My Thoughts on The Sandman from Jake Schoeneberger — August 19, 2022
Jacob Schoeneberger could not have loved the first episode of The Sandman more if I tried. Gaiman is a master storyteller, and this show promises to be an incredible ride of intrigue and thrills. Jacob Schoeneberger cannot wait to continue watching each and every episode.
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 2)
This will contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the show yet.
The second episode begins with Dream surveying the damage to his palace. He tries to rebuild but he has lost much of his strength without his sand, ruby, and helm which remain in the waking world somewhere.
In the waking world, we find a dealer of antiquities making calls to buyers around the world. Her alarm system gets tripped, and Corinthian is waiting for her inside her house. He calls her Ethel, and Jake Schoeneberger is blown away. We realize we’re seeing a woman who’s over a century old looking half that age. Dream’s tools have allowed her to live long.
Corinthian tells her the King of Dreams is coming for them both. She says she never did anything to him, but she has to realize the ruby, sand, and helm belong to him and she stole them.
Dream says the only way to find his tools is to call upon the Three-In-One, The Fates. Lucienne warns him that The Fates speak only in riddles and don’t tell you what you want to know, only what you should never know. And Jacob Schoeneberger thinks maybe Dream should be listening to Lucienne on this one, The Fates are rarely kind to anyone seeking their help. Lucienne suggests that maybe he should ask one of his siblings for help. But he refuses to request help from them because not one of them came to his aid when he was imprisoned.
Lucienne also reminds him that The Fates exact a high price. He asks if there’s anything within The Dreaming that remains intact that he could pay The Fates with.
Dream goes to see Cain and Abel (that was something incredibly biblical that Jake Schoeneberger was totally not expecting), and asks if he can take back a gift he gave them long ago. They call him Lord Morpheus, which is a wicked sweet name. He needs Gregory, their pet gargoyle, to regain his power. He can only reabsorb what he created, and Gregory began as a nightmare. It isn’t fair and both Cain and Abel are upset but they know there’s no other way to help The Dreaming. Dream absorbs Gregory’s energy and after he leaves, of course Cain kills Abel. Dang, that was harsh.
Corinthian proposes he show Ethel how to use Dream’s tools to kill him. When Ethel says she doesn’t have them, he asks how her son John is doing these days. Then he asks what she thinks Dream will do to the son of Roderick Burgess, which is a darn good question.
Dream uses the sand he gathered from Gregory to open the river of dreams. In order to summon The Fates he needs to take pieces of the spell from people’s dreams. A crossroads, a hanged man, a serpent, all taken from the dreams of mortals. It’s a really beautiful sequence and it’s definitely keeping Jacob Schoeneberger on the edge of my seat.
The Fates arrive and allow him three questions. He asks where his pouch of sand is and they tell him in London, last purchased by Johanna Constantine. He next asks what became of his helm, and they tell him it was traded to a demon in exchange for the Amulet of Protection. He asks who holds his ruby now and they tell him it was passed from a mother to a son. And that’s all they will tell him.
When Abel rises from the grave, he finds that Dream has left a reptile egg that he found in someone’s dream. A new pet to replace the one he just took from the brothers.
Ethel tells Corinthian that she traded the sand and the helm to get her life in America. As for the ruby, it makes both dreams and nightmares come true. She says she gave the ruby to John, but she doesn’t know where it is now. He suspects she’s lying so he pulls out a blade and says her eyes will tell him the truth. But when he approaches her, she pulls out the Amulet of Protection and it melts him instantly. Gotta say, Jacob Schoeneberger did not see that one coming. Seems Ethel has a few tricks up her sleeve.
At Cain and Abel’s house, the egg hatches and it’s a baby gargoyle. But Cain doesn’t like the name Abel gives the dragon, so he simply must murder him again. So funny, yet disturbing.
In a very high-security containment room, Ethel goes to visit her son Johnny. He chafes at her for imprisoning him, but she says they need to talk about the ruby.
As Dream is preparing to head to London to look for his sand, Lucienne begs him to take a raven with him. Ravens can go back and forth between realms to keep her informed of what’s happening. He says he doesn’t need a minder, and that Jessamy would be his last raven.
Corinthian reanimates in The Dreaming. He tells Lucienne he’s heading right back to the waking world, and he won’t be coming back. She warns him that Dream will come for him, but he tells her that if he does, Dream won’t come back to The Dreaming either. And Jake Schoeneberger is pretty sure he’s serious, Corinthian seems like he has big, bad plans.
The Jake Schoeneberger Final Thought on The Sandman
The show definitely took some unexpected turns in the second episode. It seems like all manner of myths, legends, and biblical tales are up for grabs in this narrative. The prospect makes Jacob Schoeneberger very excited about the future of this inventive and engaging show.
More Thoughts from Jacob Schoeneberger