Wolfgang Bogdanow, portrayed by Max Riemelt, is a main character in the Netflix series, Sense8. He is a German thief and safecracker of Russian descent, who has unresolved issues with his late father and participates in organized crime. Wolfgang is a member of the August 8 cluster.
Background
Wolfgang Bogdanow was born on August 8th in East Berlin through waterbirth, which instilled in him a love for water and swimming[1].His father, Anton Bogdanow, was a Russian immigrant. When he was younger, he met Felix in detention. After Felix defends Wolfgang from bullies, they become very close, even bonding over classic films like Conan the Barbarian.
Wolfgang became involved in organized crime through his family, which is one of the most powerful crime families in Berlin. Following the mysterious death of his father (which is later revealed to be caused by Wolfgang himself), he is raised by his uncle, Sergei. At the time of his death, Sergei is known as the king of East Berlin, due to his control over the organized crime in that area. In the present day, Wolfgang works as a locksmith by day and a safecracker at night. Wolfgang is shown to resent his uncle and cousin, Steiner, going so far as to rob a safe Steiner was aiming to rob as well. According to Wolfgang, the resentment towards his uncle come from the fact that his uncle was aware of his father's abusive behavior, yet did nothing to stop it.
Wolfgang's cautious involvement with BPO affiliate Lila allowed Whispers to apprehend him in Berlin. Through electrocution, Whispers was able to extract the names of other members of Wolfgang's cluster, notably Kala. Following his cluster's efforts to neutralize Whispers in London, Wolfgang's status is currently unknown.
History
Season One
Limbic Resonance
Wolfgang attends his grandfatherās funeral and takes aspirin for his headache, which from becoming a sensate. Afterward, Wolfgangās friend Felix asks if heās okay, but Wolfgang shrugs it off and states that he has a migraine. Their cousin Steiner comes up behind them and boasts about the latest heist he has planned, not knowing they both have the same plan.
His uncle, Sergei, goes on a tangent relating to his father's death, and asks Wolfgang to pay his respects. Unseen, Wolfgang urinates on his father's grave out of spite. Felix meets with Wolfgang later at the locksmith shop and tells him that after the funeral, Sergei talked about Wolfgangās father, insisting that the man was an idiot for trying to break an uncrackable S&D safe. Felix finishes with a key and assures Wolfgang that it will get them in. Wolfgang takes it and then Wolfgang leaves.
Wolfgang and Felix are silently breaking in a place, using the key they had forged earlier. Two of them goes upstairs and looks for the S&D Safe. Wolfgang uses a stethoscope to try and crack the safe while Felix watches over for any incoming threats. Wolfgang gets frustrated, instead he took a break and watched television to relax. Felix tries to persuade Wolfgang to finish cracking the safe but he refuses. While watching, Wolfgang had a flashback from when he was a child, standing in front of an audience and nerving himself to sing. He watches as his father Anton watches from the back and smiles, and then breaks out into laughter as Wolfgang freezes. Wolfgang finished watching TV, he started to crack the safe again.
Steiner parks his car and Felix warns Wolfgang about it. Wolfgang still continues to cracking the safe and he finally did. He opens the safe, revealing a batch of diamonds. The two grabs the diamonds and quickly leaves the place as Steiner and his gang enters the building.
I Am Also A We
After their successful robbery, Felix and Wolfgang go out partying. Later Wolfgang is seen having sex with a woman called Anja. Wolfgang relaxes post-sex, and says that he has a craving for Indian food. Wolfgang and Anja have dinner at an Indian restaurant, where Wolfgang says that he isn't looking for a relationship. While Anja was talking, Wolfgang sees Kala walking by and then Anja draws his attention again. Wolfgang and Kala start seeing visions of each other.
What's Going On?
Wolfgang and Felix are at the Garden of Exile, waiting for their merchant. Felix discusses the holocaust, the obedience of society, and revolutions. He says that this diamond score is the beginning of their revolution. The diamond merchant and they leave the monument to finish their deal. Later at a library, the three continue their deal. The merchant suggests to re-cut the diamonds, making them easy to sell but worth a fraction of their value. Wolfgang leaves but Felix stops him. The buyer agrees to purchase a third of the diamonds and Wolfgang forces him to buy half.
After the deal, Felix tells a story about the time he lost his virginity. Saying that he bought new shoes, celebrating his first intercourse. Felix suggests that they should celebrate their new riches by buying new shoes. At the shoe store, Wolfgang feels the worn-out socks of Capheus. At a fancy restaurant, Felix orders the most expensive wine on the menu. He raises a glass to toast, but Wolfgang momentarily cannot raise his hands, because Nomi's restraints appear to be on them.
Wolfgang and Felix are later seen dancing in a night club, celebrating their new riches. Felix suggests Wolfgang to sing and he does. Before he sings, Wolfgang recalls a memory of his father laughing at him and curses loudly with the crowd cheering him. Wolfgang takes the mic and sings "What's Up?". Wolfgang and Kala simultaneously visit each other as they both sing. They move in, closer to one another, then their connection ends.
Art Is Like Religion
Wolfgang visits his uncle, Sergei, on his home. He informs Wolfgang about the robbery of stolen diamonds from an S&D Safe. He says he knows this as his son, Steiner, was planning to steal it and was furious that it was stolen before them. Sergei theorizes that Wolfgang might have tried to cracked the same safe that his father did. Wolfgang says he is not as stupid as his father and leaves.
Wolfgang and Felix are both drunk at a club in Berlin. Wolfgang imitates Sergei, and Felix also imitates Steiner. Felix accidentally mentions about the diamonds and Wolfgang warns him because Sergei is watching them. Felix tries to convince Wolfgang that Sergei doesn't know anything and Wolfgang tells Felix to stick to the plan that they made. Wolfgang stands up and goes to the restroom. Wolfgang and Kala are both at a bathroom. They make a connection after Kala reacts to him belching. In her language, Kala asks the "man" in her bathroom to leave. Wolfgang says that she must be drunk because he's in the men's restroom. Wolfgang tries to open all the stalls in the bathroom to look for the woman he's talking to. Kala begins to recognize his voice, as the voice who sang in her head. Wolfgang opens the last stall and sees it empty. He wonders where he's hearing the woman. Felix comes in the bathroom and asks Wolfgang what language he was speaking.
Wolfgang is swimming in an indoor pool naked. He emerges from the pool and visits Kala. Wolfgang looks up and sees Kala. Kala looks at him, then looks down at his penis. Wolfgang questions Kala of her wedding, saying that she's not in love with him. Kala and Wolfgang both faint.
Demons
Wolfgang wakes up from his sleep and sees Kala, as they both visit each other. Kala goes through his clothes and wardrobe when she hears Wolfgang greeting her. Kala sees him and gets worried. She tries to leave but fails. Kala tells him that he ruined her wedding, but Wolfgang rebuts as she didn't want to marry Rajan. Kala believes that the Gods are angry at her and sent a perverted naked demon. Wolfgang says that Germans aren't uptight about nudity. Kala says that it's about decency and privacy and not nudity. Wolfgang asks her why she looked then and Kala denies it. Wolfgang says that she looked then and she's looking now. Kala looks away. Wolfgang says he is attracted to her and that he can feel her attraction for him. Kala declares him to be a demon.
Wolfgang is seen again submerged and relaxing at a public hot tub. Wolfgang gets visited by Nomi, Will and Lito and along with Hernando and Amanita, they have an orgy. After the orgy, Wolfgang remains still in the tub, never having moved.
W. W. N. Double D?
Wolfgang visits Kala as she prays to Ganesha. He says that the gods do not care about them. Kala and Wolfgang are outside a cafe in Berlin, where it's raining heavily. In Bombay, Kala moves to a rooftop and they continue their conversation there. They talk about religion, and how Kala asked Ganesha to stop their wedding. Wolfgang asks if that means that she considers their connection a miracle. Kala says that "miraculous" is an appropriate description. Kala talks about growing up with her father's restaurant, and that she loves it because she hates to be alone. Kala shares to Wolfgang her childhood memory during a Ganesh Chaturthi parade. She says that the experience made her a believer.
Wolfgang asks her how she can believe in a god if she is also a scientist. Kala points out that there are many scientific phenomena that defy explanation, such as quantum physics or gravity. Kala talks about the mysterious attraction known as gravity as their faces move closer to each other. Gravity pulls them together to a kiss. Felix arrives at the cafe and interrupts the kiss, asking Wolfgang where he is. Felix has received news from Abraham that he is willing to purchase the rest of the diamonds. Felix is excited, and asks Wolfgang why he looks down. Wolfgang says he wants to get out of Berlin and take a trip to India.
Back at the shop, Felix is very worried. Abraham didn't show for their appointment and his shop was unexpectedly closed. A girl appears at the door and asks for help. Felix reluctantly moves to the door. The girl backs away, revealing a black van with Steiner inside. Steiner unloads a shotgun blast into Felix's chest. Felix is knocked back and lands in a crash of broken glass. Wolfgang and Steiner make eye contact before Steiner's van pulls away.
We Will All Be Judged by the Courage of Our Hearts
Death Doesn't Let You Say Goodbye
What Is Human?
Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes
I Can't Leave Her
Season Two
A Christmas Special
Wolfgang sits beside unconscious Felix's bed in the hospital, wondering why his own knuckles feel as though he has been punching a wall. Briefly, he looks to the hall and sees Kala walking by. They make eye contact before she continues on her way, neither one speaking to one another.
He is shown to have made a trip back to his place, preparing to leave elsewhere, leaving a pin in the door. He turns and finds himself in Sun's cell, witnessing Sun upside-down. She asks if something is wrong, to which he replies that someone has been following him as of late. They ask each other if they would need one another's help, with both answering they were good before leaving each other to their space.
Wolfgang decides to unwind at a party, celebrating his shared birthday with his clustermates across the world, visiting each other at their respective places and enjoying their time. During the visits, he sees Kala dancing with her husband Rajan and drops his smile. He turns to a dating app on his phone and matches with a girl at the party. Telling her it was his birthday, the girl replies that tonight was her lucky night, and they head back to his place.
During intercourse, he is visited by an uncomfortable Kala, greeting her before she leaves back into her bathroom. Again, she visit him after kissing Rajan, briefly shown on top of him. They have a small argument over which one was doing the visiting, Kala telling him to keep the noises down. He climbs out of bed and leaves. They pay each another visit, Wolfgang still enjoying intercourse while Kala rests beside them. When Kala asks him to be a little more decent, he begins slapping the girl's butt, his partner crying out to keep spanking her and Wolfgang taunting that she likes it before he leaves Kala.
Later onward, he is visited by his aunt Elka whom speaks to him about the killings of Steiner and Sergei Bogdanow. She also adds that the murder of Sergei has practically leaves them vulnerable unless Wolfgang steps into position. They explain that the city of Berlin is divided into four "Kingdoms," the red Kingdom being the unoccupied territory in need of a "King." Though he does not verbally reject, he thanks them for the tea and walks away.
Wolfgang sits beside Felix's bed again, telling him about his birth mother. Suddenly, he hears Felix respond, waking from months in a comatose state. Excited, Wolfgang embraces him, causing Felix slight pain and discomfort. Eventually, Felix is emitted out of the hospital with stilts and head back to the key shop.
Felix tells Wolfgang that he wanted to come back to see if he could return back after the incident. He rambles on about getting out of the life they lived thus far and settle down, marry a pretty girl, and start a family. They soon take a trip to a pub to get drunk.
Who Am I?
Obligate Mutualisms
Polyphony
Fear Never Fixed Anything
Isolated Above, Connected Below
I Have No Room In My Heart For Hate
All I Want Right Now Is One More Bullet
What Family Actually Means
If All the World's a Stage, Identity Is Nothing But A Costume
You Want a War?
Relationships
Inside the cluster
- Kala Dandekar: Following his rebirth as a sensate, one of the first people he connects to in his cluster is Kala and by the end of the season they are both shown to truly care about each other. He begins to see her in fleeting moments. Their first meeting happens during a cluster "sing-a-long" to the song "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes. Kala appears at a karaoke night in Berlin and he appears in her room in Mumbai. The two sing together, facing each other, clearly feeling chemistry between them.
- Early in the season Kala complains about their uncontrollable "visits." He remarks that he tries not to think about her, but every time he tries she appears. During the cluster "sing-a-long" to "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes' Kala appears to Wolfie, and they sing together simultaneously at a karaoke night in Berlin and in Kala's bedroom, clearly feeling chemistry. Later while taking a swim he becomes aware Kala is about to marry and appears to her naked and asks, "What the f*** are you doing? You are not in love with him." Subsequently they both faint. The next morning they share a conversation again and he states he has wanted her from the moment he saw her.
- During the course of the season they share conversations and marvel at the different contexts in which they live. Wolfgang challenges Kala's faith and asks how she maintains her beliefs as a scientist (pharmacist). She makes the compelling argument that religion and science are both attempting to describe the same reality and that they do not necessarily conflict, noting that quantum physics and gravity are theories we both can't witness with our eyes but exist nonetheless.
- By the end of the first season, Kala "visits" Wolfgang and attempts to stop him from confronting his uncle. She fears he will die when his uncle discovers Wolfgang killed Steiner in retaliation. Kala says it's simple. "Turn the wheel and the future changes." Wolfgang insists it is necessary to eliminate his uncle for the safety of his friends and people he loves. They finally share a kiss.
- Kala appears again when Wolfgang believes he is about to die during a shootout at his uncle's mansion. She assembles a bomb for him from everyday kitchen and cleaning products and says she isn't ready to say goodbye and they kiss again. Wolfgang then uses the bomb to kill his uncle's men before going to confront his uncle.
- Before violently shooting his uncle at close range in the face, he admits he killed his father. Recalling his uncle's pleas to recognize their shared blood, Wolfgang states that the blood that runs in his uncle's veins also ran in his father's veins--and just as his father was a monster, so is his uncle, and so is Wolfgang himself. After this he stops to look at Kala, who is observing the scene in quiet shock, and explains "and that is why you need to marry Rajan."
- Their fate remains undecided at the end of season 1. Although they are seen together on the boat, along with the rest of the cluster, they do not talk.
- At the end of season two, they confess their love and plan to meet in Paris, but Whispers captures him and tortures him - this act brings together all the sensates to capture Whispers and Jonas.
- Lito Rodriguez: Wolfgang takes part in Lito's evolution, by telling him to fix his mistake and then helping Lito fighting Joaquin to get Daniela and later Hernando back, as Lito previously helped him beating Steiner thanks to his acting skills. By Season 2, Lito & Wolfgang have become bros. Wolfgang rewires the circuits to help Lito get into his apartment and both men remark, "it's good to see you."
- Sun Bak: Wolfgang and Sun interact sparingly. However, as one of the two other members of the cluster with significant experience fighting, Wolfgang will occasionally go to Sun when he feels nervous or in need of a tactical opinion. For example, he consults Sun when he feels he is being followed following his murder of his uncle. As a rather capable fighter, Wolfgang generally fights without sharing in Sun's ability. However, during his brawl with Lila Facchini, a dangerous sensate, he does channel Sun's abilities, suggesting that even he believes her to be the better hand-to-hand combatant. Sun will at times channel Wolfgang in certain fights, especially when fighting with and against weapons, such as when she fights using chain against the "lawyers" her brothers sent to kill her. Sun and Wolfgang are connected by the shared experience of family that wants to kill them. Beyond this, they both feel trapped by their circumstance. Sun is trapped literally in prison, Wolfgang is trapped in the criminal underworld of Berlin. They discuss these themes when Wolfgang recounts a story of his mother taking him to the zoo. Sun summarizes "Cages are hard, even for us".
- Capheus "Van Damme":
- Will Gorski: Wolfgang and Will often work together when assessing dangerous situations members of their cluster are in, as the two members most experienced in fighting with firearms (thanks to their lives in organized crime, and policework, respectively. Will seems to be one of the clustermates most in tune with Wolfgang, as he is the only one to identify (without being told) that Wolfgang believes his meeting with is a trap. Wolfgang has a great respect for Will, remarking that "Will would never give up on any of us".
- After Wolfgang is captured by Whispers and tortured, Will and the other Sense8's assemble to capture Whispers and Jonas - with Will saying, "You want a war? You've got one." - This shows his dedication to Wolfgang as they [all the Sense8's except Will and Riley] had never "met" before, yet they all came together to rescue Wolfgang.
- Riley Blue:
- Nomi Marks':'
Non-Cluster Sensates
- Lila Facchini: Lila and Wolfgang established an eye contact connection during a meeting between Wolfgang, Felix, and Sebastian Fuchs. At the time, Lila was working for Fuchs, who described her as his "right hand man". The relationship between Lila and Wolfgang often involves sexually explicit visiting, as Lila tries several times to seduce Wolfgang. Wolfgang resists, due to a lack of trust in Facchini and his feelings for Kala. Lila later tries to recruit Wolfgang to assist the "Mai Soli", a group of sensates supposedly aiming to establish a sensate-only city. Wolfgang refuses her offer, leading to a violent altercation between Wolfgang (With assistance from his entire cluster, Lila (With assistance from her cluster), and several men hired by Sebastian Fuchs.
Non-Sensates
- Felix Berner: Felix and Wolfgang have experienced much of their childhood together to a point where they consider each other brothers. He has seen the abuse dealt with by his father and assisted in dealing with bullies that attacked Wolfgang one stroll through the city. It is seen that Felix is quite loyal as well, unconditionally ready to have his back in many situations.
- Steiner Bogdanow:
Skills
- Safecracking
- Lock picking and general burglaring skills
- Heavy weapons
- Street fighting
- Fearlessness - assisted Will Gorski during the ambulance escape in I Can't Leave Her by "playing chicken" with the helicopter.
- Killer Instinct - Wolfgang has been shown to have a strong and reliable intuition into the nature and intentions of other people. He is able to sense the fact Lila is dangerous from almost the first moment meeting her. Beyond this, he senses her intention to betray him at their meeting. He also immediately identifies the men posing as lawyers at Sun's jail as killers.
Memorable Quotes
- Wolfgang (replying to the doctor taking care of Felix): "Conan." Doctor: "Is that a first name? A last name?" Wolfgang : "Yes." - in Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes.
He is my brother. Not by something as accidental as blood. By something much stronger. By choice. - Wolfgang, about Felix, in We Will All Be Judged by the Courage of Our Hearts
- Sometimes, you make a mistake. You've got two choices: you live with it, or you fix it. - to Lito, in What Is Human?.
Fighting is easy. Fighting is what I do. - to Lito, in What Is Human?
- Some things in our lives are inevitable. - to Kala, in Just Turn the Wheel and the Future Changes.
- How was I supposed to know he'd be wearing a bulletproof vest? Who wears a bulletproof vest in real life? - to Kala, in I Can't Leave Her.
Behind the Scenes
- Sense8 co-creator J. Michael Straczynski said that Wolfgang is the character he has the most connection to:
...especially with his father and what he's going through ... Wolfgang was my true north in the storytelling.[2]
