BONUS EPISODE: "Sens8" Finale Breakdown | Going Out with a (Cluster) Bang

Sense8's cluster orgy from the finale special is one of the most ambitious intimacy sequences ever filmed. Two intimacy coordinators break down the choreography, consent, and craft.

This week, we have a BONUS EPISODE! Ariel and Morgan dive into the legendary cluster orgy from the Sense8 finale special and unpack why it remains one of the most ambitious intimacy sequences ever filmed.

From choreography and consent practices to lighting, camera movement, and the challenge of coordinating a massive ensemble scene, we break down how the Wachowskis and J. Michael Straczynski created a sequence that feels emotional, sensual, and deeply connected rather than purely explicit.

In this episode:

• Why foreplay matters for the audience, not just the characters
• The logistics of coordinating large-scale intimacy scenes
• Boundary-setting techniques, including touch mapping and traffic-light systems
• Why productions of this scale require multiple intimacy coordinators
• The importance of diversity, representation, and body variety in intimate storytelling

A filmmaker's lens on ensemble intimacy

Then, as always, we hand out our Spice Scale scores before completely ruining the scene with some truly terrible creative notes.

Scene discussed: Sense8 finale special, approximately 2:21:00 – 2:26:00.

Subscribe for weekly behind the scenes breakdowns of film and TV's most iconic sex scenes.

Credits

Sense8 (Season 2, Episode 12: "Amor Vincit Omnia") | Creators: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, J. Michael Straczynski | Netflix (2018)

Hashtags

#Sense8 #Wachowski #ClusterScene #IntimacyCoordinator #TVBreakdown

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey fakers, surprise! We have a bonus episode for you. Here you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the second Orgy scene from Sense 8 and hear us ruin it to the best of our abilities. We did have a small issue with my mic during the spice scale, but I cleaned it up so you can still fully enjoy it. And if you love this bonus episode, let us know with a rating or review. Happy to provide more as we go along. Happy Pride! And stay real, fakers.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

The stiletto is really near butt, and it's making me nervous. Like that could go in a bad place. Giving the fans what they want! That's what's happening.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Hi, I'm Ariel Lee Cullen. Hey, I'm Morgan Smith, and we are the hosts of Faking It with Ariel and Morgan.

SPEAKER_01 0:47

We're two intimacy coordinators here to talk about the spicy scenes you see in film and TV.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

So now we are going to watch season two, episode 12. It's called Amor Vincent Omnia. For this one, definitely go on IDB, find all the credits, also the Wachowskis and Strasinski. The episode we're about to watch was for a special bonus movie they made because they canceled it on a cliffhanger, which the fans rioted about and were deeply unhappy about. So they made this. So we're two hours and 21 minutes in, and we're gonna go to about two hours and 26 minutes in. So it's once again quite a long scene. Um so pretty.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Some fancy party. There's champagne, there's draped curtain. Oh, they're all are they actually all together? They're all in the same hotel in different rooms, basically. Okay. Firelight, candlelight, we're shipping champagne. There's luxurious fabrics, kisses are happening with all different pairs of people. In slow motion, throwing off boots, slingshotting a sock as you do. And now we have a pair of people on top of a bed. Now we have topless nudity. Oh, it's building. I think I know what's gonna happen. Giving the fans what they want. That's what's happening. Lots of caressing. I love the gentle strokes, touching of the lip with a thumb, hands in hair, kissing fingertips, lots of eye contact happening. You know little cheers. Okay. Oh, someone's patting a bed like come here. And then someone else nods their head like, let's go over here. He's like, should we? And someone's pulling out, is that a toy? They have some kind of scraping pulling out a toy. Looks like a vibrator. Music is building, hands are touching, bodies are mushing. We rip open a shirt. One guy is crawling on top of a girl. We see someone naked walking to join a couple that's already naked. There's a woman lying down on a bed. Legs are wrapping around Nomi. We have someone simulating oral stimulation on a woman. We have more kisses, and now people are mixing and we're cutting very quickly back and forth with lots of touches and lots of bodies melding together. There was a stiletto there, which is risky. Hands on abtocks, kisses. Very slow, hands on top of each other, hands holding each other. The stiletto is really near butt, and it's making me nervous. Like that could go in a bad place. People are simulating stacks. It's a long stiletto. It seems really long and sharp. And now we're all together in just an ocean of orgy, and now we're kissing in different places and flashing back to the other scene that we watch where everybody's kissing together, and now we're just in a mess of bodies, and we're doing flashbacks to other moments of the show, I assume. And people remembering other times together. You know how you think of the past fondly while you're in the middle of an orgy.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Yeah, obviously. That's what I think of.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Mess of bodies is beautiful. All together on what is probably the biggest bed that's ever been made.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

I don't know that it's a bed even.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Or the but it's like there's cushions, there's pillows and stuff. Oh now we're back in the library, two people are meeting, connecting for the first time. A little meat cute. And now one guy sits up away from the orgy and says, by God. Which, yeah, I didn't think such things were possible either. Come back. Yeah, sometimes you take a second to absorb it. It's really overwhelming, you know? This is yeah, absolutely. There's a lot happening. And look at that. Oh, and there's oh, okay. So there was a strap on with a dildo, and I couldn't tell at first that it was blood on the dildo, but it just had an ombre color for our fans. Nice. That's the end of the series. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Awesome. Okay. So I thought in that one there was a little bit of both. There was a little bit of explanation and there was a little bit of reaction feeling. Good mix. Goodness. It's a good mix. I liked the mix, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

I thought it was gorgeous. I can't imagine how intimidating it must be to feel like you need to top the previous scene. I thought they pulled it off really well. They found some really interesting shapes to do with people, especially as more bodies started intertwining. We started adding more and more people in the same shot. I loved when we were just looking over the like ocean of bodies and people and we're seeing like these slow, smooth moments, like waves slowly crashing over each other. I loved all the candlelight, the slow-mo, flashing back to these moments from this show. Because I'm like, I don't know. I feel like if you're having an orgy, are you thinking about the past? Maybe little things do come up. People get distracted, I guess, but I just it was for the fans, Morgan.

SPEAKER_00 6:27

It was for the fans. It was.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

It was for the fans. Because I was like, I don't know. I feel like you have enough on your mind. You are managing so many different people and your own body in a space.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

I want to say kudos, diversity, every skin tone, every shape, every curve represented. Not everyone, but so many. We had a full spectrum orgy experience, which I appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Emotionally, it's great having all those people together, but also just like visually, it's so much more interesting when you have different shapes, different colors coming together.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Well, Morgan, how would you approach this if you had been their intimacy coordinator?

SPEAKER_01 7:16

I would really push for a separate rehearsal multiple days before we shoot that scene. Not just so we can nail down the choreography so it's really in the actors' bodies, but also so that they can figure out each other's boundaries, they can get to know each other, and we have a sense of I don't like saying comfort when I talk about these scenes because like it's not comfortable shooting these scenes. It's weird, even on the best day. Like it just is weird and that's okay. But so that everyone feels like they're in a much better place with it, so that there are fewer nerves that will make the days more efficient. So I would really push for that and then really documenting that choreography so it's really easy to replicate. The script supervisor knows what's gonna happen, the director knows exactly what's going to happen, the actors already feel really comfortable with it, much like a dance or a monologue you've memorized. Like sometimes you get something so in your body that like a year later someone can start doing it and like they remember the whole thing. And that's one of the benefits, is it allows the actors to really be in whatever space they need to be to execute the scene. So you have fewer people feeling like, oh, I'm like kind of pulled out of it because I'm having to listen to what I need to do next. And then I'm having feelings about what I'm being told to do because it doesn't feel natural to me, and it gives time for the actors to do their process so they can make it feel organic for them. I don't really have a lot of notes in terms of like the actual choreography that they did. I thought the way that they shot the scenes together was so beautiful. I thought this was such a great example of how small touches can help build the sensuality of a scene and how continuing those, even when bigger actions are happening, can have such a big impact. And we don't see that very often in simulated sex scenes, especially when we have so many different bodies. I really liked that. We as the audience got foreplay in this movement. We did, we got tons of foreplay and through lines because the caressing and the small touches and small kisses didn't stop when people started having sex.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

There is a practice with intimacy coordinators that some folks do, but I don't tend to, but I would maybe do it for this one, which is uh having the actors touch the consented parts of the body of the other actors. So basically, if you and I were in the scene and we had an IC, I would take your hand and I would put it around my arms, I would go around my chest, I would avoid my stomach, I would go up and down my thighs, calves, my neck, and I would avoid my hair because hair, chest, and stomach are not available for touch for me in this situation. And then you would do the same. You would take my hand and do that. It's beneficial sometimes. I think some actors don't like doing it. I do think sometimes it takes a lot of time. If you're doing, let's say, general boundaries, general boundaries being no touching of any area that would normally be covered by a bathing suit. If you're just doing general boundaries, I don't know that you need touch practice, let's say. But if there are really specific parts of the body that are not available for touch, maybe you would implement this. For a scene that is this big and has so many bodies, I don't know that you would stand there and have every actor touch every single other actor, but you can have the actor maybe touch themselves in the areas or the ones who are going to be closest to them in the cuddle puddle to figure out where touch is available.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

The other benefit of that specific way of sharing boundaries is some people are more kinetic learners. So instead of someone like telling you here, here, here or showing you, like it helps for them to have a way of actively doing it. And I will just add that if I prefer not to have your hand touching my body while we're doing the exercise, I can have your hand hover, or I can have my hand on my body and yours on top. But either way, you're getting that kinetic learning of what's okay. I agree for something like this, especially when there's so many people and so many things to learn, taking the time to do that at least in the initial rehearsal, and then maybe finding more efficient ways of doing that on the day. For example, using red, yellow, green.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Can you explain the traffic light system, please?

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah. So the traffic light system, which is also used in the BDSM community, not just in intimacy work for film and TV. So you go over your body and you'll say, My arms are green, you're good to go and touch there. Um, my face is yellow. I prefer you ask me or check in with me before you touch my face because maybe I prefer certain types of touches or certain areas of my face or my feelings on it might change. Red, don't go there. So it might be like, I have an injury on my knee, so I don't want you to touch there. And so that can be a quicker way of going over your boundaries that are still really clear, like what's in and what's out.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, I have a lot of actors who are like, boundary is face and hair, because first of all, you have hair and makeup doing your hair and doing your makeup, and they might ruin it, number one. But even beyond that, a lot of faces are very sensitive to touch and might turn red, or people break out. Some people are like, oh, boundaries are based on bad experiences. Not always. Sometimes it's literally like, I will break out if you touch my face. So it's yellow. I prefer you wash your hands first or Purel or something, which is why I always have Purell on hand.

unknown 12:54

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

I will say too, if you have textured hair, my hair straight to it's naturally curly. I don't want someone running their fingers through my hair when it's curly because that's gonna fuck up my hair. Or maybe you have extensions in, or you're wearing a wig. It doesn't always come from a place of trauma or it has heavy baggage. It could be something that's like fairly mild, but still like, hey, we're not gonna go there.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Before we get into the spice scale. Yeah. Working on this scene and being at monitor with 10 plus people at all of their boundaries. First of all, you need a second IC for a scene like this. Oh, absolutely. There's too many people's boundaries and in individual things to keep track of, too many robes to pass out in between takes. There's too much going on for one person. It cannot be done effectively with one. I respectfully would ask for maybe three, depending on just those days where it's everybody in the same space. Being at monitor and trying to keep track of everything.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

So it's so stressful. I would definitely open with like, I need two assistants with me. Yeah. I would be on monitor just to make sure everything is working story-wise, it's selling on camera, you know, things like that. I think I would have one assistant also on monitor who's checking on boundaries and keeping track of the different boundaries and stuff. I might have that information in my head too, but I think it would just be helpful to know that like there's one other person whose only job is to make sure boundaries are being accommodated. This is a scene where I would definitely have wardrobe on set to help hand out robes in between takes because it's just so many people. And that would be too many things to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

There's also a lot of other elements that people wouldn't necessarily think of. Stand-ins, for example, who have to like be in the space, and while we're rehearsing or going over something with number one, number two through number eight, stand-ins could use another intimacy coordinator to be there for them. Stand-in's another actor in the space who is usually the same height, general build, and usually the same coloring as the actor who is actually in the scene, and they will literally stand there in the place of the lead actor so that camera can focus, so that it can get lighting right, so that the actor doesn't need to stand there for an hour. They can be running lines, they can do other scenes with another team, and then they can come in and do what they need to do. In a simulated sex scene, stand-ins do not simulate sex in any way, but they might be in nude-colored body suits or a small amount of clothing, and they'll basically be hovering near one another, but it is still helpful to have an IC be able to talk them through that and to be present for that. So if they need to change positions, camera team can communicate with IC and they can move them as needed. So if you have one assistant IC on stand-ins, then you can have another IC on one through eight. So that means all actors are given a number based on how much of a lead they are and down the line. You can have multiple leads who are all at the same level, but one of them will still be number one on the call sheet. They have the most scenes, the most lines, whatever in the project, generally speaking, or they are the most famous, depending on the moment. I was gonna say, or they're just the biggest snake. Yeah, or they're the biggest snake. Jack Nicholson's there for one day, he's gonna be number one. It doesn't matter if he's just there for the one day. So shall we spice scale? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

I just wanted to quickly mention a lot of people might be familiar with the concept of stand-ins if they've seen love actually, because one of the storylines is to stand-ins for pornographic film.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

Yeah, and they're just sort of nearby one another. Yeah. Although I believe she is nude at one point in porn, they might do that in a narrative film, they would not. No, no, you're totally right. Yeah, but that is a really perfect example. They are just there sort of doing the action. There's some ICs who, if they have multiple on set, I'm on one and two, and you're on all of a background in the strip club. And you could do it that way. You could also just split it up evenly. I have the 10 on this side, and you have the 10 on that side, or whatever. It delegates the work, it makes it more efficient, better levels of communication. The most I've ever worked with was 10 at once, and it was one of the most stressful days of my whole life. Anymore, and I would have been like, I need somebody else.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

What was the scene?

SPEAKER_00 17:29

I was working on a scene that I'm heavily NDA'd on, but what I can say is there were 10 actors in pairs of two that were all improvising a seduction scene at the same time in separate spaces with eight cameras. There was a full hour take because it was all improvised. So I was at monitor like trying to remember 10 people's boundaries and like for a full hour. I don't think I blinked.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah, like a security guard manning a huge building. Like you're just looking at all of the monitors at once.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

I would argue that it's like a security person, like at 10 monitors, but there are 10 bank heists all happening at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

And you're I love that metaphor. So good. It's just like, oh god, what do I focus on?

SPEAKER_00 18:27

It's not for the fatal heart. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

Shall we get into the spice scale? Welcome to the spice scale, our not-so scientific way of writing intimacy scenes based on consent and power dynamics, technical craft and coordination excellence, and heat factor. Each category gets a score from one to five, with five being the highest. Then we add it all up to give the scene a final letter grade. Let's start with consent and power dynamics. How the scene depicts consent and power in the story, and if known, behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

I think five's all around. Everybody's consenting, everyone's used to this, everyone's down. We all know what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

We're all in the hotel. We're all hanging, ready to hook up.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

And they all expect it to. There wasn't any surprise.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Yeah. Which, not that surprise is a bad thing, but No, no, surprise can be a good thing. It that was the first time anything like that had happened as far as the show portrayed. Totally. Technical craft and coordination, excellence, the staging film coverage, modesty protection, choreography, and overall execution of the scene. I think five is great. Gorgeous. Yeah. Yeah. I have the same concerns about the modesty protection and the choreography elements, but it didn't feel quite as now go here, go do that. Maybe because I didn't see their faces as much. But okay. Heat factor, baby. I say fives across the board, everyone all the time. Fat, fat, fat, fat. And scene two obviously got a straight up A.

unknown 20:04

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, which makes sense to me. And of course, Morgan, when we get an A, you know what we have to do. We have ruin it. Morgan, how would you ruin this scene?

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Okay. I would take out the sexual fluidity of all the different characters. I would make it like super hetero. Like it's men with women. The men are not touching each other. The women can touch each other for the pleasure of the men. A lot more shots of female chests, of buttockses, lots of hair flip cascading down the back. A lot less like little sensual touches, a lot less caressing, a lot more sex sounds, a lot of women looking up towards the ceiling with their mouth open, just like making noises, a lot of guys doing like very athletic masculine movements, emphasis on thrusting and not on just like the meld of bodies together. A lot of emphasis on penetrative sex, especially external, internal genitalia sex. Even the gay guys are gonna have sex with a woman, and we're gonna emphasize that everyone's the same. All white bodies, um cis bodies across the board. Cis bodies across the board, even more stereotypically attractive, because these were all still like pretty slender, physically fit bodies, very exaggerated masculine and feminine expressions and lots of sweat. More like Britney Spears, honestly, for you. Oh my god, and remove the strap-on.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

We don't need it, no strap. We don't need it, no liquid on the strap-on. Who needs that shit? No, no, Lou? Not me. No, and also we definitely, in order to ruin it, need way more strap-on action, way more penetration. Yeah, penetration, if you will. Penetration. We need more sweat, just like drips dripping all over everybody. Sweaty. Like a lot of like this was a very hot room, and I want to see it. Right now it's very smooth and fluid. Get rid of that. I want like jerky, thrusty movements where it's hit and you hear slappy sounds. You hear this every time.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

I want to insert kink in a totally meaningless way that doesn't make sense. I want spaking. I want a whip to come out that isn't used properly. I want someone to tie down randomly.

SPEAKER_00 22:51

Great. I actually want the whip to go around someone's neck and then they're having penetrative sex with them from behind and they're like holding on to it like reins. More working out. I want more scenes of just deadlifts and things like bench presses.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

He's doing a deadlift while someone is performing simulated oral sex on him. Oh, god, he doesn't like it.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Like in They Came Together.

unknown 23:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

He finishes the deadlift and orgasms as he like lifts the weights over his head.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Oh, also, worse lighting. I want brighter. I want brighter and more like you're in a high like you're in a fluorescent, like you're in a target or a high school. And it's just those terrible box lights. Nothing else. Yeah. Great.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Ruined.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Well, thank you so much for listening to faking it. This episode's research and context was done by me, Arias.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every other hump day, Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

If this was good for you, the best way to support our show is to follow the podcast and leave a quick rating or review. It takes less than 30 seconds and it really helps us.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Tell one friend who loves spicy movie secrets about us. Find us on social media at faking it the pod.

SPEAKER_00 24:09

Want to get involved? Head to patreon.com slash faking it the pod. For just one dollar, you can request scenes for us to break down, and for $10, you can get bonus content and never before seen footage. And for $5, you can get a shout out like Leah and Kiki Brown. Come on down.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

This episode was produced by Ariel Lee Cohen, social media and branding by Morgan Smith. Our theme song is faking it by Mike Getz. Credits for the film or show we reacted to are in the episode caption. Stay real, fakers.