{"id":7363,"date":"2019-07-29T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T20:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7363"},"modified":"2019-07-22T09:18:08","modified_gmt":"2019-07-22T16:18:08","slug":"mark-watches-sense8-s02e01-happy-fucking-new-year-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/07\/mark-watches-sense8-s02e01-happy-fucking-new-year-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Sense8’: S02E01 – Happy Fucking New Year. – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the first episode of season 2 of Sense8<\/i>, the New Year arrives. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Sense8<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of homophobia<\/b>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I like what Sense8<\/i> believes about people.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna start there as I talk about the second half of this special, which made me cry a LOT. Sense8<\/i> doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t flinch when portraying the worst of people, and we see examples of that in Lito\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story, in Volker Bohm\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pursuit of Wolfgang, in Whisper\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s torment of Will, in Sun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggle with her horrific brother. People can be terrible, and they are<\/i> terrible. Regularly. But what does that say about the world? About the people who inhabit it? At the end of the day, Sense8<\/i> shows us the incredible capacity that humans have for connection and love, however that love may manifest. It does so in metaphor\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthrough the sensate cluster\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand literally. Because Bug doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have this ability, and neither does Nomi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s family, and neither does Rajan or Silas or Jela, and yet, these people all express a gorgeous love for those around them. And to me, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at the heart of BPO and Whispers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true evil: they do not want people to express love or experience connection as the sensates do. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen commentary on this show in that same vein: Why do people hate what they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand?<\/p>\n

Over the course of the second half of this episode, there are numerous stories being told, but what I came to love about this is how deeply they are tied in these central themes, despite that very<\/i> different things are unfolding in the sensates lives. Whispers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pursuit of Will is frightening enough, but the writers make this a million times more intimate by filtering it through his relationship with his father. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about family at the heart of it, and Whispers knows that. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more disappointing and heartbreaking than watching someone you love believe the worst things about you? Whispers goes after something emotional rather than logistical; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not as concerned with discovering exactly where Will is. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more effective for him to target that connection instead.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This manifests differently for characters like Sun, Wolfgang, and Lito, each who have stories dealing with those they love and respect. So much of Joong-Ki\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s torment involves isolation, too. Every step of the way, he tries to isolate his sister. I mean, Sun is literally<\/i> in isolation in prison, and after she got a bit of revenge on Joong-Ki, he tried to return the favor. But what subverts his intentions? Family. Over and over again, the sensate cluster is a beautiful example of a found family. But this script takes this one step further, since we also see family in the other women who are imprisoned with Sun and who welcome her with open arms when she is finally able to leave solitary confinement.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wolfgang, on the other hand, is finally \u00e2\u20ac\u0153reunited\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Felix, who awakes from his coma, and one thing I loved seeing in these two is how damn affectionate they are. To Wolfgang, Felix is<\/i> his family, and while there are definitely other motivations for him not wanting to get back into organized crime, I also felt it was clear he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want this life for Felix either. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a protective act to try and stay out of this. This is contrasted with the violent and terrifying \u00e2\u20ac\u0153family\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of Volker Bohm, one where extravagance is rained down upon members when Volker wants to make people feel like they belong. (Or to recruit people, too.) But in single moment, that affection can be revoked, as we see when Bohm sends men to take out Wolfgang for rejecting him.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then there are stories of more traditional romantic<\/i> love. While Kala\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feelings for Wolfgang haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t gone away (THAT SCENE IN THE SNOW, OH MY GOD), I was so happy to see Kala celebrate Rajan and give him a chance. I really do think that she loves him, but she loves Wolfgang, too. And quite possibly in a very different way! (Poly poly poly POLY POLY PLEASE. THE SOLUTION IS RIGHT THERE.) This special, though, moves Kala closer to understand herself and the complicated things that are happening to her. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m okay that this is moving slowly because this issue needs<\/i> time.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, I mostly wanted to save Lito\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story for last because it was the one that broke my heart the most. Many of you who have been following me for years (HI, TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY COMING UP) are familiar enough with parts of my story to know why this SHREDDED MY HEART TO PIECES. Being outed is terrible; being rejected by people who used to like you or be friends with you until<\/i> they find out you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re gay is also\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 a thing! A real thing that happened a lot and still happens today. Here, we see Lito experience the immense loss that was promised to him when he refused to stay in the closet. And I thought it important that the housing association used legal means to do so. I say that because so often, straight folks think that homophobia is only a person-to-person thing. They are often unaware of how homophobes use the state, use the law, use these incredibly powerful systems to damage people in as cruel a way as possible. Lito didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just get kicked out of his home; he was evicted, and all of his and Hernando\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s belongings were seized. Everything<\/i> they owned was stolen from them.<\/p>\n

And yet, from this ugliness comes beauty. I am deeply, deeply in love with Lito\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother, and again, if you know anything about me, you know how important it is to see positive representation of mothers of queer children. I love how his mother frames this as a tragedy with multiple fronts. Her son is hurt, and so much is stolen from him. But she isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sad or disappointed in him<\/i>. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disappointed in all the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153friends\u00e2\u20ac\u009d who claimed to care about her, but who left her alone once Lito was outed. So she embraces her son for exactly who it is, and it is easily my favorite scene in the entire special.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a close second, though, is Daniela\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confession that she cannot recognize her own family in Lito\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. HI, THIS IS SO DEEPLY RELATABLE. Gods, I remember my first Thanksgiving away from my own family after I got kicked out. The family I lived with seemed almost alien<\/i> compared to my own. They were so nice? There was no arguing or fighting? We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat in silence, in fear that if we said the wrong thing we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be snapped at or insulted? WAS THIS HOW FAMILIES REALLY WERE???\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this was such a good special and, for me, a great re-introduction of Sense8<\/i> and why I enjoy it. I hope we see a bigger story for Capheus in the rest of season 2, though! AHHHH THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A WHOLE SEASON AND A MOVIE LEFT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy!<\/p>\n

The second half of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Happy Fucking New Year.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"