Neil Gaiman’s legendary comic series has at last been unleashed on screen.
But the wait is finally over.
Let’s dive in.
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Leave it to Neil Gaiman to provide the answer… though maybe not one we’ll like.
These entities Dream has constructed remain within the confines of his realm… normally.
So Dream goes hunting for him.
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The year is 1916.
Smack in the middle of World War I.
We jump to Wych Cross, England, where we meet Roderick Burgess, a.k.a.
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It works… sorta.
With his master now powerless, Corinthian peaces out to continue his brutal murder spree.
Once Dream wakes, the Magus attempts to strike a deal with him in exchange for his freedom.
Lucifer (Gwendoline Christie) and Dream (Tom Sturridge) in ‘The Sandman’ on Netflix.Netflix
So he sits in captivity for a decade, silent, waiting for an opportunity to break free.
And with Dream unable to supervise his realm, chaos ensues.
So, yeah… Dream’s pretty motivated to get the hell out of there and fix that.
Dream (Tom Sturridge) holds John Dee (David Thewlis) in the palm of his hand on Netflix’s ‘The Sandman.'.Netflix
He offers to set Dream free, but before Dream can respond…
The Magus arrives, and scolds his son.
The argument quickly turns violent, with Alex shoving the Magus and accidentally killing him.
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But Dream has learned not to trust humans, so he remains silent.
Paul notices that the seal has been broken, but chooses to leave it be.
and tricks him into shooting the glass sphere that’s kept him in place for over a century.
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And the only way to regain his power is by absorbing the magic from something he himself has created.
Gregory’s a friendly gargoyle, with a personality closer to a puppy than a dragon.
So you’re free to imagine Can and Abel’s response when Dream, a.k.a.
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Yeah,they’re pissed.
“, I do not know.
I guess he’s the god of Dreams, not of intellect.)
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The Fates tell Dream, albeit a bit vaguely, where to find them.
The pouch of sand was last in the possession of a woman named Joanna Constantine.
The helm was traded by Ethel to a demon, which means… it’s in Hell.
Dream (Tom Sturridge) and the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) in ‘The Sandman.'.Netflix
And finally, the ruby necklace was stolen from Ethel by her son by the Magus John.
We check in with Cain and Abel, where we see Cain (shocker!)
kill Abel out of rage.
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And when Abel rises from the dead, he sees before his grave: an egg.
Together, they head off to track down the pouch… but they’re not alone.
And they set off…
Giving us the chance to check back in with Ethel and her son John.
Butstill…John won’t budge.
As he walks the streets of Buffalo, he’s met by who else Corinthian.
Who merely offers his coat to the visibly frigid man, cryptically wishing him luck on his journey.
Back with Dream and Constantin, we find them visiting Constantin’s ex-girlfriend Rachel (Eleanor Fanyinka).
Constantin begs Dream to find it in his heart or whatever’s in there to show Rachel some sympathy.
Bad move, girl.
Don’t you know better than to invite a strange white man into your car?
But Coranon refuses to give Dream his helm.
So Dream challenges him to what is essentially a trial by combat.
And the stakes are high if Dream loses, he’ll spend eternity in hell as Coranon’s slave.Yeesh.
For example: Lucifer, standing opposite Dream in her throne room, chooses adirewolf.
So Dream chooses ahunter, who materializes and spears the wolf.
“Lucifer gleefully taunts him.
With Lucifer defeated, Dream takes his helm, which (somehow?)
gives him the power to locate his ruby.
So he jets off
and enters a storage unit, where the ruby glows from within a crate.
But when he touches the ruby, it blasts him backwards, and he’s knocked out.
As we learned in a prior episode, John altered the stone so that only he could use it.
And with Dream unconscious, John walks into the unit and takes back his ruby.
I dunno… right now, I’m team John.
But we’ll see if the coming episodes change my mind.
His goal is to make a more honest world, having been traumatized by his mother’s lies.
Here, we see him use the ruby to make that happen.
There’s married couple Gary and Kate, successful pharmaceutical execs who Bette introduced at the diner years ago.
And there’s Judy, who’s stressed out that she’s being ghosted by her girlfriend Donna.
And before they know it, they tooare stripping naked and ravishing each other’s bodies in the booth.
It seems that John’s ruby has not only affected this diner… but the whole world.
From here, thingsreallygo off the rails and sort of… stop making sense.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Marc begins self-mutilating and eventually dies.
So, that all tracks…kinda.
John refuses to surrender the ruby, so he and Dream do battle with their various forms of magic.
It’s an episode that starts small, ends big, and for the most part, works.
But…moving on from that…
Dream’s feeling aimless.
We spend a beat wondering which god this woman is, until it’s finally revealed: she’sDeath.
The last thing you’d say to your wife before dying is 7892?).
“I need them as much as they need me,” Death tells Dream.
Mainly, Dream wants to know is Gatling ready yet to leave this horrid place?
Gatling’s confused leave?
The world’s just getting exciting!
They’ve invented chimneys!
We see them meet in 1589, where Gatling is now a rich man, having earned a knighthood.
And still, he’s got no interest in departing.
But still, he insists he’s got so much to live for.
Gatling’s recovered his wealth by investing in the slave trade.
Life is a gift, and he’s going to soak up every second of it.
And that’s what he considers Dream to be his only true friend.
So in a rage, Dream storms out of the pub.
Little does Gatling know that Dream was, at the time, trapped in the Magus’s basement.
While we wonder exactlywhata dream vortex is, it’s soon made clearwhoit is: Rose.
And from here, we catch up with Rose, seven years after we met her in Florida.
She’s living in Manhattan, grieving the recent death of her mother and feeling untethered.
Rose accepts the offer, and jets off to England to meet this mysterious employer.
Back in the Dreaming, Lord Morpheus a.k.a.
Emo Neo meets with Lucienne to review the state of affairs in his kingdom.
The three dreams/nightmares that remain unaccounted for are Gault, Corinthian, and Fiddler’s Green.
But somehow, while she was asleep… she bore a child.
And that child had a child, andthatchild had a child, and that child is Rose.
Obvs, Rose couldn’t be more down.
It seems their guest of honor dropped out at the last minute, and they need a replacement.
From dream to nightmarerealquick.
Elsewhere in Florida, Rose hasn’t given up looking for her brother.
When she wakes,he doesn’t disappear.He keeps on living.
He walks her through the home, showing her the fabulous living room, kitchen… and a nursery.
The couple always wanted a baby, and Hector sees no reason they can’t have one here.
He’s in the hands of Corinthian… alive, but in more danger than ever.
He gives her the address of the hotel and she grabs her bag, ready to head out.
Lyta tells Rose about her dream-induced pregnancy.
Rose agrees, and they set off, unknowingly heading straight into the belly of the beast.
But this seismic activity isn’t confined to Lyta’s dream Dream’s throne room is crumbling, too.
Fearing what damage Corinthian could do if he captures Rose, Dream races off to find her…
But he’s too late.
He’s killed by Corinthian.
Who beams, having finally drawn Rose into his web of chaos.
Stay Observations:
Chapter Ten: Lost Hearts
At long last, the dream is coming to an end.
We open in the hotel in Georgia, where Corinthian has ensnared Rose and Jed.
But as Corinthian praises his acolytes for their work… Dream appears before him.
Which leaves Dream confused… ‘cause that shouldn’t be possible.
And from here, we jump into Rose’s dream (Really, Rose?
You fell asleepright now?
And when Corinthian is gone, Dream addresses the room full of psychopaths.
Anyway…
We’ve come to the final battle of the season Dream vs Rose.
But as Dream prepares to destroy her… Lucienne shows up with Rose’s great-grandmother, Unity.
Turns out, Rosewas never meant to be the vortex… it wasUnity.
All is well…
At least, it is on Earth.
But back in the Dreaming, the Sandman still has some loose ends to tie up.
The man with golden eyeswho impregnated Unity?
But Dream insisted that she couldn’t change her nature, and banished her.
