"Sense8" Recap: "Smart Money Is on the Skinny Bitch"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Every time I settle in to watch Netflix's Sense8 I always come away impressed with the new things the show is managing to do, especially when it comes to character development. After all, we've got eight characters to deal with here and rather than just narrow the focus down and lock in on a few, everyone gets their fair share of screen time. While episode two centered in on Will and Nomi, Episode Three, "Smart Money Is on the Skinny Bitch" locked in on the stories of Sun, Capheus, with a dash of Lito and a poignant ending. 

The dash of Lito I mentioned mattered because this poor young man is actually going through quite a struggle that we rarely see in storytelling, the fact that he is working hard to hide from the world that he is a homosexual. It's only amplified for him due to the fact that he happens to be a movie star. While his story this episode wasn't a major plot driver for the Sensates as a whole, who cares? It was a fascinating and heartbreaking slice of life to watch the process of this man work extremely hard to keep up the lie, even when the lie may get him into a little bit of hot water when his "girlfriend's" psychotic ex comes by to say hello. 

While Lito dealt with his mess however, we learned that there are concerns about where money is going exactly in Sun's company and that to deal with stress she takes part in underground street fighting and Capheus really is struggling with getting by in life. After all, his mother is slowly dying from AIDS and every penny he earns is going to making sure his mother can live to see another day. Thankfully he gets his hands on the medication she so desperately needs when fate decides to strike and in another attempt to make an honest day's living, Capheus and everyone on board his taxi van ends up being robbed and that's when the show decides to give a real taste of what the Sensates are all about. 

In a masterful stroke of storytelling, Capheus decides he will not let this robbery stand and goes after the thugs, giving them a beating until they begin to give that beating back, forcing the connection between he, Sun and Will to come to life and well...they are all able to help Capheus beat his foes by letting their own unique talents work through him. This was an awesome way to show off the power of what these eight can do and well...I think this was the moment that demonstrates just how great of a force these people can become and why there are forces already working against them.  

I was also a big fan of the fact this week that we got a deeper look into the darker secrets of these characters. I mean seriously, who thought Sun would spend her free time wailing on people for money and I'm quite curious to learn more about Will's past and the murder that haunts him. But kudos to the show for once again just surprising us in the final minutes by advancing the plot without spoon feeding us the exposition. It's one of the strengths of this show, the fact that the story is allowed to advance organically and that without a single word spoken, we can tell exactly what's going on. Either way, now we know what the Sensates are fully capable of, and it's freaking awesome. Until next time. 

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