Netflix is one of the biggest streaming services available today. For a few years now, the company has created a platform for not only series and movies but also produced some great original Netflix series and movies. Amongst them are the hit shows Stranger Things (and its recently released fourth season, volume one), Round 6, and Bridgerton. Dipping their toes into different genres is not unusual and tends to work in the company's favor.
In 2015, Netflix and the Wachowski sisters released a new sci-fi series, Sense8. The show became a success due to the amazing visuals (a combination of special effects and beautiful locations), diversity (in a way that was rare to see on television), and a world that could only have been created by the incredible duo. Even though the series was popular, Sense8 was canceled after season two aired in 2017. The fans revolted about the lack of an ending to such a groundbreaking story, and Netflix was able to produce a movie that would give the eager audience some closure. Even though the movie was much appreciated: it was not extremely well received, mostly due to a lot of lacking elements that made the show so loved.
Sense8 is about a group of eight individuals around the world who are connected telepathically. This group can share feelings and abilities when they connect with one another, which they will have to do to escape the Whispers, an organization that hunts sensates. Since the show was given a chance (few productions have) of having an ending, it raises the question: Sense8 should have continued as a series, or was the movie enough closure for this story?
Netflix Cancellations
Like most streaming services, Netflix produces a lot of content. Due to the sheer amount of titles available to audiences, it is hard to have an incredibly high number of views. There are only a few series that don't get canceled, because they profit from viewership. This was a problem that was a long time coming, and after a few years of the world living with multiple streaming services, it was a given. However, when Sense8 came out in 2015, mass cancellations of television programs (or even one popular show getting canceled because of lack of profit) were not as usual as it is today.
In 2017, Netflix began their cancellation diaspora, and canceled many original TV series. The ones which arguably took the audience most by surprise were the historical show Marco Polo, Baz Luhrmann's colorful rap history lesson The Get Down, and Sense8. All of them were somewhat popular amongst fans. The shows were, however, extremely expensive and therefore did not appeal to the company. Sense8 had this problem, especially because since the characters lived in different countries around the world, the production team would travel to these places to shoot on location - which is unbelievably costly.
The Sense8 Movie
After Netflix canceled the sci-fi series, the fans reacted. The reaction was so grand, going from hashtags on Twitter (#RenewSense8 and #BringBackSense8 were a few of them) to even petitions being signed worldwide to renew the series. This response was never seen before, and since then, it has not happened on the same scale (not mentioning the petition to re-do the failed final season of Game of Thrones). Because of such an outrage online, Netflix decided to (kind of) give the fans what they wanted: a movie that wrapped the story together.
The movie, nevertheless, was not successful in closing loose ends and giving the characters the ending they deserved. It felt rushed and sometimes incoherent to what the series was about - even if there were moments (singing parties and psychic orgies) that couldn't have been a part of another show.
The two-hour-long movie picked up right where season two ended, which made fans hopeful for a clear ending: that wasn't what happened. It was hinted in previous episodes that there are many other sensate clusters that were also hunted by the Whispers. There isn't much regarding the subject in the movie because it mainly focuses on the main cluster. This choice was understandable since the story revolved around them, but it felt lacking in the build-up of such a universe to not see more sensates in facing the same problems.
The fate of a few characters was vaguely left open, such as Will and Riley's relationship, and the science explaining the sensates was cut short. These are only a few elements left open or unanswered on the show, because the movie is only two hours long (two glorified episodes, essentially) and not how the creators intended to end this story. Nonetheless, it was nice to see these characters once again and have a proper goodbye - which is something few fans are actually able to do once a series is canceled.
Should Sense8 Be Continued?
The series was well-written and entertaining while also making important points about diversity and inclusion, something hinted at in the Wachowskis' transgender metaphors in The Matrix. For many people, it was one of the first encounters they had with a trans actress, Jamie Clayton, playing a transgender role, Nomi Marks. Sense8 had the potential of being one of the great recent sci-fi series if they had been given time to develop the concepts and world created. The series should have continued and not received such a rushed ending, not allowing the characters to get evolve and explore this incredibly unique universe.
The Wachowski sisters are known for their creative ability in generating sci-fi universes that leave the viewer hanging on every piece of visually stunning world-building, hence the multi-billion-dollar franchise The Matrix. Even though it felt good to have an official ending, the lack of planning made the movie unworthy of the excellence present in the series. Maybe a fleshed-out final season is in order, especially with Netflix willing to spend $30 million an episode on Stranger Things.