The Sandman Season 1 Review: The Faithful Adaptation We’ve Been Dreaming About
After over 30 years, 75-issues, multiple spinoff comics, and an audio adaptation, the live-action adaptation of this legendary comic book series finally landed on Netflix. The Sandman Season 1 wastes no time diving into a faithful comic book adaptation that hits every moment longtime fans would expect to see, and a couple of missteps.
One of the things The Sandman does well is pacing. It doesn’t feel like the time is passing when you watch this season. The Sandman Season 1 Episode 1, “Sleep of the Just,” eats the plot as quickly as possible despite documenting a century of Dream’s imprisonment.
Similarly, you have The Sandman Season 1 Episode 6, “The Sound of Her Wings,” named after a transitional issue in the comic’s run that introduces Dream’s sister Death. The series wisely combines this story with the arc of “Men of Good Fortune” which focuses on a set of meetings that take place between Dream and a mortal every 100 years hitting.
The combination of these two storylines provides a throughline for the character and gives us a moment to sit with him now that his original quest is done.
The Sandman Season 1 is also not afraid to look to its source material for inspiration. Multiple times, it’s easy to spot when the team behind it took camera angles and inspiration directly from the comics to give viewers a moment that felt faithful to the source material.
Some moments where this is especially clear include Dream’s escape from his glass prison and Desire’s catlike motions at the end of The Sandman Season 1 Episode 10, “Lost Hearts.”
Many lines of dialogue also hit the important notes in the comic with the actors breathing into the characters to make them come to life.
Each of the cast members on The Sandman Season 1 fits their roles perfectly. Tom Sturridge steals the show from the first episode despite not speaking for the majority of it. His imperious look and gravely line delivery embody Morpheous perfectly.
His siblings, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Desire (Mason Alexander Park), are also portrayed by the perfect actors to portray these anthropomorphic personifications. Park specifically eats up every moment possible, relishing the role of Desire. We don’t get to see much of them on these ten episodes, but given there is a lot more source material there is only space for these characters to continue to flourish.
(Death has her own comic book series for crying out loud!)
Similarly, Boyd Holbrook’s portrayal of The Corinthian has the suave attitude you might expect. Gwendoline Christie’s performance as Lucifer holds all the gravitas you may expect from the ruler of hell.
And we didn’t miss the Game of Thrones reference in that epic battle of wits.
David Thewlis as John Dee and Stephen Fry as Gilbert (aka Fiddler’s Green) also deliver amazing portrayals of their characters. Thewlis makes it easier to empathize with John Dee and the format of a TV series gives us more time with him. Fry’s portrayal of a place-turned-person feels like a cross between Rubeus Hagrid, Rupert Giles, and a generally sweet English grandpa.
One of the only pitfalls I found in casting was Jenna Colman as Johanna Constantine. The Sandman Season 1 tried to merge two characters and it didn’t quite work out. Her introduction on The Sandman Season 1 Episode 3, “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” didn’t quite mesh with her later appearance on “The Sound of Her Wings.”
It’s hard to imagine Colman and the rugged cigarette-smoking John Constantine even if their powers are similar. Even though Colman tries to pull this off, it still reads as a prim and proper Clara Oswald from her time in Doctor Who and it’s hard to believe she would leave her girlfriend or smoke a cigarette. Even her swear words didn’t sound right.
Colman is a great actress and I will happily watch anything she’s in, but more work needed to be done on a broader scale to make this creative decision work.
When it comes to this series, it’s hard to find anything that I didn’t like about it. It kept my interest throughout the ten episodes, it had amazing effects and cinematography. It really knew how to use its cast and how to plant seeds for future seasons, and it left us with some of the big thoughts and themes that the comics were asking.
Thinking about The Sandman Season 1, the only thing that I really have to complain about is that I want more. I want to explore the Endless sibling’s realms. I want to see how Lucifer plans on attacking The Dreaming. I want to see how Dream and Lucienne’s working relationship continues to grow.
I am also curious to see how Dream changes over time and what he learns about humanity. There are so many nuggets here that can be expanded and are expanded in the comics and provide fertile ground for more stories.
Stray Thoughts:
- Lucienne is the GOAT and I will die on this hill. Also, how do I apply to be a librarian in The Dreaming?
- Is anyone else wondering what the consequences of Lyta’s baby will be?
- Rose Walker publishing books that appear in The Dreaming’s library is a much better happy ending than she got in the comics.
- The way that Dream recreates Gault as a dream instead of a nightmare with wings is such a happy ending for this character. When Dream reanimates her with wings and asks Lucienne if she wants to say hello, my heart just melted.
- The scene with Gregory broke my heart. I am glad it was his choice to help Dream but that broke my heart so early on in this season and when Cain and Abel get Goldie (aka Irving) it was so sweet. It told us early on that Dream didn’t want to hurt anyone or anything. Just the fact that he saw the egg and knew it was meant for them told us what we needed to know.
- Hector and Lyta’s goodbye is a seriously emotional scene. It’s this messed up in the comics too, but it does ultimately come down to Dream saving his realm and the dreamers themselves. Hector’s presence there was threatening and he knew he needed to take action. (Yes, I realize this contradicts my last point, but not completely. Otherwise, he would have found a way to deal with a vortex without having to kill Rose before it came to the final episode.)
- Unity is a badass character! You’re not going to change my mind. While Rose’s mom is alive in the comics, not having her in the series gave Unity the chance to have a more active role, and it made her sacrifice in the end that much more meaningful. Hope she finds a happily ever after in The Dreaming or another realm.
What did you think of this season of The Sandman? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Sandman Season 1 is now available to stream on Netflix.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.