and it is really good. I felt it didn't even get exciting until the end of episode 3. I wanted my wife to watch with me but she couldn't get into the first episode so she gave up.
It does get a lot better so don't give up is toy have the time to persevere.

 

[Warren_Paul]

I think the problem for me is that I read the blurb and watched the trailer, and both looked really good, but then that first episode comes along and it doesn't live up to what the trailer made me believe it would be like. I felt like I'd been lied to, because honestly, I thought the first episode was very poor quality. Even if it gets better, I'm not sure the average person would be able to get over the hurdle of that first episode.

It was kinda Stage-Production-on-TV like, which made it feel there was something missing from the acting and camera work throughout the episode, and it was trying to be mysterious, which just made it slow, and left me without any real answers for far too long. I even tried to watch it twice, hoping that the second time I'd be okay with it. I wasn't, which is sad, because I wanted to like it.

It may just be me and what I look for in a TV show. It seems very low budget, and independent film festival like, and unfortunately, I don't have the patience for shows like that. I don't doubt the ideas behind it and the story that might develop in later episodes is good, but suspect its for the people that can forgo weak acting and camera work for the sake of deep meaning behind the words and plotlines.

 

[GMCox]

I think Daredevil was done more or less with the same idea in mind, a 12 hour movie made as a tv show and it worked for me.

There is a big difference between a show being cinematic in how it is shot and a show being written like it was a twelve hour movie.

Movies should not be twelve hours long even if written for television.

 

[purple_kathryn]

I seem to end up watching a lot of shows with relatively explicit sex scenes in them recently. I generally tend to skip past them but it's getting a bit tiresome, I'm not watching it because of the sex I'm watching it because it's sci-fi or fantasty.

 

[GMCox]

I seem to end up watching a lot of shows with relatively explicit sex scenes in them recently. I generally tend to skip past them but it's getting a bit tiresome, I'm not watching it because of the sex I'm watching it because it's sci-fi or fantasty.

I have to agree with you there. I do think that some of these people think filling a show with tits and ass will make it a success. I think Sense8 will prove them wrong but I doubt they will see it that way.

Graham

 

[Dave]

I also found the first few episodes tiresome and confusing. The first episode would have put me off if my son wasn't already half way through the season. I persevered and I'm about to watch ep. 7. I can understand the reason it is confusing better if it was written the way described, but that is not the way to write something that would be watched as a weekly TV series. You would forget too much between episodes. Since it is on Netflix, and most people will watch it more quickly, if not in just a few sittings, then I expect they thought they could safely experiment with the format.

I'm not sure that it is low budget. They have filmed all over the world with the actors actually on location. There are lots of extras and costumes - just the wedding costumes alone! Straczynski and the Wachowakis can't come cheap either. The scenery and the colour; the spectacle, is all good, but I am hoping for more than that before the end. Some explanation for the conscious-sharing groups? Why is there eight? The woman at the very start? I'm also watching for the sci-fi and if I want something nice to look at I'll watch a travel show.

 

[Dave]

Sorry for the double post, but keep watching up to episode 8. After doing a Shawshank Redemption, it goes James Bond before finally turning all Game of Thrones. The pace certainly picks up and the bio-tech corporate government conspiracy starts to reveal itself. It was difficult to get through those first few very slow episodes though.

And yes there is some sex but not that much compared to most modern dramas. It is mostly passionate kissing and hand-holding.

 

[willwallace]

Finished the season and I'm glad I stuck with it. The first few episodes were jumbled but I think that might have been intentional, to give an idea of what the characters were going through.

As for the sex, it gets a little intense at times but felt to me that it fit into the story and was no more than what was necessary.

I really liked the characters, the storyline, and the amazing location shoots. Be looking forward to seeing the next season.

 

[Dave]

I concur with everyone else that the latter episodes are worth sticking through the first episodes. I'm not sure many people would though.

Just a few nitpicks about the final episode mainly set in Iceland: Why was the lab built inside a geothermal energy plant? Did it need a large amount of energy? Or, as I suspect, did it just look visually good? There was far too much scenery in this series and too little exposition.

If they are planning on going anywhere in a south easterly direction in that small boat at the end, then they will have a long journey ahead. I hope they have a few packed lunches!

 

[ZombieWife]

Bumping it up. I finally saw it. I'm a huge JMS fan, so I had to check it out.

A slow burn. I was glad that I didn't watch the trailer ahead of time because I felt like that gave so much away right off the bat. (Things that weren't explained until episode 4 or 5.) And I enjoyed trying to figure out what was happening as we went along. The story was almost non-existent, but I was fine with that because the characters were really compelling. Episode 1 felt a bit too confusing for me at times, but I stuck it out. Episode 2 got a little better. Then, by the end of episode 3 (van DAMN!) I was pretty much on board.

One thing I enjoyed immensely is how they portrayed sexuality in this: hetero, homosexuality, transgender. It was handled so so well, imho.

 

[Idoru]

Well I somehow managed to watch the second episode first and thought I could just go back and watch 1 and then go straight to 3. It didn't take long to realise this was a mistake, and I went back and watched them in order. It makes so much more sense that way! I'm really enjoying it. It is a slow burn, but so far worth the wait.

One thing I enjoyed immensely is how they portrayed sexuality in this: hetero, homosexuality, transgender. It was handled so so well, imho.

This is one of the things I love about it. As well as the racial diversity. There's more diversity in the first episode of this show than in a whole series of many SFF shows. So refreshing to see.

 

[miclpea]

I like the show.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

My daughter recommended this, although she refused to watch it with us (apparently one does not watch sex scenes with ones parents!). I struggled with the first couple of episodes because it seemed to jump around too much with nothing tying together the different characters. If it had been a book, I'd have put it down because of the head-hopping. My husband liked it from the start so I stuck with it too.

Now about to watch episode 7 and I'm hooked.

I like the broad gender identity representation, but I also think it's a bit obvious and overstated (lesion couple - check; transgender - check...). Some of the sex scenes work well, fitting into the story, but some just seem gratuitous to me.

Looking forward to the rest of the series anyway.