Playing House – As the eighth episode of The Sandman begins, Dream (Tom Sturridge) welcomes Rose Walker (Vanesu Samunyai) who wants to know who they are. Lucienne (Vivienne Acheampong) says she somehow dreamed her way into an audience with Lord Morpheus, the King of Dreams. Dream knows she shouldn’t be here, but he’d like her to stay. She learns they’re in the Dreaming which is where people come when they go to sleep. Rose heard them talking about her brother. Dream admits Jed isn’t here and they don’t know where he is although he believes Jed might be with one of his missing nightmares. Dream suggests she wanted Jed because of what Rose is. When she says she doesn’t understand, he explains that dream vortexes are largely incomprehensible. Once every few thousand years, a mortal is born with a dreaming ability so powerful that it allows her to travel through the dreams of others.

Since she found him, Dream believes Rose can find her brother no matter where Gault has hidden him. He instructs her to keep looking for Jed in the waking world while Matthew looks over her there. When Matthew is with her, Dream is with her. Tonight, they will go search for Gault and her brother together. Rose wants to make sure she can’t hurt him. Seconds later, the alarm goes off to warn Gault that someone is coming. Jed comes down to ask which of his enemies is coming this time. She says it is the Piped Piper and he seems to be using next-gen sonic technology to control all the area’s children. Gault says this is a job for the Sandman as Jed gets dressed in his superhero costume. Once he arrives in the area and finds it empty, Gault (Ann Ogbomo) says they might be too late. They hear the Piper’s tune and Jed finds the manhole cover moving. Gault is concerned so she asks him to return to base. Jed thinks he can handle it only to find himself overwhelmed by rats.

Once a rat bites his hand, he wakes up and finds one biting his hand. Jed yells for Clarice (Lisa O’Hare) and Barnaby (Sam Hazeldine). He knocks on the door before saying he is hurt. Clarice wants to help him, but Barnaby won’t let her. He claims Jed will run away again once they open the door so he needs to learn. Rose wakes up next to Lyta (Razane Jammal) while Matthew watches them through the window. After she calls his name, he flies away. She calls Unity (Sandra James-Young) who asks about the foster agent. She only told them that Jed’s foster parents were friends of her father, but she doesn’t remember them. Unity gives her permission to stay longer so she can keep searching for her brother. Rose learns a young journalist is there to interview Unity about her sleepy sickness. When the call ends, we see that Unity is talking to the Corinthian (Boyd Holbrook) who learns about Rose being in Cape Kennedy, Florida.

Rose shows Hal (John Cameron Mitchell), Zela, and Chantal the pictures she printed to help find Jed. Barnie (Lily Travers) takes some too because she wants to put them up with her realtor. Zelda (Cara Horgan) and Chantal (Daisy Badger) agree to put them up too. Hal suggests going together when Lyta wakes up. Lyta is busy sleeping with Hector (Lloyd Everitt) who believes she should be out enjoying her life. Although she thinks he is a dream, he doesn’t because he goes to work, works out, and cooks when she wakes up. Hector shows her the house he finally built for them. They tour the house as Lyta finds the nursery. Hector says he built it because this was their dream. He thinks they can make it true if she stays with him, but Lyta says she eventually has to wake up. Rose finds her away seconds later before showing her the flyers she made for Jed. She wants to put some up near the foster agency to show that women they’re not giving up.

Lyta agrees although she thinks it would be wise for her to do that side of town. Lucienne finds Dream researching Rose because he wants to know how she was able to wander into his throne room. He questions why Gault would target her brother and not her. Lucienne tells him how people all around the world fell asleep and couldn’t wake up on the day of his imprisonment. Unity is the sole survivor of the sleepy sickness since she woke up on the day Dream returned. Rose is her great-grandmother. He says that would suggest his absence caused the birth of a vortex, but they’re supposed to be a naturally occurring phenomenon. He doesn’t think there is an imminent threat although he’ll try to see it more clearly when Rose sleeps tonight.

Rose tells Hal she has been trying to remember her dad’s friends, but she isn’t sure he had any. Hal asks what straight men do. If they’re anything like Rose’s dad, they have affairs and that is why Rose’s mother divorced him. They’re going to start with his neighbors. When her mom got a job in New Jersey, her dad cut them off completely and stopped playing alimony and child support. They weren’t even allowed to talk to Jed. Rose pretty much dropped it when she went to college. Lyta visits Eleanor Rubio (Shelley Williams) to apologize for yesterday. Lyta asks if there is any way she could check on Jed to make sure he is okay even if she doesn’t tell them. Once Lyta leaves, Eleanor calls Clarice who tells Barnaby that the lady from the foster agency wants to come by. Clarice insists she couldn’t tell her no. Barnaby decides to call her back so he can tell her no himself, but Clarice warns him that would raise a red flag.

She thinks they can just give Jed back if he doesn’t want him here. Barnaby isn’t willing to give back $800 a month. He instructs her to get him up here so he can talk to him. Jed is told about the woman from the foster agency coming. Barnaby promises he can sleep in his own bed tonight if he is good while she is there. He threatens to break every bone in his body if he embarrasses them in front of the woman in question. He is told to take a shower while Clarice makes him something to eat. While they’re not looking, he grabs a pad and pen. Hal tells Rose about wanting to perform on Broadway and his grandmother leaving him that home when she died. New York is very hard while this place isn’t so bad. Once they go in separate directions, Corinthian shows up behind them. He follows Rose as she crouches to begin talking to Matthew. Corinthian listens as Matthew says Morpheus is watching them right now. He curses and walks away. Matthew and Rose discuss the plan to find her brother tonight.

Corinthian approaches Hal who begins telling him about Jed who is 12 and in foster care. He takes one of the papers and tells Hal he’ll see him around before leaving. Rose learns that he took a flyer so Hal says he might be calling. She promises to give him Hal’s number. While Clarice brags about Jed helping around the house, he tries to get a note to Eleanor. Rubio asks if she can have a minute along with Clarice and Barnaby. Before Jed goes to his room, he manages to place the note in her bag. Once she gets back to the office, Corinthian approaches to find out what she knows about Jed. Barnaby confronts Jed for putting the note in the woman’s bag. He tells him he’ll be sorry for doing it. Eleanor is on the ground while Corinthian tries to find information about Jed. He uses her eyeballs too. Rose contemplates moving back to Cape Kennedy.

Hal admits he doesn’t want to be here and would sell the house if a Broadway company called him tomorrow. He recommends going to grad school and writing a novel about him while he is still cute enough to play himself in the movie. That night, Rose wakes up and imagines she is in the club for one of Hal’s performances. Rose freaks out when he rips off his face twice and leaves an abomination. She finds herself in Hector’s house where he is having sex with Lyta before she joins Dream. She runs out into the street where she sees Barbie in a fancy car and Ken trying to get into it. Dream tells her they’re looking for Jed because she is drawing the dreams of others to her, but she can’t lose herself in them. He encourages her to find her own path.

They end up at the Arch of the Porpentine where they see Barbara walking nearby. She tells Martin Tenbones about the many they’ve lost on their journey. Rose asks Dream about the Dream Vortex, but he admits there are some questions that he is unable to answer. He knows they have the power to dream entire worlds or destroy them. They see Zelda in a cemetery when she was Jed’s age. Zelda says her mommy and daddy told her to go away so she went to the old bone orchards. She talks about Chantal who she calls her soul sister. Dream tells her that Zelda is at home here and that is what most people seek when they dream. Rose takes them to the house where they lived when she was younger. Morpheus says she has found her brother’s dream so they need to find Gault now. Gault sees him on the screen before warning Jed he is the most powerful foe they’ve ever faced.

She argues Dream has come to take Jed away from her, but Jed isn’t about to let that happen. Gault says this is her battle. Jed wants to join her though. Jed confronts them and calls himself the Guardian of Sleepers. Dream finds it funny when he calls himself the Sandman. Rose promises they’re not there to hurt him before Gault joins them. Dream tells Rose that is not her mother before he reveals her true appearance. Rose pleads with Jed to tell her where he is as she begins learning about Barnaby and Clarice. Dream takes Gault and wakes everyone up. Barnaby and Clarice hear Jed screaming for Rose. Lyta tells Hector that he is making it very difficult for her to leave. He discusses having a baby, starting a baby, and having the life they always wanted. She kisses him and immediately gets pregnant. Rose uses the Internet to find out where Barnaby and Clarice are living.

She knocks on the door to tell Lyta who asks her to wait a minute. By the time Lyta comes out of her room, Rose is already gone. She checks her belly in the mirror. Jed hears someone coming into the cellar. Dream, Gault, and Lucienne discuss what Jed’s life is like in the waking world. Morpheus says humans cannot live in dreams so Jed would’ve had no life staying there. He accuses Gault of abusing his suffering to build a Dreaming she could rule. She didn’t want to rule and instead just wanted to be a Dream. She thinks they can change. Dream says they’re born with responsibility and nobody is free to change who they are. Gault isn’t sure about that since so many decided to leave when Dream was away. Dream reminds her that a nightmare’s purpose is to reveal a dreamer’s fears. He wonders if a few thousand years in the darkness will reveal Gault’s fears.

As he begins making her disappear, Gault says even a nightmare can dream. Once she is gone, Dream asks Lucienne if she feels the punishment was unjust. She says they all change since she was something else before she can the librarian. Dream is grateful that she made decisions while he was away, but he is back now. He tells her she can return to the library. Jed comes out of the cellar and finds the house ransacked. Corinthian claims his sister Rose sent him. Rose watches as the bodies are removed from the house. She asks a police officer and learns Jed is no longer in the house. Corinthian admits he doesn’t know Rose, but he is looking forward to meeting her.

 

The Sandman Review

The Sandman has somewhat fallen off a cliff with the recent storyline shift. While some of the performances are okay, the story just isn’t that interesting compared to John’s. Dream is still being placed on the back burner regularly making it difficult to care about the character or his struggles. There isn’t much of a central protagonist to rally behind so it is sometimes hard to care whether Corinthian comes out on top.

Even then, Corinthian hasn’t been built effectively either. Many episodes went by without mentioning the character. While this one did, it still doesn’t seem like we fully understand his motives or what drives him to strike out against Dream. One thing that is odd is that everyone appears to instantly accept and like Corinthian even though he shows up at odd times. Rose’s house sitter Carl slept with him after knowing him for a few seconds and Hal seemed eager to do the same.

As for Dream’s side of the story, it is becoming a bit aimless. Both need some legitimate challenges since it feels like things are happening too easily for them. I have little interest in some of the other storylines even though they’re consuming most of the runtime right now. The episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Sandman can be found on Reel Mockery here. Want to support us? Learn how to do so here.