Nomi’s going under the knife and is doing nothing but crying about it while Capheus and Wolfgang are living it up in the wake of their new-found success. Meanwhile, Sun faces an impossible choice which, when you think about it, should be an easy choice because the people she could make it for are complete jerks and don’t deserve it.
Also, Jonas dumps a lot of information on Will about sensate powers.
I was hopeful after the last episode that this series would finally kick into gear and start moving in a direction approaching forward, but it appears that Sense8 is content with taking its sweet time and wasting much of its 12 episode run. I usually have no problem with that method of storytelling, but I’m starting to worry that the premise is getting squandered in favor of style and pretentiousness. True, time will tell whether my fears are justified, but my hopes are sinking with each episode that crawls by.
I found the majority of this episode trite at best. Wolfgang’s story in “What’s Going On?” was as dull as a spoon mostly due to the fact that it lacked any actual conflict. It was just he and his partner selling diamonds and having a good time. Honestly, if I wanted to see characters living it up with no problems… there would be something wrong with me because that’s boring.
I’m also having a sudden problem with Sun’s story. While I enjoyed the rather unexpected take on her character last episode with her being a kickboxer on the side, “What’s Going On?” has her right back living as a walking and talking stereotypical Asian female character. Perhaps it’s just me, but I really don’t understand why she would give two darns about saving her father’s reputation or her brother’s butt from a prison sentence given that not only is is painfully obvious that neither one of the men care about her, but it’s also painfully obvious that she knows it.
Capheus’ story was more interesting despite how little happened in it or how unsurprising it was. I just like his character. I like how that everything he does is motivated strictly out of love for his mother. He’s just such a bright and happy person even though you know that, deep down, he’s got to be dying a little on the inside. Capheus has got this wonderful optimism that often goes lacking in characters on TV nowadays to the point that the guy is actually refreshing.
Will, meanwhile, gets an information dump from Jonas and starts to understand and use his powers – which he uses to free the abnormally helpless and irritating Nomi from her hospital/prison. The escape was a neat little sequence and I did enjoy it, but man… I’m liking Nomi less and less every episode. I’m still wishing that Amanita was the sensate instead as she’s far more interesting.
“What’s Going On?” ends with the 4 Non Blondes song of the same name in a sequence that has all of the sensate characters joining along in an impromtu sing-a-long and, you know… it’s actually uplifting and heartfelt and emotional. I really enjoyed it and it helps you kind of forget the forgetability of the episode. Perhaps now, with Will being given a mission and a clue about what’s going on, Sense8 will finally gets its rear in gear and do something with its premise instead of wasting its time.
Jason Gaston 