The Sandman: All episodes reviewed and explained

Episode Two: “Imperfect Hosts”

Imperfect Hosts is all about formally introducing us to The Dreaming. Granted, it’s fallen into decay in the time Dream has been imprisoned. The prologue in Episode 1 helps us understand what his realm looked like before, so we have an idea of how bad things have gotten.

The residents of his realm have fled in his absence, and his palace is crumbling apart. The only one who remains in his palace is Lucienne; his librarian and most trusted advisor. She has pretty much taken over as the ruler of the realm in Dream’s absence.

Dream has restored some power to his realm simply by being there, but it’s not enough. Without his helm, ruby, and pouch of sand, any attempt at rebuilding is futile. We see him inside his palace trying to restore it, to no avail. It’s evident that he needs more power to begin the process. However, instead of immediately heading back to the Waking World to reclaim his artifacts, he calls upon the Three-Who-Are-One, also known as The Fates from Greek Mythology, all-knowing goddesses who know past, present, and future. But they speak in riddles.

But before he can summon the Fates, he needs to regain some power. To do this, he visits Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) and Abel (Asim Chaudhry).

Cain and Abel

The Sandman can be a dark and disturbing show, but it also has plenty of comic relief. Cain and Abel are based on the biblical figures of the same names. They live in a little countryside cottage in The Dreaming; Cain resides in the House of Mystery and Abel in the House of Secrets. Gregory the Gargoyle also lives with them.

And it’s Gregory that Dream needs. Dream created the gargoyle way back when, and now must reabsorb him to gain back some of the power he put into him. Cain and Abel are dismayed by this, but it must be done. Once Gregory is absorbed by Dream, he then has enough power to summon the Fates.

This whole Dream-killing-Gregory scene felt a little forced, perhaps as a way to quickly introduce Cain and Abel into the plot. As for Cain and Abel themselves, they’re fantastic characters. The chemistry between them is fantastic. And we see some of their recurring motif from the comics: Cain continuously kills Abel, only for the latter to return to life a little later.

Later on in the episode, as Abel bursts out of his grave and returns to life, he finds an egg on the ground next to him. Turns out, as an apology for killing Gregory, Dream has left him a little gift. The egg hatches to reveal Goldie, the cutest gargoyle you’ll ever see!

The Fates

The summoning of the Fates is probably the strongest part of this episode. The special effects are outstanding. I was worried that some of the visuals from the comic couldn’t be matched in live-action, but I was wrong.

Dream summons the Fates by taking what he needs from the dreams of others: a crossroads from the dream of a Cambodian farmer, a representation of surrender and sacrifice from the dream of a Japanese cinephile…lastly, he meets a serpent, a symbol of life, death, and rebirth. From the serpent, he takes an egg.

Once he’s got his offerings, he meets with the Fates. The first tells him that his pouch of sand is owned by Johanna Constantine. Next he learns that his helm was traded away to a demon and now lies in Hell. (Ethel Cripps traded it for an Amulet of Protection.) And finally, they tell him that his ruby was passed from a mother to her son; that would be Ethel’s son by Roderick Burgess, John Dee.

I found it funny how Dream continues to ask follow-up questions despite being told that he would only receive one answer from each of the Fates.

The Corinthian and Ethel Cripps

Back in the waking world, we catch up with Ethel Cripps many decades after she abandoned Roderick Burgess and fled with Dream’s precious artifacts. She’s looking extremely good for her age (she’d be over a hundred at this point, so having that Amulet of Protection has really worked wonders for her) and is doing well for herself as a high-end antiquities dealer. She’s remained largely off the grid, but the Corinthian still manages to find her.

The Corinthian warns Ethel Cripps that Dream will be coming for her, and for him, so he proposes that they work together. The Corinthian wants to be free from Dream and his ties to the Dreaming. He proposes that Ethel learns to use Dream’s totems of power to “make him go away.” He can’t use the tools himself because he is made out of the same dream fabric as them.

However, it turns out that Ethel Cripps no longer possesses any of Dream’s artifacts. One was traded, one was sold, and the other was passed down to her son. We’re now beginning to see a race between the Corinthian and Dream to collect the items.

When the Corinthian becomes angry, Ethel takes out her Amulet of Protection and sends him back to The Dreaming. You don’t want to mess with Ethel Cripps.

John Dee

After her meeting with the Corinthian, Cripps goes to meet her son, who’s locked away in a mental asylum. In the comics, this is Arkham Asylum, since the book is set within the DC continuity. While it’s only brief, we get a first look at John Dee as an adult. David Thewlis is phenomenal in this role, and he only gets better.

Bullet points:

• Tom Sturridge’s voice as Dream is dour and grumpy. He does justice to those black speech bubbles from the comics.
• Next episode, Dream begins his quest to find his missing totems of power, beginning with his pouch of sand.