Sense8 Review: Demons (Season 1 Episode 6)

The momentum appears to be slowing down this week on Sense8, but in its place is something I’ve been waiting on for weeks.

Character interactions!

The basics of being a sensate have been pushed to the side quite frequently in favor of explosive action sequences, laying foundation, and establishing characters. That’s all well and good, but there were a few burning questions hanging out in the background that finally get answered in this episode.

How aware are these people of what’s going on?

How do they not think they’re going insane?

How do you prove this is real?

Who knows who, and to what extent?

Well, ask no further because “Demons” answers pretty much all of these.

The first scene between Will and Riley cracks the book on sensate interaction. It’s one of the first times two of our characters sit down and really talk about what’s happening to them, why, and what it all means.

The phone call to prove they aren’t just going crazy is a nice touch, too.

Riley: Uh, hi. Is Will there?
Diego: Yeah. Hang on. Some chick with a weird accent.
Riley: Weird accent?
Diego: She sounds hot.
Riley: I like him.

Later, Riley and Sun have a talk, and while they have to introduce themselves — proving that these sensates aren’t all just automatically acquainted at this point — they both seem to accept that this other invisible person is real and there to help.

I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of Riley’s elvish curse back story, but I have faith that we’re not about to take a turn for The Lord of the Rings here. There’s a better explanation coming.

Nomi, too, takes a minute to delve into what’s happening to her. If there is one city in the world where you can casually talk about the voices in your head, it’s probably San Francisco. It’s almost a relief that Amanita and her mother believe Nomi so quickly. The whole “proving I’m not crazy” arc is time we don’t need to waste at this point.

I’m especially curious about the concept of evolution being brought into the conversation. It fits well with Sun’s short dream of Angelica, where she calls sensates “the future.” Food for thought, guys. This will likely come up again soon.

And now on to the scene that literally everyone is talking about.

What shall now be commonly referred to as The Clusterfuck.

That’s right folks, while Nomi is getting it on with Amanita, and Lito is doing his thing with Fernando, they have a few… visitors.

Netflix is known for toeing the line of decency with nudity and sex scenes — why the heck not when you don’t have advertisers to answer to — but this really pushes the envelope, even for me! How many people ended up in that orgy when all was said and done? Six? Seven?

Wolfgang seems pretty chill with the whole thing, but watching Will try to focus on his workout while essentially being mid-orgasm is as hilarious as it is ridiculous.

Unfortunately, while this episode answers some major questions and does some great work on fleshing out the mythology, it also takes the place of my least favorite episode.

Our mysterious Big Bad Whispers is still floating around in the ether, Lito remains totally separate from his cluster besides a few comical body swaps, and I ended up feeling like I’d watched an entire episode of filler by the time the credits rolled.

Not awesome.

Other Thoughts:

• Sun will now officially go to jail for her brother’s crimes. Damn.
• Abaka might be an evil and scary monster,  but his daughter is ADORABLE.
• At what point will everyone on Will’s police force start to think he needs to be institutionalized?
• Poor Riley, I kind of just want to wrap her in a warm blanket and give her some cocoa.

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Sense8 is available for streaming on Netflix.