Thursday, August 27, 2015

Sense8, Season One, Episode Two: I Am Also A We

Nomi tells Amanita about seeing Angel and how she feels like she knows Angel but doesn't know from where.  We learn that Nomi was a hacktavist and still hacks for security companies.  Amanita encourages Nomi to write about how she feels.  We also learn that Nomi does not have a good relationship with her family.

Will is visiting Deshawn, who makes a crack about Will being hot for him and asserting his heterosexuality.  Deshawn and Will both agree that Will being there isn't helping either of their reputations though Will adds that he would have saved anyone who needed him. Will then talks about his father  Michael being shot and how it ended Michael's career and killed parts of him.  DeShawn rightfully comments that when cops get shot, it's on the news for days but when kids like him get shot, nothing gets said because kids like him don't mean anything to anyone. DeShawn asks about Will's childhood and we get a flash to the past of Michael handcuffing Will after Will was caught shoplifting.  Will however picks the lock on the handcuffs and takes off. DeShawn is impressed but Will explains that there wasn't much to play with at a police station as a kid.  Will stands to leave and Deshawn promises never to forget what Will did, adding that he still doesn't owe him anything.

Nomi is doing a video blog about her life and the mistakes that she has made.  We get a quick flash to Kala in India.  Nomi talks about being afraid to be who she is for a long time because her family taught her that there's something wrong with people like her.  The next flash we get is to Lito.  Nomi starts talking about Pride, as we get flashes of Wolfie and Riley.  Finally, we see Will in a bar, helping his drunk and passed out father.  Nomi talks about her desperation to be a part of the Pride parade. We get a flash to Capheus standing on a hill at Pride observing.  Nomi says that today she is marching for the part of her that was once to afraid to march and for all of the people who cannot march - people living lives like she did.  Pride is in full swing and Amanata drives a motorcycle and Nomi sits on the back.  Nomi notices Jonas in the crowd and then passes out, falling off the motorcycle.

Nomi then finds herself in a hospital gown in London standing beside Riley.  Riley is at Nomi's bedside and both women are singing the same song.  When Nomi regains real awareness, her mother and sister are in the room.  Her mother is insistent on calling Nomi, Michael, declaring that Nomi will always be Michael.  Nomi asks for Amanita and is told by her mother that the hospital only allows family visitation for those in critical care.  Nomi makes it clear that Amanita is her family and asks her mother and sister to leave but her mother is insistent on staying. Nomi's mother says that she loves her and will not leave until Nomi talks to Dr. Metzger .

At the station, Will tells Diego that he has proof that he is not crazy.  Will shows the security footage from the store across the street from the alley, only to discover two hours of footage has been erased.  It's Diego who notices that there was a witness.

In the hospital, Dr. Metzger tells Nomi that there are two masses on her brain growing into each other - undifferentiated frontal lobe syndrome. Nomi learns that she is going to need surgery and her mother is quick to pipe up that Nomi will need to use their insurance because the surgery is so expensive.  Dr. Metzger adds that without the surgery, Nomi's mental capacity will deteriorate and she will experience hallucinations as well as memory loss.  Nomi's mother is insistent that Nomi will need her family and Nomi is equally insistent that her mother is no longer her family.  Nomi again has to tell her mother to stop calling her Michael and once again asks her to leave.

Lito is on the red carpet and he kisses his date Daniela, before going off to get mobbed by the female fans who showed up to see him at the opening of his new film. Lito and Daniela then walk over to talk to reporters and  are asked if they are an item.  Lito says that he and Daniela are friends, and Daniela clarifies to say, "good friends."

Rajan gives a speech about how he won Kala's heart.  Rajan talks about how their first date was to a movie and he hoped that Kala would fall in love with him.  Rajan puts down his drink and the pace of the music picks up.  Before you know it, Rajan is performing a scene right out of a Bollywood movie. Rajan then offers his hand to Kala and though she is resistant at first, Kala joins him on the dance floor.  The dance ends to cheers from the audience.

Daniela and Lito are walking and talking about what it was like to shoot the film.  Daniela confronts Lito about how he lied to an actress about how great she was - but for Lito, it's just acting. Daniela invites Lito to join her upstairs but he turns her down, saying that he has an early call tomorrow.  Daniela is shocked and tries again but Lito holds his ground and leaves with a smile.

Next, we see Wolfie having sex with some anonymous woman.

Breathless from the dance, Kala stands next to her sister Dala, saying that she is hot.  Dala has nothing but praises for Rajan, adding that if Kala won't marry him, she will.

Wolfie lies in bed with his lover and admits to having a real craving for Indian food.

Rajan and his father  Manendra approach Kala and her family to talk about their anticipation for the wedding. Manendra comments that the food is good at the party tonight, even though he doesn't like Indian food. Something isn't right about that man. Sanyam  is gracious and compliments Rajan's dancing, even though Manendra snarked about Sanyam serving Indian food at the party. Rajan asks for permission to say goodnight to Kala.

Lito has returned home and awakes the sleeping Hernando with a kiss. Now we know who Lito's heart belongs to. Lito undresses as he talk about the movie opening.  Lito climbs on top of Hernando, who asks about being able to go to Lito's premiere, causing Lito  to sigh. Hernando explains that he is just jealous and wants to be Lito's arm piece. Lito says a cheesy line about Hernando having his heart and Hernando picks up on it right away. Okay, I have to say it, am I the only one who notices how the camera keeps focusing on Lito's underwear clad crotch? Mmmmm.  Lito assures Hernando that Daniela wants what she cannot have.

Wolfgang is chatting with his lover at an Indian restaurant and makes it clear that he isn't looking for a relationship. When Wolfie looks up, he sees Kala walk by.   At home in India, Kala sees Wofie standing on a terrace.

Lito and Hernando are sleeping when Daniela rings the buzzer.  Daniela makes it clear that she wants to come up for the night cap that Lito denied her earlier, waving a bottle of booze at the security camera.  Lito is insistent that Daniela go home, until she mentions that there are photographers outside. It's Hernando who encourages Lito to let Daniela in.

Rajan is talking with Kala about their families and how they got along the evening of the party.  Rajan brings up Kala's hesitation when it comes to marriage, saying that though they grew up in separate worlds, he wants to live in the world together. The two share a kiss which is almost chaste and then say goodnight. Kala looks over the terrace but this time, Wolfie is not there.


Lito opens the door for Daniela with the chain on and she is insistent that she be let in. Lito tries to say that he was sleeping and so Daniela accuses him of acting like a girl, causing Lito to open the door. Daniela marches in, tosses her bag on the couch and Lito again tries to manage the situation saying they need to talk.  Lito says that he needs space but Daniela makes it clear that Lito can dump her after they have sex, as she starts taking off her clothing. Lito tells Daniela that his heart belongs to another but Daniela refuses to take no for an answer, asking for a little harmless sex.  Daniela rushes upstairs to find Hernando in bed, who explains that the problem with harmless sex is that Daniela does not have a cock.  Lito starts to laugh, trying to pass Hernando off as a friend pulling a practical joke.  Daniela calls the two men hot and rushes downstairs to get glasses.  Lito sits on the bed confused and when Daniela returns, she announces that this is going to be perfect because she can be Lito's beard. Daniela climbs into bed between the two men, calling the situation a dream come true. Umm creepy with a capital C.

Riley has returned home and she quickly strips off her blood stained clothing.  In Chicago, Will is shaving.  When Will and Riley look into the mirror, instead of seeing their reflections, they see each other.

Nomi is out of bed when the nurse comes in and explains that the door is locked because of hospital policy. Nomi says that she wants to sign out but is informed that Dr. Metzger is the only one who can release her. Nomi learns that Dr. Metzger and her family signed papers allowing her to be kept against her will. The nurse explains that it's for Nomi's safety, as well as for the people around her. Nomi is then ordered to take her medicine.

At the station, Diego and Will sit down for the pre-shift meeting.  The sergeant calls the room to order and introduces agent Styles from Homeland Security.  It seems that there is a bolo out for Jonas, who is wanted for murder.  Will recognizes Jonas,  as he learns that Jonas is considered a terrorist.

Nomi is looking out the window when she gets a visit from Jonas, who informs her that she has to get out of the hospital. Nomi recognizes Jonas from the parade but assumes that Dr. Metzger was right about her starting to hallucinate.  Jonas makes it clear that Dr. Metzger plans to lobotomize Nomi and encourages her to run while she can.  There's a knock on the door and Jonas disappears.

The knock is actually on Riley's door.  When the lock starts to turn and the door opens, Riley disappears out the window, leaving her traveling bag behind.  On the street, Riley stops to check her bag and finds it filled with drugs and money.

Will is in the cop bar to talk to his father Michael and has to offer to buy him a drink for Michael to agree to the conversation. Michael it seems is not pleased that Will saved DeShawn. Father and son sit at a table and Michael tosses his colostomy bag on the table, asking his son to take a shit for him. That is easily the most gross thing I've seen in a while.  Will acknowledges his father's anger for saving DeShawn and moves to leave, causing Michael to call him back.  Michael says that he is proud that Will did what he thought was the right thing but adds that if DeShawn ends up killing someone, then Will has to live with that. Will simply nods. Will tells his father that something is going on and that he believes it has something to do with Sarah, causing Michael to ask Will if he is out of his mind.  Michael tells Will to forget about the gangbanger and adds that if Will starts talking about Sarah again, he will be run off the force after a psych evaluation.

In the hospital, Nomi gets a call from Amanita.  Before she answers the phone, Nomi has to convince herself that she is not hallucinating. It seems that Amanita is here in the hospital and there's a ton of security on Nomi's floor.  Nomi tells Amanita about her tumor and the doctor's plans for surgery and the fact that she is been hearing things, seeing things and feeling things. Amanita promises that she will burn the building down before she lets the doctor operate.  Nomi says that she saw Jonas in her room and it seems that Amanita has a picture of Jonas from the parade.  Amanita is forced to end the call.

Will enters a convenience store to find an over the counter sleep aid.  Will grabs some pills and a Psychic magazine. Jonas enters the store and approaches Will and introduces himself.  Will is shocked that Jonas knows his name and Jonas explains that Angelica - the woman who gave birth to Will, told him before she took her life.  Jonas explains that people experience many births and deaths in  their lives but few know what it means to be re-born a Sense8. Jonas tells Will that he will have a migraine for several more days and will start to feel strange things including various emotions. Jonas explains that he has to get on a plane but warns Will that Nomi, who is in San Fransisco, needs his help.  Will tells Jonas that he cannot let him go.  Jonas fights off Will,  and when Will goes for his gun Jonas takes off in his car. Will is quick to follow.  A high speed chase ensues during which at one point, Jonas joins Will in his car to tell him not to do this.  Jonas warns Will that if he doesn't let him go, he will never find out what is happening to him before disappearing.  Will continues to follow Jonas in the car. After Will bumps Jonas's car, Will finds himself sitting in the passenger seat of Jonahs car.  A shocked Will leaps back into his car and crashes into Jonas.

I feel a little better about Will rescuing Deshawn now that we have learned a little about about how Deshawn feels the world views him.  Deshawn is all too aware of how disposable little black boys like him are in a white supremacist society.  In fac,t the actions of Michael and the other cops in the bar confirm Deshawn's stance.  I am however disgusted with the continued implication that by saving Deshawn, Will allowed a future possible murder and shooter of cops to live.  Simply based on Deshawn's race, people have already decided what he will become.  I don't like that Will apologized to Michael for saving Deshawn.I also don't like the fact that they failed to acknowledged that cops have a history of simply murdering boys like Deshawn for sport.

We have to talk about Lito, Daniela and Hernando.  Hernando clearly has Lito's heart and given that the world is not very open to gay actors playing romantic leads and heroes, this is not an easy position to be in.  After using Daniela as his beard to give the impression that he's a lady's man, the tables get turned on Lito when she discovers that he is gay.  Daniela is absolutely predatory in her pursuit of Lito.  She should have accepted his no the first time and when she hoped in bed between Lito and Hernando, it ratched up the creep factor by a thousand.  It felt very much like she was ready to fetrishize the two men.

Okay, so Kala does not really want to marry Rajan but is moving forward to make her family happy.  I gotta say, I love the big Bollywood number even if it felt a tad forced. Kala may be engaged to Rajan but clearly there's some sort of connection between her and Wolfie.  In some ways, Kala seems strong but in others just weak.  I'm not sure how I feel about her character yet.

We learned even more about Nomi's background.  Her family is absolutely horrible.  The way they kept misgendering her and Nomi having to repeatedly assert not only her gender but her identity.  Unfortunately, it all to often portrays what it is like for some trans* people.  I was also struck when not only was Amanita bared from visiting because the hospital didn't consider her to be family, it allowed Nomi's transphobic mother to make her medical decision.  For me, it really drove home the message of why same sex marriage is so important. Sense8 is handing some very difficult and yet true to life issues that many people in the LGBT community face and so far, I believe that they are doing a really good job.

I want to know more about Jonas.  Also, boo for having the brown man being called a terrorist.  We learned that Sense8 is something that people are reborn as and that Angelica is the mother of the current roster of Sense8s.  I still think the world setting is pretty shaky.  Thus far, Sense8 has focused a lot on character building which is necessary given its ridiculously large cast but we still need to know more about the rules of this world. For instance, why were these 8 chosen?  How are Angela and Jonas connected?  Can they communicate with everyone or only each other and what causes the communication to happen? What is the purpose of Nomi being hospitalized? So many questions....