These are reviews for The Sandman season 1. Also check out our season 2 reviews.
Sandman fans, rejoice! For decades, Neil Gaiman’s fantasy masterpiece was deemed unfilmable, until Netflix decided to bring the seminal comic to the small screen. Now it’s finally out, and it’s very much the magical, whimsical, dark, tale we all know and love. With glorious sets and a stacked cast, this is the best possible Sandman adaptation we could ever have hoped for. But just how good is it? From the moment Dream gets imprisoned to the sprawling epic that unfolds, we’re diving deep into all 10 episodes of the first season.
Dream goes by many names: Morpheus, Kai-ckul, Oneiros, and so on. To make it easier for everyone, in these reviews, we’ll mainly stick to calling him Dream, unless his other names become important in certain episodes.
Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Episode 1: “Sleep of the Just”
The episode opens with a little exposition for newcomers to the series; through narration, Dream tells us who he is and introduces us to his realm, The Dreaming. They get the basics out the way early. However, it might have been a better move for the writers to spare us this info-dump in favor of letting the details come out naturally during the course of the story. Telling us immediately ruins some of the mystery.
Just like in the comics, we watch John Hathaway enter Fawny Rigg to deliver the Magdalene Grimoire — a book of occult rituals — to Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), who intends to use them to capture and imprison Death…the literal personification of Death.
I remember Neil Gaiman mentioning that the pilot feels like Downton Abbey but with magic, and he’s hit the nail on the head. The atmosphere is strange and mystical but also grounded, like a historical drama. The set is stunning…and if you look carefully, you may spot some easter eggs from the comic, including some from Dave McKean’s cover from Sandman #1. It’s little touches like this that make the show feel like a passion project.
While the ritual to capture Death is underway, we see Dream out in the Waking World, chasing after his escaped nightmare the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook). It was an unexpected surprise to see the Corinthian show up this early in the series. On the page, he doesn’t pop up until later.
I loved Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess. His new motivation to capture Death adds a lot to his character. We learn that Burgess wants to bargain with Death to bring his son back from the dead, which isn’t the case on the page. Hathaway is keen to bring his son back from the dead, too.
But of course, as fans of the comics will tell you, Burgess doesn’t get his wish. Rather than capturing Death, he imprisons her brother Dream by mistake.
Introduction to the Corinthian
For this episode, the show basically turns the Corinthian into an exposition machine, and I don’t know how to feel about it. Boyd Holbrook is great in the role, although I think he’s been let down by the writing. His appearance in this episode feels forced; he comes out of nowhere to explain to Roderick Burgess (and the audience) who Dream is and what his imprisonment means. The writers rob him of a lot of mystery by using him to spoon-feed us information. Did we really need this and the prologue?
I also didn’t like the quick reveal of the Corinthian’s most notable feature: the teeth he has in place of his eyes, which is a chillingly distinctive feature he usually hides behind dark sunglasses. Showing us those teeth right away takes away the suspense. There should’ve been more build-up to it; those teeth needed to be a huge reveal.
Jessamy and Alex
The Corinthian warns Burgess that he’s being watched, pointing to Jessamy, a raven and one of Dream’s loyal messengers. It’s actually quite funny to see how Burgess is continually haunted by the presence of the raven, eventually forcing his son Alex to kill it. I found Burgess’ relationship with Alex pretty intriguing. He’s nasty to him, taking his anger out on his second-born son after losing his first.
There’s a cool sequence when Jessamy attempts to infiltrate Burgess’ home of Fawny Rigg to release Dream from his cage… only to be shot by a frightened Alex at the last hurdle. Dream is visibly distraught by his raven’s death. Meanwhile, Roderick Burgess berates his son for almost smashing Dream’s glass cage. No one wins this scene.
The Sleepy Sickness
With Dream imprisoned and away from his kingdom, a “sleepy sickness” affects humanity. Some people fall asleep and are unable to wake, while others cannot sleep at all. One of these people is the young Unity Kinkaid (Sandra James-Young). We only see her for a second, but she will be important later in the show.
Ethel Cripps
With everything going on, it’s easy to forget what is perhaps the key part of the premiere: Roderick Burgess’ lover Ethel Cripps sweeps into his life, gets close to him, and then abandons him after he demands that she abort her baby. As she leaves, she takes with her Dream’s three totems of power: his helm, his ruby, and a pouch of sand, all things Burgess collected when he captured Dream.
This will be hugely important later. Remember the baby, John Dee, because he becomes a huge character later in the story!
Returning to The Dreaming
Even though it’s expected by fans of the comic, Roderick Burgess’ death comes out of nowhere. He takes a blow to the head and is almost instantly pronounced dead. As a result, his son Alex is given the burden of watching over Dream.
Interestingly, Alex never hates Dream; he’s more cautiously curious…although he also doesn’t let him out of his prison. As Alex grows old, he never gets a word out of Dream. Even until his final days — when he’s confined to a wheelchair — Dream never makes a single remark.
So how does Dream finally escape? After decades of being imprisoned, all it takes is for Alex’s wheelchair to rub off the binding runes, therefore removing the enchantment binding Dream and allowing him to escape. The simplicity of it is quite funny.
After escaping captivity, Dream seeks revenge on his captors. With Roderick Burgess long dead, he goes after Alex. When Alex is asleep, Dream haunts him and condemns him to “eternal sleeping.” This is one of the only times we see stars in Dream’s eyes like he has in the comic. I’m disappointed that we didn’t get more of that since his eyes are one of his most defining features.
When Dream returns to his realm, he’s greeted by his librarian and trusted advisor Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong), who tells him that the Dreaming has fallen into decay in his absence. Many of the residents of his palace have abandoned their posts. Dream has lost everything. He’s almost powerless in his own domain. In order to restore The Dreaming, he needs his tools of office, which are stuck in the Waking World. He begins a quest to reclaim them for his own.
Overall, this is a pretty solid premiere. Not perfect, but not bad at all. The Sandman is a show that will throw a little of everything at you. If you thought this one was strange, you better prepare yourself for what’s to come!
Bullet points
- Time and time again, Neil Gaiman has talked about how the show is made by people who love The Sandman. You can really see it. Some scenes are exact recreations of the comic.
- The sets are spectacular. Kudos to production designer Jon Gary Steele, who also worked on the sets for Outlander.
- In the prologue, when we get a glimpse of The Dreaming, we get a very brief first look at Mervyn Pumpkinhead, who appears later in the series voiced by Mark Hamill.
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.
Episode Three: “Dream a Little Dream of Me”
Now that Dream has a rough idea of where his precious artifacts are, the quest to get them back begins. First, he seeks out Johanna Constantine, a posh occult detective, to assist him in retrieving his pouch of sand.
Meeting Johanna Constantine
The role of John Constantine from the comics is gender-swapped, so we now have Johanna Constantine, played by Jenna Coleman. Unlike the source material, Johanna is an occult detective with many upper crust clients; it doesn’t get much bigger than the royal family.
When we first meet Joanna, she’s in the middle of a job. We don’t really get much context as to what she’s up to; I suppose it’s the writer’s way of showing us who she is. The special effects are superb, it doesn’t look entirely different from the stuff Coleman used to get up to during her time on Doctor Who. But it turns out that it was all a dream; Johanna bursts awake in a taxi in London.
Afterwards, Johanna starts talking to Mad Hettie (who’s into magic herself, as the show may get around to exploring eventually). Hettie warns Constantine that Dream of the Endless has escaped his captivity and is back out in the Waking World, seeking his missing artifacts.
Before Constantine gets involved with Dream, we get to see her take on one of her occult jobs. She is summoned to officiate a wedding. But it’s not just any wedding; it’s a royal wedding between a princess and a famous footballer that needs to be done in secret. It all feels very British, which feels in line with Gaiman’s work.
As the secret ceremony is underway, Johanna discreetly performs an exorcism, evicting a demon from the groom. Before long, Dream turns up and tells Johanna that the demon is called Agilieth, and he’s from Hell. It’s a good introduction for Dream. I like how Agilieth is used to confirm to Johanna that Morpheus is, indeed, the Dream Lord.
Moreover, Agilieth promises to tell Dream which demon took his helm in return for the princess. Dream seems keen to oblige… until Johanna sends the demon back to Hell.
Dream and Johanna
The chemistry between Johanna and Dream is pretty interesting. You can tell that he holds her in high regard. There’s mutual respect between them, even when they don’t see eye to eye.
Of course, it doesn’t take long before Dream asks for his pouch of sand. She doesn’t have it on hand. That would be way too easy, wouldn’t it?
Johanna has a funny straight-to-the-point attitude about everything. When Dream tells her about the potentially dire consequences of losing his sand, she plays it off with a few snide remarks. She’s an occult detective, she’s seen it all.
Matthew
Remember Jessamy, the bird who tried to save Dream when he was imprisoned but got killed by a young Alex Burgess? Well, with Jessamy dead, Dream is in need of a new raven…even if he doesn’t think he is. This new raven is Matthew (voiced by Patton Oswalt). Matthew is outspoken, loud, and actually very funny. Oswalt’s Matthew was always going to be hilarious. Despite Dream’s reservations about taking on a new raven, Matthew is a pretty helpful assistant to him.
Interesting fact: while filming, the crew had two ravens on set, both with very different personalities.
Rachel
So where is the pouch of sand? It turns out that Johanna left the sand with her old girlfriend, Rachel. But that was six months ago…it could have done a lot of damage in that time. The pair set out to find out what happened to her.
The subplot about Johanna and Rachel’s relationship definitely adds some weight to the story. The two quickly make up over Johanna walking out on Rachel…but all is not what it seems. It quickly becomes evident that the “Rachel” Johanna is talking to isn’t the real Rachel. As Dream says, the pouch of sand is not meant for mortal hands. When we see Rachel in her bed, she is decayed and decrepit, void of life. Evidently, this is what happens when a mortal spends too much time with a key fragment of Dream.
Sadly, Rachel is too far gone. The only thing Dream can do to help is send her to sleep, where she can die in her most peaceful dreams.
John Dee
Elsewhere, Ethel Cripps attempt to convince her son, John Dee, to return the ruby to Dream. However, John has other ideas. In prison, Dee has had plenty of time to do extensive research on who he actually is. He learns that his life is a lie. That his father was Roderick Burgess, and that Ethel Cripps almost had him aborted. Clearly, the constant lies about Dee’s life have messed him up.
Ethel tells John to give the ruby back to Dream in exchange for forgiveness, but he’s not so keen on the idea. He claims that he’s “altered” the ruby so that it only works for him.
If you’re wondering how Ethel Cripps still looks relatively young despite her years, it’s thanks to the Amulet of Protection she got from a demon in exchange for giving it Dream’s helm. As she talks to John, she eventually removes the amulet and hands it to her son, thus making her age rapidly and decay, until she’s dead.
With Ethel dead, we begin to see a different side to John Dee. Armed with the amulet, he makes his way out of the hospital, filled with grief, and kills everyone who stands in his way. This is a brutal scene, but we also feel some small bit of empathy towards Dee. The ruby was not meant for him, and it has set him on a very dangerous path.
Episode Four: “A Hope in Hell”
With his pouch of sand reacquired, Dream sets off on his quest to retrieve his next precious artifact: his helm, which was traded away years ago to a demon from Hell.
I must say, the depiction of Hell is glorious. The scale is incredible. They really nailed the design of it. And the score by David Buckley is dark and ominous, suiting the atmosphere perfectly.
Nada
Upon arriving at the gate of Hell, Dream and Matthew meet Squatterbloat — the Guardian of the Gates of Hell — who gives Dream an escort to Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie). I like how we learn more about Lucifer before actually meeting them. It gives us a sense of dread. We learn that Lucifer was originally the angel Samael, the most powerful and beautiful in God’s host.
At one point, when Dream and Matthew are making their way past the cells of souls condemned to Hell for eternity, Dream meets a familiar face. Her name is Nada (Deborah Oyelade). Her story stretches back many years and is not actually covered at all in season 1. She begs Dream — or as she calls him, Kai-ckul — for forgiveness and to set her free. Nada is a former love interest of Dream, but that’s a story that I imagine will be covered in season 2.
The show keeps to the lore of the comics in that Dream appears in different forms depending on those who see him. For Nada, Dream is an African man (played by Ernest Kingsley). In her story in the comics, “Tales in the Sand,” Nada is the queen of the city where man began; it’s a story inspired by African myth. This is the first time we see Dream portrayed by someone other than Tom Sturridge.
It was nice to see the introduction of Nada. I like that they’re already planting some seeds for season 2.
Dream vs. Lucifer
Dream meets Lucifer in their palace. The two have a good dynamic; Lucifer seems pretty un-phased by his presence, while Dream is fearful. Lucifer’s assistant, Mazikeen of the Lillem, is there as well.
Dream tells Lucifer that a demon in Hell has come into possession of his helm, so they decide to bring forth every demon in the realm to investigate. That’s literally thousands of angry demons, all summoned to Lucifer’s palace. It’s quite the spectacle.
I like how Lucifer is passive-aggressive towards Dream, who is having none of it. He went to Hell for his helm, and that’s all he cares about. There’s a cool scene where he uses his pouch of sand to summon the demon he requires to him. The demon is Choronzon, a cheeky Duke of Hell. Unsurprisingly, Choronzon is unwilling to give up the helmet, so it comes down to a battle.
Of course, Dream represents himself. However, Choronzon chooses Lucifer to represent him. I found it quite strange that Lucifer is willing to stand in Choronzon’s place. I mean, the Lord of Hell has no reason to fight. I suppose, from a marketing perspective, “Dream vs. Lucifer” sounds more badass than “Dream vs. Choronzon,” which is what happens in the comics.
How would you expect the King of Dreams to battle the mighty Lucifer Morningstar? Throwing punches? Swords and shields? Nothing doing. Instead, it’s a battle of wits, as each talks themselves into becoming more powerful than the other.
Lucifer turns into a dire wolf (perhaps a little nod to her Gwendoline Christie’s Game of Thrones connections) and attacks Dream, who turns into a hunter and kills the wolf. The two go back and forth until they become bigger and bigger. Eventually, Lucifer becomes anti-life, almost killing Dream where he stands. What’s more powerful than anti-life? That would be hope, which Dream uses to ultimately end the battle.
It all gets a little cheesy when Dream is pretty much dead and Matthew talks him back to life. But it’s executed beautifully, so I’ll let them off. Some parts of the series get very dark, a bit of light is welcome. While Choronzon refuses to give Dream the helm, I was surprised to see that Lucifer was actually magnanimous in defeat, if still passive-aggressive at times.
John Dee
The other story in this episode follows John Dee. He’s now broken out of the hospital — leaving a trail of chaos in his wake — using the Amulet of Protection. He’s in grief after losing his mother, driven crazy by the lies he’s been told and bewildered by the outside world. He’s not in a good place.
While out in the world, confused and alone, Dee meets a nice lady named Rosemary, who offers to help him get back on his feet. She makes a big mistake by inviting him into her car. Nevertheless, Dee appears harmless enough; like a man who’s fallen on hard times.
This part of the episode plays out like a horror movie. Dee is so unhinged that you never know what he’s going to do, and it constantly keeps you guessing. Once again, David Buckley’s grim, menacing score works wonders.
While she’s driving with him in the car, Dee gives Rosemary a little of his life story. At first he sounds innocent enough, but as the conversation goes on, she begins to realize that he could be dangerous. He asks her personal questions, making things uncomfortable for her. He then tells her about the ruby and how it made him murder others. It gets very intense to watch.
Eventually, Rosemary pulls into a gas station for help. But John, without actually saying anything, knows exactly what she’s up to. It’s really tense. Dee won’t let her out of his sight. And when she does ask the cashier for help, Dee doesn’t hesitate to kill him. Rosemary essentially becomes a hostage in her own car.
This part of the episode really emphasizes the horror element of Gaiman’s storytelling. When you compare the tone of this to what’s going on in Hell, it feels like an altogether different show.
Next up, Dream must get his ruby back from Dee. Prepare yourselves for this one!
Episode Five: “24/7”
“24/7” could be considered a “bottle episode” since the vast majority of the hour is spent inside a diner. It’s claustrophobic, dark, and deeply disturbing. This adaptation of one of the darkest comics ever created takes us deep into the heart of evil as John Dee enters a diner with Dream’s ruby in his hand, determined to reveal the truth of the world.
The premise is simple and terrifying. John Dee uses the ruby to trap a group of innocent people inside a diner and plays with them for an entire day. In the beginning, he just makes it so they tell each other the truth, which gets plenty uncomfortable. But as the episode goes on, he has the customers do some terrifying things, from fighting amongst each other to mutilating themselves.
I mean, the scary thing is, technically, all he does is take away the lies. The results are catastrophic.
Meet the people inside the diner
In total, there are six unlucky victims inside the diner. They are:
- Bette Munroe, the waitress
- Marsh Janowski, the chef.
- Judy Talbot, a friend of Bette who’s having problems with her girlfriend Donna
- Mark Brewer, a young man who’s waiting in the diner for a job interview
- Kate Fletcher and Garry Fletcher, two regular customers who are celebrating their anniversary
The chaos unfolds… slowly
John Dee sits, alone and silent, in the corner of the diner with the ruby in his hand. He watches the people talking, going about their daily lives. And slowly but surely, he intervenes with the help of the ruby; which by now we know has the power to make dreams come true.
At first, it’s not completely obvious that it’s Dee messing with their heads and making them reveal the truths they keep locked away. Maybe Garry really just did get fed up with Kate’s insistence he stay on his diet and order the burger rather than the salad. Next, he makes it so none of them can leave. Judy stops at the door and turns around. And then minutes later, Kate and Garry mysteriously make a U-turn as they’re about to go. The way the episode builds its way up to the horror is really clever. We know something is wrong, and we know Dee’s doing it, but we’re not sure how far he’s willing to go.
After that, he makes their dreams come true. Mark finds himself being interviewed for a job by Kate, who is the CEO of the company he wants to work for. After failing to get a date with Marsh, Bette falls for Judy. Mark and Kate make love while Garry and Marsh hook up in the kitchen. All this happens while John Dee walks around with his ruby and a tub of ice cream to the tune of “Red Comes in Many Shades” by U.S. Girls. The choice of music is great.
Later in the day, Dee’s quest for truth sees Garry and Mark fight to the death, and Garry is killed.
Soon, the people inside the diner come to realize that it is John Dee who is messing with them. Finally, he makes them suffer. They begin to mutilate themselves. Let’s not get into too much detail. It gets pretty brutal.
Dream
When Dream finally arrives, the damage has been done. Dream isn’t the hero. He gets there too late. Everyone inside the diner, besides Dee, is already dead. There is no happy ending. This, I think, sets a new tone for the show.
Dream whisks Dee away into a nightmare where he can see the chaos that he has done to the realm. Dee says that The Dreaming is his birthright and smashes the ruby. Dee seems triumphant, but in a spectacular reveal realizes that he is in the palm of Dream’s hand. Turns out that destroying the ruby returned its power to Dream, which is right out of the comic.
David Thewlis’ performance as Dee is my favorite of the entire show. He’s chilling and unpredictable, although there are a few moments when we actually feel empathy towards him. Of course, the ruby was not meant to fall into mortal hands, and this is ultimately why Dream does not kill Dee.
Desire
Before the credits roll, we get our first look at Desire (Mason Alexander Park), who’s being set up as the next villain. But how do they come into the story?
Bullet points:
- Rose Walker makes a cameo appearance in this episode when Judy video calls her. Rose is a prominent character later on in the season.
Episode Six: “The Sound of Her Wings”
Probably the most feel-good episode of the series, “The Sound of Her Wings” is split into two distinct parts: Morpheus being visited by his sister Death after concluding his quest, and a story about how he met his one and only friend, Hob Gadling.
Death and Dream
Death was perhaps the most popular character from the comic book. Contrary to what you might guess from her name, Death is the most upbeat of the Endless. This episode begins as she meets Dream sitting in a park, feeding the pigeons. He is clearly exhausted after his quest to retrieve his totems of power.
Death seems annoyed at Dream, who is despondent that he’s not happier now that his quest is over, when the job of the Endless is supposed to be to serve human beings. The interplay between Death and Dream is so fun to watch. Death couldn’t be more outgoing; she loves Mary Poppins, for instance. And yes, she throws a baguette at Dream, which is an iconic moment from the comics.
The first half of this episode is very much a story about death that will give you a different outlook on life. She chastises Dream for being so melancholy. In order to give him some perspective on his role as one of the Endless, she invites him to join her as she goes about her duties as the emissary from the sunless lands. The contrast between Death’s bubbly personality and the seriousness of her job is actually quite beautiful. She’s there to be a friendly face at the end.
I actually teared up at moments when we see Death be there for humans as they look over their dead bodies. There’s one scene where she lifts a baby from its crib, a child gone far too soon. It reminds us of the cruelty and uncertainty of life. It’s utterly heartbreaking when the mother learns that her child has died.
Every time we see Death greet someone and take them away, we see a brief shadow of her wings, followed by the sound of her taking the deceased away. This story is thought-provoking, eye-opening, and very tastefully done.
The fact that Death has seen the most traumatic of events throughout her vast existence and she still has a smile on her face says a lot about her character.
Men of Good Fortune
The second half of this episode takes us through 800 years of history. When his trip with Death is over, Dream makes his way to a pub to meet his old friend Hob Gadling, only to learn that it has closed down, thus beginning the second story of the episode. This issue in the comic is my favorite from the entire Sandman run, and I’m delighted to say that the TV show does it justice.
1389
This story takes place over multiple centuries. We begin in the year 1389 when Dream and his sister Death enter a tavern in England. While there, they meet a drunken man named Hob Gadling who is determined to cheat death and live forever. Of course, we know that’s not how mortality works.
Dream begins wondering what it would be like for a mortal man to live forever. Death offers to leave Gadling alone so Dream can see the results. All Dreams asks is that he meets Gadling in the same tavern once every 100 years so he can see how Gadling’s view on life changes.
For fans who’ve been waiting to see all the different costumes this show has to offer, you’re in luck. We now have centuries of fashion!
1489
A century later, Dream lives up to his promise and meets Hob Gadling again, in the same tavern on the same day. Hob is confused about how Dream knew that he would survive all of this time. He begins to ponder about who Dream really is; a wizard, a devil, something else?
Turns out, Dream was wrong in his assumptions that Hob would be begging for death. He loves being alive.
1589
It’s the year 1589 and Dream once again meets Hob Gadling in the same place at the same time. But this year, there’s someone else he also meets inside the tavern: William Shakespeare. Everyone seems to think his writing is terrible, but Dream sees his potential and wishes to talk to him. Indeed, if the show gets renewed for another season, this won’t be the last time we see Shakespeare!
As for Hob Gadling, he’s doing better than ever. Seems he’s made a fortune over the last century. He no longer goes by Hob Gadling, but rather Sir Robert Gadlen. To stop rumors of him living forever, he’s faked his own death on two occasions and returned as his own son. He has a son named Robyn and a wife named Elenor.
1689
A century earlier, we saw Hob living his best life. He was rich, he had a family, and seemingly everything to live for. Now, however, he couldn’t be in a lower moment. He’s a drunk again, fighting with the barmen. He admits that he lost everything, including his family. Despite all of this, he still wishes to live.
1789
By1789, Hob tells Dream that he’s been involved in the slave trade for the last 100 years, something that Dream is not impressed by. Plus, by this point there have been rumors spreading of two men who meet in the same tavern every 100 years, and Lady Johanna Constantine — an ancestor of the Johanna Constantine we met in Episode 3 — is determined to learn the secret to immortality. She greets Hob and Dream, intending to force them to give up their secrets. Dream ultimately sends her to sleep.
1889
In 1889, the duo once again meet in the same tavern. In this meeting, Hob finally starts to question Dream. He tells Dream that he knows the reason behind their meetings. He thinks it’s because Dream is lonely and wants a friend. Dream is furious at this presumption and storms out.
1989
The 1989 meeting is put on hold because Dream is imprisoned by Roderick Burgess. Of course, Hob is unaware of this, so he merely waits in the pub for Dream to arrive, which he never does.
He learns that the pub will soon be closed down to make room for flats.
The present
Finally, we go back to the present day, where Dream stands outside the closed-down pub. The good news? A new pub has been opened across the road. And that’s where he meets Hob. And this is one of the very few times we see Dream actually smile. “Men of Good Fortune” is a tale of how someone as distant and melancholy as Dream can still be thoughtful and make friends.
This is probably the most wholesome episode of the series. It’s definitely much needed after the super disturbing scenes from the previous episode. You’ll cry and you’ll smile.
Episode Seven: “The Doll’s House”
Now that Dream has his totems of power back, we move on to the next story arc of the show, which adapts the second volume of the graphic novel, “The Doll’s House.”
Episode 7, “The Doll’s House,” begins with Rose Walker (Kyo Ra) with her family in Cape Kennedy, Florida. In a flashback to 2015, we see her and her brother Jed (Eddie Karanja). She clearly loves her brother. But due to issues in their parent’s relationship, the two are split up.
When we next catch up with Rose, it’s 2021, and she now lives in New Brunswick, New Jersey. In the time that passed, Rose’s mother died and left her an apartment. Turns out Jed has been missing for years. Rose won’t give up the hunt for him. She’s attempting to hire private investigators and get herself a job so she can fund her search.
While living with her friend Lyta Hal (Razane Jammal), Rose is mysteriously invited to England. We’re left in the dark as to why exactly she needs to be in London. At this point, all the audience knows is that a foundation is paying for her to be there for a family history interview. That’s pretty easy money if you ask me. I find it quite strange how neither Rose nor Lyta discusses how weird it is that she’s being paid to fly to London.
Upon arriving in London, they are taken to a huge stately home where they are greeted by none other than Unity Kinkaid. She was the lady way back in the premiere who fell ill under the “sleepy sickness” while Dream was imprisoned by Roderick Burgess. While asleep for all those decades, she dreamt that she fell in love and had a baby. However, upon waking, she realized that the baby she dreamed of was real. And that baby was Rose’s grandmother, which makes Unity Kinkaid Rose Walker’s great-grandmother.
As much as The Sandman is the type of show in which each episode tells a very self-contained story, this is one of the plot points that began in the premiere and doesn’t become relevant until later on in the series. It can be easily forgotten about, which is probably why we see a few flashbacks to earlier episodes.
We get our first look at Despair in this episode, the twin sibling of Desire. Unlike the comics, Despair is clothed. She even wears crocs, which is a weird move, but I dig it. She’s every bit the brooding, melancholy character we know from the comic. And she still frequently mutilates herself with her sigil, a hook. Compared to Desire, she doesn’t really play much into the plot. She’s just here to provide background. A little more character development would’ve been welcomed, but hopefully the show can get to that in future seasons.
Desire, meanwhile, is the most scheming of all the Endless. After realizing that Dream has escaped his imprisonment, they plan to prove to him that his realm is no more important than their own. With news that there is a new Dream Vortex — a mortal with immense power who can cause great harm to The Dreaming — Desire hatches a plan. While Despair isn’t exactly keen on the idea, she goes along with it, perhaps out of fear of what Desire will do if she doesn’t.
Of course, The Sandman isn’t short of villains. We’ve got the Corinthian, John Dee and Lucifer. But Desire is easily the slimiest of them all.
The Dreaming
I must say, some of the VFX we see inside Dream’s palace are superb. It’s definitely some of the best visual work we’ve seen this season. We also get our first look at Mark Hamill as Mervyn Pumpkinhead, the resident janitor of Dream’s palace. It’s terrific voice work as always from Hamill. And some of the arguments we get between Matthew and Merv are TV gold!
Rose is a Dream Vortex: What is that?
Rose Walker is a vortex, a super rare phenomenon linked to dreams. This means she has the ability to bring down the walls between dreamers, narrow the gap between dreaming and waking, and perhaps even cause a threat to Dream himself. A vortex is extremely dangerous and the only way to protect the Dreaming may be to kill Rose.
Rose moves back to Florida
After dropping the bombshell that she is Rose’s great-grandmother, Unity implored Rose to return to the United States so she can continue the search for Jed. Rose and Lyra rent in a room in Florida in a house full of interesting characters:
- Hal, the landlord and a charming drag queen named Dolly
- Barbie and Ken, a white bread couple
- Zelda and Chantal, friendly collectors of dead spiders
- Gilbert, the strange British man who lives upstairs
Of all these people, Rose gets on with Hal the most, partly because Hal is the most outgoing. We see him perform in drag later in the episode, which is super fun.
One of the most important parts of the episode comes when Rose meets with a foster agent who refuses to tell her who Jed’s faster parents are. She’s told that, as his sister, she has no legal claim to him. Naturally, it turns out that Jed’s foster parents are horrible folks, but more on that in the next episode.
The Corinthian
The Corinthian is basically a celebrity among serial killers, a group of whom gather in a diner to discuss their upcoming “Cereal Convention,” which is really just a convention for serial killers to hang out. They are desperate for a special guest star after their previous heavy hitter, the “Family Man,” dropped out. Who better than the Corinthian? They try and get the Corinthian’s attention by copying his signature: killing people and removing their eyes.
Of course, the Corinthian is about as elusive as they get. In fact, the serial killers believe that there is more than one Corinthian and the name has been passed down over the years.
This was a fun, very dark little sequence. All this happens while the Corinthian is searching for Rose Walker. He’s desperate to release himself from the restraints of The Dreaming, and the Vortex may be his ticket.
Episode Eight: “Playing House”
At this point, we know that Rose Walker is a Dream Vortex who presents a very real threat to the fabric of dreams. She is the great-granddaughter of Unity Kinkaid, the woman who mysteriously gave birth while asleep during the time Dream was imprisoned. In pursuit of finding her lost brother Jed, she has moved into a house in Florida with some very interesting tenants.
Meanwhile, the Corinthian is still on the hunt for Rose Walker. At the same time, he’s also being targeted by a group of serial killers to become their guest of honor at their “Cereal Convention.”
Let’s get stuck in!
Rose Walker arrives in Dream’s palace
Most dreamers do not have the capability to wander around the Dreaming as they please, much less find themselves in Dream’s palace. But as we know, Rose Walker is not “most people.”
Of course, Rose uses the opportunity to ask Dream if he knows where her brother Jed is; he does not. That said, he is inclined to believe that Jed is with one of his missing nightmares: Gault.
Gault
Gault is a new character to the Sandman universe, taking over for Brute and Glob from the comics. In his dreams, Gault takes on the form of Jed’s mother and play out his childish fantasies with him. Jed believes he’s a superhero called “The Sandman'” It’s fun to see him as a superhero; so deliberately cheesy!
But that’s just in his dreams. In reality, Jed lives with his foster parents: Uncle Barnaby (Sam Hazeldine) and Aunt Clarice (Lisa O’Hare). Barnaby is abusive towards him, making him sleep in the basement. Seeing him have to live like that can be pretty hard to watch at times.
Lyta Hall: Dreams do come true?
While living with Rose, Lyta has some peculiar dreams of her own. When she falls asleep, she is continuously greeted by her late husband Hector (Lloyd Everitt), and they plan the rest of their lives together. Hector might only be alive in her dreams, but clearly, there’s something bigger going on here.
Lyta’s story is about grief, and how dreams can let us escape from the world, giving us hope. Hector tells Lyta that he’s been working on building their dream home. And inside their home, there’s a cot for their baby.
Sure, it’s entirely possible for her to become pregnant in a dream, but what happens when that pregnancy carries over to the Waking World?
When Rose falls asleep…
Later in the episode, when Rose falls asleep, we get a really neat sequence where we see just what it means for her to be a Dream Vortex. She draws the dreams of others to her, walking through the dreams of her housemates. We see Hal trying to negotiate his identity, Ken desperate for Barbie to let him in, and Zelda’s peculiar upbringing.
Barbie’s dream may be the strangest of all; she’s on a high fantasy adventure with Martin Tenbones (Lenny Henry). This is a tease of a storyline in A Game of You, which happens much later on in the comics.
Upon realizing that people seek home when they dream, Rose returns to her childhood home, where she reunites with Jed…at least, in her dreams. It’s emotional to see them back together, and better yet, she now knows where to find him in the Waking World.
At the same time, Dream has now located Gault — one of his rogue nightmares — and takes her back with him. He ultimately destroys her as a punishment for going rogue.
Back in the Waking World
When Rose wakes up, she uses a website called TrackABeing.com to find Barnaby and Clarice. I thought this was a bit lazy. Surely the writers could’ve come up with something a little more creative than that? Regardless, she finds them almost immediately. I suppose this is a consequence of setting the show in the modern world; the original comic was set mostly in the ’80s.
However, there’s a twist. Before Rose can get to Jed, he gets taken by the Corinthian, who got there first and killed Bernie and Clarice. With Jed by his side, he’s off to be the guest of honor at the Cereal Convention…
Episode Nine: “Collectors”
“Collectors” is one of the most iconic issues from the entire run of the comic. And after watching this episode, I think it’s going to be one of the most, if not the most popular episode of the series. It’s dark, brutal, funny, heartfelt…a little bit of everything.
So Rose’s presence in Lyta’s dreams has somehow gotten Lyta pregnant with a baby conceived in the Dreaming. That’s potentially bad news. When Dream learns of this, he’s going to be forced to take action. As a vortex, Rose is bridging the gap between the Waking World and dreams. They’re bleeding into each other, which could be catastrophic for both realms.
Lucienne refuses to help Dream with the issues surrounding his realm. Dream is determined to deal with the vortex and the missing Arcana on his own. This tiff between them isn’t part of the comic, but it does help humanize both characters a bit.
The Corinthian
The Corinthian is a charming villain. He acts like a father figure to Jed, looking after him and buying him ice cream. He tells Jed that he’s taking her to his sister, Rose. Of course, Jed is too young and innocent to understand what’s going on, despite the Corinthian dropping hints.
The Corinthian is keeping Jed as leverage so he can get to Rose. He gives her a call and sets up a meeting place: the Empire Hotel in Georgia, where they’er holding a Cereal Convention.
Rose Walker and Gilbert
Gilbert (Stephen Fry) offers to drive Rose to the Empire Hotel, which is about three hours away. I like Gilbert, he’s got some funny dialogue. And I like how different he is compared to everyone else, being a British gentleman with a swordstick (even though he doesn’t seem like he could harm anyone).
During their journey, Gilbert shares his views about the world, seeming like he knows everything about humanity and nothing at all. There is a reason for this, which we’ll get to soon.
Lyta and Hector
After deciding to live with Hector in their dream world, Lyta begins to notice strange things in their new home; earthquakes are frequent, and the ground is splitting apart. The seismic waves are ravaging Dream’s palace, too. According to Lucienne, it’s all happening because of the Vortex, because of Rose.
Dream travels to see Lyta and Hector, telling them that they cannot live out their fantasies in The Dreaming because it has real-world consequences. Dream has no choice but to kill Hector before his relationship with Lyra can do anymore damange. But that’s not all: he also tells Lyta that one day he will come for her baby: a child conceived in The Dreaming belongs to him. Fans of the comic will know this is a huge storyline going forward. What he’s doing sounds horrific, but from Dream’s point of view, he’s doing everything he can to protect his realm.
The Cereal Convention
The serial killer convention is everything you’d imagine it to be. I absolutely love some of the wacky names the serial killers (sorry, collectors) go by, as well as the hilarious double entendres we hear as the Corinthian and Jed walk around the convention. The show’s dark humor reaches its peak here.
The convention is hosted by organizer Nimrod, who’s got a really awkward, creepy way about him. I like it when he announced the Corinthian as the guest of honor. He’s treated like a god and has a lot of fans wanting to talk to him, one of whom goes by the name of the Boogieman. However, the Corinthian knows this isn’t the real real Boogieman and shares this information with Nimrod and The Good Doctor, or offer to let the Corinthian to “collect” the interloper — he’s actually a journalist trying to get the inside scoop on the convention — while they watch. It wouldn’t be a serial killer convention without a murder or two, right?
Meanwhile, Rose and Gilbert infiltrate the convention in search of Jed. You’ve got to laugh at Gilbert’s reaction as he slowly but surely realizes that this is not a convention for cereal, but for serial killers. That was one of my favorite parts of the episode.
I remember Neil Gaiman mentioning that a lot of the vulgarity and violence of The Sandman happens in our heads. That’s definitely of the cereal convention. One example is the serial killer Fun Land, a child molester; we don’t see him ply his trade, but his fond remembrances of his “hunting grounds” are more than disturbing enough.
While this is going on, there’s a brief moment when the Corinthian and Gilbert cross paths and stare at each other. As creatures of the Dreaming, they appear to know each other; Gilbert is actually Fiddler’s Green, one of the Arcana that went rogue while Dream was imprisoned. He returns to the Dreaming to report what he’s found, leaving Rose and Jed there alone. They both find themselves running away from Fun Land, who is killed by the Corinthian. This is a dangerous hotel, but at least Dream now knows exactly where they are.
Bullet points:
- We get some spectacular exterior shots of Dream’s palace in this episode; something I think has been lacking throughout the series. From these shots, we can see that the palace has been fully rebuilt.
Episode Ten: Lost Hearts
“Lost Hearts” is the season finale and the conclusion of “The Doll’s House” story arc. The episode continues exactly where the last left off. The Corinthian has just killed Fun Land in front of Rose and Jed, and now he’s trying to convince them that he’s the good guy.
In truth, there are no “good guys” inside a serial killer convention; there are bad people and worse people. The Corinthian might have killed Fun Land, but both have horrible motives. Funnily enough, it’s the Corinthian who tries to claim that Dream is the bad guy. He tells Rose that, as the Vortex, Dream will be forced to kill her. And he’s not wrong.
The Corinthian delivers his speech
Of course, The Corinthian couldn’t leave the convention without delivering his speech as the guest of honor. If it wasn’t about murder, his speech would actually be pretty impressive. He’s a charming man. I like how he tries to explain the reasoning behind murdering innocent people, calling everyone “entrepreneurs.”
Just as he’s about to get a standing ovation, Dream shows up. He chastises the Corinthian for inspiring murder in the Waking World. Seeing them confront each other is a really nice payoff.
There’s a great moment where the Corinthian stabs Dream and weakens him, drawing blood…which nobody expects. As Rose becomes more powerful, Dream gets weaker.
We see Rose Walker alongside Jed in a dream, seeing all of the serial killers live our their gruesome fantasies. It’s very ethereal; we forget which parts are in dreams and which are in reality. Dream and the Corinthian each try to convince her to join their side, and she is very much stuck in the middle.
Eventually, Dream realizes his mistake — that he created the Corinthian poorly — and ultimately uncreates him. All that’s left is a little skull (which is actually quite cute).
The Vortex
The next time Rose sleeps, she once again converges with dreamers. Her housemates all gather in her dream, witnessing each other’s dreams. At one point. Barbie spots Ken cheating on him again. Chantal and Zelda are there too, as is martin Tenbones.
That’s when we finally see the vortex itself descend upon The Dreaming and swallow all of the dreamers, save Rose. Dream confronts her and tells her that the vortex must be killed for everyone to be safe.
Unity Kinkaid and Lucienne
While Unity Kinkaid is asleep, she visits Lucienne’s library in search of a book. She is after a very specific book: the story of her life if things turned out differently. Lucienne is on-hand to assist her, at least until she realizes that Unity is related to Rose Walker.
Life and death
Dream tries to comfort Rose by telling her that death is not as bad as mortals believe. He knows that he must kill her. However, that’s when Gilbert (Fiddler’s Green) arrives just in time to offer himself in exchange for Rose’s life. Dream has none of it.
While Dream does not wish to punish Fiddler’s Green, he orders him to return to his role in The Dreaming. That’s when we learn: Fiddler’s Green is not actually a person, it is a place inside The Dreaming. Seeing him transform out of a human form into a lush, green forest, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful, touching moments in the entire series, executed perfectly.
Dream is fully on board to kill Rose, with her consent. But at that moment, Lucienne and Unity Kinkaid interrupt him. It’s at this moment that we learn that Unity was supposed to be the original vortex, only it was passed to Rose Walker through her lineage. As a result, she offers her life as the original vortex, to which Dream obliges.
This is a fitting end to Rose’s story, with all loose ends being tied up. But there is one more twist: Dream realizes that the person who raped and impregnated Unity is his meddling sibling, Desire. This makes Rose Walker and Jed children of the Endless.
Dream confronts Desire
After realizing that Unity Kinkaid was raped and impregnated by Desire while suffering from the sleepy sickness, Dream pays his sibling a visit.
I do think that Desire’s role this season lacks a payoff. They’re basically the troublemaker; literally causing the birth of a child of the Endless. And what punishment do they get for this horrendous, dangerous act? A stern telling off from Dream for meddling in his business.
Something a little more dramatic would’ve been a nice payoff. That said, Mason Alexander Park plays the part wonderfully. They’re undoubtedly one of the stand-out performers in the show.
I also really like David Buckley’s theme for Desire. The score has a beating heart, much like the beating heart of Desire’s realm, The Threshold.
Lyta has her baby
On a more heartwarming note, we finally see Lyta Hall give birth to a baby boy, a child conceived inside The Dreaming. Expect the baby to be important moving forward.
Dream revives Gault
With his realm rebuilt and freed from the threat of the Vortex, Dream spends some time cleaning things up. We see him modifying Gault so she’s beautiful; she has wings this time. However, he refuses to create a new Corinthian…for now, anyway.
Returning to Hell
Before the season draws to a close, we briefly return to Hell, where Lucifer is planning something. We briefly see Azazel, who plays a role later in the comics. If this show is lucky enough to get a season 2, we’ll probably see an adaptation of Season of Mists, where Hell will play a big role. The show basically ends on a cliffhanger. Here’s hoping Netflix sees it through.
The Sandman season 2 reviews:
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 1: "Season of Mists"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 2: "The Ruler of Hell"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 3: "More Devils Than Vast Hell Can Hold"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 4: "Brief Lives"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 5: "The Song of Orpheus"
- The Sandman season 2, Episode 6: "Family Blood"
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