TELEVISION REVIEW: The Sandman (Netflix)

 (Silent Woodlands - Gareth Coker)

Neil Gaiman is something of a 'Go To' when it comes to writing rich worlds viewed through a unique lens. Gaiman's work has seen a rise in popularity with the arrival of several television series based off of his works. 'American Gods', and 'Good Omens' -- a cooperative project between him and the late literary juggernaut Terry Pratchett -- were both extremely well-received for their vision, characters, and the translation of their stories from literature to the screen. 

Recently added to this list is "The Sandman", the story of a powerful entity called 'Dream' and its interactions with other powerful entities and humanity at large. What started as a DC Comics series has been adapted for a Netflix series of the same name, with high hopes for the same success as the content that came before.

Should you partake?

Well...that sort of depends. There isn't really a simple answer that doesn't beg additional questions.

Upon its initial released, 'Sandman' was a 10-episode run on Netflix. (As of August 19th, 2022, an 11th episode had been added with no warning.) The various trailers for the show tell us that it's all about  Dream, a.k.a. Morpheus, the King Of Dreams, the Sandman. He's been captured by mankind somehow and there are dire consequences for humanity as a result.

Before I go any further with my take on the show, I should get some praise that is, at this point, less impressive and more an expectation whenever Gaiman's work is involved:

The show is GORGEOUS. The cinematography is stunning, the coloration is practically its own character, the sound and music are all excellent, the special effects are above the bar for television work...it's all here and it's all exactly what we've come to expect from Gaiman's shows.

The characters and their respective actors are also top notch, something else that we've absolutely come to be used to. Yes, there are some differences between characters realized in comics versus those on-screen. Those differences don't affect the story at all and, in some cases, actually serve to make it better. (There is a now famous exchange between Gaiman and some trolls online about Lucifer and Lucifer's genitals. It's worth a read.) The script that those characters are given is also wonderful, if somewhat long-winded in certain scenes.  This is all also By The Book Gaiman.

No, where 'Sandman' falls down, sadly enough, is its story. The trailers for the show depict a story that's actually only about half of the ACTUAL story. The other half of the story, the half that the trailers don't really cover, is painfully drawn out with twists that you can see coming from a mile away. It is positively BATHED in what I can only described as teenage angst. Worse, the drawing out that happens is accomplished by dragging you through some content -- over SEVERAL episodes -- that a lot of folks will find genuinely unpleasant and unsettling. Gaiman has a talent for exploring several parts of human nature that folks don't like to think about. There's a time and a place for it but, for me, several episodes' worth of this introspection is way too much.

Yes, Neil. Humans have the capacity to be terrible people. We get it.  If I wanted to see this, I'd turn on the news.

It's this strange commitment to forcing the audience to wade through genuinely unpleasant content that ruins the show. When it's not doing this, it's solid gold -- even if Dream's perpetual Goth Boy pouting and childishly aloof mincing around the screen is present in virtually every episode.

Oh, and Matthew the crow can go sod off. Seriously, stop casting Patton Oswalt as the cheeky sidekick. It's a waste of his talent and of our time and patience.

My advice to anyone interested in this show is to watch Episodes 1 thru 6, and to fast forward through almost every single part of Episode 5.  Trust me.  Episodes 7 thru 10 are a different story arc that is an exercise in drawing out something that shouldn't ever be drawn out. That's doubly a crime because the characters features in those episodes are easily some of the most vibrant, including a typically wonderful turn from Stephen Fry. The price you have to pay to see those characters was, for me, too high.

Then again, Morpheus isn't just the King of Dreams. It's also the King of Nightmares. In this, I suppose the show is very true to its character.