Sense8 S01E01 "Limbic Resonance" Recap

A woman named Angelica is lying on a dirty mattress in an abandoned building. She is psychically visited by her lover Jonas who comforts her as she struggles with tremendous pain. He coaches her through 'birthing' the psychic connection between a cluster of eight people around the world. She appears to them momentarily, startling all who don't understand why they'd have visions of a random woman staring knowingly at them. Angelica pleads with Jonas to protect them and he warns her that 'they' are here. She is visited by a mysterious man who also visits her psychically. Jonas advises her to tell him nothing and she tells him to leave. The man can't see Jonas and vice versa, as only Angelica can see them both, but says he is looking forward to meeting him. Jonas leaves and Angelica shoots herself in the head to prevent being physically captured by the man who had just walked in with an armed team. He is unsuccessful in stopping her suicide.

Will Gorski is a police officer in Chicago. He has a bad dream of being a child running through the woods hearing the sound of a little girl calling for him. He also has a vision of Angelica shooting herself in the head before he jolts awake. Will hears loud rave music so he knocks on the door of the apartment next to his to try to get the people to quiet down. When he gets inside, he finds it empty.

The music Will was hearing is coming from a rave that Icelandic DJ Riley Blue is spinning at in London. Her boyfriend Jacks and her are no strangers to partying hard and taking illegal drugs. They meet a powerful drug dealer named Nyx.

Spanish actor Lito Rodriguez is filming as the lead of an action film in Mexico City, where he is based professionally. He struggles with his lines after feeling discombobulated by having a vision of Angelica. Lito heads to his dressing room to try to get re-focused so he can effectively film his scenes. His female costar comes to check on him and makes a sexual advance which he politely declines, saying that his heart already belongs to someone else.

Sun Bak is a business woman working at her father's corporate company in Seoul. A male client refuses to close a big deal with her due to his sexist attitude and will only take the meeting when her brother Joong-Ki arrives.

Kala Dandekar is an Indian woman in Mumbai and overhears rain but it's not from her own location, but at a funeral in Berlin, where Wolfgang Bogdanow is attending the funeral of a crime lord. The deceased's grandson promises to do great things with taking over the family business. Wolfgang doesn't react much as he walks along with best friend Felix. Wolfgang's mother encourages him to visit his father's grave. Wolfgang does but when he gets there, he urinates on it.

In Nairobi, Capheus tends to his sick mother while running a matatu business. The matatu is a large bus he drives locals around in. His bus is decorated in homage to Jean-Claude Van Damme, with it being called "Van Damn". He and his friend struggle to get enough customers, as many prefer to ride on the rivaling Batman-themed bus. They finally get a customer but they pay with a chicken instead of cash. Sun is startled by a brief vision of the chicken on her office desk.

In San Francisco, trans woman Nomi Marks has sex with her girlfriend Amanita. It's Pride Week.

Jacks pressures Riley to come with him back to a get-together Nyx is having, as he wants to get involved in the drug business. She has a momentary vision of herself at Pride where Nomie and Amanita are enjoying the festivities at Pride. Some strangers offer them some pot brownies, which is similar to their first Pride. Nomie reflects on how when Amanita first introduced her to some friends, one of them was transphobic to her and Amanita stood up for her. It was a seminal moment in their relationship, as Nomie realised she would always love Amanita.

Kala visits a temple to pray, wanting answers about her upcoming nuptials to a man named Rajan Rasal. He is nice but the marriage has been arranged and Kala does not love him. She is undecided on whether she is making the right decision to go through with it. Rajan's father owns the pharmaceutical company where Kala works. She knows the marriage will make her parents happy and she knows Rajan is handsome, well-off, well-mannered, and by everyone's standards would make a good husband.

Wolfgang and Felix work as locksmiths as their legitimate job but Wolfgang is also a skilled safecracker when being part of organised crime heists. They head out to do a job and the clicking from the safe Wolfgang is trying to crack is overheard by Riley, who then hears sirens from Will's cop car. He and his partner pull over in a rough neighborhood when they hear some shots fired. Will discovers a young boy who's been shot. The boy momentarily pulls a gun of his own on Will but he immediately lets it go and asks Will to help him. The boy's name is Deshawn and when Will's partner says that calling an ambulance to this neighborhood means they won't arrive in time to help, Will picks up Deshawn and heads out to drive him to the nearest hospital. On the drive there, Will tells Deshawn how he used to be in the back of cop cars quite often because his father was also a police officer and Will had his fair share of teenage rebellion. When Will gets Deshawn to the hospital, the woman working there tries to deny Deshawn access because he's from the rougher neighborhood but Will convinces her to treat him.

Wolfgang takes a break from trying to crack the safe at a heist to turn on a nearby TV and watch a singing competition show, telling Felix it relaxes him. Wolfgang recalls being a child at a talent show and suffering from strange fright. His father observes this from the audience and laughs cruelly at Wolfgang's vulnerability. Wolfgang resumes work on cracking the safe but Felix warns him that Steiner, the grandson of the recently deceased crime lord, has pulled up outside. Steiner wants to rob the safe with his own team. Wolfgang finally cracks the safe and finds a supply of diamonds hidden inside. Felix commends him on being able to crack a safe that was supposed to be uncrackable and they snatch the diamond, close the safe, and run out.

Riley sits quietly, listening to music through her headphones while Jacks tests some product with Nyx and some other men. Nyx comes over to speak with her and Riley is revealed to have scars on her wrist, either from self-harming, a suicide attempt, or both. Nyx compliments her and says she is too good to be hanging around such lowly men. He relates to her reclusive nature and how despite the safety it can bring, it goes hand in hand with loneliness. He offers her a sample of the drug and it effects her quickly. She has a vision of herself psychically visiting Will in Chicago and then remembers being a little girl in Iceland.

Will orders his partner to stop the car in front of a run-down building. Riley also sees the building and they both realise that this is where Angelica killer herself. Will rushes out to go inside and his partner Diego follows after him. They find the open area and the mattress where she killed herself. Will finds the drugs nearby that belonged to Angelica but Diego tells him there's nothing for them to do unless he can prove actual evidence of a crime. Diego heads back to the car and Will stays behind to touch the mattress. He turns and sees Riley standing there. She realises that Angelica died and doesn't know her but says she saw it. Will asks where she lives and Riley tells him London. Will asks why she's there and she says she doesn't know why or where she is. He tells her they're in Chicago and Riley tells him she's never been to America. Riley panics and is pulled back to London where Jacks and his partners in crime are attempting to rob Nyx. Will also has a brief vision of the robbery in London. Riley tries to leave while the robbery is underway but Jacks implores her to stay, saying this is the break they've been waiting for. Nyx pulls out a knife and stabs Jacks' partner and one of Nyx's men shoots Jacks. Through a series of gunshots, all of the men in the room end up dead while Riley stands petrified with blood spattered on her face.

Sense8 is available for streaming on Netflix.