Netflix says Sense8 is still cancelled, despite the intense effort behind its revival

After Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made a public announcement that the streaming giant was going to cancel more of its original shows, Netflix decided to axe the sci-fi drama Sense8, which had very recently debuted its second season. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A still from Sense8[/caption] Fans were shocked and outraged to hear that one of their favourite sci-fi shows was going off air and the hashtag #RenewSense8 and #BringBackSense8 started trending on Twitter. Fans even started an online petition on Change.org which now has 486,846 supporters. Sense8, hailed for its inclusiveness, was an ambitious offering from creators Lana and Lilly Wachowski (who also created The Matrix trilogy.) The series filmed in 13 countries during its two-season run to tell the stories of eight strangers who find themselves to be emotionally and mentally connected. The cast included Toby Onwumere, Doona Bae, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai, Tuppence Middleton, Max Riemelt, Brian J Smith, Miguel Angel Silvestre and Smith. But it looks like impassionate pleas by fans have meant nothing to Netflix, for the streaming giant put out this post on Facebook that stated that Sense8 was still cancelled. Here’s the post: To our Sense8 family… We’ve seen the petitions. We’ve read the messages. We know you want to #RenewSense8, and we wish we could #BringBackSense8 for you. The reason we’ve taken so long to get back to you is because we’ve thought long and hard here at Netflix to try to make it work but unfortunately we can’t. Thank you for watching and hope you’ll stay close with your cluster around the world. #SensatesForever Co-star Brian J Smith, who had helped to circulate the #RenewSense8 movement when rumors of the cancellation first began to circulate, also posted his own lengthy letter to fans in hopes of further giving them peace about Netflix’s decision. “Since you’ve been so extraordinarily passionate,” he began, “I feel it’s only fair that you get more than lip service or a silly tweet from me.” The actor, who makes up one of the eight starring ‘sensates’ who are part of the show’s ‘cluster,’ said he was given the same reason for cancellation that viewers were: viewership. “It may not seem fair in the face of such passionate fan backlash, but it always, ALWAYS boils down to numbers.” “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,” he writes. “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 seems like such a waste.”