Well, here’s some rather great news for fans of the cancelled drama Sense8. Just a couple of weeks after ruling out a potential return, Netflix has had a change of heart, and has given the go ahead to a two-hour series finale special which will arrive in 2018.
The news was announced by co-creator Lana Wachowski with a heartfelt post on Facebook, during which she discussed her reaction to the surprise cancellation and her appreciation to the show’s fans:
Dear Sense8 Family,
I have been meaning to write this letter for some time. The outpouring of love and grief that came in the wake of the news that Sense8 would not be continuing was so intense that I often found myself unable to open my own email. I confess I fell into a fairly serious depression.
I had never worked so hard, or put so much of myself into a project as I had with Sense8 and its cancellation hollowed me out. I felt the disappointment of my amazing crew (I wish people could understand the impossibilities they achieved with implausible regularity.) I felt the sadness of the actors who had given so much of themselves, always finding more whenever the sun broke from the clouds. But most of all I felt the heartbreak of our fans (again I wish I could cluster with you to share some of the beautiful moments, the hugs, the tears and laughter, as well as the insightful and humbling conversations I have had with people who have connected to this show; they are unlike any fans I have ever encountered as an artist).
Friends kept calling from all over the world asking, ‘Isn’t there anything you can do?’
And the truth was, no. By myself, there was nothing I could do.
But just as the characters in our show discover that they are not alone, I too have learned that I am not just a me. I am also a we.
The passionate letters, the petitions, the collective voice that rose up like the fist of Sun to fight for this show was beyond what anyone was expecting.
In this world it is easy to believe that you cannot make a difference; that when a government or an institution or corporation makes a decision, there is something irrevocable about the decision; that love is always less important than the bottom line.
But here is a gift from the fans of the show that I will carry forever in my heart: while it is often true those decisions are irreversible, i tis not always true.
Improbably, unforeseeably, your love has brought Sense8 back to life. (I could kiss every single one of you!)
It is my great pleasure as well as Netflix’s (believe me, they love the show as much as we do but the numbers have always been challenging) to announce that there will be another two hour special released next year. After that… if this experience has taught me anything, you NEVER know.
Thank you all. Now let’s go find out what happens to Wolfgang.
Look out for the series finale of Sense8 on Netflix in 2018.
Originally published June 30, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
