I initially reviewed Sense8, and was 100% ready to dismiss it. It had a really shitty pilot. The problem is that it is trying to be super mysterious, and it introduced a rather large cast, in a very across the world setting, and had a really rough time giving each storyline its due. On top of the fact, that I didn’t really find most of the actors to be “good”, especially bargain bin Cory Monteith clone Brian J. Smith. I think Sense8 would have been better either introducing a few of the main characters later, or just having less of them. When you’re doing the globetrotting thing, it’s really hard to get us engaged in everyone appropriately. Some storylines ring truer, faster. After watching two episodes, I can tell you that I’m far more engaged in Nomi’s (Jamie Clayton) story than anyone elses. In fact, if the rest of the cast vanished, and the show became just about Nomi, Sense8 would be a stronger show for it.

Even the second episode marginalizes many of the main cast in favor of focusing on a few leads. Capheus (Aml Ameen) is absent, Sun Bak (Doona Bae) is too. Riley Blue (Tuppence Middleton) has a few moments, but nothing that terribly furthers her story. The episode focuses heavily on Nomi, Kala (Tina Desai), Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre), and Will (Smith). Because it jettisons half the cast, the show begins to function as an actual show. We actually begin to see other sides of the characters, and the mystery is furthered because the show ignores half its main cast. Of course, the problem lies in the possibility that future episodes may marginalize stronger characters in favor of weaker characters.

I had several friends tell me that Sense8 was amazing, and that I missed something by not watching more than one episode. OK, so, maybe I missed a little bit. But I still think Sense8 moves too slow for its own good, and has no idea what to do with its large cast. The second episode was stronger, I’ll give it that, but with so much TV out there… Sense8 still hasn’t answered the question “Why me?” I can watch so many different shows that to continue to waste time on Sense8 as it “finds itself”.

I’m willing to move it up a few notches, but I still think Sense8 needs a lot of work.

FINAL GRADE: C
(Pilot Review Was a D+)