In appreciation of the strong female characters on Sense8

6. Daniela Velasquez

Dani surprised us when we saw her go toe-to-toe with Whispers. Dani’s evolution came full circle during Sense8‘s too brief run. When we first met Dani, she was an actress smitten with movie heartthrob, Lito Rodriguez. We assumed Dani was in it for fame and lust, but after she discovered Lito is gay she became a willing beard. Her motives confused Lito until it came time for Dani to stand up for what she believes in: having a never-ending faith in Lito and his abilities as an actor, Dani willing went back to her ex-boyfriend, Joaquin, in a deal that would keep pictures of Lito and Hernando out of the public eye.

Dani showed she’s more than just an actress, she’s also business savvy and an expert negotiator. When Lito falls in love with a big budget Hollywood script, Iberian Dreams, Dani acts as Lito’s agent and through sheer persistence, perseverance, and living by the motto, “fake it until you make it,” Dani acts as Lito’s agent and gets him a meeting with the director of the new project.

Must Read: 8 jaw-dropping moments from the Sense8 finale

When we see Dani again in the special, she’s with Lito, Hernando, most of the rest of the cluster and their significant others. Dani and Hernando are trying to understand Lito’s sensate abilities, while also helping Will and the team get Wolfgang back. It comes time for Whispers’ next dose of liquid blockers and due to the circumstances, Amanita offers to go downstairs and administer it. When Amanita asks for back up and someone who knows how to use a gun, Dani volunteers and performs a quick and impressive show of loading and unloading the magazine and flipping the gun around.

Amanita takes a different approach than Will, and instead of carefully swabbing Whispers’ arm and injecting the syringe, Amanita stabs Whispers’ arm and injects the blocker. Whispers attempts to make Amanita feel insecure by telling her she will never be enough for Nomi because Amanita will always be a lowly and devolved Homosapien. Whispers manages to trip Amanita and a struggle ensues for the syringe. Dani isn’t afraid to use the gun she’s holding, and stomps on Whispers’ hand, demanding he let go of the syringe. Whispers’ smugly tells Dani he’s seen her now, and Dani breaks through the projected threat Whispers uses to intimidate and threaten.

No stranger to bullies, Dani tells Whispers she knows his kind. Dani cuts down Whispers and makes it clear she doesn’t fear him. Whispers’ only strategy is to threaten and intimidate, and Dani tells him that people who threaten, abuse and bully will never win because they are powerless if people stop fearing them.

At that moment, Dani has effectively neutralized Whispers, and the threat we knew him as in seasons 1 and 2 seem so far away compared to this moment between Dani, Whispers and Amanita.