I Can't Leave Her is the twelfth episode and season finale of the first season and 12th overall episode of Sense8.


In the season finale, with Riley in the hands of Whispers, all of the Sensates' skills are needed to give them any chance at survival.



Will has a flashback to when he was still a young kid, getting therapy after the Sara's disappearance. Young Will watches the snow outside the window and the therapist asks him what he thinks about the snow. Will says that he has to shovel it and the therapist softly chuckles. The therapist frankly talks to him as an adult, for he thinks Will is intelligent and capable of understanding. He says that sometimes when Will tries to help people, it can cause other people pain, like when he says that he sees Sara. After talking honestly to Will, the therapist asks Will if he can do the same and Will nods. He asks Will if he's still seeing Sara and Will looks outside the window. Outside, Sara gestures him to keep quiet and Will answers to the therapist "No". Back in the present, Will gets woken up by the flight attendant notifying them the passengers that the plane is finally landing in Iceland.


At an underpass road, Riley is inside a van handled by BPO. In a trance-like state, Riley has flashbacks of her last drive with Magnus. In the flashback and in the present, she complains about the temperature getting so cold. In the flashback, she is having contractions while Magnus speeds across a snow-covered road. Magnus turns the temperature in the car higher after Riley's complaints. Magnus tries to give Riley his coat but Riley declines, saying that Magnus needs it. Magnus still insists, jokingly saying that he needs the both of them to be warm. Riley groans in pain so Magnus tries to comfort her. Magnus blames the situation on someone but Riley insists that it's because she's hexed. Magnus tells her she's magical and not hexed. Riley groans more, then suddenly Magnus loses control of the car and it goes off the road, rolling several times down the steep hill.

Back in the van, Magnus appears next to Riley, asking her to come with him. The flashback continues, and it's now daytime. Riley finds herself in an upside-down car, hanging from a seatbelt. Magnus is dead, with his head bleeding from hitting the windshield. Riley manages to get off from the seatbelt and checks on Magnus. She realizes Magnus is dead and is in denial. Then Riley's water breaks and she starts pushing. Baby Luna emerges and Riley comforts her. She grabs a knife to cut the umbilical cord, and tells her that help is coming. In the present, Riley sees Will next to him. Will tells her that he's coming for her then hold her hand.

Will and Nomi

As Will walks through the airport in Iceland and Nomi uses her hacking equipment in San Fransisco. Nomi says that she has bad news and worse news. Nomi visits Will in Iceland and shares that she found out that Riley is being taken to BPO's location, a research facility up the coast. Will visits Nomi where Nomi has also found a flight plan listing a single passenger due to arrive, named "Dr. Ellison", whom they guess is Whispers. Will says he needs transportation to get to Riley faster than Whispers. Amanita confirms the car transportation and Nomi tells Will that his transportation is there. As Will exits the airport, he finds a rental car waiting outside, a fancy red Porche, obtained by Amanita and Nomi. The woman inside the car asks for Will's identity and asks for his signature. Back in San Fransisco, Will visits Nomi and asks Nomi when he had the car. Nomi says that she got the car by accessing Metzger's credit cards. The woman hands over Will the keys and tells her to enjoy his stay. Nomi appears next to Will inside the card, informing him that she loaded the location of the facility and that Will can drive there in 20 minutes. Will says that he can get there in 10 minutes and drives off.


Riley's flashback continues. She wakes up and sees everything around her now covered in frost. She looks over to the dead body of Magnus and hugs him as she cradles Luna. She tries to open the car door, hoping to find a way to get outside the car. Instead, she painfully punches her way through the car's windshield, making her fists bleed. In the present, Riley groans in pain as she punches the car windshield in the flashback. Riley begins walking across the snow-covered mountainside, singing her childhood song. She wanders until the sun sets, and then tearfully apologizes to Luna. She kneels then lays down on the snow, holding her baby close to her.

At BPO, the van finally arrives and Riley is transferred by gurney out of the van. Half-conscious, she asks them where her baby is as she is being taken away. Yrsa appears and says that Riley would've given her life for her baby and Riley nods. Yrsa tells this is her last chance to protect her cluster and eyes her a gun from one of the men in hazmat. Riley looks over and grabs the gun of one of the men, firing off a shot into a wall. Will hears the gunshot as she drives to the facility. Riley points the gun around the men when all the of her cluster sensates appear around her. Angelica tells Riley to protect them and Riley finds herself in the place of Angelica, taking her life in the church. She puts the gun on her mouth and Will appears, telling her not to do it. Will tells Riley that he's coming for her and Riley lowers the gun. Riley gets tackled by guards and carried her back to the gurney. One of them injects a syringe, and she falls unconscious.


Jonas appears next to the car with Will, saying that Riley getting unconscious might be the best thing that happened. Will asks why and Jonas says that if Riley is unconscious she won't be able to look Whispers in the eye. Will asks Whispers where he is and Jonas informs him that Whispers had just climbed up the helicopter to BPO. Jonas asks Will if he has plan on getting inside the facility and Will says that he has a gun tucked under his arm.

Wolfgang and Will

Wolfgang is at his uncle Sergei's house, surrounded by several armed men. Sergei fixes the wood in the fireplace as an injured guard approaches Wolfgang. Sergei is suspicious because he hasn't been able to reach or call Steiner for a day now. Sergei asks Wolfgang where Steiner is, and Wolfgang tells him that he can see him shortly. Sergei asks a confused "What?", just as the injured guard discovers a hidden pistol in Wolfgang's jacket. Wolfgang grabs his pistol and shoots several of the men dead before diving for cover. One of the bullets catches Sergei in the chest. Wolfgang grabs a gun from the dead guards and reloads it. There is a moment of quiet. Will appears and tells Wolfgang to be careful, because he heard that some of the bullets struck kevlar. Sergei rises to his feet and shoots his gun at Wolfgang, while Wolfgang dives for cover. Sergei angrily shoots and yells at Wolfgang, since he now realizes that he killed Steiner. Wolfgang manages to shoot Sergei in his thigh and Sergei screams in pain. More men arrive and shoot at Wolfgang, so he retreats up the stairs still shooting back.

Wolfgang and Kala

Wolfgang enters a kichen upstairs and flips over a steel cabinet at the door. He goes inside a small room where he finds a maid hiding. He leaves the maid alone and the maid closes the door again. Instead, Wolfgang hides behind a kitchen counter as the men shoot the kitchen door. Wolfgang tries to shoot back at them when he runs out of bullets. He visits Kala in her lab and tells her that this might be goodbye. Kala joins him in the kitchen, questioning his plan. Wolfgang says he didn't know people wore bulletproof vests in real life. Kala says that "I don't know how to use my fists, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to fight" as she grabs several chemicals and ingredients from under the sink and wraps them together to form a bomb. Just after Kala finishes creating the bomb, the men outside finally creates a hole in the kitchen door using an axe. Wolfgang and Kala kiss, and Kala tells Wolfgang she's not ready to say goodbye. Wolfgang goes behind the barricade, ignites the bomb, and throws it on the hole on the door. It explodes, killing the men.

Wolfgang exits the kitchen, holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Sergei pours alcohol on his gunshot wound then takes a sip from the alcohol. Sergei sees Wolfgang at the balcony, already pointing a gun at him. Sergei grabs a gun and tries to shoot Wolfgang, but the gun is out of ammo. Sergei asks why he would kill his own family. Wolfgang recalls Sergei would do anything to know who killed his brother, Anton. Wolfgang shares a flashback to Sergei, where Young Wolfgang sneaks up on his abusive father, Anton, in an alleyway, and strangles him with a wire. Young Wolfgang then plants the body in a car and ignites it. In the present, Sergei is horrified and tries to give a watch to Wolfgang as an apology. Wolfgang says that his father was a monster, and so is he and Sergei. He then gets a crazy look in his face, and shoots Sergei several times point blank. He looks over and Kala is watching, horrified. He tells Kala, "that's why you have to marry Rajan."


Riley is now at the facility in BPO, accompanied by a nurse. Riley rests on a hospital bed, with wires connected to her head.

Will and Nomi

Will races along the Icelandic road. He sees Whispers' helicopter pass overhead. Nomi appears next to Will in the car and comes up with a new plan. She tells Will to stop the car, since Whispers will arrive there first and warn the security. Will stops the car and exits. Amanita instructs Nomi what to do and Nomi guides Will on what to do. Will is hesitant to ruin the car, and Nomi says that the point is to distract men with the destruction of a nice car. Will hesitates then cuts the oil line, making the engine smoke. Amanita tells Nomi that she found a way to get in and Nomi informs Will. Will wonders if Riley is still okay and Nomi says that she's probably safe since they can't contact her because of Riley being unconscious. Will drives to the facility, leaving a smoke trail.

Amanita asks Nomi for an explanation about the eye-contact connection, since she saw Whispers look at her. Nomi tells her that since Whispers is a sensate and Amanita isn't, he can't see into her mind, but she's still not safe because of her relationship to Nomi. Nomi tells Will that she's also endangered by BPO since Whispers knows her and can control lobotomized sensates to kill her. Nomi gets anxious about Amanita's situation so Amanita calms her down. Will arrives at the facility and, as expected, the men are all fixated by the site of a beautiful car engulfed in smoke. Will is guided by Nomi and Amanita on what to do. He introduces himself and uses an ID pass on his cellphone to try and enter. It doesn't work and the receptionist gets suspicious of Will. Amanita and Nomi panic then recommends Will to brighten the cellphone. Will tries again then it finally works, so the receptionist apologizes.


Whispers is sitting next to Riley, as the nurse informs her of Riley's situation. Whispers orders Riley to open her eyes but Riley doesn't submit. He complains to the nurse and the nurse informs him that Riley can't be woken up yet. He tells the nurse that he wants Riley to be conscious as soon as possible and the nurse tells him that if they're not careful, something worse might happen to Riley. Jonas appears next to Whispers, taunting him. Whispers orders the nurse to wake up Riley then he storms off.

Rescuing Riley and Escape (Ensemble, Whispers, Jonas, and Angelica)

Will wanders the facility. Nomi and Will wonder how they will find Riley's room. Nomi says that she only has access to Metzger's computer system so she can't locate Riley. Lito appears, telling them that he'll find Riley. Will asks Lito who he is and Lito says they had intercourse, then Will becomes embarrassed. Nomi cuts their greeting since they don't have time to spare. Will/Lito grabs a doctor's uniform and commiserates with another nurse about Whispers. After a bit of flattery, he nonchalantly asks, "Oh, which room is she in again?" and the nurse reveals Riley's location. Whispers watches Will from a camera and admires his cleverness.

Although they've managed to enter the facility, Will and Nomi are clueless on making an escape plan. Jonas appears with a plan for getting them out of the hospital. He says that an ally in the facility is now pretending to have a heart attack, so there will be an ambulance that they can use. At the same time, Whispers visits Jonas and asks Jonas where Will is. Jonas tells Whispers that Will is sneaking around the facility. Whispers orders to double the guard that leads to Riley's floor. Whispers visits Jonas again, telling him to not play games. Jonas answers that he likes playing games then watches Will in the facility. Will finds Riley's floor, and sees four guards waiting. Sun takes the lead, and continues to approach them. As Will approaches, Jonas appears to warn Will that Whispers knows where he is. The guards confront Sun and Sun fights them off. Sun kicks open a door then leaves the scene.

Will finds Riley. As he touches her, they experience a strong psychic connection, momentarily trading places. They flashback to all the moments of their relationship. Will momentarily imagines that Riley is Sara Patrell and he's saving her from the lobotomy. Will carries Riley into another room.

They realize that they need Riley conscious. Kala appears and puts together a drug cocktail from the supplies in the room. Will injects Riley and she jumps awake.

Whispers administers electro-shock torture to Jonas. Whispers reads the mind of a weakened Jonas to learn that the sensates are planning to escape with the ambulance.

Will and Riley escape down an elevator. Whispers pursues, saying that he wants the subjects alive. As the glass-door elevator descends past Whispers' floor, Will happens to make eye contact with Whispers.

They reach the basement and enter the ambulance. Will searches in vain for keys. Capheus appears and hot-wires the van. They start fleeing. Whispers enters a helicopter and begins pursuit. Whispers visits Will and tells him that he can now see and hear anything that Will sees and hears. Riley looks at Will and realizes that he is afraid.

Amanita and Nomi are studying a map, realizing that they can evade the helicopter by driving up the mountain into the fog. Whispers' chopper flies in front, blocking the road. Whispers continues to visit Will, saying that he knows Will doesn't have the gall to risk all their lives. Will says, "I know someone who does." Wolfgang takes over for Will, fearlessly driving the ambulance down the road. At the last moment, Whispers' pilot pulls up, and the van escapes past them into the fog.

Riley begs Will not to drive down the route. She experiences flashbacks of the last time she was on that same road, the night that Magnus lost control of their car and crashed. Will begins experiencing Riley's flashback too. They relive the crash. Suddenly Nomi finds that she's unable to reach either Riley or Will.

Riley exits the van and runs up the mountain like she had before, continuing to have flashbacks to Luna's death. Will follows. Jonas and Angelica appear to Will and tell him that he is running out of time. They suggest that suicide is the only way to protect the other members of their cluster. Riley says that she was supposed to die at that spot anyway. Will takes out his gun, but then throws it away. He runs to the van and digs through the medicine supply. He injects himself with a cocktail of drugs and then visits Riley to explain. He tells Riley that Whispers is in his head, and that the drugs will knock him out so Whispers can't get inside his head. Will tells Riley that their only chance is for Riley to take them away. Riley resists, hating the idea of leaving Luna behind again. Will tells Riley that he loves her. They kiss. Will passes out.

Will regains consciousness on a boat, with Riley singing and Sven piloting. Riley reaches over and injects Will with another dose. Will says that she saved them all. Riley kisses him as he passes out again.

As the camera pans out. all eight sensates appear on the boat as it sails into the open ocean.



Guest StarringEdit


Sensate ConnectionsEdit


Notes and TriviaEdit

  • This episode runs for 54 minutes and 57 seconds.
  • The title originates from Riley's reliving her traumatic past as Will begs her to save them and their cluster.
  • The following locations appeared in the episode:
  • The chopper used during this episode was real, not CGI. Only its proximity to the car when they nearly hit was digitally enhanced.[1]
  • This episode marks the first time that all the Sensates are together, which happens twice this episode: once when Riley is threatening to commit suicide in the BPO facility, and the second time as Riley and Will escape on the boat with everyone from their cluster watching on. Only the second time features all of eight of them in the same frame.
  • With Will rescuing Riley, it also marks the first time that two people from the August 8 Cluster meet each other in real life.


Episode StillsEdit

Memorable QuotesEdit

Will and Riley: I love you.

Sun: Is that all?

Will: You did it. You saved us.

Will: Do I know you?
Lito: Yes. We had sex.

Wolfgang: How was I supposed to know he was wearing a bulletproof vest? Who wears bulletproof vests in real life?

See AlsoEdit

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

