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Posted in: Netflix, Review, TV | Tagged: The Sandman
The Sandman Season 2 Vol. 1 Review: Too Reverent But Still Powerful
If The Sandman Season 2 Volume 1 has a flaw, it is that it's too solemn and reverent to the original work. And yet, it still proves powerful.
The second and final season of The Sandman is finally here after a long delay due to the strikes, tainted somewhat by the scandal surrounding the graphic novel's creator, Neil Gaiman. To review the series now is a complicated thing. Is it possible to review it on its own, as a piece of work, an adaptation by many people, separate from the original creator? It feels petty to dismiss the hard work by writers, actors, designers, and crew just because the original writer of the story has been accused of doing terrible things that betray the values and virtues his story espoused. After all, the original graphic novels have given joy and comfort to millions of fans, even made their lives better, and will likely outlast him. This is the same dilemma fans of Buffy had to face when Joss Whedon was accused of abusive behaviour by those who worked with him. Still, the upcoming revival suggests a way for fans to reclaim that work for the cultural and emotional value it gave them. Perhaps that's the same approach we should take to The Sandman. Let's start with that.
A Flawed Adaptation That Treats the Original as a Sacred Text
This season, Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) realises he's been an enormous asshole for eons and has done terrible things to friends, family and lovers, particularly his lover Nada, the queen of the first people, whom he condemned to hell for ten thousand years. As he sets out to make amends, he's reminded of other wrongs he's done, and begins a journey that leads him to many reckonings, including the ultimate one that will come in the second half of the season that will premiere later in the month. The season is a tighter, more condensed retelling of the comic story, concentrating on Morpheus' arc and cutting out side stories where he was not the main character, resulting in a faster season that re-orders certain characters and events that make the adaptation its own animal.
If there's one major criticism for the second season of The Sandman, it's that it's too reverent. The writers and directors treat the story like a sacred text, as if they were telling the story of The Bible, but the comics were a bible to so many people. There's a portentousness in the adaptation's approach that threatens to suck the life and joy out of the story. The original comic had moments of spontaneous emotion and humour that made the characters feel human and relatable, but here they're like emo cosplayers who are taking it all too seriously. This is not to fault the actors, who are some of the best in the business, but are directed to pace their performances like a funereal procession.
The dark, shadowy lighting throughout the season makes the show feel oppressive, but then Orpheus has always been an emo goth drama queen. Sturridge plays Dream with an agonised restraint, but exhibits more emotion than the comic version ever did. The beauty of comics is that stylised art can create the shifting realities that the literalness of live action can't, and characters who are clearly not human look too much like actors respectfully cosplaying them here. Everyone wears posh designer frocks, which again makes them look more like cosplayers rather than lived-in characters. This is a show that's been over-produced within an inch of its life, like the tightest corset has squeezed out all oxygen.
The Endless Are Terrible People
There's an allegory that's been inherent in the story all along that few have remarked upon, and that is Dream and his fellow siblings, The Endless, are representatives of the 1% elite who lord it over the universe and destroy ordinary people carelessly. They're a posh family who are aloof despite some of them professing a paternal benevolence. It's a class commentary that has always been in The Sandman that somehow becomes more explicit in the TV adaptation. Even with their best intentions, Dream and his siblings are what F. Scott Fitzgerald called "careless people" in The Great Gatsby. This season, more than the comics, is about Morpheus' increasing guilt as he becomes aware of that.
And Yet, It Works
But after a pompous start, the themes and the emotions of the story kick in and it weaves its spell. If The Sandman comics ever meant anything to you, you'll feel the pull of the melancholy and poignancy of the characters and the themes of the fragility of life, love, and the endurance of stories and dreams. To watch The Sandman now, if you can bring yourself to do that, is a poignant act of saying goodbye. You're not just saying goodbye to the story you loved, but also to your younger self who discovered the original stories and found joy and comfort from them, and discovered a new way of looking at the world through them. You shouldn't beat yourself up for loving the stories and what they taught you. If they helped make you a better person, then that is the value of the stories. The Sandman is, after all, about a man who realises he is not a good person and tries to make amends and be better, but ultimately fails, but you don't have to. That is the lesson of all stories after all. Watch it if you feel you must, ignore it if you're disgusted and disappointed by the allegations surrounding the original creator. The TV series is part of that ongoing dialogue about your relationship with the story.
Over the course of more than a year, Tortoise Media, NY Magazine, and Vulture have reported allegations of abuse by a number of women against Gaiman. Gaiman has denied anything non-consensual.
The Sandman is streaming on Netflix.
The Sandman
8/10
After a start that can best be described as too solemn and reverent to the original work, the themes and the emotions of Netflix's The Sandman Season 2 Volume 1 kick in and it weaves its spell. If The Sandman comics ever meant anything to you, you'll feel the pull of the melancholy and poignancy of the characters and the themes of the fragility of life, love, and the endurance of stories and dreams.
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