A sensual dramatic thriller, Sense8 explores the hive mind question of “we versus me” with a captivatingly fresh and intimate approach that’s hard to stop watching.

The Show: Sense8

The Network: Netflix

The Genre: Science Fiction, Drama, Thriller

The Challenge: Give a show four episodes with which to draw you in, impress you, challenge you, make you feel something deeply. Four episodes for the chance to find out if you care what happens to the characters you’re watching enough to become invested in the story. If after all that, it does none of those things for you? Then no biggie. You gave it a good shot and you can move on. But if you love it, you’ll be glad you stuck around.

The Premise: A Netflix original series from the minds of the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski, Sense8 focuses upon eight diverse individuals in different cities around the world who simultaneously experience a violent vision, and soon find themselves mentally connected by the experience. They slowly become aware that they are able to see and talk to each other as though they were in the same place, and have access to each other’s languages, knowledge, skills and deepest secrets. Not only must they adapt to this new ability, and to each other, they must figure out what happened, why and what it means for the future of humanity, while being hunted by an organization out to capture, kill or vivisect them. Sense8 stars Jamie Clayton, Miguel Angel Silvestre, Tina Desai, Doona Bae, Tuppence Middleton, Aml Ameen, Brian J. Smith, Max Riemelt, Naveen Andrews and Daryl Hannah.

#1: Sense8 is a visual, auditory and emotional cornucopia.

Sense8 is a sensory overload of emotion, visuals and ratcheting intensity. It starts out with a slow roll, but as it picks up steam, the intensity is something to behold—not just in its physical action, but in the audience’s emotional investment. In short, this show is pretty damned good. We were hooked and if you can’t find us on Friday, June 5th it’s because we’re binging. Sense8 is honestly like nothing we’ve ever seen and putting into words the kaleidoscope of color, sound and sensations it delivers is hard to do.

Related | Sense8 Official Trailer

Sense8 contains inventive cinematography that vividly blends visually diverse locations and characters that exist in dramatically different parts of the world. While not quite the mind-bending and game-changing level of The Matrix, the Wachowskis have created something with its own unique visual and auditory language. Captivating scenery from all over the globe creates a colorful and rich texture that doesn’t seem out of place when the stories shift back and forth between characters. In fact, it feels much more natural than one would think. That’s a credit to the production teams and performances.

#2: Give Sense8 a bit of time. It’s worth it.

If Sense8 suffers from anything, it’s the time it takes to establish eight individual stories along with a larger mythology. But if you hang with it, you can start to see how this could easily stretch into epic over seasons of work. We’ve never seen anything quite like this blend of genres and we’ve seen a lot of television at TVAfterDark. Joss Whedon’s “In Your Eyes” or Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” both explore the concept of a shared mental state, but Sense8 is an entirely new level. Instead of a love story or tech connection limited to two individuals, Sense8, with eight individuals sharing everything, is much, much bigger.

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Eight people, sharing emotions, experiences, skills and drawing strength from each other isn’t something you can adequately describe in mere words. An emotional gravity emerges. Each character is deeply involved in their own story, but those stories start to intertwine in surprising and inventive ways. The good thing is that as we ripped through the episodes, we felt individual emotional connections develop with each of these diverse characters. It takes some time, but it’s worth it. Sense8 simply got better, more intriguing and more emotionally intense with each episode.

#3: Eight characters, eight worlds, eight stories, one mythology.

We were impressed that eight distinct personalities were developed clearly. Some better than others and some with more emotional power than others, but all distinct. The stories of Will (Brian J. Smith), Riley (Tuppence Middleton), Capheus (Aml Ameen) and Nomi (Jamie Clayton) are the most powerful early on, but all the stories build over time and each is unique. Sense8 largely succeeds in building eight unique lives that become more intertwined as they each find themselves in either physical or emotional peril.

Related | Meet the Cast of Sense8

Gender, ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation and just about every other variation you could imagine is present across eight characters, but a common thread does exist. They all portray a sense of detached loneliness. As the connection builds between them and the loneliness erodes, the mythology behind it provides an intriguing backdrop for each story to be unique, but feel connected to the others. A larger back story is hinted right from the start. That mystery grows as the show progresses and we’re dying to know the answers to the big questions.

#4: Solid emotional performances and an intriguing concept pulled us in right from the start.

Across the board, the performances are good with standout moments for each character, but most notably Jamie Clayton, Tuppence Middleton, Aml Ameen and a dramatically different Daryl Hanna than we’ve seen in the past. If there are break out stars in the bunch, Tuppence Middleton and Jamie Clayton may fit the bill, but all the performances are good with flashes of much more. Powerful emotive moments by Middleton and Clayton are memorable and Hanna delivers a shockingly fragile and evocative stream of moments that drive much of the early plot.

Related | Follow TV After Dark on Twitter & Like us on Facebook for More Reviews & Info on Sense8!

Not all the stories for each of the eight characters are as action packed or dramatic as others, but each one bubbles with something deeper and a common mythos binding them adds a layer of mystery that’s fascinating to watch unfold. Sense8 sucked us right in from the beginning. It took a bit to build momentum, but when it starts to roll downhill, look out, it’s got a full head of emotional steam behind it.

Sense8 Final Verdict: Sense8 tells a complex story that’s surprisingly easy to follow. As these characters tap into each other more and more, the possibilities start to explode in wild new directions. Quite simply, the writing and the show is solid.

Something powerfully sinister is encroaching upon these characters and there’s the sense of a higher purpose behind connecting their lives. You get just enough of those elements early on to yearn for the truth. What does it mean to be reborn a Sense8? Why are these individuals connected and who opposes them? As the answers unfold, Sense8 is violent in places and contains graphic sexual situations of almost every combination you can imagine. Drug and alcohol use also find their way into several story lines. Those things may turn some people off, but anyone that looks beyond those elements will see there is a much deeper underlying mythology and connective tissue to these characters and these stories that’s fascinating and addicting.

Sense8 delivers well on most levels. There’s something intimate and sensual about the escalating situations each of these characters find themselves in and the story lines taking place. Not all the performances are perfect, but like any ensemble, Sense8 strives to be greater than the sum of its parts and in that regard it does brush the coat tails of the extraordinary. The way scenes seamlessly blend between the actors as they share experiences is inventive and visually entertaining. While the concept of who is where could have been difficult to grasp, distinct environments, well planned set ups and intelligent writing make Sense8 surprisingly easy to follow. The individual stories are engaging, but the connections between them becomes down right intriguing. Sense8 is truly unique and we can’t wait to see where this goes next.