In the eleventh and penultimate episode of the first season of Sense8, EVERYTHING IS TOO MUCH. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Sense8.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of racism, gore, and a mention of suicide.
Oh god, let’s do this because I NEED THE NEXT EPISODE IN MY LIFE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Riley
So, it looks like Riley’s going to be this season’s endgame, and I’m totally interested in seeing how this plays out. I’m not exactly sure what’s happening to her. Why is the memory of her family’s death causing her to stay unconscious? I don’t understand it, at least not yet. But it feels so horribly convenient that I wonder if this was intentionally triggered specifically to make Riley vulnerable for Whispers. Right??? Because now she’s just lying there, and Whispers manipulated Jonas to give him the information he needed to track down this newest cluster. IT’S NOT GOOD. Oh my god, can the sensates Captain Planet this motherfucker? I wanna see the other seven come together to destroy Whispers.
Kala
Well, at least most of the truth was told, right? Turns out that Rajan always knew that his father didn’t approve of the marriage, THUS MAKING KALA’S DECISION A BILLION TIMES HARDER. How does she tell him the truth now? After everything these two have been through, Rajan still loves Kala. In practically every way, he’s the perfect partner for her, except the love just isn’t there. It’s clearly there when Wolfgang and Kala are in the same place, and I can’t imagine an easy way for her to tell Rajan that. “Hey, so, I can talk to seven other people in my head and I can visit them wherever they live, and I also am falling in love with one of them.” Yeah, that’s not going to work.
At least I know that I’m going into the finale completely uncertain of what’s going to happen. Will Kala tell Rajan the truth? Will Wolfgang kill Steiner or will Steiner get to him first? THERE’S TOO MUCH AT STAKE, I’M NERVOUS.
Capheus
For the bulk of “Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes,” we follow Capheus. I’m torn on his storyline, despite that I’m so incredibly happy that most of this episode focused on him. He’s such an energetic and infectious character, possibly my favorite of the bunch. (Or it might be Nomi. Or Hernando. OH GOD I CAN’T CHOOSE.) This whole season has been building up decisions, and these last couple episodes have shown us the result of them. Capheus was presented with a choice: turn over Amondi or himself. Guarantee his own death or his mother’s. None of them seemed all that appealing, but in the end, he chose to keep Amondi out of the gang leader’s revenge plot.
Unsurprisingly, I deeply respect Capheus for this because that girl did not deserve a part in this. And neither did his mother! But when the leader admires this choice, Capheus is suddenly thrust into a new decision: die, or execute Silas. What I love about Capheus’s choice is that he continually refuses to play on someone else’s terms. He opts out of making that horrible choice with the help of Sun.
And here’s where I feel weird. I love a good revenge narrative, but I found it unsettling in an unintended way to watch so many black / African bodies brutalized on screen, particularly since no other story line gets to see this much blood and gore. Again, it’s one of those unfortunate implications of the story. In this day and age, when black bodies are massacred on a regular basis (and always spread about the news and social media with very little regard for how awful that is), it feels tasteless to me to give the most viciously violent story to this setting, you know?
At the same time, there’s definitely something satisfying about bullies being destroyed, and I love getting to see different sensates visit the others to help them. I don’t think the entire story is worthless or anything extreme like that, and I’m thrilled that Amondi is safe. I just think it’s something that should have been considered.
Sun
HER BROTHER IS THE WORST AND I’M SO UPSET AND I DON’T FEEL BAD FOR THE BEATING HE GOT. OH MY GOD, HE KILLED HIS FATHER. HE TOTALLY DID, AND HE MADE IT LOOK LIKE A SUICIDE. THIS IS THE WORST. I’M SO UPSET. SO. UPSET.
The video for “Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
– IÂ will be at Borderlands Books, Book Riot Live, and Windycon this fall! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates / Appearances page.
– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Kings, season 1 of Sense8, season 1 of Agent Carter, seasons 1 & 2 of The 100, Death Note, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
- Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook! I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!
