Netflix's The Sandman

 A Semi-Spoilery Series Overview

Overall, The Sandman is a fantastic show. The casting was spot on. The music is awesome. The story lines were engaging. Highly recommend watching if you are any kind of fantasy fan. Or heck, even if you're not. It's a fun ride.

I have been a fan of Neil Gaiman's work ever since I first read Neverwhere at some point in my teens. I haven't had a chance to read The Sandman comics, but they have been on my radar and my reading list for years. I'm not sure how good of an adaptation this show is, but it's definitely worth a watch on its own merits.

So, being a fan of Gaiman's and comics (mostly the shows and movies based on them, to be completely honest) in general, I had at least a passing familiarity with some of the characters going into The Sandman. I kind of vaguely knew about Dream and was far more familiar with Death from some cosplay stuff and images I'd seen floating around online. I had watched the first couple episodes of Lucifer when they first came out, but never got into the show. Honestly, I was most familiar with Constantine from the Keanu Reeves movie, the Constantine TV show, and a smattering of DC's animated content. I thought all these roles were filled wonderfully by the actors in The Sandman. My favorites were Constantine (I am a big fan of Jenna Coleman's) and Death. I thought Dream was actually kind of vampiric in the ways he was styled. Very much reminded me of Stephanie Meyer's Edward Cullen (specifically Robert Pattinson's portrayal) and, at one point, Anne Rice's Lestat. Probably his paleness and that popped collar coat he had going on.

Other characters I enjoyed were Lucienne, Gault, and Fiddler's Green. I pegged Fiddler's Green from the moment he showed up. After all, you can't just have Stephen Fry playing some eccentric recluse. I quite liked Unity Kincaid. Honestly, I could take or leave the BnB crew. They were all bits of eccentric flavor that mostly served to showcase Rose's powers. Patton Oswald as Matthew was a delight.

The first big story line was fun. I always enjoy the quests to find missing items of importance. That said, in comparison to the second story line of the season, it fades into the background. I very much enjoyed seeing Jenna Coleman play Constantine. That episode was pretty awesome, honestly. It was nice to see some of the power behind Dream's tools. David Thewlis' character really needed some actual therapy, in my opinion, rather than to just be locked up. I'm also not sure how that diner ended up in a semi-time loop sort of thing. I just didn't feel like it was well explained or really conveyed as to what was going on. Also not sure what I would have done better so... yeah. It was probably my personal low point.

I thought the Rose Walker story line was much more interesting. I liked the concept of the Dream Vortex, though the explanation as to "What's it for/Why's it happen" was definitely rushed and just kind of dumped on the viewer by Fiddler's Green. The serial killers were delightful characters, ya know, once you put aside the whole serial killer thing. The Corinthian was an interesting villain, even if I didn't find him at all terrifying. Honestly, Jed's foster care situation was much worse. That's probably due to my personal awareness of how true to life Jed's situation was. The foster care system in the US is VERY broken and this kind of thing actually happens to people so... yeah... Jed's whole thing with his foster parents was more terrifying than The Corinthian. On a brighter note, I hope we get to see what happens with Lyta's baby.

My favorite episode is definitely episode 6: The Sound of Her Wings. I enjoyed getting Death's perspective on humanity and the meetings with Hob. This was also the episode where Dream's look made me go "Lestat" at one point even though he resembles none of the actors who've played that character previously. My boyfriend really enjoyed episode 4: Hope in Hell. The battle of wits between Dream and Lucifer was definitely a highlight.

So yeah, definitely go give The Sandman a watch if you haven't already.