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Sense8 (Netflix Original, One Season + Christmas Special, 2015-6)
Anyone else watching this one? Geek legends The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) join up for a globe-spanning tale of eight psychically linked strangers and the mysterious baddies intent on eliminating them. So far, however, it's been a mostly slow-moving melodrama with sprinkles of sci-fi rather than a sci-fi tale featuring melodrama. The last two eps of the first season definitely put the foot on the gas, leading to a heart-pounding climax, but the two-hour Christmas special released a few weeks ago slowed things way down again, advancing the various plots only a little. But the proper second season, coming out in May, might still continue the fast pace of the end of S1.
Anyhow, the acting is strong across the board, and the international location shooting is lavish enough to match any big-budget movie - no broadcast-style fudging here. The writing can be a bit blunt, but given the premise and tone, that's understandable. It's kind of a shame all the international characters speak English pretty much all the time, with the show "translating" for us instead of using subtitles, though that would be a commercially dicey proposition. And the first half of the first season definitely takes its sweet-ass time getting going, but the same could be said for multiple streaming series these days, especially Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. (Yes, there's definitely fan editing potential in trimming a lot of sloooow-moving storytelling and redundant scenes, whenever the show gets a blu-ray release, that is, but that would be a mammoth task indeed.)
Overall, I'm liking, not loving it, but the first season finale was indeed an epic adventure. When a thoroughly serialized show such as this pays off ten or more hours of storytelling in one big climax, the viewing experience can produce a rush I'm not sure I've ever seen the big-screen movies duplicate, with the notable exception of The Return of the King's struggle on Mt. Doom. (Broadcast TV, meanwhile, generally has to space its thrills out enough that it doesn't produce this effect, either.) And I certainly hope the actual second season builds on said rush, and keeps up a thrilling pace.
Anyhow, it's certainly good to see The Wachowskis doing solid work again. (I haven't seen Cloud Atlas, which likely has a similar tone to this.)
Anyone else watching this one? Geek legends The Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5) join up for a globe-spanning tale of eight psychically linked strangers and the mysterious baddies intent on eliminating them. So far, however, it's been a mostly slow-moving melodrama with sprinkles of sci-fi rather than a sci-fi tale featuring melodrama. The last two eps of the first season definitely put the foot on the gas, leading to a heart-pounding climax, but the two-hour Christmas special released a few weeks ago slowed things way down again, advancing the various plots only a little. But the proper second season, coming out in May, might still continue the fast pace of the end of S1.
Anyhow, the acting is strong across the board, and the international location shooting is lavish enough to match any big-budget movie - no broadcast-style fudging here. The writing can be a bit blunt, but given the premise and tone, that's understandable. It's kind of a shame all the international characters speak English pretty much all the time, with the show "translating" for us instead of using subtitles, though that would be a commercially dicey proposition. And the first half of the first season definitely takes its sweet-ass time getting going, but the same could be said for multiple streaming series these days, especially Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. (Yes, there's definitely fan editing potential in trimming a lot of sloooow-moving storytelling and redundant scenes, whenever the show gets a blu-ray release, that is, but that would be a mammoth task indeed.)
Overall, I'm liking, not loving it, but the first season finale was indeed an epic adventure. When a thoroughly serialized show such as this pays off ten or more hours of storytelling in one big climax, the viewing experience can produce a rush I'm not sure I've ever seen the big-screen movies duplicate, with the notable exception of The Return of the King's struggle on Mt. Doom. (Broadcast TV, meanwhile, generally has to space its thrills out enough that it doesn't produce this effect, either.) And I certainly hope the actual second season builds on said rush, and keeps up a thrilling pace.
Anyhow, it's certainly good to see The Wachowskis doing solid work again. (I haven't seen Cloud Atlas, which likely has a similar tone to this.)