The Sandman: All episodes reviewed and explained
By Ashley Hurst
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.