I've spent the last few days binging the new Netflix show The Sandman and to say it was a wild ride would be an understatement. I'm all for shows that have multiple twists and turns, and can appreciate writers who try and bring out a unique, actually let's just call it weird, style. However, this series took going off the rails to a completely new level.
*warning some spoilers ahead*
If you're like me and didn't know that The Sandman was based off a graphic novel series, it's good that you're reading this now so things start to make a little more sense. Graphic novels have the agency to explore the weird an obscure for the purpose of stirring ones imagination. I get this. I also get that, like manga and anime, there is license to create multiple story arcs that may not always be congruent with each other. What is highly irregular about these shifts is putting them all into one season.
The first season of Sandman has 11 episodes, with 10 episodes of about 3 different story arcs and 1 episode that was utterly inexplicable to round out the first season. Before I get into any negative critiques or anything like that, I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I have grown an appreciation for multiple arcs in one season because of the pacing it creates. However, that pacing can feel a little forced and fall flat in some areas.
It's clear from the beginning that the show will have some fantasy-based genre elements to it, which I'm totally okay with, especially when the opening quickly followed up by a scene of people in the "Waking World" using magic to capture Dream, our main character. At first, it seems that he is going to be nothing more than a victim of a story that will be driven to revenge because of his detainment. And for the first 3-4 episodes I was completely correct. He escapes his confines, goes about finding his magic tools and taking revenge, albeit moderate revenge on those who have wronged him.
Even though Dream seems properly set up as a sympathetic character, he's questioned at every turn, and it's never really clear who is pulling the strings. We jump from location to location, popping into Hell for a quick visit, then back to modern day and then float through time some more. After completing his revenge tour, Dream is on some sort of self-pity trip that his sister, Death, ironically tries to awaken him out of by granting a human immortality and watching how he never seeks the comfort of death from his never-ending life.
Once we move on from there, we have the third arc, a dream vortex, which is essentially a human born with the power to destroy the dream and waking worlds. Throughout this arc we see a focus on our primary villain, Corinthian, a convention of serial killers, dreams that not even the strongest LSD could produce and whole bunch of other nonsense.
Does it feel like I'm cramming all sorts of ideas into one blog? Because that's what this season felt like. You think you're done after 10 episodes, but then the audience is treated to this off-the-wall animated short about cats and then a different story about a Greek Goddess captured and used for personal gain, all in the same episode.
This show was weird, and I really can't think of another word to describe it. Maybe it would have been better if the different arcs were stretched across different season? Maybe they should have created multiple, shorter blocks of episodes (maybe 6 instead of 11) so it doesn't feel like a complete departure from one season to next? All I know is, once I was settling into a storyline, I was being forced into the next one. It made things interesting, but I feel like it created more of a morbid curiosity rather than general interest in the show.
Regardless, whatever it created in me was effective, because I'm going to come back for more just to see what the hell happens. Still don't know if I think it's good though.
Rating: 6.5/10
Comments
Post a Comment