Imperfect Hosts – As the second episode of The Sandman begins, Dream (Tom Sturridge) walks through the crumbling building with Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) with him. She lets him know that she kept a journal for a while to chronicle everything that happened during his absence. Over time, the words began to fade and the books in the library became bound volumes on blank paper before the whole library disappeared the next day. Dream is surprised she remained while others fled. Lucienne never felt abandoned because she knew he would return. Dream tries to use his power to rebuild the building only to fail. He is adamant that he needs to reclaim his sand, helm, and ruby before doing anything else. In Buffalo, New York, Josiane calls around to see if she can sell a Caravaggio painting and another of the Vasari volumes.

She asks one to tell the chairman that Madame Daudet called. She tells Bernard that she has found the Honjo Masamune. Moments later, Ethel (Joely Richardson) gets a call but the person on the other end says nothing so she hangs up. Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) surprises her before admitting she has done a good job of convincing people Ethel Cripps does not exist. He asks if she remembers the being Roderick Burgess kept caged in his basement. She asks if he is one of his. Corinthian is his own man now and he believes Ethel can help him keep it that way. After Ethel questions why he needs her help, he says Dream is out of his cage and he is coming for them. She stole from him so he will come from her. Dream believes the only way to get his tools back is to summer the Three-In-One. He says the Fates see past, present, and future so they know everything. He is warned that they speak in riddles and never tell you what you want to know.

Instead, they tell you things you shouldn’t know. Lucienne suggests asking one of his siblings for help since Destiny or Desire might be able to help. Dream says they have their own realms to worry about and they do not interfere in each other’s affairs. She thinks he should tell them what happened. Dream believes they already know and complains that none of them came to his aid. The Fates cost a fortune and he cannot muster power enough to summon them right now. He asks if there is anything in the Dreaming that belongs to him or something he created. Something intact might contain a fragment of his power in it. She tells him that there is one thing. Gregory is told to come down right now. Once the gargoyle comes down from the roof, it talks to Abel. Seconds later, Abel tells Cain (Sanjeev Bhaskar) that they have visitors. They’re surprised when Lord Morpheus approaches them.

Cain invites him into the House of Mystery. Abel invites him into the House of Secrets instead. Morpheus explains he must take back a gift he gave them long ago for the sake of the Dreaming. They seem okay with it until Morpheus turns his attention to Gregory. Cain asks him if he has any idea what they lost waiting for him to come back after all these years. Morpheus says he hasn’t come here to ask them. Instead, he has come to ask Gregory. Abel and Cain try to go instead, but Morpheus says he can only absorb what he has created. He tells Gregory that he has served this kingdom with great honor. Once Morpheus absorbs Gregory, he tells Lucienne to come because they have work to do. Abel yells good luck causing Cain to call him a simpering suck-up before stabbing him with a pitchfork. Corinthian talks to Ethel about her job brokering items and Dream’s tools.

He admits he can’t use those tools, but he can teach her to use them to make him go away for good this time. Corinthian believes she can kill the King of Dreams if she just listens and trusts him. Ethel says they’re both dead because she doesn’t have them. Corinthian wonders if her son knows where the tools are. He asks about John before questioning what Dream would do to the son of Roderick Burgess. Lucienne asks Dream if he is ready for this because it has been a while since he navigated these waters. He reminds her that he can’t ask the Fates for help without giving them something in return. He’ll have to gather items from the dreams of others since there isn’t anything left in the Dreaming.

She warns him that the waters have become darker and more treacherous. He says the waters are as much a part of him as he is of them. Dream pours sand into the water before he is pulled in by a hand. He admits she was right since dreams and nightmares seem to no longer recognize their master. He intends to remind them and take from them what he requires. The Fates meets one at a crossroads so he finds one in the dreams of a Cambodian farmer. Now that Dream has gathered his offerings, it is up to the Fates. Fate Mother (Nina Wadia), Fate Crone (Souad Faress), and Fate Maiden (Dinita Gohil) arrive to find out what he wants. They remind him that he didn’t help them with Circe even though that is old business. Once they take the offerings, they agree he may ask them three questions. He’ll get one answer from each of them.

First, he asks where the leather pouch filled with sand is. The Fates tell him it was sold in London. It was last purchased by a magic user called Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman). He remembers a Constantine from 300 years ago. Dream asks if she still has the sand, but they won’t answer. As for his helm, it was traded away to a demon for the Amulet of Protection. They won’t tell him which demon has it. Finally, he asks who holds his ruby. He is only told it was passed from a mother to a son. Once the Fates leave, Lucienne picks up something and says he didn’t give it to them. He admits it wasn’t meant for them. Abel climbs out of his grave and finds the object which might be an egg. Corinthian continues talking to Ethel about the tools. He thinks the tools have kept her from looking her age. Ethel reveals she traded the sand and helm for her life in America after she left Roderick.

When he asks about the ruby, she says it has the power to make dreams and nightmares come true. Her son John took the ruby from her before the ruby took John. He tells her that she doesn’t have to say a word because her eyes will tell him everything. She warns him that he will regret this. When he asks why, she explains that she has her own tools. She uses it to attack him and make him disappear. Abel comes inside to thank Cain for burying him in a shallow grave this time. He also shows him the egg. The egg hatches and a baby gargoyle comes out. Cain believes Morpheus is trying to buy them off with a baby gargoyle. Abel wants to call him Irving, but Cain argues that gargoyle names have to start with a G. Abel suggests calling him Girving then. He says it doesn’t have to be Girving before Cain kills him again. Ethel meets with Jackie (Crystal Yu) who takes him to Sam (Joe Corrigall).

She says hello to Johnny Dee (David Thewlis). He tells her he is highly medicated and the days are all the same in prison, but she calls it a hospital. She asks how his therapy is going. He asks if that is her way of asking if he has forgiven her. Ethel tells him they need to talk about the ruby. Once Abel digs out of his grave, he says hello to Irving. He will call him Goldie for Cain’s sake though. Abel insists this is who they are because they’re the first murderer and the first victim. Abel tells him a story about two brothers who were nice to one another and lived in the same house. He claims he doesn’t mind getting murdered if that makes Cain happy. Dream tells Lucienne he is heading to London because the sand was sold there. Once he gets it back, he’ll seek out his helm in hell. She pleads with him to take a raven with him since it can travel between realms, but he doesn’t want a minder.

He believes Constantine will serve him well enough if she is anything like her ancestor. Once he says she is only human, Lucienne reminds him that Roderick was too. Corinthian returns to Lucienne in the Dreaming. He tells her he is going back to the waking world. She asks if he has no loyalty to his creator. He asks why he should when he has no loyalty to them. Corinthian thinks Dream only cares about his kingdom and he can have it. She warns him that Dream will come after him. Corinthian says he won’t be coming back either if he does.

 

The Sandman Review

The second episode of The Sandman was a bit better than the first because it didn’t seem to drag nearly as much. It is already obvious that the series could’ve been slimmed down to six episodes or so without really losing any vital content. The Cain, Abel, and gargoyle scenes were likely the best scenes of the series so far and they didn’t quite work out like they were expecting at least for me personally. We can already see that Dream is going to make a lot of stupid decisions while Lucienne consistently gives him good advice that he ignores.

It may take a bit more time, but it is difficult to really care about any of the characters at this point. None of them stand out and none truly elicit sympathy. It just feels like we’re on the outside watching the events unfold without having a real emotional connection to the characters. Some of the special effects are neat and they look pretty good.

There is no urgency, intensity, or passion holding this together. We’re just moving from one scene to the next without any glue holding them together. Through the first two episodes, Dream was taken captive by Roderick Burgess. Ethel Cripps stole his belongings until he finally escaped. He received some hints as to where those items could be, but no definite answers. Now, he is heading to London to see if Johanna Constantine has his pouch of sand.

The second episode of The Sandman scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Sandman can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link.