JMS: Sense8

[Looney]

How is there not a Sense8 Thread in these Forums.

Anyway, today, June 8, 2018, is the day that the two and a half hour Sense8 Series Finale went up on Netflix. What a perfect time for people in these Forums to start discussing the splendor that was Sense8. I haven't actually watched it yet. I'll be back to report when I have. I have been looking forward to this since finishing Season Two. I plan to go back and watch the final episode of Season Two prior to watching it, but as you can tell that is a big chunk of the day to carve out, so I won't be done for awhile.

 

[Jan]

Just finished watching it today. I think it was a good effort to give as much closure as possible. But I'm afraid that the lack of JMS' involvement was rather obvious.

 

[Looney]

Just finished watching it today. I think it was a good effort to give as much closure as possible. But I'm afraid that the lack of JMS' involvement was rather obvious.

Yes that is very true. That doesn't mean it was bad because of it. I don't know if it could have been better with him. It really was just something that had to throw in as much as it could and try to have some of it makes sense. Could JMS have written something better? Of course, but I don't know that he could have written something that would have closed everything up in two and a half hours and included everything we ended up with. It might have seemed like a better story, but we probably would have gotten a lot less of certain things like sidekicks and extended personnel in favor of more meaningful scenes and dialogue. Well I honestly loved seeing the sidekicks and extended personnel since everything was coming to a close.

I think the worst part of it is during the end credits you see Lana Wachowski having all these emotional moments with everyone. It really made me mad that we don't see JMS' emotional attachment rewarded like this. I am sad that he wasn't a part of those moments and I feel like the show was taken away from him. But that is a naive emotional response. I have no idea how emotionally attached JMS was to the project after Season One and I don't know if he really cared after he knew Season Two wasn't going to get the job done and get them renewed. I'm just placing my own personal feelings into something where they don't belong. It sucks that JMS wasn't in those closing credits and he wasn't a writer on the final episode, but it is over and done. He has other things on the horizon and hopefully they'll workout better.

Don't get me wrong, Sense8 was not a perfect show. It was an ambitious attempt to tell a huge global story. It didn't always work, but it did a pretty decent job of keeping the audience entertained and engaged. The finale was exactly the same thing. It was an ambitious attempt to wrap up a huge global story with multiple plot threads. It doesn't always work, but it did a pretty decent job of keeping the audience entertained and engaged. Honestly the only way the finale could have been better is if they had more time to flesh out everything. Yeah JMS might have improved it, but who can really say. It is over and done and I am looking forward to what he comes up with next. Sadly I'll admit that I don't really care what the Wachowskis come up with next. I would likely not watch another Series from the Wachowskis. A movie yes, but I likely would not watch another Series just because I don't need an excuse to watch yet another show. I watch too many shows as it is. BUT I will definitely watch anything any one in this cast does. I will tell you one thing that the finale did correctly, it finally made me care for Wolfgang and Kala. Maybe not their relationship so much, but the characters themselves. They have always been the two I cared the least about and the finale changed that for me.

THE REAL QUESTION TO PONDER IS WHAT WOULD SENSE8 HAVE BEEN IF IT HAD BEEN ALL JMS? HOPE THAT DOESN'T BREAK ANYONE'S BRAINS. :guffaw:

AND ACTUALLY THE SECOND QUESTION I HAVE IS HOW MUCH OF THE SEX SCENES STUFF WAS JMS? I HAVE TRIED TO IMAGINE BABYLON 5 FOLLOWING THAT SAME STYLE. :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw:

 

[Jan]

No, it was far from bad. But (as mentioned elsewhere) it didn't really make me feel anything and that was rather unsatisfying.

All JMS? Don't really know. But someday I'd love to see something from him where he has complete control.

Sex scenes? Hard to tell. I can say that the Lyta/Byron scene in B5 was described pretty accurately. I'll have to look at my S8 scripts (Only have season one, sadly) and see what I can tell.

 

[Looney]

All JMS? Don't really know.

I'd just like to see the entire show in JMS' terms without the Wachowskis. I wonder how different it would be?!

Sex scenes? Hard to tell.

I just meant were they originally part of what JMS envisioned when the idea was being hatched? I wonder if they were part of his original outlines or if they were a Wachowski contribution? I mean they are a huge part of the show that in some ways added and detracted from the show. I usually felt they detracted from the show, but my mom got really into the show after I told her about it and she explained how much they added to the core of the character's connection. It was a VERY awkward conversation - and I'm still not sure I am a hundred percent on board with her explanation. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them, :guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw: but most of the time I felt they were unnecessarily added and often threw off the rhythm and pacing of the episodes. It seems like they were filling time where story elements could have been unfolding.

I can say that the Lyta/Byron scene in B5 was described pretty accurately. I'll have to look at my S8 scripts (Only have season one, sadly) and see what I can tell.

And yeah I guess I wonder how much detail he wrote into the sex scenes in Sense8. I would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall when Pat Tallman got that script. It would be great to have seen whether her initial reaction was positive of negative.

 

[Jan]

I dont think there's any such thing as "his original outlines" as he made it clear that they hashed a good bit of the show's premise out together (while staying in Lana & Karin's house, I think?) rather than doing separate outlines.

For me the sex definitely added to the show. IMO, sex has been completely (one might say prudishly) neglected in explorations of telepathy/empathy. With Sense*, I adored that the sexual component of other members could accidntally infring on other cluster members, especially when they were still learning the extent of the bond. If one thinks of it, how could it not when we also saw other senses (smell, taste hearing) so distinctly shared involuntarily. That they continued in joyous sharing on purpose was even cooler, IMO.

For me the only parts overdone were the fughts and constant spurting blood. That got way old way quick.

 

[Looney]

For me the sex definitely added to the show. IMO, sex has been completely (one might say prudishly) neglected in explorations of telepathy/empathy. With Sense*, I adored that the sexual component of other members could accidntally infring on other cluster members, especially when they were still learning the extent of the bond. If one thinks of it, how could it not when we also saw other senses (smell, taste hearing) so distinctly shared involuntarily. That they continued in joyous sharing on purpose was even cooler, IMO.

I completely agree with that point, but I also feel there was too much of a "Cut-To" feel about it. There were too many times when those scenes seemed forced and when they completely changed to tone and complexion of an episode. Hey, we're going along dealing with all of this intense drama. Most of the cluster is in real danger at the moment so let's cut to a sex scene. For me they often seemed to come at awkward moments and seemed forced.

Speaking of sex scenes, what do you think was going on in the finale with regard to that?

For me the only parts overdone were the fughts and constant spurting blood. That got way old way quick.

Yes I completely agree with this point. This is a big reason Wolfgang was never one of my favorite characters. His violent life always made me question his connection to Kala. It seems despite the fact she knew deep down he wasn't an evil person that she still would have been afraid of his knack for attracting gun-play.

 

[Raw Shark]

Does anyone know what JMS is working on after Sense8?



Raw Shark


"No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
Yogi Berra

 

[Jan]

Whatever it is, it hasn't shown up on IMDb yet and he's being very close-mouthed about it. He did say that he hopes to be able to give some news in the next 6-8 weeks. He also said a while back that other obligations are keeping him from San Diego Comic-Con this year. And his autobiography is coming out next spring.

Jan

 

[Looney]

Whatever it is, it hasn't shown up on IMDb yet and he's being very close-mouthed about it. He did say that he hopes to be able to give some news in the next 6-8 weeks. He also said a while back that other obligations are keeping him from San Diego Comic-Con this year. And his autobiography is coming out next spring.

Jan

Did I miss anything about Rising Stars?

I know he pulled back on Midnight Nation, but I assumed the Rising Stars project is still out there, though he might not be doing that much work on it at the moment - or maybe he is.

 

[Jan]

Did I miss anything about Rising Stars?

I know he pulled back on Midnight Nation, but I assumed the Rising Stars project is still out there, though he might not be doing that much work on it at the moment - or maybe he is.

Last I heard it's out to directors.

 

[Looney]

Did I miss anything about Rising Stars?

I know he pulled back on Midnight Nation, but I assumed the Rising Stars project is still out there, though he might not be doing that much work on it at the moment - or maybe he is.

Last I heard it's out to directors.

OMG! Can I pick the Director?! Please, Please, Please, Please.

:guffaw:

 

[Raw Shark]

Thanks, Jan! I'm trying to think of the last JMS project I kept up with, I think it was his Terminator comic, which I still haven't finished. I appreciate his nimble handling of the various, convoluted storylines that franchise has produced over the years. But with each new time travel story they have just made it all so muddled and meaningless, each was less interesting than the last. I really lost interest until JMS got into it. Now I just have to find my Vol 2 and finally read it. I've lost count of all the announced possibilities for film and television that just faded away, Hollywood politics and so forth. I thought a JMS version of Forbidden Planet sounded promising, probably because I was hoping we would get some of his ideas for the Great Machine switched over to that story. Oh well, more loose ends, c'est la vie.



Raw Shark


"The law is whatever I write on a piece of paper."
Saddam Hussein

 

[hypatia]

Whatever it is, it hasn't shown up on IMDb yet and he's being very close-mouthed about it. He did say that he hopes to be able to give some news in the next 6-8 weeks. He also said a while back that other obligations are keeping him from San Diego Comic-Con this year. And his autobiography is coming out next spring.

Jan

Yea, if it were me I'd just be sleeping in late. JMS never seems to stop for a minute. I look forward to hear what he's been up to.