Review of Sense8 2.2-3

I realized a while ago that binge-watching, like all human activities, isn't the perfect strategy for all television watching. It's almost never preferable to wait a week before the next episode of a compelling series is available, but sometimes watching a complete season in one or two seasons is not the best way to go, either. Sometimes you want to savor each episode a little longer, let it slosh around in your mind a little, until it settles into some place or maybe keeps quietly percolating.

I'd intended to watch all of Sense8 season 2 last night - that is, all the episodes after the Christmas special which aired late last year - but decided, after the first two new episodes (2.2-3), that I wanted it to last a little longer.

We saw and learned lots of things in these two episodes. Among the most profound is that when one of the cluster is nearly hung -- that is, nearly choked to death at the end of the rope - the other members of the cluster start to lose consciousness, too. This raises a crucial question: if Sun had indeed died in that noose -- if her cellmate hadn't rescued her (in a great scene) -- would the rest of the cluster had died, too? I can't recall exactly what happens when one of the cluster falls asleep, but my impression is the others, though aware that one member is sleeping, stay awake. If that's the case, why would the near-killing on Sun so viscerally affect the rest of the cluster?

The question is whether the effect is just mental, or physical as well. Of course, mental and physical are always intertwined -- what we think and feel in our heads inevitably affects our bodies -- but in the case of the sense8s, is this so much in play that the violent death of one will kill the others? I'd think not, but if this possibility remains open, our sense8s are even more vulnerable than we realized.

But they're making good progress in these two episodes -- Sun is free, Whispers is set back, and the sense8s continue to bring their talents to bear when one or two of them needs help, even in a difficult conversation with reporters. And we're beginning to learn more about homo sensorium, and the deeper evolutionary significance of the sense8s.

And I'll be back soon with another review.