When it comes to our favorite television shows, it’s often the endings that we remember the most clearly. Because they were that good, that satisfying, or, frankly, that disappointing. Whether it’s because we get the payoff of a long-awaited wedding (like in Schitt’s Creek). Or a character stepping into their iconic destiny (like in Smallville). Of course, there’s the other side of the coin. There’s the crushing disappointment of show creators doing the worst thing imaginable (Game of Thrones and How I Met Your Mother, I’m looking at you). Or the cliffhangers that will never be resolved in a series cancelled too soon (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Julie and the Phantoms, and so many others. Still bitter about the latter, Netflix. Still bitter.). We remember the endings.
It’s a rarer show with a beginning as memorable. In part, this is because it often takes a while for series to gain their footing. Shows often have to shove a lot of set up, character introduction, and plot exposition into 45 minutes. This can turn out a little worse for wear. There are the exceptions, of course. (I still think Red’s introduction in The Blacklist is one of the best villain/anti-hero introductions I’ve seen. And 12 Monkeys has a pilot that will hook you from the very start.)
The Sandman is one of those rare shows that hooks you from the first scene. It’s been a hot minute since I read the source material. I’m sure over the course of the series, there will be many things I’ll come to realize I’ve forgotten from the comics. But I distinctly remember the first time I read the story covered in this premiere episode.
The premiere episode of The Sandman series is such a beautiful adaptation of the comic storyline that it’s like reconnecting with an old friend. For those unfamiliar with the source material, “The Sleep of the Just” will likely be one of those rare first episodes that you will always remember.
Chapter 1
There’s a lot that has to be established in the first chapter of The Sandman. Of course, for the uninitiated, the series has to introduce the audience to Dream (Tom Sturridge) and the concept of the Endless. We have to learn about the Dreaming. Why it’s important. Its connection to Dream and how both impact what we consider “reality.” Both are negatively impacted by Dream’s long imprisonment, thus setting up the main overarching plot. We also have our first introduction to The Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook), a Nightmare in the waking world.
The Sandman manages to accomplish all of this and more in this first episode. In fact, it does so beautifully. Yeah, I know I’ve called it beautiful before. However, I don’t think saying it once really impresses just how gorgeous the series is. Netflix put some serious production value behind this series, and it shows. In the first five minutes, you get a glimpse of the Dreaming, and you just want to stay in the golden palace forever. Even the nightmare part of the realm would be good for a visit. A quick visit. Maybe around Halloween.
It’s a stark contrast to the Dreaming we see in the end of the episode, decayed from Dream’s long absence. Even if there weren’t Dreams and Nightmares to gather and bring home, we’d still want to keep watching. Just to see the Dreaming returned to its prior glory.
Dreams and Nightmares
As beautiful as The Sandman is in setting and atmosphere, the real highlights of the series are its cast. Sturridge spends a lot of this first episode in silence, which is something of a shame given just how good his voice is to hear. Author/creator Neil Gaiman may have chided him that it was heading into Batman territory, but I could listen to Sturridge read a phone book for two hours with that voice.
But even in his silence, trapped in a glass cage, he has a presence that commands attention. I’m unfamiliar with Sturridge’s previous work, so I’m looking forward to getting a better sense of his range in future episodes. But even in this first episode, he conveyed so much with a look – grief, rage, anticipation – that I have no doubt he was perfectly cast in the semi-titular role. (I say semi-titular because, while the series is called The Sandman, he is rarely referred to by that name in the source material.)
Against Sturridge’s hero of the story, however, there are numerous villains – and it’s debatable which is worse. The Corinthian, an actual Nightmare? Dream’s captor, Roderick Burgess (Charles Dance), driven by grief and greed and spite? Alex Burgess (Laurie Kynaston), once a subject of sympathy and pity, until that moment when he becomes the villain in his own right? Maybe the Corinthian is merely that which Dream has created him to be, whereas we are the evil we choose. On the other hand, isn’t Alex what his father taught him to be? Perhaps evil in the real world is created, every bit as much as it is in the Dreaming.
The Verdict
Fans of the source material will almost undoubtedly find The Sandman a lush, loving, gorgeous tribute to the beloved series. However, fans of fantasy that are somehow otherwise unfamiliar with Gaiman’s works (although, come on. If you’re not familiar with Stardust, at least, you need to go watch it right now) will also be drawn into this world of the Dreaming. And once you’ve entered, like with all the best dreams, you won’t want to leave.
The Sandman is streaming now on Netflix.