Netflix takes leave of its Sense8

Netflix has cancelled sci-fi drama Sense8, from The Matrix duo Lilly and Lana Wachowski, after just two seasons.

Sense8 from The Matrix creators Andy and Lana Wachowski

The show marked the first foray into episodic drama for the Wachowskis and was created with writer and exec producer J Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5). US-based Georgeville Television (Crossbones) produced in association with Studio JMS.

Sense8 is about eight strangers from different countries who find themselves psychically connected by a woman’s death. It had its first 12×60’ season debut on Netflix in June 2014 and was extended in 2015.

“After 23 episodes, 16 cities and 13 countries, the story of the Sense8 cluster is coming to an end,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix’s VP of original content.

Holland said the show had been “everything we and the fans dreamed it would be: bold, emotional, stunning, kickass and outright unforgettable.”

It is the latest Netflix show to face the axe, following last week’s decision to cancel Baz Luhrmann drama The Get Down, widely thought to be the streamer’s costliest show ever, after just one season. Other dramas to have ended include Marco Polo, Lilyhammer and Hemlock Grove.

Talking to US business network CNBC on Wednesday, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings admitted the streamer had not cancelled enough of its shows and said its hit ratio “is way too high right now.”

“I’m always pushing the content team to take more risk. You have to try more crazy things because we should have a higher cancellation rate, because then what you get is some winners that are just unbelievable winners, like 13 Reasons Why, which over the last three months has been a big hit for us. It surprised us too; it’s a great show but we didn’t realise just how it would catch on.”

Hastings added that the streamer’s commissioning process, widely thought to be heavily influenced by the use of metrics and algorithms, was “fundamentally a creative bet.”