Sense 8

Magus Prime · June 06, 2015, 09:53:00 AM

New show on Netflix. Tried watching it. Does anybody understand the Wachowskis anymore? Sidenote: Freema Agyeman aka Martha Jones of Doctor Who fame is in it and she bares all and as attractive as I find her, this oddly was neither here nor there for me.

CG · June 06, 2015, 11:53:57 AM

I've watched the first episode and I've read a couple of interviews with the writer (JMS of B5). I'm not exactly sure where they're going with the show, which is either good or bad depending on your penchant for surprise. JMS has said that with the full episode order being available all at once, they don't need to have the artificial breaks they would on episodic TV (artificial cliffhangers or conclusions every 44 minutes) so it's more like a 12 hour movie that's been broken up onto different discs than a typical 12-episode TV show.

I recently watched Cloud Atlas and really liked it. After I watched it, I went and read some reviews and the consensus was that you were going to love or hate it. The Wachowskis seem to want to make stories about how connected everyone is and how what you do impacts other people. This is a theme I like so I'll keep watching Sense8 for the time being. JMS is a great writer, so I'll see what he does.

Abraxus · June 06, 2015, 03:27:37 PM

I have seen it looming large on the NetFlix menu, and debated giving it a try. Perhaps once Game of Thrones is done for the season.

Mental Maden · June 09, 2015, 03:59:09 AM

I'm up to Episode seven and really liking it. The first two episodes are a lot of set up, Episode three is where it really picks up the pace. If you're tempted, give it a try.

Solitaire · June 09, 2015, 07:03:17 AM

Quote from: Mental Maden on June 09, 2015, 03:59:09 AM
I'm up to Episode seven and really liking it. The first two episodes are a lot of set up, Episode three is where it really picks up the pace. If you're tempted, give it a try.

Glad you said this as watched the first two episodes which were good but didn't really want me to watch more straight away as Daredevil did, will continue onwards though with the series and see where it goes.

Mental Maden · June 11, 2015, 01:26:48 AM

All I have to say about episode 3 is: Sun.

I'll leave it at that.

Excidia · June 11, 2015, 02:45:42 PM

I watched the last episode yesterday and I can't say it left me wanting more, but I did wonder where the rest of it was. I'd have considered this the first 4-6 episodes of a series with the character intros and world building, then the rest of the series to go somewhere with it. This didn't go anywhere. There were some good scenes but in the end, I could have stopped watching at any point and never cared that I didn't see the whole thing.

e-

Solitaire · June 12, 2015, 07:17:24 AM

Quote from: Excidia on June 11, 2015, 02:45:42 PM
I watched the last episode yesterday and I can't say it left me wanting more, but I did wonder where the rest of it was. I'd have considered this the first 4-6 episodes of a series with the character intros and world building, then the rest of the series to go somewhere with it. This didn't go anywhere. There were some good scenes but in the end, I could have stopped watching at any point and never cared that I didn't see the whole thing.

e-

Up to episode 7 and thinking the the same thing, do I want to finish watching the rest... Not decided yet as it hasn't hooked my attention as much as I hoped.

Clave Dark 5 · August 02, 2015, 12:02:59 PM

Quote from: CG on June 06, 2015, 11:53:57 AM
The Wachowskis seem to want to make stories about how connected everyone is and how what you do impacts other people.

Hope it's not considered to be too late to post in this thread, but I just finished watching the series and I think your quote nails it. The show's about empathy with other people around us and their stories, far as I can tell. And it's certainly better than Jupiter Ascending, ha ha. The Wachowskis really need to have something to make movies "about" or we end up with forgettable material like that.

I'm really waiting for the day when people make movies and shows about such matters without having to resort to martial arts scenes and gunfire as a form of genre insurance. Sure, they do come along already, but not often enough.

CG · August 04, 2015, 05:54:17 PM

So, to follow up on my earlier post, I watched as much of the show as I could but it wasn't for me. I really wanted to like it; it had lots of ingredients that I love - JMS writing, Wachowskis directing. I liked Cloud Atlas, which had similar themes. Unfortunately I got to the end of the 4th episode and gave up. Having had time to reflect on it, there are two main reasons why:

1. Too explicit. This is completely a matter of opinion and yours may vary. I prefer my entertainment of the "pan away while the actors embrace passionately and return when they're smoking cigarettes" variety. Weirdly, that's exactly what they did when Daniela joined Lito and Hernando. /shrug

2. Too slow. The pacing for the show was far too slow for me. I found myself checking the progress bar on Netflix often to see when the episode would finally end. I think I just wasn't engrossed in the day-to-day lives of the characters and wanted to see the main plot of the show progress. It felt like there was 6 episodes of material stretched into 12. Looking back on my viewing history it's likely I'm just not into character driven dramas. I was expecting something more like a typical sci-fi show where the plot is first and characters are developed along the way. Sense8 was the opposite; develop characters then get into the plot. Not my thing, apparently.

I skipped to watch the final episode, and it was pretty good. Interesting character interactions and fantastic action sequences. If they have a second season, I'll give the first episode or two a try to see if they've changed anything. If it's more of the same, I'll probably give up on it.