What a way to start Pride Month. One of Netflix’s most LGBT+-inclusive shows is no more, being cancelled just after two seasons.
When Sense8 first came out in the summer of 2015, everyone raved about its inclusiveness overall — LGBT+ issues were raised and diversity was a key factor to the series’ plot. The story includes eight main characters that each episode follows, all from different locations on Earth, and each character’s subplots furthers on one main plot that is continued onto the show’s second season. The second season was recently released not over a month ago and still, fans loved every bit of it. With the show becoming the most streamed Netflix show in the Brazilian market, critics had no doubt that it would return for another season.
In March, Deadline reported that renewals of contracts were being negotiated by Netflix, prompting the assumptions by everyone that a third season would be in place in time for June — when Netflix is most likely to announce which shows they are cancelling and renewing.
Just after the disappointment of the cancellation of one of Netflix’s diverse series, The Get Down, Show Patrol has exclusively learned that Sense8 would not be renewed for another season.
With that in mind, it is still disappointing that one of the best shows for LGBT+ representation is being stopped. Sense8‘s portrayal of LGBT+ relationships is definitely one of the best I have seen on television at the moment — it is not fetishized or sexualized to the point where their LGBT+ characters’ purpose revolved around their sexuality. For once, the LGBT+ characters had other purposes than to be just the typical gay friend. Characters such as Lito and Nomi provided different audiences with a real perspective on their struggles, joys and experiences with sexuality and how it shaped them as human beings- their absences as leading LGBT+ representation will and for surely, be missed.
Many people are yet to be over the cancellation of The Get Down, and to add to the sadness, the thought of Sense8 not being renewed (despite ending in a massive cliffhanger from Season 2) almost makes us wonder about the real reasons why these shows are slowly being cancelled and taken away from the fans that have invested in them. We can only hope that another streaming service or a network channel can pick up Sense8 so the fans can get the closure that they want.
