Sense8 Review: Art is Like Religion (Season 1 Ep. 5)

Action and romance and laughter, oh my!

In the grand scheme of things, “Art is Like Religion” does not do much to move the plot along for Sense8, which is my standard complaint for this series so far.

We’ve spent so much time focusing on the characters that I feel like I could accurately guess how Will Gorski takes his coffee, while still having no idea what in the hell being a ‘sensate’ actually means in the grand scheme of things.

Starting off with the most comedic aspect of the episode, it’s clear that Lito will always and forever be the lightness to combat the dark of Sense8. Watching him struggle with Sun’s period cramps, mood swings, and bloating is the most hilarious thing that has happened on this show to date.

Lito: I have a horrible pain in my stomach. It’s– I’m paralyzed. I’m… It feels like a tumor. You know cancer runs in my family, Hernando. What if it’s cancer?

A perfect perspective on why most men could NEVER handle the crap that women go through every month.

We also get a perfectly choreographed fight scene for Lito’s film, juxtaposed with Will’s real life pursuit of a witness through the mean streets of Chicago. While this scene doesn’t quite hold the same gravitas as Sun and Capheus’ team up earlier in the season, it is still a thrilling sequence that gets the blood pumping. Beautifully shot and perfectly cut together.

Sense8 knows how to do action, y’all.

Speaking of Sun and Capheus, their discussion of family and sacrifice definitely wins all the awards for this episode. For the first time, we see two of our sensates actually sit down and have a real conversation with each other. It’s a lovely, supportive moment between the two of them

The nefarious Kabaka presents a new villain in Capheus’ story, but also a potential ally. It’s no secret that Capheus’ mother will die without access to undiluted drugs – a plotline interestingly linked to Kala via her job at a pharmaceutical company. Now that Kabaka has offered those lifesaving drugs in exchange for Capheus’ service, our adorable little bus driver might be getting in over his head.

What will happen if Sun isn’t there to save the day again? What does Kabaka really want Capheus to protect?

I’ve got a feeling it will be something a little more important than coconuts.

I’ll be classy and ignore the obvious nuts segue available to me, and skip right on to Kala and Wolfgang’s portion of the episode.

If there was any doubt that these two would shoulder the romantic weight of the season, it’s gone now! After four episodes building up to her impending marriage, Kala finally took the leap… and then took the plunge.

Wolfgang shows up in the middle of her wedding ceremony — visiting, of course — to stop her from making a terrible mistake marrying Rajan. He just happens to visit while swimming naked. She spots his… coconuts… and faints on the spot, effectively ruining her wedding.

Wolfgang: What the fuck are you doing? You don’t love him.

He literally pulls a Speak Now, guys! Romance is absolutely in the cards for these two.

While I’d never dare to call an episode of Sense8 boring, this one borders pretty close to that oppressive B word. While I love delving into the characters and their burgeoning relationships with each other, it’s high time that we move forward and start focusing on the Big Bad Whispers, and what he wants from our little cluster.

Crawling at a snail’s pace is fine for a while, but eventually your audience is going to get tired of action sequences and endless character development.

Give us the goods already, Sense8!

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Sense8 is available for streaming on Netflix.