In the eighth episode of the second season of Sense8, THIS WAS SO INTENSE. Help??? If you’re intrigued, then it’s time for Mark to watch Sense8.Â
Trigger Warning: For discussion of grief, depression.Â
I love this show. I LOVE THIS SHOW. It’s so complicated and messy and real, and this season in particularly has just kicked my ass. I’M SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS.Â
Jonas
Given that we know that Lila made some sort of “deal†with BPO, I’m curious if her storyline will ever intersect with this one. Is her deal less explicit than Jonas’s? Look, at least Jonas is alive, and right now, he’s in a position that grants him way more access than he’s ever had. That’s… good? Right? And he’s supposed to keep an eye on Whispers, so… also good??? AHHH, JONAS IS ALIVE.
Capheus
Holy shit, GITHU! The old leader of Superpower!!! I was shocked to see him, but only initially. Hindsight makes the intent of Capheus’s subplot so much clearer: the signs of the impending chaos. And both positive and negative! We see signs and graffiti stencils of Capheus’s slogan and his face, suggesting that there really is a grassroots support of him. And why wouldn’t there be? What’s appealing to Capheus—speaking from the outsider perspective, that is—is that he seems so down-to-earth. He isn’t part of the normal political regime, and his party knows that. It also makes me wonder how much of the negative—like the slandering ad—will stick. Are people actually going to believe the lies that Mandiba is spreading? Or will it appear as propaganda? I’m hoping it’s the latter. And then there’s Githu, who fascinated me so much in this episode. I love that the writers took him to a place that surprised me. He has very justifiable reasons for potentially hating Capheus, and yet? He understands that Capheus’s actions last season granted him a notoriety that is undeniable. Thus, in his own way, this was a friendly warning to Capheus about what might be coming if Capheus isn’t careful. It’s a strange way to express it, sure, but it made a lot of sense within the context of their relationship.
Rajan
UGH, OKAY, my concerns ARE warranted, aren’t they? This makes me think that Rajan did live up to his promise! He initiated something at work, and what we see here—his bloody nose, the late night confrontation on the phone—are the ramifications of his actions. Look, you don’t fuck with people’s money like this, and Rajan is learning the hard way. His idealism is clashing with reality, right? At the same time, he’s trying to hide the truth about what’s happening from Kala and doing a bad job of it.Â
WHICH SOUNDS JUST LIKE KALA. Oh, the irony, y’all! Kala has spent so much time trying to hide the truth about being a sensate from Rajan, and often, she doesn’t do a very good job of it either! Rajan has repeatedly shown awareness that something is going on with his wife. So what’s the solution to that? Obviously, just saying the truth could help, but through Will, the script makes a necessary point: Kala seems to want to tell her husband the truth about herself as a means of coaxing the truth out of him. Rather, shouldn’t she want to share this part of her life out of love?Â
I WANT HER TO TELL HIM, THOUGH. Y’all know that I love scenes where people find out the truth. Please give it to me!!!
Loss
I was reminded of a particular book I had read a few years back as I watched “All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet.†Lito’s journey is one of grief and loss, and on that note, Hernando is right. But he’s wrong about the specific context, and I keep thinking of Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. And specifically, my final review of that book, in which I open up about feeling like a dream of mine had died. That line of Lito’s—that he wasn’t mourning his career, but his dream—hit me SO DAMN HARD. It’s not that he’s not sad about his career, but this gets down to something deeper, more emotional. Those scenes of Lito as a child, seeing the power of acting, knowing intrinsically that he was different… they broke me. And I think we need to see this, no matter what happens afterward. This is an immensely painful experience, and Lito has to be able to process it. Plus, I’m thankful for it after his earlier, more comedic appearances, like his scene with Sun. Lito is ridiculous, and he’s often portrayed as a drama queen, but at the heart of this is something so very, very real, and I’m glad the show did not ultimately make fun of that.Â
Wolfgang
There’s a lot of other plots set up here. I assume Nomi’s sister’s wedding will happen in the next episode, and at some point, we’ll also see Sun’s revenge plot on her brother. (Maybe episode 10?) But the vast majority of this episode deals with the fallout of Lila’s execution of Bohm and her attempt to gain control of Berlin. I knew that she was untrustworthy, but this reveals her true plan: A sensate-controlled Berlin, one where Fuchs AND Bohm are gone, and Lila and Wolfgang are in control. WHICH IS AN INTERESTING IDEA!!! Undeniably so! But lord, Lila is so awful. If you don’t support her and give her exactly what she wants, she screws you over, and that generally involves MURDER. So, we watch her turn Fuchs against Wolfgang during that scene in the sauna, which was terrifying. But I am still reeling from the brilliant and tense fight in the restaurant. This is the first time we’ve ever seen one cluster fight another, and every moment of this bloodbath is expertly choreographed, filmed, and edited. I AM OBSESSED WITH IT!!! As much as Lila’s presence is a major threat to Wolfgang, I’m excited to see them interact again, especially since her character just CHANGED THE GAME. Will there be more cluster fights??? Will Fuchs die soon? Will Wolfgang be able to escape now that the police think he attacked Lila???
THIS SHOW IS TOO MUCH.
The video for “All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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