Mark Watches ‘Sense8’: S02E05 – Fear Never Fixed Anything

In the fifth episode of the second season of Sense8, the sensates discover possible allies. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Sense8. 

Jonas

Well, that’s not how I expected this episode to open, but now that I’m thinking back on it, I didn’t actually need to see Jonas’s death on camera. It was implied enough, and having us see the cluster’s reaction was more powerful and intimate than watching a gory death. But I am still fucked up by this. Y’all BPO/Whispers are the worst. The worst! And it makes Whispers’s conversation with Will so much more frustrating. He spoke of the collateral damage that comes from building the hierarchal structure that BPO is attempting, but this isn’t just an unfortunate side effect. BPO and Whispers himself are just as interested in cruelty as they are order. They attempt their goals with a sort of frightening glee, though I wonder how much I’m projecting onto the organization because of Whispers. What does that other group within BPO look like? How are they quietly resisting? 

Capheus

Political office??? I gotta say, that was a surprise, y’all. Even more so than the revelation about Zakia. I assumed that politicians who Capheus indirectly called out would come to him out of anger. Instead, the Democratic Party came to Capheus to ask him to run for office. It… makes sense? At least from their perspective, they saw how Capheus has been able to rally people around him, but Capheus does this through honesty and integrity. He’s not pandering. He truly believes in what he’s doing! And Capheus is right to be cynical; politicians regularly don’t act according to their principles, and the exact endemic, systemic issues these politicians referenced are often upheld by other politicians. So why would Capheus get involved? 

I’m interested to see how this is going to be affected by the fact that a bunch of disgusting men out Zakia to Capheus. Not that I think any of you really need to know this, but even if someone’s out, don’t do something like this? Granted, this seems very obvious, and the show portrays it as a terrible act. But Zakia has been interested in Capheus for a while, and I wonder if she will be the one to push him to reconsider this offer.

E-Death

So, what makes me most interested in this new E-Death reality is the post-event. I’m so happy Bug called in this favor, but what will it entail? We get that brilliant scene where the trio meets the Anonymous member during a screening of one of Lito’s films. (BLESS BUG THANKING LITO. What an incredible moment!) We learn that Anonymous is very much aware of BPO, but that they are just as stumped as the sensates as to how to stop an organization with so much power and money. A potential ally, yes, but… how? How can they help? Yet I still can’t stop thinking of the future. What will Anonymous ask of Nomi in the future? How will Nomi’s death be “proved” to someone as tenacious as Bendix? Because I don’t think he’s going to give up that easily, you know? And what if he sees Nomi alive in the aftermath? I’m guessing Bug will help her assume a new identity so she can travel, but… gah, I genuinely don’t know where her story is going! 

Kala

Oh, I just loved watching Sanyam dig at Manendra over and over at dinner. I’m glad that we’ve gotten more of him in this episode, as he’s a delight every time he is on the screen. And he knew! He knew that there was something eating away at Kala! I thought I had a good grasp on what that was, but this episode introduces a new twist: her husband is not all that interested in quality control. Y’all, the drug they’re producing might be terrible? And Rajan might know it and is hoping his wife will help him bullshit others??? Um… no???????? Great, yet ANOTHER thing for Kala to worry about!

Angelica

I still think she was playing at some sort of long con. Despite that Whispers is very insistent that Angelica believed in the work he was doing, I just can’t see it. Why would she be complicity in something so destructive, something that harmed those she loved and cared for and gave birth to? I’m throwing it out there: there’s more to this story. But I don’t know what it is!

Typecast

This episode does a fine job talking about how actors who are marginalized are frequently offered work that is demeaning, stereotypical, and harmful. And when it comes to working, it’s often so all-encompassing that these are the roles they have to take if they want to pay the bills. That’s where Lito is at now, as every role he’s been offered is not only tertiary at best, but every queer or queer-coded character dies in the script. So his reaction to getting an invitation to be the marshal of the Pride parade in São Paulo is completely understandable! He’s been typecast so much that he hasn’t been able to take a meaningful role since he was outed. How would accepting this make things better? Lito sees it not as an incredible offer—one that speaks to the fact that his decision to stay out of the closet has had incredible ramifications—but yet another thing that will further end his career. 

Lila

So much of this episode—aptly titled “Fear Never Fixed Anything”—is about courage, about facing challenges head-on. So it’s fascinating to me that Wolfgang does not do this. Rather, his story is about him reading Lila correctly and choosing not to get involved with her. It’s so smart of him! She knows there’s about to be a war between Fuchs and Bohm, and she wants Wolfgang to be by her side so that the two of them can benefit from it. Y’all, I don’t trust her at all. We still don’t know what sort of “deal” she made with BPO, but even if she wasn’t a sensate, I’d still be worried about what she was going to do. If she plans to benefit from this war, something tells me that this means she’ll be the only one standing. 

Sun

HI, SUN WENT BACK TO HER TRAINER. I love him! I love literally everything about him!!! His humor, his utter belief in and support of Sun, that incredible conversation he has with Mun… I would also watch an entire series of the two of them orchestrating literally anything. I’m just so happy that Sun has had such incredible support since she got out of prison, and her trainer is perfect for her at this stage. Look how ready he is to validate her anger, to offer her a path forward without judging her for wanting revenge on her brother! Which brings me to Mun. I want Sun to have another ally, but I don’t know this character well enough to judge whether or not he’s being sincere. Does he really want to help her, or is he secretly on the side of her brother? Having that kind of assistance from a detective would be huge, but is he willing to stand up to Sun’s brother?

A Change in Plans

Oh, the ending to this episode is ELECTRIFYING. I assume that this means that Lito is going to accept the offer to go to São Paulo, first of all. But on a larger scale, y’all, this is FUCKING HUGE. Instead of hiding, the cluster has decided that perhaps it is time to go on the offensive. Perhaps BPO’s massive pool of resources isn’t just a sign of their power but the sheer number of sensates BPO knows exist. Thus, the choice to have Riley give her DJ set and send out a subtle message to other sensates is brilliant. Because as we’ve already seen, just eight sensates can do incredible things. How different would the world be if eight clusters worked with one another? And as we see, just minutes after Riley sends out the message, A CLUSTER RESPONDS. Well, at least two members of a cluster. (One of who was Sylvester McCoy????) Who else? Who is going to find them? Oh god, what if any others are on the side of BPO???? HELP ME.

The video for “Fear Never Fixed Anything” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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