The Sandman: Season 1

 

Based on: The Sandman DC comic by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg

Developed by Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, Allan Heinberg

Starring: Tom Sturridge (The Sandman/Morpheus/Dream), Boyd Holbrook (the Corinthian), Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne), Patton Oswalt (Matthew the Raven), David Thewlis (John Dee), Jenna Coleman (Johanna Constantine), Gwendoline Christie (Lucifer Morningstar), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death), Kyo Ra (Rose Walker/The Vortex)

My goodness, I was so blown away by this series! 

I went in just thinking it'd be a fun fantasy/adventure/horror series, but I was wrong. It was one of the most out-of-the-box, creative, and philosophical series I've ever seen, and definitely my favorite series to air this year. 

Each episode presents a somewhat unique and individualized chapter of the story with a bit less connection between each than other Netflix series that can sometimes feel like one continues story that happens to be chopped into episodes. It was somewhat refreshing to not know quite what to expect each time and to go for the ride, wondering what point the episode was trying to make and how it was furthering the main story. 

Dream and his loyal librarian Lucienne, standing outside Dream's kingdom

This brings me to the only flaw I found with the season. The first half of the season has Dream pursuing a very specific mission, which he accomplishes. Then, in the second half, he's pursing an entirely different mission with its own unique antagonist, neither of which seemed to have been introduced or even hinted at in the first half. Both missions were equally interesting and well written, so I excuse it, but it felt jarring for me to have such a switch, and I count it as a flaw of writing that there seemed to be so little (none?) connection between the two. I'm still hopeful that there were subtle connections I may have missed that I may discover in reviews or through friends later. 

One of the things I thought was most compelling about this series is that its protagonist is an already-powerful god, a ruler of an entire mystical realm. His power is great, his reputation intact, his skills up to par. These are the most common challenges I find with most fantasy shows: the reputation is somehow weak, somehow has to learn to take up his mantle, or somehow has to take on a much more powerful foe. Instead, Dream's challenge was rebuilding a kingdom that had fallen to ruin, making use of reputation, power, and connections that he already had. This defiance of common trope was exciting to me. Plus, I'm biased as being a fan of powerful characters, so it simply appealed to me. 

On the right is Dream's kingdom before it falls

The other thing that I was very excited and pleased about was the sheer imagination and creativity of the show. My favorite scene in the entire season is a battle Dream takes on against Lucifer, the ruler of Hell. It was the most unique and creative battle I've ever seen on TV and it was executed beautifully. I'm going to try to post the scene here. However, I'll add this disclaimer: it may be far more satisfying to see it fresh as you watch the show. I'll leave that up to you. Other unique and creative things were how they depicted Dream's siblings, which are called "the Endless"--anthropomorphic representations of human traits or experiences. The notable ones who we see are Death, Desire, and as noted above, Lucifer. Death has a number of significant scenes which are much more poetic and beautiful than I would've expected from such a character. 

Dream vs Lucifer battle. Link in case video fails: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZOwaeAEIw0 

Dream negotiates with Lucifer

Dream seeks encouragement and advice from his sister, Death

A last thing I want to point out that I loved is Dream's character goes through growth and maturity. As powerful monarch of an entire mystical realm, it would be understandable if he were content with his collected wisdom and knowledge from watching humans live and dream since creation. However, he makes mistakes throughout the series, toward both humans and his own supernatural helpers in his realm, that he comes to regret. As he recognizes these flaws, he seeks genuine counsel from his helpers, apologizes to them, and takes action to rectify those mistakes. It's a trait of a great ruler who is actively trying to be wise and good to his subjects. 

I also found the finale just a little underwhelming, and that's largely the fault of the flaw I described above. It was a good ending, but it was a victory over a problem that only arose halfway through the season, and it involved characters who had only been important for the prior 3-4 episodes. It didn't feel entirely earned because I couldn't trace it back to the beginning; it didn't feel like the show had built up to it. 

"The Corinthian," a Nightmare who Dream has to face toward the end. He's one of the elements present throughout the whole season

Dream talks with the "vortex," who represents a conflict only present toward the end of the season

Yet the finale was still good and satisfyingly. Dream himself went through personal development through the course of the series, defeating villains that while they weren't directly relevant to the finale, they helped him grow and gain understanding and necessary power over his realm. Thus, in the sense of character growth, the entire season did connect and was necessary. The final scenes also focused on Dream himself and the Dreaming (his realm) after the final battle was over, showing how far Dream has come and how much his realm and his underlings benefited from his growth. 

The finale season set up a potentially more intriguing season 2 where some of the other Endless are scheming against Dream. Now that Dream has regained his power and the full loyalty of his underlings, any attempt against his realm will be fascinating to watch.