The second season of The Sandman, Netflix's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's surreal comic book, is out right now. Or rather, the first six episodes are. Another four will drop on Thursday, July 24, and then we'll get a final bonus episode a week later on July 31. And that will bring the show to a close.
It's ending a little earlier than expected. Traditionally, The Sandman comics are divided into 10 volumes. The first season covered roughly two, drawing from a few others here and there. We were introduced to Dream of the Endless (Tom Sturridge), an immortal being who is lord of the Dreaming, the realm we all visit when we sleep. We followed him during his decades-long imprisonment and then as he regained his power and rebuilt his realm, fending off threats from demons, heroes and his own siblings all the while. This second season will take the story to a close, which means it'll adapt the next eight volumes from the comics. Obviously, that means a lot is going to get cut.
Much of The Sandman comics consist of standalone stories detailing the exploits of the Endless over the millennia, so the cuts aren't as harmful as you might think; the producers drill down on Dream's story specifically, and it mostly works. As a fan of the comics, there were elements I was sorry to lose, but these first six episodes do a good job of telling Dream's central story and sneaking in nods to some of the standalone material where they can.
It's obvious that the people behind The Sandman are big fans of the source material. This is not an adaption where the producers are trying "put their own stamp" on the story, or bulldoze the central themes to tell a new tale. This is a live-action version of The Sandman, which means it goes to a lot of strange places. I've seen some reviews call the show "pretentious," but the comics really are this weird: Dream really does go to Hell and have a long conversation with Lucifer about duty, beings of legend drawn from hundreds of different mythologies really do crowd his palace; there are talking dogs and wyvern guards and cameos from the likes of William Shakespeare and Maximilien Robespierre. It's a strange story, and as a fan of the comics I was happy with how much they fit in and how accurate it was to the page.
However, there is something to be said for tweaking a story so it works better in a new medium. At times The Sandman can be almost too literal. It's one thing to write a comic book about a talking severed head, but onscreen it looks a little goofy.
And I wonder if The Sandman's refusal to explain itself might keep potential new fans at bay. The reviews seem pretty split, with some calling the show "brilliant" and other bemoaning it as "an awful snooze." I'm more of the "brilliant" side of things. I really enjoyed watching these episodes. I enjoyed how thorougly the show commits to the off-the-wall premise. I enjoyed being swept away to places as diverse as Hell, ancient Greece, Elizabethan England and modern-day New York. And I definitely enjoyed Tom Sturridge's performance as Dream; tale, pale and taciturn, he's the perfect embodiment of a moody, emo archetype pop culture has mostly left behind. He's broody, proud and loathe to admit mistakes. Dream's journey this season is about learning how to be more flexible. It will mean reckoning with his past and reconnecting with his family. Sturridge gives us a Dream who is at once unknowably distant, a god in the shape of a man; and relatably human, someone is tiring of their life's work even if they don't realize it yet. I can't imagine a better actor to play him.
These six episodes end on the precipice of major change. I wish the show had more time to explore more of the comics and sit with the emotions, but I think it's doing a solid job of telling this story without feeling too rushed. If you're a fan of the comics, The Sandman will make you happy. If you're not, try it out; this show will either repel you or become your new favorite thing.
The Sandman Episode 1-6 Grade: B
The Sandman season 2 episode reviews, with full SPOILERS:
- 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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