The Sandman (TV Series)

The Sandman is a 2022 Netflix show, based on the comic book series of the same name by Neil Gaiman. Premiered on August 5, 2022.

A hundred years ago, a sorcerer called Roderick Burgess tried to imprison the Angel of Death. He ended up miscalculating, capturing a mysterious man with a helmet, ruby and a pouch of sand. On finding out the man is the Lord of Dreams, Roderick tried to use Dream's captivity to bargain for powers.

Dream is now free. He has taken revenge on his captors. There is a problem, however: most of his realm's dreams and nightmares are running rampant on Earth. Dream has to get them back, by any means possible, before they harm humanity. Some have already started the harm.

The series stars Tom Sturridge as Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, and Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death.


 * Abusive Dad: Roderick Burgress is not winning any father of the year awards. He physically abuses Alex, blatantly using him as a servant rather than a son.
 * Adaptation Expansion: The Corinthian gets more to do here by appearing in the first arc rather than being the Arc Villain in Doll's House. Dream ended up on Earth hunting down the Corinthian, who escaped to become a real-life nightmare. That allowed Roderick Burgess to capture him.
 * Adaptational Villainy: The Burgesses had one thing in their defense in the comic book; they had no idea about the harm they were causing to the world and had mistaken Dream for Death during his centuries-long captivity. When the Corinthian tells Roderick, as well as Alex, what they really imprisoned, Roderick uses Dream's items to make himself rich. Alex has it worse in that he nearly frees Dream a few times, but hesitates.
 * Adult Fear: The scene where Mr. Kincaid finds out his daughter Unity is asleep and not waking up, and realizing that she's not responding to him. He orders his wife to call the doctor, fearing Unity must be deadly ill. As Dream narrated, Unity wasn't the only one that fell victim to this Sickness. Others had chronic insomnia or somnambulism.
 * Bullying a Dragon: Roderick Burgess makes demands of the captive Dream when learning what he really is from the Corinthian. Dream says that even if he could give those gifts, honor and dedication to his duty would have compelled him to refuse. He gets his revenge once he's out on Alex.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: John Dee feels guilty for
 * Everyone Has Standards:
 * Joanna Constantine is selfish and pragmatic, showing no qualms about exorcising a demon in front of his bride-to-be. She also begs Dream to.
 * Likewise, Dream understands Joanna's cynicism better when seeing her nightmares of . He tells her that he's sorry that she suffers them, and bargains to help them vanish if she gets back his pouch.
 * Matthew is appalled when he learns that.
 * Graceful Loser: Zigzagged. Lucifer may not like Dream per se, but she respects him. When he wins their battle of wits, she forfeits the helm on the demon owner's behalf but says that nothing protects him in Hell so why should she abide by Sacred Hospitality? Dream points out that Hell would have no power over the damned unless they would dream of Heaven. She lets him go without further argument, though Matthew can see that she's furious.
 * Heroic Sacrifice: Rather, villainous one; Ethel Cripps comes to visit her son John Dee in a mental hospital. She warns him that Dream is coming, but he scoffs that she said that every day they had to move to new towns. Realizing he needs proof, Ethel removes her necklace of protection and gives it to John, saying it will keep him safe from the Sandman. She proceeds to die in front of him, confirming that even if he gave it back, it would be too late for her.
 * Honor Before Reason: Dream notes he could have talked to Alex when the latter asked as a youth to not hurt him if he frees Dream. The problem is that Alex killed Jessamy, and broke a rule of the Dreaming. So Dream remained silent. Death calls out Dream for this later, saying that his stupid honor is why he was kept captive for so long.
 * Hope Spot:
 * Joanna Constantine realizes that she left the bag of sand at her ex's place. Rachel answers the door, upset that Joanna ghosted her, but willing to hear her out if Joanna apologizes since she was worried Joanna's line of work had killed her. Joanna does, saying that it was stupid and selfish of her to leave without even a note. It seems they can at least part civilly and Dream can get his pouch.
 * After the battle in Hell, Dream is relieved that the ruby is in a warehouse with no guards or protection. He cups it, only to realize something is wrong. The jewel knocks him out, just as John Dee arrives to claim it.
 * Parting Words Regret: The last thing Alex says to his father before killing him by accident is that Randall would hate his father as much as Alex does.
 * Perky Goth: Death, much like she is in the comics.
 * Pet the Dog:
 * While the Corinthian is mad at Ethel for refusing to help him fight Dream, and sending him back to the Dreaming with her amulet of protection, he doesn't hold it against her son. When John Dee escapes the hospital, Corinthian offers his coat, saying that he doesn't need it back when John gets to his destination. Sure, there was a selfish reason in that John is the only one who can probably get rid of Dream forever, but this is the Corinthian we're seeing.
 * When it seems like John Dee is going to kill Rosemary after she transports him to the warehouse,
 * Pragmatic Villainy: The Corinthian tells Roderick Burgress how to keep Dream captive indefinitely as well as who he really is. He says it's in their best interest that Dream never escapes because he knows his creator will not be nice the minute he gets his powers back.
 * Punch Clock Villain: The modern-day guards that accidentally free Dream are paid grunts. One even theorizes that he is a Dracula, a vampire. When he is free, he simply knocks them out before going to avenge himself on Alex.
 * Race Lift: Death usually takes the form of a Caucasian woman in the comics; here she appears as African-American.
 * Replacement Goldfish: Subverted. Because Jessamy died trying to save him, Dream is not into taking a new raven with him on Earth. Matthew acknowledges that he's not Jessamy, whoever she was, but he knows humans better than Dream does. Dream eventually concedes when Matthew refuses to leave his side.
 * Scenery Porn: Almost every scene in the series is breathtaking, as befits a story where the protagonist is the embodiment of Dreams.
 * Spared By The Adaptation: In the comics, John Dee
 * This Is Gonna Suck: The Corinthian has this reaction when he realizes that Dream is free, a hundred years after telling Roderick how to imprison him. He decides to go out and take the fight to Dream, by reshaping the world.
 * A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Inverted; Alex is afraid to free Dream throughout his life, despite knowing it's the right thing to do, because Dream never indicates if he or his lover Paul would be punished for being complicit in his father's crimes. It's likely that if he had done so as soon as he had the power, Dream would have made the sentence much lighter.
 * Truer to the Text: Compared to adaptations in general. The plot only diverges from the source with the time period; other than that, it is almost a one-to-one
 * The Unfavorite: Alexander is the living spare to his father Roderick. Roderick captured Dream because he wanted Death to restore his deceased son Randall.
 * Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Morpheus acknowledges that it certainly wasn't Roderick Burgress's intention, but he caused harm to the Dreaming and the real world. Burgess trapped Dream mistaking him for Death, just as he was about to capture Corinthian. This would lead to the Sleeping Sickness, and allowing nightmares. What was definitely not an accident was Roderick keeping him imprisoned indefinitely, along with Alex doing the same.
 * Used to Be a Sweet Kid:
 * Alexander is solemn as a child, obeying his father blindly, but certainly not evil. He's shown to be Nice to the Waiter as a teen, since his father treats him as an unpaid servant and not as a son. Alex is also the first person to ask Dream if he's all right while captive in the orb, showing genuine sympathy for him and apologizing for what his father did. His Start of Darkness is when he shoots Jessamy the raven for trying to free Dream as a test of loyalty to his father.
 * We see John Dee as an innocent baby long before he comes the monstrous serial killer. His mother turned him into the monster.
 * What You Are in the Dark: After his father's death, Alex almost frees Dream. He has felt sympathy for the prisoner. It's only because the servants remind him that his father wouldn't want this that he stops. Dream pities him, understanding, but still plans to punish him for killing Jessamy.
 * Your Princess Is in Another Castle: Dream finally returns home, to the Dreaming. He finds out most of the denizens, including his subjects, have left. There are exceptions, like Lucienne who waited faithfully. Dream realizes he has to go back to Earth to find all the dreams and nightmares before they can prey on the living.