SENSE8 : FROM CRAP TO COMPLETELY WATCHABLE

Somewhere between an excruciating third episode to the season finale, this show does a complete 180^o and redeems itself.  I don’t know when, I don’t know where, since I couldn’t bring myself around to sitting through episodes 4 to 11, not at the risk of any of these being as bad as 1 through to 3.  I had had enough.

I thought to myself, why not give the finale a chance?  You know how sometimes, a book can be incredibly frustrating, but, when you skip to the last chapter, it is actually exciting as all the twists and turns have revealed themselves.

Thankfully, the Wachowskis have managed to turn this show around.  3 episodes in and I felt as though they were just throwing random disjointed punches and not landing a single blow.  Everything about the show was wrong.  The dialogue was off, the storyline dull and often parts of it seemed like they had been written and directed by someone else and just shoved in as an afterthought.  The only bits of the first three episodes that were worth watching were the last 5 minutes, and the first 10 minutes of the first episode.  With the start of each episode, it just seemed like they failed to capitalise on the good will which they managed to claw back at the end of its predecessor.

So, with great frustration and resentment, I put the season finale on.  And let me tell you, that episode is well worth watching, especially when you’ve already invested as much time as I had.  Somewhere in the skipped episodes, they got their shit together and an actual plotline where you’re invested in is created.  The Sensates (which may be the most clever part of this show yet, Sense8 = Sensate, get it?) come together and are able to use each other’s skills effectively.  They work together to save Riley from an Icelandic biotech lab, where the villain of the show reigns supreme.

You learn more about Riley, Wolfgang and Will in this episode than all the first three combined.  A part of me is intrigued as to when the show went from total utter unwatchable to suspense filled drama and action.  I don’t know, and quite frankly, I am not going to go back and try and find out.

Will (the Chicago policeman) and Riley (Icelandic DJ living in London) are in love with each other, and each have a tortured past.  Will with his childhood and early connection with a murdered 10 year old girl.  Riley, from the death of her lover and baby.  I’ll spoil it for you, happy to actually.  The ‘delivery’ was something I didn’t quite need to see, but the delivery of the scenes was very confronting and quite daunting.  I understood Riley a lot and felt for her.  Wolfgang (the hot German safe cracker) is also an intriguing character, his callus nature towards human life and his history makes him a formidable force.

In truth, if this show had been on any other platform other than Netflix, it would not have gone beyond the pilot.  If I had been a network executive, I would have watched the first 20 minutes, then the realisation of how I have just destroyed my career would sink in.

The Wachowskis have put a lot in the hopes that with the binge watching culture which Netflix allows, viewers will be content to move from crappy episode to crappy episode, to find the gem that is hidden in there, somewhere.  That’s just not true.

The characters for the first three episodes weren’t well explored, their individual storylines were bordering on weak and pathetic. It did not plague my curiosity in any way.  I wasn’t remotely invested or interested in what happened to any of them, I couldn’t even be bothered to remember any of their names.  No, I lie.  It plagued my curiosity as to why Netflix would give The Wachowkis and the writer for World War Z and Babylon 5 money to develop this show.  They have such a good track record when it comes to TV programs.

I’m glad that the show redeemed itself and actually became something that was worth my time.  I was wondering whether I was too smart for the show and didn’t enjoy it for what it was because I only saw the stupidity behind it.  Or, was I too dumb to catch the brilliance of the plotline.  I couldn’t quite figure it out.

I am glad I skipped to the end, now knowing that the show actually becomes good.  But, I am not going to waste any of my time figuring out what happened between episodes 4 and 11.  Whatever it was, it’s not quite worth the risk of the frustration and resentment I was feeling as I watched episodes 1 to 3.

Will I watch the second season of Sense8?  Probably catch the first episode, but if it shows any of the brilliance of episodes 1 to 3 of the first season, I can tell you now.  I’m not bothering and skipping straight to the season finale.

Maybe, when I’m seriously bored and have nothing better to do, I’ll go back and watch this first season backwards, and when I come across that episode which still stinks, I’ll stop there.

Rating: 2-7/10, episode 3 was very shitty, but the finale was pretty damn impressive and completely unexpected.

See it again: No, definitely no.  I may got back and fill in the gaps of the missing episodes, but I really just want to put this show behind me and move on.

Worth my time: Yes, only because I had invested so much of my time already, and I am so thankful that it redeemed itself.  Making me feel less of a fool for watching it in the first place.  I shouldn’t have raised my hand for this one.

Take my mother: No, I am not recommending this to anyone.  Maybe tell them to watch the first 10 minutes of the first episode, and then the season finale and be done with it.

Talking points: I really don’t want to talk about this show.

Annoyance factor: 8/10, obviously the writer and directors know how to tell a good story, but they also know how to tell a really bad one.  Just because you don’t have to land a knock out punch until the end, doesn’t mean you can not land any punches along the way.  They missed the mark so much in the early episodes that it was not worth sticking around for.  If this had been on a network, I would have switched the channel and not looked back.  EVER.