My Thoughts on The Sandman from Jake Schoeneberger — September 2, 2022
So far The Sandman is definitely living up to the high reviews and expectations. He’s making a trip to Hell and Jacob Schoeneberger can only imagine how crazy that will be.
With that in mind, here are some random observations Jacob Schoeneberger has on the show.
All the Jake Schoeneberger Random Opinions about The Sandman (Season 1, Episode 4)
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
The fourth episode begins with Dream and Matthew on a cliff in Hell, overlooking a long line of the damned carrying torches to their destination. It definitely looks desolate and unforgiving, much how I imagined it would.
We then find John wandering the streets of Buffalo, unsure of where he is. He’s nearly hit by a car, but the driver is nice enough to offer him a ride. Her name is Rosemary and Jake Schoeneberger definitely thinks John got lucky to find the one nice person in the world willing to help him after he wandered aimlessly into the road in front of her car.
Dream and Matthew follow the damned to the gates of Hell, but he cannot enter another king’s realm without following certain rules. He rings a gong to summon a demon named Squatterbloat, who guards the gates. Squatterbloat asks where his crown and ruby are, but Dream warns not to disrespect him. Uhhh, Jacob Schoeneberger would definitely be listening to Dream on this one, Squatterbloat. You don’t want nightmares every night. Although, you do live in Hell after all…
As Rosemary is driving John, he tells her about his mother. He admits that he stole the ruby from her and murdered and created general mayhem. Getting pretty afraid for Rosemary now!
Squatterbloat leads Dream and Matthew through Hell, where the very walls and gnarled trees are made of the twisted forms of the damned. It’s pretty grim, is what I’m saying. Then he leads them to a cliff where a voice from within a locked cell calls to Dream, calling him by the name Kai’ckul. He calls her Nada, but as he speaks to her, his form shifts, and he looks completely different. She says she’d dreamed of this day, and he tells her it pains him to see her like this. She begs him to free her, saying only his forgiveness can free her. Then she asks if he still loves her. He says it’s been 10,00 years and he does still love her, but he hasn’t yet forgiven her. Jake Schoeneberger has to say, 10,000 years is a long time to hold a grudge. He then walks away from Nada. You have to let go of that anger, Dream, and learn to forgive. After a while, you’re just hurting yourself.
Rosemary tries to dial 911 on her phone while driving, but she slips and isn’t able to. John says that people lie because they are selfish, while Rosemary counters that people lie when they’re afraid. Then she proves her own point by saying they need to stop for gas when her gauge says her tank is still nearly full. It’s a very nice piece of exchanged dialogue.
When Matthew asks, Dream tells him Nada was a ruler of a tribe called the First People. They were in love, but she defied him. Wow, Jacob Schoeneberger sure hopes that whole defying him thing was a big enough deal to earn her 10,000 years in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. That’s harsh.
They then arrive at Lucifer’s palace. It’s kinda drab, could use a few paintings, maybe a nice throw rug to spruce it up some, it would really bring the room together. Lucifer greets them and asks if Dream has come to ally his realm to Hell. He resists and says he wants his helm back. She tells him that there are protocols which must be followed, and this notion is definitely becoming a theme in this show. All the worlds follow a shared set of rules that they all abide by. Because he doesn’t know which demon has his helm, Lucifer says she’ll have to summon all of them. Gulp.
Instead of dealing with that nightmare of a solution, Dream uses his sand to summon the demon who holds his helm. The demon is Choronzon, Duke of Hell. Choronzon says he traded a mortal for the helm, breaking no laws and if Dream wants it back he’ll have to fight him for it. Oh Choronzon, ya done messed up now. If Dream wins, he gets his helm back. If Choronzon wins, Dream will be his slave in Hell for eternity. Dream chooses to represent himself in the battle, while Choronzon chooses Lucifer herself to represent him. Gulp again.
Rosemary pulls into a gas station and says she has to pre-pay inside. But unfortunately John follows her so that little plan didn’t work. She instead asks the cashier to call 911 for her and he does but John overhears him talking. John tries to lead Rosemary out, but the cashier pulls a gun on him. And it’s about this time that Jake Schoeneberger starts yelling at the TV to tell the guy not to do that. He has the amulet, man! But of course the guy pulls the trigger and winds up dying. Tough break.
In Hell, the challenge is a game of skill, confidence, and transformation. So, not checkers, apparently. Dream tells Matthew to fly back to The Dreaming so that if he’s trapped in Hell, Lucienne will at least know his fate. But Matthew won’t leave Morpheus to face the challenge alone.
In the challenge, each side describes what they are, and they battle. Lucifer first takes the shape of a dire wolf, but Dream counters as a hunter and draws first blood with his arrow. Then she becomes a serpent and bites the hunter’s horse to inject venom. So Dream becomes a bird of prey and his talons tear into the snake and further wound Lucifer. She them becomes a bacterium and the bird is stricken with disease, but before he dies, Dream becomes a world where all life lives in harmony, including bacteria. Lucifer counters by becoming a nova, exploding and consuming worlds, and she knocks Dream down for the count. But just as his breath is escaping he becomes a universe, encompassing all things and embracing all manners of existence. She has no choice now but to become the anti-life, the dark at the end of everything.
Dream has now fallen, and it seems all hope is lost, until Matthew tells him that the only thing that can survive anti-life is him, Morpheus, because dreams don’t die. And then Dream says that he is the one thing that nothing can kill, he is hope. Lucifer admits defeat, acknowledging that nothing can truly kill hope, and tells Choronzon to give Dream his helm. This battle sequence was incredibly beautiful, and it ended with such a remarkably poignant moment that it really gave Jacob Schoeneberger pause. The only thing that defeats all evil is hope, beautifully executed scene.
Choronzon refuses to give back the helm, but Malikeen takes it from him and gives it to Dream. Then Lucifer asks why should she let Dream leave Hell since he holds no power there? But he says what power would Hell have if the damned couldn’t dream of Heaven? And that is one sick burn on Lucifer. She says one day she will destroy him, but he slow walks out of there with his helm like a boss.
He dons the helm and uses the sand to escape Hell. With the helm on he can see his ruby, but when he retrieves it he realizes that someone has altered it and it throws him into the wall. And just then, that someone arrives. Rosemary drops John off, and he comes into the storage unit and picks up the ruby. Then he finds that Rosemary hasn’t driven away. Jake Schoeneberger was literally yelling at the screen that she didn’t just get out of there when she had the chance. But it pays off for her. John says she’s a good person, and he gives her the Amulet of Protection. He says he has his ruby now and it makes dreams come true so he’s going to use it to save the world.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on The Sandman
This episode was an emotional roller coaster. The challenge in Hell, fearing for Rosemary’s life, it had Jacob Schoeneberger scared stiff. But so much drama and amazingly written and executed scenes. Jacob Schoeneberger believes this show keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.
More Thoughts from Jacob Schoeneberger