Don't you just love shows where instead of having just one main protagonist, there is a group of characters who receive about the same amount of airtime? I personally prefer this arrangement, since I can get to know each character, which makes the interaction between them so much more interesting. Of course, in the most ideal situation, these characters will all have their own unique personality traits, as well as their social, economic, professional, spiritual, and cultural background.
Embracing this concept of an ensemble cast, Sense8 takes it to another level, where its eight protagonists are literally from eight different places around the world. And they couldn't be any more different from each other, in just about any possible way. The only thing that unites them is a psychic connection they share. The two-season show was released on Netflix between 2015 and 2018.
Eight Personalities, Eight Ways of Seeing the World
The characters of Sense8 seem to have been written precisely to include a wide array of global diversity. They include a businesswoman and kickboxer from Korea, a safe cracker from a Russian mobster background living in Berlin, a secretly gay actor from upper-scale Mexico City, a scientist and devote Hindu from Mumbai, a bus driver from Nairobi, a trans woman hacker from San Francisco, a policeman from Chicago, and a London-based DJ from Iceland.
All of these characters already have an incredible a very colorful background, even looking at each on their own. The problems they struggle with, the daily joys they appreciate, and the lifestyles they live, are all quite different in their own ways. Once they start interacting with each other, these differences appear to be even bigger. At the same time, however, their psychic connection also enables them to communicate so closely that they get to speak each other's languages.
As the plot is unveiled, it is only one other person each character discovers a connection with. Gradually, they are joined by others, before all eight are connected. This gradual progression explores a great deal of cultural traits, which could lead to potential clashes between them. However, in the end the commonalities of being human always win, resolving these cultural differences either in banality, or better, some good humored jokes. This way the series seems a lot more like a comedy than drama, generating a pleasant "we-are-the-world" feeling in the viewers.
Too Short, Too Expensive, Too Much Sex
As amazing as this series promises to be, which even more amazingly it manages to deliver on, it didn't last for more than two seasons. The reasons are quite understandable: the huge cast, and much more so the on-location filming in multiple countries deemed to be unsustainable for the size of its fan-base. Another drawback were the numerous love scenes. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there were more than in your average TV series. However, due to the psychic connection between the eight characters, they tended to include many, or even all of them. And this led to Aml Ameen, the actor playing the role of the African driver, to quit after the first season, being replaced with Toby Onwumere. While I didn't mind the sex, I was a bit disappointed by this change in faces.
Still, the existing two seasons are full of examples of human compassion, beautiful shots from around the world, and the surprising and almost surreal interaction of diverse people, making it even more worthwhile to watch. If you haven't seen Sense8 and have gotten curious, here is a trailer for the first season:
Take a Look at the Previous Posts in my Binge On This Series:
StartUp: Not For Learning About Crypto!
Chernobyl: An Apocalyptic Documentary
The Handmaid's Tale: A Not Too-Far-Off Dystopia
Twin Peaks: The Return - The Series Closing After 25 Years
Silicon Valley: Humor from the World of Tech and Money
Dark: Intense Time-Travel for Germanophiles
Twin Peaks: The Show That Changed Everything
The Man In the High Castle: What if the Nazis Had Won?
Lost: Mystery With Addictive Potential
Babylon Berlin: Sociopolitical Tremmors in the Weimar Republic
Rome: A Realistic Sandal Series
Carnivàle: A Throw-back to the Thirties
Weeds: The Hillarious Alternative to Breaking Bad
Mr. Robot: Hackers, Freedom, and Mental Issues
Das Boot: A Real German WWII Series
Black Sails: Pirate Lore Galore
Twelve Monkeys: Time Travel and Pandemic
The DocsMX 2020 Film Festival