Sense8 S02E08: All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet Recap & Review

Sense8 S02E08: All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet

Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Writers: J. Michael Straczynski, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Starring: Doona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Max Riemelt, Tina Desai, Toby Onwumere, Tuppence Middleton, Brian J. Smith

A review by Samantha Pearson

Sense8 S02E08 kicks off with a bang and ends with one, too. All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet is a plot-heavy, slow-moving story with moments of dark comedy interspersed for flavor.

Unlike I Have No Room In My Heart for Hate, wherein the sensates were uncomfortably cut off from each other, All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet relies heavily on their connection. We found out at the end of the last episode that Jonas, previously thought killed by BPO, is actually alive. He was saved by the chairman of BPO, who is apparently using Whispers and the lobotomy experiments to knock out his political opponents. Whispers and the other sensates are “disposable assassins” and nothing more.

However, it’s still unclear what Whispers is getting out of his work for BPO. Jonas tells Will that he believes no other cluster has gotten as close to Whispers as our main eight. They need to use this advantage to find out Whispers’ agenda, especially because it is becoming apparent that he and BPO are at odds.

Jonas lives because the chairman needs him to keep an eye on Whispers. Although Whispers tried to kill him, Jonas’ life now depends on Whispers. It’s a very convoluted loop.

Once the cluster establishes that their goal now is to find where Whispers has gone into hiding and unlock his secret agenda, All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet pivots to focus on the individual struggles of each sensate. Season two has spent a significant amount of time establishing the existence of other clusters and slowly connecting Riley, Wolfgang, and the others to those clusters. In S02E08, that comes to a head, but not before we check in with everyone.

Capheus’ run for political office takes a dark turn, forewarned by his mother in the previous episode. His life is at risk in running against his opponent and his campaign managers hire a security detail to watch over him, though an old acquaintance still manages to enter his home and threaten him at gunpoint. This acquaintance provides Capheus with the same warning: politics are dangerous. However, as Capheus’ likeness begins cropping up in posters and graffiti all over the city, it’s obvious that he may actually win. That, in fact, puts him in more danger than if he were sure to lose.

Meanwhile, Kala panics over her husband’s increasingly suspicious dealings and goes to Will for advice. He struggles with the desire to shoot up, something he hasn’t done since he got blockers, and Kala pulls him off the edge while she rambles about her desire to tell Rajan everything about her. Kala hopes, supposedly, that if she confesses everything then he will, too. Will suggests that she actually wants to confess everything because she’s in love with Wolfgang, which Kala neither confirms nor denies.

Riley seeks out the BPO mole with help from Diego. Nomi prepares to give a toast at her sister’s wedding, in front of all of her guests — including their incredibly bigoted parents. She also works with Sun to create a plan for Sun’s brother’s upcoming gala, which seems like the perfect opportunity for Sun to finally confront him.

While everyone else is making moves, Lito is incredibly depressed over what he believes is the end of his dream. Now that his agency has dropped him, he presumably won’t be able to get work as an actor… So he dives deep into Ben & Jerry’s, From Here to Eternity, and crying jags in his pajamas.

Lito’s depression is played as darkly comedic. Miguel Ángel Silvestre flips back and forth from angry to devastated with ease. He plays Lito’s grief realistically enough that it hurts to watch, but the comedy isn’t lost. It helps that Lito displays bizarre skills that his cluster needs — like flair bartending — and that he’s so vulnerable. When he cries on Sun’s hotel bed, she is thoroughly unimpressed, but he tries to convince her to cry with him to make herself feel better.

Sun: If anyone should be laying in bed crying, it should be me.
Lito: But you will never do that.
Sun: Of course not.
Lito: I think that’s why I’m here, Sun.

Lito’s dramatics are starkly at odds with Sun’s concentrated attempts to be emotionless. Throughout season two, Doona Bae has shown Sun’s vulnerability with tears and carefully guarded hope. In All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet, her eyes are dry. She is determined to face her brother and move on with her life, whatever that may mean. It’s fascinating to watch her interact with Lito, because we very rarely get these characters one-on-one. Lito is too dramatic; Sun is too reserved. Seeing them together is an incredible juxtaposition of emotion.

As mentioned earlier, the introduction of other clusters comes to a head in this episode. Wolfgang’s contact, Lila, betrays him to her sapien lover. She claims that Wolfgang seeks to betray him in order to throw suspicion off of her. She then asks Wolfgang for a meeting, in person, just the two of them. With the help of Amanita and Bug, Riley uses the Chicago Police Department’s computers to figure out how many homo sensorium Lila has brought to the restaurant along with her.

This scene is intense. Lila, who’s previously told Wolfgang that she’s willing to do anything for what she wants, has a plan. She wants sensates to take Berlin from homo sapiens and make it a city strictly for their kind. Lila believes Wolfgang is key to this dream becoming a reality.

Wolfgang shoots the idea down… And then he shoots nearly everyone in the restaurant who’s involved in Lila’s scheme except for Lila herself. The episode title is something Wolfgang says straight to her once they’ve both run out of bullets. But when the police arrive, Lila does what she does best — plays the victim. She accuses Wolfgang of killing everyone and attacking her unprovoked. That’s two times in one episode that she has pinned blame on Wolfgang for something she did.

All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet suggests that, although Riley has met sensates who work together to avoid death and dismemberment, not all homo sensorium desire peace. There’s a war brewing between BPO and the clusters, but also among the clusters themselves.

The emotional ramifications of everything in Sense8 S02E08 are many and varied. Going into the last three episodes of the season, the plot seems to be finally coming together.

The Verdict
Sadly, Netflix has stated that there’s no chance Sense8 will return after season two, which is honestly gut-wrenching. However, you should still watch it! Revel in the two incredible seasons of this show that exist, because it’s a unique series that will likely stand on its own as something that was gone too soon, much like many of the best.