‘Sense8’ Star Reacts to Cancellation: It ‘Seems Like Such a Waste’

It was Sense8 star Brian J. Smith who first alerted us to the possibility of Netflix declining Season 3, so it’s only right Will Gorski get the last word. Now that Netflix has rejected renewal requests, the Sense8 star writes a heartfelt thank-you/goodbye to fans.

Where yesterday Netflix took to Tumblr to acknowledge fan campaigns to continue Sense8 through Season 3, Smith dropped an extended message thanking viewers for their support. In particular, Smith pointed toward Netflix’s hazy “viewership” data as culprit, while admitting his Twitter plea was too little, too late:

I just wanted to take a moment to personally thank all of you for the love and support and fight you’ve put up the last week or so. In the wake of such bad news it was heartening to know that what Sense8 stood for meant so much to so many people. […]

Guys, there are no secrets here. I’ve been given the same reason for the cancelation that you have: viewership. As far as I’m aware there is no shady court intrigue that contributed to Netflix’s decision, and I know that a lot of very smart people had to reach a consensus in order to pull the plug on a show that they had already invested an insane amount of capital in, even if that meant the story would never get an ending. I think the saddest part of finishing a show this way is knowing that future audiences will never pick up a story they know has no resolution. It’s seems like such a waste. […]

However - Do you remember when I tweeted on May 30, in response to a fan’s concern that the show might get canceled, “This might be a good time to start making some noise”? I had a pretty clear idea by that point that Netflix had made their move, and I also knew from previous experience that once a cancellation is announced there is no going back. It is absolutely final, and the fans are left feeling helpless and angry. I stepped out of my lane and preempted the official announcement because you, our cluster, deserved to have your voices heard. And you came roaring back in a way I wasn’t expecting. It was beyond awesome. I guarantee you, you were seen and you were heard.

Again, we’ve seen Netflix series granted renewals after significant time, and several series revived from explicit cancellation. Sense8 is at least done for now, but are Smith’s words any comfort? All episodes are available to stream in the meantime.