Daily Recco, May 27: The Wachowskis blaze another trail with Sense8

From time to time comes a piece of art, that redefines an entire medium and raises the bar higher on what the art form can achieve. And the artist or artists who deliver the paradigm-altering work usually do not get to shift that ground a second time. But The Wachowskis may just have pulled off such a feat with the television show Sense8. 

The Wachowskis are perhaps best known for the iconic Matrix movies, which redefined cinema in profound ways. It changed what science fiction meant and how movie spectacles would need to be made going forward. Now, they may have reached for that sort of paradigm alteration not just for television shows but also for how superhero flicks can be made. 

Sense8 is a smart two-season roller coaster of a show from 2015 that is grand in ambition and execution. The show revolves around eight characters, who suddenly start sharing their consciousness. These eight feel everything that is felt by any one of them. They share knowledge and languages if even one of them has learnt it. 

The plotline is primarily about how these eight people from different parts of the world figure out how their connection works while evading a quasi-government shadow organisation that is out to identify and exterminate their kind.

Trust the Wachowskis to go into the mammoth task of world-building again and again. Why this works in Sense8 is because the characters are learning all of this just at the same time we are. 

Sense8 is an excellent work thanks primarily to how well the characters have been envisioned and fleshed out. It is refreshing for instance to watch a trans character written by trans-women who has plotlines extended well beyond the idea of her sexuality.

Sense8 is a gripping watch that is totally worthy of a binge. Catch it on Netflix this weekend. You may just end up re-watching it through the week.

Also Read: Thunder Force of unusual superhero besties