Second Part of Sandman... In Two Sections, with Two Parts Each, Plus another Part.

I have been trying to write this for weeks, but I keep coming back to: 

"damn that was good." 

Therefore, this may be a bit disjointed.

Season one write up here.

The first six episodes of Sandman season two dropped first containing "Season of Mists" and "Brief Lives," my two favorite arcs from the comic. Gwendolyn Christie continued to be absolutely awesome as Lucifer. The performance was terrifying and powerful, yet also sympathetic and relatable. An impressive feat for the ruler of a realm of eternal punishment. 

Most of the rest of the episodes followed up two weeks later including the equivalent of "The Kindly Ones" and and a single episode, yet still thorough version, of "The Wake" completing the story of Morpheus. A week later, an outstanding Coda was released in a one episode version of the comic miniseries "Death- The High Cost of Living."

The adaptation continued to excel. It also continued to show an understanding of doing  an adaptation in a different medium. Less so than movies, but far more than in comic books, TV shows need a strong, central narrative to carry them along.

Shifts and allowances were made to maintain the central spirit, ideas and themes of the Sandman tales, while streamlining the story and keeping the focus on the main character and his journey. 

This wasn't just an adaptation in another medium. It was an update to the story knowing all the major beats, rather than writing it a month at a time without full confirmation of how long the comic would continue.

I am thrilled they went this route.  A large number of the Sandman comic issues were call backs to the "Horror Anthology" roots of many of the characters who dwell in The Dreaming. Some of those one offs were relevant to the overall plot, but many were not. I am far happier we got a complete telling of the key story, while skipping many of the anthology tales than if they faithfully adapted every issue, (and "Game of You" which while a fun fantasy arc, but had very little to do with the main storyline)

and then the show got cancelled before the main story was done.

(Having said that- Boy, I do hope they still finish the Audio version.)

They did include tellings, either full (Orpheus and Eurydice) or partial (The Shakespeare plays) to cover the important bits of those one off issues-  plus some references for us comic fans. (The "Ramadan" city.)

While "Game of You" was unimportant to the overall arc, it featured Wanda, a highly important character to Sandman lore. Therefore moving her into a different role allowed her character beats to fit seamlessly into the story, with a few updates for the better

Because the comics were completed long ago, with some encores, elements that are important to the mythology, but introduced late in, or after, the original run, got their focus in this show, such as Night and Time.

It maintained the comic's standpoint that all mythologies, legends and religions exist, giving us a host of wild characters from multiple pantheons. 

I CAN'T BELEIVE THEY LEFT IN THE THOR "SQUIRREL STORY!" I LOVE THAT ONE!!!  

Sorry- calm now.

On the "fable" more than the "mythology" side- Nuala got extra relevance to additional stories and a self confidence upgrade. The other fay were much less jerks than in the source material. 

 

There were a lot of events and characters shifted around to allow a more direct telling of the main tale.  However those characters retained their importance. Other characters, like Wanda, were expanded, filling the roles of multiple individuals in the comics, which is a valuable decision for both retaining audience focus, and keeping the actor budget under control for television.

Speaking of actors, another aspect of adaptation was how well they leaned into the performer's strengths. That's something separate from a comic book. In a comic, the writer and artist have full control over the characters' intents and delivery, but actors bring their own emotions and mannerisms.

A huge example was the Corinthian. In the comics the new one is pretty much the old one, but not a serial killer. While on the show... he was sweet. It was an angle I never would have considered for the "teeth for eyes" nightmare, but it worked fantastically.

The "staff of the dreaming" Merv, Lucienne, Matthew, Cain, Abel and Gilbert continued to shine whenever they were on screen. They both helped and cheered on the character development of Morpheus.

All seven of the Endless were perfectly cast. It's not about the characters "coming off the page" as Sandman gets downright surreal and abstract sometimes. Its about embodying the sphere of influence and the feelings of the Endless on the page. Those were done outstandingly well.

Those performers all brought new emotions to the Endless in their interpretations as well. Listing them all would be tedious but I'm going to do it anyway.

Bonus points to Mason Alexander Park for transforming Desire from a comic book character that made me think, "They are the one I like least in this story," to a TV show character that made me think "They would be an absolute hoot to invite to every party ever."

Destiny was aloof and mysterious, but showed a caring, big brother side under that veneer.

Destruction had a "voice of reason" not just that he understood the Endless weren't needed for their function to continue, but also a better understanding of the universe and their place in it, in general.

Despair had a great deal of empathy, and was the perfect one to discus why we have funerals at The Wake. She nailed that scene, and every other one she was in. 

Delirium perfectly personified a character that is somehow both beneath and above all of her siblings. Fittingly, she seemed the most like she walked off the comic book page.

And Dream changed. The short version of the Sandman comic summary is "The Lord of Dreams learns he must change or die and makes his choice." In the comic, Morpheus dies to become Daniel because it is the only way he can change. In the show the actions he takes connected to characters that got more focus in this adaptation demonstrated he was changing. A prime example is releasing Roderick by choice, rather than it being an after effect of the transition to Daniel. That action, and others, showed Dream was ready to change more. With the streamlining of the story, Tom Sturridge was the focal point and he carried this series all the way through.

Also through actions, Daniel did an amazing job of showing he was the same Dream, yet the new Dream at the same time. I appreciated being able to follow him to his enthusiastic greetings by the other Endless, truly cementing the duality.

Hob Gadling got more time, (befitting the actor's excellent performance) as Dream's true friend to illustrate how Morpheus did change. 

Having Nala's role be larger in several stories improved the cohesiveness of the entire over arching plot. It also made Dream seem like less of a tool, because, honestly, Thessaly sucks.

And any choice that gives a show more Jenna Coleman is a great idea.

Increasing Mad Hettie's appearances was nice for a couple of reasons. The first was to give a more logical connection of Lyta to the Furies in the show, with her direct link to them from the comics removed. (She still does look like Wonder Woman though, doesn't she? She was definitely a fierce enough warrior, but with a base of her anger in caring for another.) More importantly, Hettie's increased time almost made up for losing Emperor Norton. I know that issue did almost nothing to advance the central story, and the extra scenes between the Endless at the funeral and actually meeting Daniel covered the characterization that tale included. But learning that he really existed is one of my favorite things that came out of my reading of the Sandman. The dude declared himself "Emperor of These United States" and San Francisco just went with it. That guy deserves a bio-pic.

No, I didn't forget Death. She's here, where she belongs, at the end of all things. 

Having an adaptation of "Death the High Cost of Living" act as a coda episode to the two season show was a perfect choice. Between Morpheus's decision to die and the Element Girl comic book issue, the Sandman comics have been accused of condoning suicide. 

The whole point of that final episode was that life is valuable, and worth living. it also ties back to having only two seasons by pointing out it is the fact that life is so short that gives it much of that value. Kirby Howell-Baptiste's perky, sweet, compassionate and infinitely comforting version of Death was the perfect one to remind us all of that both at the end of Morpheus's time and at the end of this television journey.

In conclusion-

Damn, that was good!