Sense8 Episode 8: We Will All Be Judged by the Courage of Our Hearts

It has been entirely too long since I last covered Sense8. I have only myself to blame. But, whatever, last time, Nomi and Amanita got closer to the truth about the people hunting her and the other Sensates, Sun adjusted to her new life in prison and Riley returned home to Iceland to move back in with her super cool dad. I’m sure other stuff happened, but I just want to jump right in.

We open with Nomi and Amanita, understandably freaked out after seeing Metzger gunned down and his assailant commit suicide, supposedly due to mind control. I actually really like Nomi’s speech here, which really illustrates the gravity of what just happened in a way many shows do not. She says that she’s watching a sunrise, and while it is beautiful, the fact that it still seems that way to her doesn’t seem right after what she just saw. It’s like being at a movie theatre where you’re the only one not laughing. It’s a short scene, but it’s a nice inclusion.

Speaking of movies, over in India, Kala’s at the theatre taking in a comedy with her family, but for some reason, she can’t stop crying, as she can sense Wolfgang’s sadness over Felix getting shot. She excuses herself to the ladies room but finds herself in Felix’s hospital room where Wolfgang is by his side. Kala tries to comfort him, but Wolfgang is clearly broken hearted and emotionally beat down after this ordeal.

In Mexico, Lito is woken up in the middle of the night by a call from Daniela who says everything is going to be fine. Lito takes her word for it and hopes that this just means she got her phone containing evidence of Lito’s secret back and not that she’s gone back to Joaquin.

In Nairobi, Capheus goes to his friends house with a six pack of beer as a peace offering. He has realized that he cannot go back to work for Kabaka, and he’s decided to go back to work.

In Korea, we join Sun in prison, Sun makes an enemy out of the alpha-female of the prison when she trips her before she can hassle a woman she’s befriended. Out in the yard, the alpha female tries to attack Sun, not realizing what how ill-advised that is. Sun offers her a chance to back down, but the alpha-female refuses and the rest goes about as one would expect with Sun beating seven kinds of crap out of her assailant. The guards break up the fight, and Sun is taken to Solitary.

Back in Germany, we have a flashback that shows Wolfgang and Felix meeting as children in detention. It is also here that we learn of their shared love of the film Conan the Barbarian. The two were inseparable throughout their youth, and they would always back each other up in a fight, taking the line from Conan “All that matters is that two stood against many” to heart. When Kala recoils at how horrible Wolfgang’s childhood sounds, what with all the fighting, Wolfgang says that it was nothing compared to his father’s abuse. It is here that we finally get a good look at Wolfgang’s father. It is apparent that he is a man with a simple code: The only five things that matter in life are eating, drinking, sh*tting, f*cking and fucking for more. As we see in a flashback, Wolfgang’s father would often beat him for no reason while drunk and then get enraged when he would cry. Fortunately, in this particular instance, Felix was there to crack a beer bottle over the back of papa Wolfgang’s head. It was from that point on that Wolfgang and Felix became brothers, as Wolfgang puts it. He also says they were connected by something much stronger than blood, they were connected by choice.

We finally rejoin Will, who sees Riley in his apartment. Riley tells him that she’s safe and that she’s returned home. Riley gives Will a tour of the house she grew up in with particular emphasis on her father’s piano, which was a really important part of her childhood. The conversation soon turns to why Riley stayed away from home so long, but Riley doesn’t answer. She just says that a lot of things happened here (meaning her home in Iceland) that are hard to talk about. To change the subject, they shift back to Chicago and Will gives her a tour of his comparatively small apartment, which happens to be next to the train tracks. Not exactly a beautiful and cozy ocean-side cottage in Reykjavik, but Riley likes it nonetheless. After a moment of silence between the two, Will and Riley finally kiss for the first time. It’s actually a really beautiful moment, but it’s quickly made awkward when Diego walks in on Will and thinks he looks stupid making out with thin air.

Capheus wakes up the next morning to find his mother feeling much better. However, a mother can always tell when her son is troubled. He confesses that he can no longer provide her medicine, but she tells him not to worry. However, medicine soon becomes the least of both of their worries as the Superpower gang breaks into Capheus’s house and threatens to shoot his mother unless he can help them get revenge on Kabaka.

In Mexico, Lito and Hernando are about to meet with Daniela, and Lito is more frantic than usual. Daniela claims to be fine, but it’s clear that she’s been roughed up. Apparently, she made a deal with Joaquin. Daniela will go back to Joaquin and in exchange, he will leave Lito and Hernando alone. At first, Lito protests, but he lets her go when Daniela insists on keeping his career intact.

Back in Nairobi, Capheus discusses what he should do about the Superpower gang with his mother. His mother tells him to be strong and not to give in to the will of evil men.

In Iceland, Riley meets with an old friend of hers, Sven. It seems pretty unimportant, but what is worth noting is that Riley says she doesn’t drive anymore, after which Sven offers her a ride whenever she needs it and to wherever she needs to be.

At the police station, Will is investigating Nomi’s case, and finds out about the brain dead assassin, and tracks it back to a company called B.P.O. Meanwhile, Nomi has managed to dig up the same info when Will walks into the room, Nomi recognizing him as the guy that helped her get out of the hospital. The two compare notes, and they realize that they’re getting close to the truth. Eventually, they stumble upon a picture of the guy who Nomi saw in the mirror before the other guy shot himself. To make matters worse, that same man arrives at Amanita’s mother’s front door. Will tells Nomi to run, and Amanita promises to stall them while she escapes. As Nomi escapes out the window, the bad guys try to cut off her escape. Nomi calls for help, causing Sun and Will to arrive and fight off the feds while so she can get away. Nomi escapes on a bike, but that’s not exactly going to help her get away from several cop cars, so she breaks into a nearby car. Nomi doesn’t know how to drive, but fortunately for her, Capheus drives for a living and shows up to take the wheel. Using some crazy driving moves he likely learned from one of his Jean Claude Van Damme movies, he manages to elude the feds and help a very freaked out Nomi get away. Unfortunately, since Will didn’t have proper clearance for his investigation, his Captain suspends him from the force indefinitely.

In Mexico, Lito is filming another movie with a new leading lady, but he’s clearly not feeling it. Hernando arrives on set and says that after the ordeal with Daniela, he can no longer be with Lito if he will allow someone else to be hurt in order to protect his career, and reluctantly, leaves him.

In India, Kala meets with Rajan’s father at the temple of Ganesha, He says he can tell that Kala does not love Rajan and while he’s disappointed, he is a good man and wants Kala to be happy suggests that they call off the wedding. However, before their conversation is finished, Rajan’s father is assassinated, ending the episode. (If you’ll recall, Rajan and his father were trying to bring religious reform to India and there were many who were unhappy about it)

Upon a second viewing, I think episode eight might be my favorite, at least thus far. It gives equal time to all the characters and manages to squeeze several pivotal moments into a fifty-minute episode. We have Wolfgang’s backstory, Will and Riley’s first kiss, Hernando leaving Lito, and my personal favorite, Nomi’s escape from the feds. I absolutely love this scene, it’s well paced, the tension is great and it is also the first time that we see the sensates actively using their ability to help each other. Sure there was Will saving Nomi and Sun saving Capheus, but in both cases, the ones doing the saving were just as confused as everyone else about what was going on. This is actually a coordinated effort on the part of the Sensates to save Nomi and it is done without any prior planning, showing that the connection between them is growing stronger. We’ll see this coordination of abilities used on a much larger scale later in the series.