The part that's lovely is that each of them has this full, complicated life, with their own problems and loves and communities. Nomi has the best girlfriend ever; Kala is not sure about her upcoming wedding; Sun is the unappreciated daughter of a man with a wastrel for a son. Lido is a famous actor with an amazing boyfriend; Will is a cop who has a complicated relationship with his father; Reilly is a skilled DJ who is very closed off in her personal life. They are all completely different, and they all have lives that are more rich and populated than those of most people on television.
Because this is a show about community. And you know what most TV shows lack? Peripheral characters. I always thought it was cool that How I Met Your Mother involved people with recurring friends, while most TV shows involve very few people who are not consistent cast members. The Friends friends didn't have any other friends.
But in Sense8, every character is living a completely separate life, and each one is populated by friends and coworkers and family. Sun's martial arts teacher; Wolfgang's notorious uncle and childhood best friend; Capheus's mother and business partner and customers. Each of these people is surrounded by loved ones and family and friends and a whole network of a world, and then this added network of other people is layered on top of it.
They try to learn about their connection and the dangerous people who know about it, while mostly trying to deal with the complicated and sometimes violent circumstances in their own lives. Pretty much everyone gets to take advantage of Sun's martial arts training, Matt's police skills, and Wolfgang's experiences with violence.
I'm explaining the plot, but not the love. I love this show. I love these people. I want to spend time with them and take care of them, and the show mostly made me glad that they all have each other.
Also, I'm not sure what Sun practices, but I kind of want to take Aikido. But I'm like 40; it's too late to start something like that, right?
Back to books soon, I swear.
4 comments:
Ooh. I've never even heard of this. I must check it out.
The richness of peripheral characters is the reason Deep Space Nine is my favorite of the Star Trek franchises. Incredible depth there, to the point that even the brother of the guy who runs the bar on the station has his own clearly delineated character arc over seven seasons.
Okay, I just watched the first episode and I loved it. If you haven't seen Orphan Black, you should give it a try-- it has the same feeling of each character having their own world with people and problems aside from the plot that interconnects them.
Ooooh, I'm so glad you love it, as you watch more you should email me with your every tiny thought about it because I finished and I looooove it but nobody else I know has watched it except my husband.
And I love Orphan Black, though I'm still slowly working my way through season 3. It's just so crazy intense that I can barely even watch one episode per week without getting overwhelmed by plot. But I lovelovelove Cosima and Sarah and Helena and even Allison. And Fi! Felix is my absolute favorite; I hope he gets more screentime with Allison soon, because I love their friendship.
So glad you love Sense8!
You know I am all about e-maling people with my every tiny thought!
Agreed that Fi's friendship with Allison is the awesomest. I love how his close relationship with Sarah translates into all these other close bonds with the other clones-- well, except Rachel, but come on.
I love it when each character is embroiled in her own story, and the episode gives equal weight to them all. So Sarah running for her life is just as important as Allison preparing for the opening night of her community theater play.
I haven't watched season 3 yet, since I'm watching them with a friend and we haven't had time to get together this summer.
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