There are spoilers in this review.
It will be a long time before I can deal with the fact Sense8 is over. I haven’t loved a show this dearly in many years, and every time I see Netflix announce a new show or pick up a canceled show (I’m looking at you Lucifer) I get bitter. Sense8 deserved so much more. But if the finale was it, at least they gave us some great ending moments, and I wanted to celebrate my favorites. Here’s my review of the finale.
1. The Loved Ones Are In!
Yay! This is a big general thing, honestly, because it was a delight to see all of our side characters from beginning to end involved in the cluster’s mission. I also laughed at people trying to explain how the cluster works to the others. I would have enjoyed a much longer scene of each person’s reaction to the news and how much they were told, but they didn’t have the time. As it was, seeing every side character join up one by one, including Diego by the end, I was grinning ear to ear. This show starred each of them too, and it wouldn’t have been the finale if they didn’t get in on the truth. And it’s important that they all supported their loved ones without question. If they had a full season, maybe they would have struggled more with the information, but I think this is where it would end up for all of them anyway. It probably was easier to believe with all of the cluster being together and witnessing their connection in person. But in general, it made me very happy.
2. The Last Orgy
Listen, there is nothing more Sense8 than ending the finale with a bang. LITERALLY. Sorry about the pun but it was right there in front of me. It’s funny because ordinarily I don’t really like sex scenes, but they’ve always managed to make theirs so beautifully shot and with excellent music, so it feels more like art than anything else. This time the entire group is involved, even I think I saw Bug somewhere, and I think that was just to make it a group thing, not that he was actually having sex with them. I’m not sure. Either way, their expressions of love and physical joy has always been important to this show. While it’s not really a top favorite of mine, it still made me nod and go ‘yes this is how to end.’ And the last shot is of a rainbow dildo, which of course it is. I laughed in that moment through my tears at seeing it end.
3. Jonas’ Last Stand
Obviously Jonas has been a question mark for a long time. We did always feel like he was helping the cluster, until they thought he was dead but he came back working for BPO. How did that happen? He was captured along with Whispers at the end of season two, but despite that you can’t help but feel deep within that he was still on the right side. Only very, very good at keeping secrets. What I liked was how this got into the mistakes people can make when they think they are making big discoveries, and then their discoveries are used in terrible ways. He points that out about how once people were trying to make chemical healing, and created gunpowder instead. Angelica was learning more about Sensates, but in doing so she got sucked into the BPO and her inventions were used for evil. She tried to stop the program and kill the Chairman, and that’s how she fell out of favor. Jonas promised to end it. He commits suicide while taking out the Chairman with a zombie, and then blowing up the other sensate zombies as a mercy. With that destroyed and Whispers/Chairman dead, it gave the good parts of BPO the chance to take over. Jonas was on their side all along, as he promised, but he was being more sneaky because he had to get in close. RIP, Jonas. Hopefully you’ll find solace in the afterlife with your cluster and Angelica.
4. Kala Saves Herself
This is just a personal moment that made me flail. See, a lot of us were feeling in that moment noooo don’t fridge Kala. Of all the characters, her gentle kindness and emotional journey has been central in season two. It is too often we see exactly this, a woman dead in the arms as the men cry over her, but they forgot that Kala is a badass in her own right. She proves that again when she subverts the trope and goes heeeey anyone want to save my actual life! Jeez, boys. Only Kala could have directed them on how to save her before she faded away. It was a great moment for me who expected one thing, and then saw the scientist go HEY. DO SOMETHING. Loud applause.
5. Family Dinner
The group knows they are about to head into a big fight that could be life or death for them, but they know when it’s important to take a breather and appreciate how far they’ve come. All of them have dinner and bond, and Wolfgang manages to open up and express his emotions. As we know, he’s always had a hard time asking for help and letting people in. To see him put words to his feelings with such sincerity here was so sweet that Sun shed a few tears. Champagne for all! I also loved Will pointing out that despite everything, would any of them really go back to the life they had before each other? And we know that the answer is no. It might have changed them all, but it saved them all too.
6. I Feel You
It’s not a Sense8 major episode without a singalong! What I always love about the cluster is that despite all the crazy things going on in their life, they are at heart young people who know how to have fun too. Their spirits are very light all things considered. They enjoy the love and excitement and good humor they share. Sometimes in the middle of the battle for your life, you gotta learn how to stop and smell the roses aka have a huge karaoke moment. As we remember, “What’s Going On?” was their first group connection. Here they are again, but their loved ones are all in on it too. This just made me so happy to watch, and now I’m obsessed with the song.
7. Saving Wolfgang
Obviously the first priority of this special was to get Wolfgang back. It took the first hour or so to accomplish, with some near misses with him nearly killing himself to end it. Sense8 is a violent show at times, but I do enjoy when they make things very creative and not just shooting and punching. This scene takes place in a busy and intense club, with a lot of confusion going on around them as they have to fight off a rogue sensate trying to murder Whispers while rescuing Wolfgang right under Lila’s nose and all escaping. It is also the first time the loved ones directly took part in a mission and rocked it. Wolfgang’s flashbacks I’ll admit are kind of pointless, we already know what a bad background he had, but it was still important to save our Wolfie. It was a hard to follow scene at times, with all the flashing lights and movement, but genius because of that. Another example of how smart and tricky the cluster is.
8. The Rocket Launcher Returns!
Would I have liked to see Whispers die with my own eyes? Kind of. It would’ve been satisfying. I really hated that dude. But I knew as soon as Felix gave the rocket launcher to Wolfgang that this is how it would end. It would’ve been kind of fun to see Lila and Whispers have a moment reaction before it hit, sort of like what happened with Wolfgang’s cousin when he died the same way. Some people have said it was anti-climatic, but I didn’t feel that way. The bad guys nearly getting away and feeling confident in themselves only to be blown to smithereens is pretty solid as a brutal end. They’re dead dead dead and BPO can now be taken over by more compassionate minds, and the cluster is free. I do kind of wish we had a chance to learn more about the new BPO, but alas, not enough time. This was satisfying.
9. The Trojan Horse/Tourists
I laughed through this entire scene. Seeing the main characters act like clueless tourists and just wander their way right into a heavily guarded area? It was incredible. And brilliant. Hernando comes through with his out-of-box thinking. They are so unbelievably good at acting normal. Sun and Mun taking photos of everything, Wolfgang and Felix literally hugging each other in fear when the guns came out, Lito saying how amazing it was to breathe the air Virgil did, it was all brilliant. Turning this into a brutal and fast fight was great too. It proves that the cluster doesn’t only kick ass, they can be smart about it too. Also kudos to their loved ones who can’t fight and still allowed themselves to be in the middle of it.
10. The Wedding
Nomi and Amanita have been at the center of this story, and that’s saying a lot as all the characters are main protagonists in their own right. But Amanita was the first non-Sensate to join in full heartedly, and she was an integral part of their team from day one. Plus a marriage between a transwoman and a WOC? It’s beautiful and important representation. They’ve gone through hell together through this show, but they never wavered for a moment in their complete devotion to each other. It is no mistake to have their marriage be the center piece of the final moments. They are what this show has been talking about with inclusion and the importance of love and devotion. They got married in the Eiffel Tower with everyone supporting them in attendance, and everything about it was beautiful. A perfect end to a great love story … although it’s not the end for them. They have a long life ahead of them. I may have shed more than a few tears at their wedding, between their vows and Bug walking Nomi down the aisle and the fireworks and happy dancing. Ugh. I will never get over this show.
