On Wednesday, Netflix company founder and CEO Reed Hastings spoke publicly about wanting his company to “take more risk” and “try more crazy things” when it comes to programming—even if that means the company will have “a higher cancel rate.” And on Thursday, Netflix cancelled Sense8, the sci-fi drama from the Wachowskis that seemed to embody Hastings’s ambitions.
In a statement announcing the cancellation, Netflix’s V.P. of original content Cindy Holland agreed that Sense8 had been “everything we and the fans dreamed it would be: bold, emotional, stunning, kickass and outright unforgettable.” It’s a nice sentiment, but a confusing one to express while announcing that the ambitious series—which spanned two seasons, 23 episodes, 16 cities and 13 countries—would be coming to a close.
“Never has there been a more truly global show with an equally diverse and international cast and crew, which is only mirrored by the connected community of deeply passionate fans all around the world,” Holland continued in a statement that raises the question, “Well then why are you canceling it?!”
It could be that the Wachowskis simply did not want to make more episodes. Or that the admittedly ambitious series was too expensive to produce. But given that Netflix famously does not release viewership data, it is hard to know what the exact reason for cancellation is. (On Wednesday, Hastings would only say that the decision comes down to both audience numbers and subscription growth.)
The Wachowskis said that the intention of their series was to explore the kind of heavy themes—like sexuality, gender, politics, and religion—that most television shows, let alone sci-fi shows, have ignored. J. Michael Straczynski, who co-created the series with the Wachowskis told fans that the venture, at least after its first season, had been embraced by viewers—with Netflix reps telling him viewers tended to watch the 12-episode first season “straight through—three, four, six times.”
Fans of the series have noted that the timing of the cancellation of the series—which has been called “The Best LGBT TV Show,” thanks to its beautifully-written characters including a transgender woman (Jamie Clayton) and a gay actor (Miguel Ángel Silvestre)—seems especially cruel considering that June 1 is the first day of Pride month.
Perhaps what seems even more jarring, however, is that Netflix is pulling the plug on a show whose very premise—about eight characters around the globe who are psychically linked—centers on building love and acceptance despite disparate backgrounds. It is a message that audiences might have a hard time finding elsewhere in the current political climate.
