The first season of Sense8, an American science fiction drama television series created by Lana and Lilly Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski, follows eight strangers from different parts of the world who suddenly discover that they are "sensates"; human beings who are mentally and emotionally linked.

[2][3][4] A multinational ensemble cast starring Brian Jacob Smith, Jamie Clayton, Tuppence Middleton, Aml Ameen, Doona Bae, Max Riemelt, Tina Desai, and Miguel Ángel Silvestre portray the suddenly connected strangers.

The season was noted for its representation of LGBTQ characters and themes, winning the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Drama Series.

[42] The filmmakers successfully negotiated with the organizers of the Clarion Alley Mural Project and select artists to feature their artwork in the show.

[57] Additionally they recorded footage from the Fresh Meat Festival of transgender and queer performance[58][59] in San Francisco, a club event taking place at the KOKO in London,[60][61] and a real lucha libre (Mexican professional wrestling) event with the fighters wearing wrestling masks in Arena Naucalpan, in Mexico City.

[48][57][63] On November 17, 2014 Straczynski wrote that the main unit shooting had wrapped, with only a few winter shots in Iceland remaining to be captured the next month.

[64] These scenes were further delayed to mid-January 2015, until Iceland had the necessary amount of snow,[48][65] with the wrap party taking place in Reykjavík's Harpa Music and Concert hall on January 21.

[52] Ethan Stoller and Gabriel Isaac Mounsey, past collaborators of the Wachowskis and Tykwer, are credited for composing additional music and score.

[71] The show received a nomination for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music during the 68th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Some of the scenarios border on illogical, but the diverse characters and the creative intersections between their stories keep the Wachowskis' Sense8 compelling.

"[78] In another report released by Netflix, Sense8 was listed among the shows whose viewers tend to heavily binge-watch their first seasons, rather than savoring their episodes by watching them at a slower pace.

[79] Netflix's Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos praised the success of Sense8 in the up-and-coming French and German markets[80] but also globally.

Inspired by Sense8 and directed by João Wainer, the shorts briefly touch upon subjects such as psychiatry, feminism, being transgender and buddhism.