After two laborious and depressing episodes of contemplation, tragedy, and overblown melodrama, Sense8 has finally gotten its stuff together and told a story that actually makes me want to watch this show.
Where the last few episodes have been about character’s lives falling apart, “What is Human?” is about them fixing things. Lito decides to save Daniella and get Hernando back, Wolfgang goes after the men who put Felix in the hospital, Riley can finally enjoy her homecoming in Iceland, and Sun takes her first steps to freedom.
While I understand the need to have emotional low points in a series, Sense8 takes too many of them so, when an episode like this comes along, it’s like a breath of fresh air. I like seeing the characters enjoying themselves and smiling… actually liking what their abilities can do.
Overall, even though his story has been melodramatic and extremely sappy to the point of idiocy, I actually enjoyed Lito’s story the most. I’ve enjoyed how the macho action star who was truly a coward on the inside, redeem himself by sacrificing everything to make things right. I dig that type of redemption arch and found myself rooting for him because, despite his flaws and dumbess, Lito’s actually a likeable human being and, seeing him get his act together was satisfying even though you know he’s just thrown his entire life into turmoil.
Although I’ve had numerous problems with this frustratingly flawed series, I do have to say how much I appreciate its ability to just stop every now and then and allow itself to be beautiful. Even though its slow nature has been one of its major breaking legs, it is strangely refreshing at the same time to see an episodic television series take a pause for a piece of music, allowing its characters to appreciate the beauty.
Two episodes to go. Sense8 really needs to end on a high note because, at this point, it needs to justify its own existence in a big way.
Jason Gaston 