In a surprising turn of events, Netflix has decided to grant Sense8 a two-hour special to wrap up the show, reports Variety. The streaming service’s controversial decision to cancel the highly popular sci-fi thriller caused dramatic backlash from the show’s loyal fan base, who continually demanded Netflix give the Sense8 story some kind of resolution. Fans even took to creating an online petition, which grew so big that Netflix was forced to respond.
Originally, Netflix was firm in its decision to cancel the show and claimed in a Facebook post, dated nearly a week after Sense8’s cancellation, that the streaming service would be unable to bring the show back in any form. “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,” the post read.
This week, however, Netflix took to its Twitter account and posted a video just over a minute long officially announcing a two-hour finale episode. “It’s happening,” the video reads. “Tell your cluster.” The finale is expected to air next year in 2018.
Series co-creator Lana Wachowski also took to social media and posted an impassioned statement of gratitude on Twitter. Wachowski described her amazement over the dedicated fan response that the Sense8 cancellation inspired. “The passionate letters, the petitions, the collective voice that rose up like the fist of Sun to fight for this show was beyond what anyone was expecting,” the filmmaker wrote.
However, Wachowski also took the chance to defend Netflix and described the hard position the streaming service was in with its decision to cancel Sense8. Wachowski wrote, “It is my great pleasure as well as Netflix’s (believe me, they love the show as much as we do but the numbers have always been challenging) to announce that there will be another two hour special released next year.”
The series co-creator ended her letter by stressing that the possibilities for Sense8 are wide open now that Netflix’s “irreversible” cancellation decision has indeed been reversed: “After [next year]…if this experience has taught me anything, you NEVER know.”