Sense8 recap: Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes

Sense8 has been slow-burning its overarching narrative all season long. With “Just Turn The Wheel And The Future Changes,” Sense8 ramps up the pace and sets the stage for its finale. These are no longer just individual stories with the occasional visitation, but rather plots coalescing into a larger story, one that’s still shrouded in secrecy. There’s a good chance that the finale is going to leave us all begging for a second season and more answers.

There’s been a lot of talk about choices in the past few episodes. Every sensate has had to look toward his or her future, as an individual and as a member of their cluster, and contemplate the move they want to make. This episode is those choices being made, so it makes sense that it’s packed with action and puts the narrative into overdrive.

Everything is hurtling toward a confrontation between Whispers and the sensates, with Riley now in the hospital. There are two potential paths here: 1. Whispers has been monitoring Jonas and is heading to Iceland to nab Riley from the hospital and is luring Will there, or 2. Jonas is actually working with Whispers to track down all the sensates and eliminate them.

The latter is what Yrsa tells Riley, but both Nomi and Will trust Jonas. Bug shows up at Nomi’s apartment with a bunch of equipment to get her back into the hacking game. He doesn’t want any money but rather a chance to get in on the action. Plus, he realized that if BPO is shooting at Nomi, you “can’t shoot back without any bullets.” Thus, he gives her a bunch of tech in order to keep Riley safe for the time being.

Kala’s tough decision has been the same all season long: Should she marry Rajan, a man she doesn’t love? Now it’s not just whether or not she should marry him, but also if she should tell him that right before his father died he had hoped Kala would call off the wedding.

Kala decides to tell Rajan and he praises her for her honesty. In fact, he’s know for some time that his father didn’t approve of their marriage but wanted to marry her anyway. Kala balks at that a bit, suggesting that Rajan choosing to marry her is an act of rebellion. He assures her he loves her and that’s where we’re left. We still don’t know if they’re getting married or not. Judging by the way she tears up later in the episode when Wolfgang is set to put himself in harm’s way, it seems clear she’s meant to be with the thief.

What’s more startling for Kala than this decision though is that when she returns to the temple where Rajan’s father was killed, she’s greeted as a hero. The worshippers there celebrate the death of the non-believer who was working to ban certain religious practices. “God knows violence is sometimes necessary,” says the worshipper’s leader. It’s a disturbing scene, one that shows the dark side of faith. Where Kala’s faith is good, a useful guide in her life, in the hands of fanatics it’s deadly, and morally bankrupt.

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Sun’s biggest decision was made in the previous episode as she allowed her father to tell the truth to the courts. All of that gets taken away from her in this episode though, as her brother shows up at the prison and tells her that their father has committed suicide. Sun listens patiently, tears welling in her eyes, but she knows it can’t be true. “You murdered him,” she says before jumping across the table and landing a few punches.

That’s not the last punch Sun throws in this episode. Much of “Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes” revolves around Capheus and what he’ll do with the proposition from the Superpowers gang. They’ve told him to give up Silas’ daughter and in exchange they’ll let him live.

There’s no way Capheus is going to do that, so after dropping her off at Jela’s house for safe-keeping he heads to the Superpowers hangout to negotiate. Trouble is, their idea of negotiating turns out to be getting Capheus to chop off Silas’ head, who they’ve kidnapped since the previous episode, in exchange for letting him and the daughter go.

With a gun pointed to his head Capheus doesn’t stand a chance of making it out of there. Sun does though, visiting Capheus and making quick work of the Superpowers gang. It’s a bloody, gory fight, again showing off the show’s penchant for beautifully crafted action sequences, with Run Lola Run director Tom Twyker behind the camera for this episode.

The climax of Capheus’ escape comes when he’s hurtling down the rode and comes to a traffic stop. The rest of the Superpowers gang closes in on him and Capheus knows he’s about to die. He visits Will, who’s “in” the hospital with Riley, and tells him he’s about to die. Will intervenes and shoots a few of the gang members, giving Capheus space to maneuver the bus into the opposite lanes and drive away. Again, it’s a thrilling set piece, another in an episode full of them.

The episode ends on a moment of anticipation. Wolfgang has freed Felix from the hospital he was in and taken him somewhere for private care, away from anyone who can hurt him. He pulls up to his uncle’s mansion in order to finally settle the score, especially now that his cousin Steiner is out of the way. Kala tries to dissuade him, but as Wolfgang says, she will never understand some things about his world. Plus, he says, “there are worse things than dying.”

Thus, it looks like the finale will largely revolve around Wolfgang’s grudge and the race to get to Riley. Will Sun get out of prison or help the sensates from inside? What role will Capheus play in the finale? Getaway driver? Will Nomi and Amanita be able to keep Riley’s identity under wraps much longer? With only one episode left, there are a lot of ways the finale can shake out.