My Thoughts on The Sandman from Jake Schoeneberger – September 26, 2022
This show twists and turns through The Dreaming and the waking world so well that it’s quickly becoming a huge favorite for Jacob Schoeneberger. I just hope the Dream can set things right before The Dreaming gets destroyed again.
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 10)
*This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.*
The tenth episode begins with Corinthian telling Rose and Jed that he’s trying to save their lives from Morpheus. He says that as soon as Rose falls asleep Morpheus will kill her. But if he were to protect her then she’d become the center of The Dreaming and he’d be set free. This has Jake Schoeneberger pulling his hair out, there’s no way Rose is believing this!
Good Doctor comes to the rom to tell Corinthian he has 15 minutes until his keynote address. Corinthian tells Rose it’s up to her. He’ll be back in an hour, and she can either stay and wait for him or leave.
Listening to Corinthian’s keynote speech in which he describes the killers as “entrepreneurs in an expanding field” is chilling. He likens serial killing to the American Dream and this is definitely going to give Jacob Schoeneberger nightmares. It’s like a motivational speech and it’s truly terrifying.
As he speaks, Morpheus appears to him. Morpheus tells him that he’s wandered the Earth for a century and inspired nothing but death. But when Morpheus tries to take Corinthian back to The Dreaming, Corinthian stabs him. As Rose gets stronger, Morpheus gets weaker.
Corinthian explains that Rose is dreaming, and we see that Corinthian has all the serial killers sleeping too. Rose and Jed are trapped in the killers’ dreams.
Corinthian and Morpheus both reach Rose in The Dreaming to try to reason with her. Corinthian says The Dreaming belongs to her, but Morpheus explains that if Rose continues to be a vortex and bring down the walls between dreams she will eventually create one vast dream that will destroy the entire universe. Um, Jake Schoeneberger is thinking those stakes are a bit high, Rose. Probably best to just wake up like Morpheus is suggesting. Rose decides to put the walls back up between the dreams, then she wakes up.
In the waking world, Morpheus tells Corinthian that he had such hope for him, but that he failed in his creation. So he uncreates Corinthian. But Corinthian gets the last laugh when he says he’s only sorry he won’t be around when Rose does the same to Morpheus. Sick burn just as he dissolves away to dust.
Then Morpheus wakes the killers who Corinthian had put to sleep. He curses them by inflicting upon them the grief and pain that they inflicted upon their victims.
Rose and Jed leave and Matthew asks Morpheus if he should continue following Rose. But Morpheus says that while she’s awake she isn’t a threat, and that he’ll find her while she sleeps.
In the car, Rose explains to Jed that their mother has passed away but that they have a great-grandmother and friends to live with. Then Lyta calls and says she’s at the hospital in labor.
At the hospital, Rose calls Unity and Unity invites both Rose and Jed to come live with her. Then she explains to Lyta that she’s afraid Dream will kill her in her sleep. Lyta tells Rose she has to find Dream and destroy him. Uh oh, Jacob Schoeneberger thinks a pretty major showdown is about to happen.
When Rose falls asleep, she enters into the dreams of all her friends once again. But when they all realize they’re in each other’s dreams, a true vortex appears in the sky and from the ground and sucks all her friends and Jed in.
Then Morpheus appears and says that none of them are safe while the vortex is alive. We then find Unity in her dream. She has entered the library with Lucienne asking to read the story of what her life would have been had she not slept through it. When Unity finds the book of her life, Lucienne realizes that she’s Rose’s great-grandmother.
We then find Morpheus telling Rose that her death needn’t be something to fear. He even offers that she can stay with him in The Dreaming. But then Fiddler’s Green, who Rose recognizes as Gilbert, runs up to them. He offers his life in exchange for Rose’s but Morpheus says that isn’t possible. Rose asks why the vortex even exists and Gilbert says that his theory is that it reminds the dreams that they only exist because of the humans. His humility really brings a tear to the eye of old Jake Schoeneberger.
Gilbert explains that as Fiddler’s Green he is not a person but a place dreamers can come to in order to be somewhere beautiful that they enjoy. He invites Rose to visit him if she stays in The Dreaming. He turns back into his beautiful scene but storm cloud begin to gather. Morpheus says he doesn’t want to kill Rose but it’s his responsibility to save the universe.
Just as Morpheus is about to take Rose’s lifeforce from her, Lucienne and Unity arrive. Unity shows Morpheus the book of her life and explains that she, Unity, was meant to be the vortex of this age but because Morpheus was imprisoned and she slept, that fate was handed down to Rose. Unity tells Rose to transfer the vortex power to her, so Rose manifests it into a jeweled heart and now Unity has become the vortex.
When she takes the power, Unity dies so that Rose can live. Rose says she’s sorry but Unity says she should have dies long ago and that she’s happy she met her golden-eyed man and had her daughter so that she could meet Rose. Morpheus realizes that the man who fathered Unity’s daughter must have been Desire with the golden eyes. Then Unity and Rose make their tearful goodbyes and Jacob Schoeneberger is shedding a tear right along with them.
Rose awakens safe and happy. Lyta has had her healthy baby boy. Hal is thinking about moving back to New York to be near Rose and Jed and all seems right in their world.
Back in The Dreaming, Morpheus enters the gallery of The Endless and holds Desire’s sigil, which calls to Desire so they can speak. Morpheus then enters Desire’s chambers to speak in person. He accuses Desire of intentionally fathering Unity’s child to become the vortex. He chastises Desire saying that The Endless are servants of the mortals, not their masters. He threatens Desire not to interfere in his affairs again. But Desire swears that next time blood will be drawn, so Jake Schoeneberger has a pretty good idea that Desire will hatch yet another plan.
As Dream is working, Lucienne approaches to tell him that Rose has written a book that has appeared in their library. We find Rose happily living with Jed near her friends, Lyta and Hal. Then Dream explains that he isn’t making nightmares to replace Gault and Corinthian, he’s actually been making a dream. He awakens it and we find that he has resurrected Gault as a beautiful dream. The moment is so incredibly touching that it reminds us that at the soul of this story there is such beauty and love.
But then, juxtaposed to this beauty, we then find Lucifer in hell. The demon Azazel has arrived at Lucifer’s palace for an audience with the Lord of Darkness. Azazel explains that the other generals have decided they should invade The Dreaming as revenge against Dream. When Lucifer says she has much to think through, Azazel says the generals demand she take action, so she says she will. She then says that she’s going to do something that will make God absolutely livid and bring Morpheus to his knees. Gulp.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on The Sandman
This episode packed in a lot of emotions. From sadness believing Rose might die to the bittersweet sacrifice Unity for Rose, to the joy of seeing Gault’s redemption, to the utter terror of seeing Lucifer hatching a plan of revenge. Jacob Schoeneberger is consistently blown away by how deftly the writing of this show brings out the emotions of the viewer, and Jacob Schoeneberger can’t wait to watch the final episode of the season.