SENSE8: THE GOOD. THE BAD. THE UGLY

Warning. The following blog contains spoilers, reader discretion is advised.

It’s a REVIEW, it’s riddled with spoilers!

So, there is this new show on TV called Sense 8. You can read about the plot here. Normally such shows wouldn’t interest me but this one caught my attention coz some scenes were shot in Kenya… my motherland.

THE GOOD

• No subtitles YEEEEEEY! I must admit I had prepared myself to get offended when they include subtitles for the Kenyan scenes. None was included. Reminds me of this video here. Hilarious!
• Acting The acting wasn’t the best I’ve seen but I have to give props to two actors who really impressed.  Aml Ameen and  Miguel Angel Silvestre.  Can you believe I only got to find out Aml wasnt Kenyan on episode six? You should have seen me freezing every frame at the credits looking for his Kenyan name only to google and discover the guy is British. He fooled me. The guy totally fooled me for six whole episodes. He played a Kenyan perfectly! From his accent to his looks, mannerisms… everything. I’m even starting to think his Swahili was better that mine. I would love to know the kind of preparation he did for this role. I’m sure it must have taken him a couple of months to get it right. Wow! just wow! The other one was Miguel who played an actor. He was so real. I loved every scene he was in. Very belivable. At this point I’m forced to mention that actors love actors who play actors (why else do you think Birdman was such a success?) I’m not sure if I loved him coz he was playing an actor or because he was just brilliant…. For me, those two were cast perfectly. (side note: the guy who plays the director is also pretty good)
• Location The fact that Netflix had enough faith to shoot this in Kenya and not South Africa makes me very happy. If we continue this way we will soon start giving the latter a run for their money.

THE BAD

• Sex scene At first I thought “Aww! what a decent show. Very little nudity and sex. ” Little did I know the joke was on me.They kept upping the ante till episode sex  six where it all cumulated to an out of the world orgy. Most people know I’m not prudehttp://www.ebbyweyime.com/of-boyfriends-and-exes-the-tell-all/ but this scene got me uncomfortable on so many levels. Then to make it worse, they had Macy Gray’s ‘Demons’ play in the background. It was so freaky (pun unintended) it gave me nightmares. I had to sleep holding my rosary. Riswa!
• Stunts (Strictly speaking for the Kenyan scenes) These were bad. Couldn’t they invest a few hours to train our actors on basic gun handling? I mean, they were so amateur they reduced this high budget shoot to a student film level. Come on people!
• Pilot The first episode was weak. Very weak. Then again, most great shows had very weak pilots. Case in point The Sopranos and Breaking bad Shows which I later came to love. If you judge this show by episode one, you won’t finish it.

THE UGLY

Post production WOW! I could write chapters upon chapters on this but I will spare you the details and highlight the major blunders:

1. Continuity- Usually I don’t bother with such, that’s because I rarely notice it but for this show I’m starting to think whoever was manning crafts was also responsible for continuity. How else do you explain flaws in every-single-episode? There was this scene where Capheus meets Silas Kabaka in his car (p.s that whole macho thing where he had his sunglasses on and turned in slow motion to face the camera was so shady it was borderline funny) anyway, in this scene we see him sweat in one frame and completely not sweat in the next, immediately after, he is sweating again! Helloooo! Where was the make up artist to fix this? Probably flirting with the crafts guy. Wait… Isn’t the crafts guy also doing continuity? Goddammit!
2. ADR– This one was so bad it made me laugh. In episode 4 they had this guy say “It seems he’s not coming back” I’m assuming there was a problem with sound coz they added those lines in post. The only problem was that they used a white guy to say those lines and he ended up sounding Chineese. If that was the plan, they got me. It was hilarious. If not, shame on you! Couldn’t you bring the guy in to re do those lines or at least find someone with the right accent ?? Think I’m lying? Check out episode 4 around min 14:44 – 14:48.
3. The South Korea team- Who cast these people? God! They were horrible. All of them. I feel like they came to set as extras then the director decided “what the heck just give them lines”. Of the eight countries they shot in, South Korea is definitely the weakest link. Except for Bae Doona. She was good.
4. Stunt doubles– We all know most actors don’t do their own stunts but at least find a stunt double who looks close to the actor as possible. In episode 11 around min 31:43 you can clearly see that is someone else riding the motorbike. It ruined what would have been a really great episode.
5.  That giving birth scene- I have never watched anyone/anything give birth. Not even an animal because I know I can’t take it. Thanks to Sense8 I cannot unsee what I saw. Why did I keep watching, you ask? It’s like a train wreck. You just can’t look away. I feel like I’ve been abused… have I been abused?.. Should I sue someone?

All in all I must give credit to The Wachowskis. Filming on location in eight different countries is not easy. For that, the show gets a 6.5/10. Would I watch season 2? The jury is still out …

Special shout out to my friend Lwanda Jawar.

Epic Line: Q: How can a TV be more important than a bed?

                  A: The bed keeps you in the slam the flat screen takes you out.

-Sense8-

Disclaimer: this blog is proudly brought to you by the voice(s) in my head. It does not intend to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any personal issues. If symptoms persist, contact this person immediately