2-11. You Want a War?

The Cluster works together to take down Sun's brother.

Running Time: Approx. 57 minutes. Written by: Lana Wachowski, J. Michael Straczynski. Directed by: Lana Wachowski.


THE PLOT:

When Detective Mun attempts to arrest Sun's brother, Joong-Ki (Lee Ki-chan), at the Bak Gala, Joong-Ki shoots the detective and flees. Sun is able to catch up with him, but is unable to make herself take revenge. She escapes - But so does her brother, with the aid of a political figure.

Meanwhile, Kala discovers that her husband is cooperating with a major corruption investigation, and has implicated one of his business associates. A major change occurs in the relationship between Nomi and Amanita. And Lila (Valeria Bilello) returns, taking a particularly vicious revenge against Wolfgang for his refusal to join forces with her...


CHARACTERS:

After his lapse in the previous episode, Will is back to acting as the de facto leader of the group. He halts Sun's blind thirst for vengeance at the gala by pointing out Detective Mun's arrival, and it's his "Get the bastard" that sets the stage for the chase that follows. He is also the architect of the plan to turn the tables on BPO at the end of the episode.

The relationship between Nomi and Amanita has gotten a lot of focus this season, to the extent that I've noted that Amanita feels like an honorary member of the Cluster. Their quiet scene that follows the big action piece brings that thread to its climax for the season, as their relationship undergoes a major shift. As has been true of almost all of their scenes together, it's a very well-turned moment, and Jamie Clayton and Freema Agyeman continue to show an absolutely unforced screen chemistry that really sells the relationship.

As in Season One's finale, every character gets a chance to contribute something to the episode, from Capheus' driving skills to Kala's chemical know-how and observational abilities, to Wolfgang's handiness with violence of pretty much all types. Sun, Will, and Wolfgang are the most prominently featured here, but nobody is forgotten.


THOUGHTS:

"Are you serious? My sister is the fucking Terminator?"

Sun's relentless pursuit of Joong-ki is at the center of a breathtaking action set piece that more or less makes up the first half of this episode. The sequence does not feel like something from a television series. It's more in line with the kind of larger-than-life set piece you would find in the Wachowskis' Matrix movies.

I love the sense of geography to this sequence.  It starts in the lobby of the gala, when Joong-ki shoots the detective and escapes in the chaos. Sun's pursuit of him takes us through the gala to a shootout in a parking garage. From there, we move to a car chase in the streets of South Korea, and finally to a direct, one-on-one confrontation. It's terrifically kinetic and energetic, but it also maintains a strong sense of where the characters are.  This may seem like basic filmmaking competence (and perhaps it is), but it is very refreshing after entirely too many Hollywood action set pieces that have left me wondering when the dust settles: "So how did the characters get here from there?"

The rest of the episode does a good job of keeping the pace going. After the chase, we get a chance to breathe with the Nomi/Amanita scene, and take in some new exposition that was doubtless prepping a Season Three plotline in the scene between Kala and her husband. Then the episode upends expectations during a particularly tender Kala/Wolfgang moment, which kicks us into the final Act.

...And here's where my only issue with the episode is. The last part of the episode remains gripping, but it also feels rushed. Lila takes revenge on Wolfgang and BPO seems to have the Cluster cornered, but Will Has a Plan (TM) - and with almost no transition and frankly too little explanation, the episode ends with the Cluster somehow having turned the tables.  An extra 10 minutes or so was badly needed, so that Will's plan could be a little bit better defines. Yes, I know the very end is meant to be a surprise - But it's a surprise that comes out of nowhere, with not enough planted to even retroactively understand what happened. I'll withdraw this complaint if all is explained at the start of the series finale... But as it stands right now, the entire last bit plays as vaguely incomplete, and represents the one factor costing this episode full marks.

That cliffhanger is a beauty, though. And when the episode ends, I'm left very grateful that I wasn't watching at the time... When this cliffhanger would have been presented by Netflix as the final end of the series, before a fan campaign pushed the company to finance a movie-length finale.

It is clear enough that this series was creatively far from over, but I am glad at least that it was afforded the opportunity of a proper ending - an ending I look forward to watching very soon.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: If All the World's a Stage, Identity Is Nothing But a Costume
Next Episode: Amor Vincit Omnia



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2-7. I Have No Room in My Heart for Hate

The group supports Sun at her parents' graveside.

Running Time: Approx. 67 minutes. Written by: Lana Wachowski, J. Michael Straczynski. Directed by: James McTeigue.


THE PLOT:

Riley journeys to Chicago alone for what she hopes will be a meeting with a potential ally - but that Will fears is at least as likely to be a trap set by Whispers. With the rendezvous set in his home town, Will is able to arrange for his old partner, Diego (Ness Bautista), to accompany her - But Diego is still upset with Will for his abrupt disappearance.

Capheus decides to accept the KDRP's offer to run for public office, while Kala discovers that her husband's company is deliberately shipping expired and useless medications to Asia and Africa. Sun has another encounter with the dogged Detective Mun (Sukku Son). Meanwhile, Nomi and Amanita stumble across video from a recent mass shooting - video that points to this shooting being anything but random...


CHARACTERS:

When Capheus tells his mother that he is running for office, she is upset. His father died after becoming involved in local politics, and she worries that her son may suffer the same fate - particularly as Capheus' reasons for wanting to improve his home country so closely mirror her late husband's. Ultimately, she gives Capheus her blessing, but pleads with him to be cautious.

Capheus has probably been mulling that decision since the offer was made, but the final push seems to be Kala's discovery that many of the drugs her pharmaceutical company are sending to Kenya are known to be useless. This isn't much of a revelation - this was all but acknowledged to be the case just two episodes ago. But seeing Rajan shrug this off, dismissing it as "how this business works... We all do it" appalls her, and leaves her questioning her decision to marry him.


THOUGHTS:

The Kala/Rajan scene ties closely to one of the series' main themes, of the evils of dividing people based on difference. Rajan justifies an outright murderous business practice as reasonable, because the drugs are sent to "faraway places." He adds that "we would never risk the lives of our own people," making explicit the separation - He will take care of his countrymen, people like him, but is less scrupulous when it comes to others. Much like the difficulties Lito is now experiencing with his career, now that his agents and former colleagues see him as "one of those people," rather than someone like them. Or Sun, who had to continue to train in secret because her father disapproved of her fighting - not just because she was a girl who was fighting boys, but because she committed the unpardonable sin of being too good at it - Too "different." Just as all of the sensates are "different" from "regular people" - and therefore, to be feared.

The parallels are on the nose, but still quite effective. Less effective are some of the on-the-nose moments specific to just this episode. Amanita's "fathers," a group of former Black Panthers, debate the role of toxic masculinity in mass shootings, with one of them outright stating that "violence has a gender." We're clearly meant to approve that comment, as Nomi instantly turns to Amanita to whisper to her how much she loves her dads. Later, Sun has an effective moment at her parents' graves, where the rest of the cluster gathers to support her. But first we get a rather forced flashback to her mother expressing her pride at her daughter's fearlessness and joy that "your life will not be like mine."

The dialogue in both of these scenes feels artificial, and these moments are why this episode earns my lowest score since the second season opener. It's not that Sense8 has never been heavy-handed... But it's rarely felt manufactured, and in this episode, in these moments, that is exactly the feeling I come away with.

Mind you, there's still plenty to enjoy.  Once the forced flashback is over, the verbal and physical sparring between Sun and the detective pull me right back in. I also thoroughly enjoyed the believable character banter amongst Will, Riley, and Diego, along with the almost Hitchcockian scene in which Riley revisits (for the first time, in person) the church in which Angelica killed herself.

But in a series that rarely missteps, and even more rarely delivers scenes that feel "false," those moments throw me out of the drama just a bit. Hopefully, those couple of iffy scenes will prove to be an anomaly in an otherwise excellent series.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Episode: Isolated Above, Connected Below
Next Episode: All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet



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